Solana Skyrocketed 🚀 🚀

Sandbox-building game Roblox appreciated significant growth during the pandemic. We’re at a strange inflection point where the pandemic isn’t quite over, but it’s starting to taper — now, investors wonder whether this strange transition period will affect the game of games.

It turns out, Roblox had staying power despite “return to normal.“ Today, the company dropped its latest earnings report (it mostly includes the summer months). In it, Roblox reported revenue of $454.1 million. That’s a 127% YoY increase, but still lower than the analyst estimates of $691.9 million.

Roblox’s bolstered revenues were supported by an increased number of bookings, hours engaged, double-digit domestic growth, and faster user growth outside of the North American market. The company posted 42% growth in daily active users outside the US and Canada market.

Roblox posted a net loss, despite consensus being confident on a profit. The company posted a $140 million loss, translating to a quarterly loss of ($0.25) per share. The street expected a gain of $0.12.  But that’s not the only thing going sideways: Roblox’s partnership with Tencent to break into the Chinese market might face backlash as Beijing attacks big tech, gaming, and media.

Some friction is also expected next quarter as users head back to school. Roblox expects lower revenues next quarter, but anticipates a profit. Regardless of the upbeat forecast, the miss and headwinds were too great for investors. $RBLX fell 5.2% today and 4.6% more in AH.

Will Roblox return to normal?? Time will tell… 

If you thought Tesla’s YTD performance was a problem, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. 😅 The American automaker is being investigated by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The investigation stems from 11 crashes involving Tesla’s driver-assist program, Autopilot. In each case, Autopilot crashed into stationary first responder vehicles. The first case was reported was in January 2018.

Tesla advertises Autopilot, released in October 2015, as safer than regular driving. Tesla’s official Vehicle Safety Report in Q1 2021 indicated that the company registered “one accident for every 4.19 million miles driven in which drivers had Autopilot engaged.” In contrast, Tesla claims that the NHTSA estimates an automobile crash to take place roughly “every 484,000 miles.”

Although Autopilot is described as “safer” than driving in general, the NHTSA might be investigating these pattern incidents out of an abundance of caution. The investigation will cover all 765,000+ Teslas in service today. However, EV and Tesla maxis are frustrated that the NHTSA’s investigation doesn’t include other similar assisted driving applications.

$TSLA fell over 4% today.

$SOL.X soared to a new record high today. 🏆

The native token of the Solana blockchain traded up 39% over the last 24 hours, reaching as high as $68.24 per token. ⭐ 🙌  The crypto made it into the top 10 for the first time ever, surpassing the value of other cryptos like Uniswap, Bitcoin Cash, and Chainlink.

Market watchers claim the boom was a result of institutional interest. Last week, Solana-powered decentralized exchange Mango Markets raised $70.5 million in one of the largest token sales in DeFi history. 🤑 Similarly, Degenerate Ape Academy, a non-fungible token project built on Solana, was just launched. The robust interest left many investors wondering if an NFT boom will drive the project long-term.

Solana is backed in-part by FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. In June 2021, the project reportedly raised $450 million in a bid to take on Ethereum. In the last seven days, $SOL.X has increased over 70%.

Intel placed a big bet today… on gaming. 🎲 🎮

The notorious chipmaker is marketing its latest consumer GPUs as ‘Intel Arc,’ a new graphics brand. Arc’s “Alchemist” brand incorporates both hardware and software powering GPUs to deliver higher gaming performance on laptops and desktops. This could be a big slap in the face to the technologies of AMD and NVIDIA (or not, who knows?).

Robert Chandler, VP/GM of Products and Solutions at Intel, boasted:

“The launch of the Intel Arc brand and the reveal of future hardware generations signifies Intel’s deep and continued commitment to gamers and creators everywhere. We have teams doing incredible work to ensure we deliver first-class and frictionless experiences when these products are available early next year.”

We have yet to hear which devices will feature Intel Arc graphics, but here’s a sneak peak of the pre-production resolution. We’re not gonna lie, these graphics are looking preettyyy good. 🔥 🔥

$INTC closed down 0.04% today.

Saudi Arabia’s government-owned oil/gas company is checking out a deal with one of India’s biggest companies. 

Saudi Aramco, the third-largest company in the world, is in talks to acquire a 20% stake in Reliance Industries’ oil refining and chemicals business. 💰 Reliance, owned by Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, is expected to close the all-stock deal in the next few weeks.

The deal would help forge a stronger relationship between Aramco and one of its biggest customers. It’s the kind of deal where everybody could win something. 🤑 According to Bloomberg, Reliance would gain “a steady supply of oil for its giant refineries … [and become] a shareholder in Aramco.” Aramco would increase sales to become one of the world’s largest economies.

$RELIANCE traded up 1.09% today on the news. If the deal closes, it’s likely that Ambani and Reliance will own approximately 1% of Aramco. As of today, the company is valued at over $1.87 trillion.