Media

6 Most Important Things in Business Today

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: March 28, 2018 5:04 am

Last Updated: March 13, 2020 3:41 pm

Moody’s downgraded Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA). According to MarketWatch:

Moody’s Investors Services late Tuesday downgraded Tesla Inc. corporate debt rating to B3 from B2, one notch further down on its junk-bond rating, saying the Silicon Valley car maker “will have to undertake a large, near-term capital raise in order to refund maturing obligations and avoid a liquidity shortfall.”

Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (NYSE: HMC) will cut production of the Accord due to oversupply. According to The Wall Street Journal:

Workers assembling Honda Motor Co.’s Accord will take off a total of two weeks from building the sedan over the next several months as the auto maker works to adjust bloated inventories.

Unlike Detroit auto makers that have either eliminated entire sedan lines or slowed down sedan production over the past year, Japanese, German and Korean auto makers haven’t taken their foot off the pedal.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has made plans to move back into the education sector it once dominated. According to The Wall Street Journal:

Apple Inc. said it is updating its entry-level iPad with capabilities designed to appeal to students and new software for teachers, as the company tries to recharge sales of the tablet and shore up its dwindling share of the U.S. education market.

The company Tuesday said its new 9.7-inch iPad includes a faster processor and works with the Apple Pencil stylus, which previously worked only with higher-end iPad Pro models.

The entry-level iPad’s price remains at $329, the lowest-priced tablet available from the company. Schools, which receive discounts on pricing, can buy the device for $299.

SoftBank has started a massive solar energy power program in Saudi Arabia. According to Bloomberg:

Saudi Arabia and SoftBank Group Corp. signed a memorandum of understanding to build a $200 billion solar power development that’s exponentially larger than any other project.

SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son, known for backing ambitious endeavors with flair, unveiled the project Tuesday in New York at a ceremony with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. The powerful heir to the throne of the world’s largest crude exporter is seeking to diversify the economy and wean off a dependence on oil.

Ford Motor Co.’s (NYSE: F) Lincoln will launch a new sport utility vehicle. According to CNBC:

After more than a decade in the dust-bin, Lincoln is resurrecting the mid-sized Aviator sport utility vehicle in a totally new form and aiming it squarely at well-to-do millennials starting families.

Ford’s luxury brand gave reporters a preview of the new Aviator in Manhattan on Monday, days before the New York International Auto Show. The vehicle gives buyers another new option in a lineup increasingly focused on popular and profitable sport utility vehicles, crossovers, and trucks.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) has lost an intellectual property lawsuit against Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL). According to CNNMoney:

Google just lost a major copyright case that could cost it billions of dollars and change how tech companies approach software development.

An appeals court said on Tuesday that Google violated copyright laws when it used Oracle’s open-source Java software to build the Android platform in 2009.