Dyson has gifts for the techies on your holiday shopping list. Save up to $300 on select Dyson Technology , plus get $100 off select Dyson Airwrap multi-stylers . Give the gift of tech with markdowns on air treatment and headphones. In addition, find discounts on vacuums cleaners and hair care products. Get free shipping, free extended holiday returns and a 2-year warranty. Exclusions apply. In the market for floor cleaners? Invest in the Dyson V12 Detect Slim vacuum cleaner current price: $399.99 original price: $649.99 save $250. If you’re leaning towards hair care products, check out the Dyson Airwrap multi-styler and dryer Straight+Wavy current price: $499.99 original price: $599.99 save $100. Take your shopping list to another level with deals on tech while offers and supplies last. Find more deals on Dyson hair care technology: Dyson Airwrap multi-styler and dryer Straight+Wavy (Strawberry Bronze/Blush Pink) current price: $499.99 original price: $599.99 save $100. Dyson Supersonic Nural hair dryer (Strawberry Bronze/Blush Pink) current price: $399.99 original price: $499.99 save $100. Dyson Supersonic hair dryer (Onyx Black/Gold) current price: $329.99 original price: $429.99 save $100. Dyson Airwrap multi-styler and dryer Curly+Coily (Strawberry Bronze/Blush Pink) current price: $499.99 original price: $599.99 save $100.Counting is underway in Ireland's election as 3 parties battle for top place
Zain introduces ‘The Masters’ to empower individuals with disabilities
NoneProgressive lawmakers say the reaction to the UHC CEO killing is a 'wake-up call'
Dr. Rob’s new AI model promises to cut aircraft design time from months to daysBJP Barnala ex-head in AAPNEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes reached more records after tech companies talked up how much artificial intelligence is boosting their results. The S&P 500 climbed 0.6% Wednesday to add to what looks to be one of its best years of the millennium. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.7%, while the Nasdaq composite added 1.3% to its own record. Salesforce pulled the market higher after highlighting its artificial-intelligence offering for customers. Marvell Technology jumped even more after saying it’s seeing strong demand from AI. Treasury yields eased, while bitcoin climbed after President-elect Donald Trump nominated a crypto advocate to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes rose to more records Wednesday after tech companies talked up how much of a boost they’re getting from the artificial-intelligence boom. The S&P 500 climbed 0.6% to add to what’s set to be one of its best years of the millennium. It’s the 56th time the index has hit an all-time high this year after climbing in 11 of the last 12 days . The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 308 points, or 0.7%, while the Nasdaq composite added 1.3% to its own record. Salesforce helped pull the market higher after delivering stronger revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, though its profit fell just short. CEO Mark Benioff highlighted the company’s artificial-intelligence offering for customers, saying “the rise of autonomous AI agents is revolutionizing global labor, reshaping how industries operate and scale.” The stock price of the company, which helps businesses manage their customers, jumped 11%. Marvell Technology leaped even more after delivering better results than expected, up 23.2%. CEO Matt Murphy said the semiconductor supplier is seeing strong demand from AI and gave a forecast for profit in the upcoming quarter that topped analysts’ expectations. All the optimistic talk helped Nvidia , the company whose chips are powering much of the move into AI, rally 3.5%. It was the strongest force pushing upward on the S&P 500 by far. They helped offset an 8.9% drop for Foot Locker, which reported profit and revenue that fell short of analysts’ expectations. CEO Mary Dillon said the company is taking a more cautious view, and it cut its forecasts for sales and profit this year. Dillon pointed to how keen customers are for discounts and how soft demand has been outside of Thanksgiving week and other key selling periods. Retailers overall have offered mixed signals about how resilient U.S. shoppers can remain. Their spending has been one of the main reasons the U.S. economy has avoided a recession that earlier seemed inevitable after the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates to crush inflation. But shoppers are now contending with still-high prices and a slowing job market . This week’s highlight for Wall Street will be Friday’s jobs report from the U.S. government, which will show how many people employers hired and fired last month. A narrower report released Wednesday morning suggested employers in the private sector increased their payrolls by less last month than economists expected. Hiring in manufacturing was the weakest since the spring, according to Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP. The report strengthened traders’ expectations that the Fed will cut its main interest rate again when it meets in two weeks. The Fed began easing its main interest rate from a two-decade high in September, hoping to offer more support for the job market. The central bank had appeared set to continue cutting rates into next year, but the election of Donald Trump has scrambled Wall Street’s expectations somewhat. Trump’s preference for higher tariffs and other policies could lead to higher inflation , which could alter the Fed’s plans . Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday that the central bank can afford to cut rates cautiously because inflation has slowed from its peak two years ago and the economy remains sturdy. A separate report on Wednesday said health care, finance and other businesses in the U.S. services sector are continuing to grow, but not by as much as before and not by as much as economists expected. One respondent from the construction industry told the survey from the Institute for Supply Management that the Fed’s rate cuts haven't pulled down mortgage rates as much as hoped. Plus, “the unknown effect of tariffs clouds the future.” In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.18% from 4.23% late Tuesday. On Wall Street, Campbell’s sank 6.2% for one of the S&P 500’s sharper losses despite increasing its dividend and reporting a stronger profit than analysts expected. Its revenue fell short of Wall Street’s expectations, and the National Football League’s Washington Commanders hired Campbell’s CEO Mark Clouse as its team president. Gains for airline stocks helped offset that drop after JetBlue Airways said it saw stronger bookings for travel in November and December following the presidential election. It also said it’s benefiting from lower fuel prices, as well as lower costs due to improved on-time performance. JetBlue jumped 8.3%, while Southwest Airlines climbed 3.5%. All told, the S&P 500 rose 36.61 points to 6,086.49. The Dow climbed 308.51 to 45,014.04, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 254.21 to 19,735.12. In stock markets abroad, South Korea’s Kospi sank 1.4% following a night full of drama in Seoul. President Yoon Suk Yeol was facing possible impeachment after he suddenly declared martial law on Tuesday night, prompting troops to surround the parliament. He revoked the martial law declaration six hours later. In the crypto market , bitcoin climbed near $99,000 after Trump said he would nominate Paul Atkins , a cryptocurrency advocate, to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission. AP Writers Matt Ott and Zimo Zhong contributed.YPSILANTI, Mich. (AP) — On a damp Wednesday night with temperatures dipping into the 30s, fans in sparsely filled stands bundled up to watch Buffalo beat Eastern Michigan 37-30 on gray turf. The lopsided game was not particularly notable, but it was played on one of the nights the Mid-American Conference has made its own: A weeknight. “A lot of the general public thinks we play all of our games on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, not just some of them in November,” MAC Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher said in a telephone interview this week. “What it has done is help take what was a pretty darned good regional conference and has given it a national brand and made it a national conference.” When the conference has played football games on ESPN or ESPN2 over the last two seasons, the linear television audience has been 10 times larger than when conference schools meet on Saturdays and get lost in the shuffle when viewers have many more choices. The most-watched MAC game over the last two years was earlier this month on a Wednesday night when Northern Illinois won at Western Michigan and there were 441,600 viewers, a total that doesn’t include streaming that isn’t captured by Nielsen company. During the same span, the linear TV audience has been no larger than 46,100 to watch two MAC teams play on Saturdays. “Having the whole nation watching on Tuesday and Wednesday night is a huge deal for the MAC,” Eastern Michigan tight end Jere Getzinger said. “Everybody wants to watch football so if you put it on TV on a Tuesday or Wednesday, people are going to watch.” ESPN has carried midweek MAC football games since the start of the century. ESPN and the conference signed a 13-year extension a decade ago that extends their relationship through at least the 2026-27 season. The conference has made the most of the opportunities, using MACtion as a tag on social media for more than a decade and it has become a catchy marketing term for the Group of Five football programs that usually operate under the radar in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and New York. Attendance does tend to go down with weeknight games, keeping some students out of stadiums because they have class or homework and leading to adults staying away home because they have to work the next morning. “The tradeoff is the national exposure,” Buffalo coach Pete Lembo said. “You know November nights midweek the average fan is going to park on the couch, have a bowl of chips and salsa out in front, and watch the game from there." When the Bulls beat Ball State 51-48 in an overtime thriller on a Tuesday night earlier this month, the announced attendance was 12,708 and that appeared to be generous. There were many empty seats after halftime. “You watch the games on TV, the stadiums all look like this,” Buffalo fan Jeff Wojcicki said. “They are not packed, but it’s the only game on, and you know where to find it.” Sleep and practice schedules take a hit as well, creating another wave of challenges for students to attend class and coaches to prepare without the usual rhythm of preparing all week to play on Saturday. “Last week when we played at Ohio in Athens, we had a 4-four bus ride home and got home at about 3:30 a.m.,” Eastern Michigan center Broderick Roman said. “We still had to go to class and that was tough, but it's part of what you commit to as an athlete.” That happens a lot in November when the MAC shifts its unique schedule. During the first two weeks of the month, the conference had 10 games on Tuesdays and Wednesdays exclusively. This week, there were five games on Tuesday and Wednesday while only one was left in the traditional Saturday slot with Ball State hosting Bowling Green. Next week, Toledo plays at Akron and Kent State visits Buffalo on Tuesday night before the MAC schedule wraps up with games next Friday and Saturday to determine which teams will meet in the conference title game on Dec. 7 in Detroit. In all, MAC teams will end up playing about 75% of their games on a Saturday and the rest on November weeknights. When the Eagles wrapped up practice earlier this week, two days before they played the Bulls, tight end Jere Getzinger provided some insight into the effects of the scheduling quirk. “It's Monday, but for us it's like a Thursday,” he said. Bowling Green coach Scot Loeffler said he frankly has a hard time remembering what day it is when the schedule shift hits in November. “The entire week gets turned upside down,” Loeffler said. “It’s wild, but it’s great for the league because there’s two days a week this time of year that people around the country will watch MAC games.” AP freelance writer Jonah Bronstein contributed to this report. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-footballThe new Axis of Evil: how Russia's allies help in its war against Ukraine
NoneWinning the booth to win the election became the BJP's mantra since Amit Shah became the party president in 2014. And Maharashtra assembly polls were no different. What differentiates Maharashtra from other states won by the BJP is the specific strategy the party adopted to turn the tide in its favour in a state where it suffered a setback just four months back. The BJP contested 149 assembly seats and won 132 out of it clocking a strike rate of 89%, making Maharashtra the biggest ever win by the party. The BJP took this battle down to 12,000 swing polling booths out of around one lakh booths in Maharashtra, which helped it wrestle assembly seats in areas where opposition was perceived to be stronger. Team Formation Immediately after the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP appointed union ministers Bhupendra Yadav and Ashwini Vaishnaw as election incharge of Maharashtra. Together the two leaders delivered crucial Madhya Pradesh for the party in 2023. Apart from the two, the BJP has two in-house agencies, Varahe Analytics and Jarvis Consulting which handle the campaign strategy and data intelligence for the party. The Election within Election In September, union home minister Amit Shah met BJP leaders in Maharashtra. At the meeting, Shah is believed to have instructed the leaders to forget that it is an assembly election and focus on polling booths in their respective areas. Jarvis Consulting was asked to figure out the swing seats which the BJP has lost or won over the past few elections with a change in voter pattern. Artificial Intelligence(AI) Tabnine AI Masterclass: Optimize Your Coding Efficiency By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Web Development Java 21 Essentials for Beginners: Build Strong Programming Foundations By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Leadership Boosting Startup Revenue with 6 AI-Powered Sales Automation Techniques By - Dr. Anu Khanchandani, Startup Coach with more than 25 years of experience View Program Web Development Advanced Java Mastery: Object-Oriented Programming Techniques By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Web Development Django & PostgreSQL Mastery: Build Professional Web Applications By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Web Development Mastering Full Stack Development: From Frontend to Backend Excellence By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Web Development Master RESTful APIs with Python and Django REST Framework: Web API Development By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Strategy Succession Planning Masterclass By - Nigel Penny, Global Strategy Advisor: NSP Strategy Facilitation Ltd. View Program Artificial Intelligence(AI) Mastering C++ Fundamentals with Generative AI: A Hands-On By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Web Development Advanced C++ Mastery: OOPs and Template Techniques By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Office Productivity Mastering Google Sheets: Unleash the Power of Excel and Advance Analysis By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Web Development JavaScript Essentials: Unlock AI-Driven Insights with ChatGPT By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Office Productivity Advanced Excel Course - Financial Calculations & Excel Made Easy By - Anirudh Saraf, Founder- Saraf A & Associates, Chartered Accountant View Program Office Productivity Excel Essentials to Expert: Your Complete Guide By - Study At Home, Quality Education Anytime, Anywhere View Program Leadership From Idea to Product: A Startup Development Guide By - Dr. Anu Khanchandani, Startup Coach with more than 25 years of experience View Program Finance AI and Generative AI for Finance By - Hariom Tatsat, Vice President- Quantitative Analytics at Barclays View Program Leadership Business Storytelling Masterclass By - Ameen Haque, Founder of Storywallahs View Program You Might Also Like: Congress flags with EC 'serious inconsistencies' in polling, counting processes in Maharashtra polls Sources tell ET that the internal party survey identified 69 assembly seats as the seats which the party will win with minimum efforts. These included seats of senior party leaders like Devendra Fadnavis and Ashish Shelar. The focus was to win another 70 assembly seats to take the party's tally beyond 125. After an intense exercise, 80 assembly seats were identified where the BJP won or lost the election with 3-4% vote swings. The maximum number of seats out of the identified 80 seats were 31 in the Vidarbha region. Once the seats were identified, the next assignment was to identify swing booths in each of the 80 assembly seats. The party has three broader categorisations of polling booths. The A category booths where the party wins in terms of votes, the B-category booths where it won or lost due to voters changing their minds and the third C-category where it never wins. The area of focus was narrowed down to the B- category booths. After the data mining 12,000 booths were identified as B-category booths which will decide whether the BJP will win or lose the Maharashtra battle. The total booths in Maharashtra assembly elections were 1,00,186 but BJP invested heavily on these 12,000 booths. "This was happening for the first time where we were working on an election within an election where the focus was on only 12% of the polling booths in the entire state," said a BJP leader involved in the campaign. Resource Mobilisation Once the target was set, the resource mobilisation started three months before the elections in September. ET learnt that Bhupendra Yadav, Vaishnaw and Shivprakash, the national joint general secretary of the BJP, ensured that whatever the team requires be made available to them. Varahe was asked to develop special content for these 80 assembly seats focusing on regional and local issues to engage with the voters. Five call centres each with around 200 callers came up at Nagpur , Nasik, Pune , Mumbai and Thane. The 1,000 callers were given 10 to 12 booths each and were asked to keep a one-to-one conversation with the booth level workers at least twice a week on one booth. You Might Also Like: New govt in Maharashtra to be formed on Dec 5, Devendra Fadnavis frontrunner for CM post: BJP leader BJP leader Sumant Ghaisas was made incharge of the call centre and booth management. Former union minister Bhagwat Karad was asked to handle the gaps at the booth level in terms of team and coordination. The daily tracking started with a target of having a proper team one month before the polling. Focus on Women This was the first election where BJP called women party leaders from other states in large numbers and deputed at least one woman leader in all the 80 assembly seats. Apart from that, the party appointed Mahila Vistaraks in each assembly constituency and provided them a scooty to cover all the listed booths in their assembly. Tiffin meetings with women workers and women leaders from other states were organised on a regular basis. It was ensured that women leaders from other parties in the Mahayuti should be present in the meetings and taken on board. The leaders were also given targets to meet at least 50 women beneficiaries of the Ladki Bahin scheme. As per sources, the exercise started one and half months before the polling and as polling came closer, the pravasi women leaders had developed a rapport with the ground workers as well as voters. Efforts among OBCs One week before Diwali, Bhupendra Yadav is learnt to have called a meeting of OBC leaders and influencers of different castes at the residence of Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai, discussing and resolving their issues with the government as well as the party. Sources tell ET that throughout the campaign, Yadav was personally managing the OBC community across Maharashtra with a focus on the 80 seats. He travelled in all the zones and attended zonal meetings targeted at the OBC community. In Marathwada, the ground feedback from a few seats was that if Pankaja Munde campaigns on the seats, the party can turn a section of voters. ET learnt that Yadav provided a special helicopter to Munde for four days and she was asked to go wherever she wanted in the area. The helicopter made 16 to 17 landings in a day and the finance department raised the budget issue. But Yadav backed Munde strongly. Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav and Chhattisgarh deputy CM Arun Sao also campaigned in the areas with high concentration of OBC votes. Tribal Turnout With 24 ST reserved assembly seats in the state, tribal voter support was a crucial factor for BJP's success in the election. During the Lok Sabha polls, the party's performance was poor in tribal areas. To bring the tribal to the party fold, the party deployed Nishant Khare, an old RSS ideologue working among tribals in MP with a clear goal of improving the party's performance on ST reserved seats as well as 25 other assembly seats where tribal voters are around 25%. Khare has worked for the party in Madhya Pradesh and other states during Covid and assembly as well as Lok Sabha elections. Sources tell ET that Khare built a team of PESA volunteers who were willing to work for the party during elections. Around 500 volunteers came up to work for the party and they were trained to work in their respective areas. Last four days before the election, 40-50 volunteers were provided bikes with petrol to visit all the tribal areas and prepare the voters for the voting day. On the voting day, they were tasked with five votes each apart from their family members on their booths. The bikers brought the tribal from areas with no roads to the polling stations and this helped increase the voting percentage. Out of 24 ST reserved assembly seats the NDA won 21 seats with BJP winning 10, Shiv Sena winning six and NCP winning five seats. Out of 25 other seats where tribal population was 25% or more, the NDA won all the 25 seats. With the three-month exercise, the BJP was able to increase votes by almost 5% in these constituencies. Out of the 69 assembly seats which the party was sure of winning, it won 64 seats. Out of the 80 seats comprising 12,000 swing booths, the BJP won 68 seats taking the total tally to 132, the highest for the party in the state. While campaign strategists for Shiv Sena and the NCP were quite vocal about the success of their parties, several leaders as well as agencies working for the BJP were reluctant to come on the record in the story. "For other agencies, the party is their client, and they treat it as an assignment. In our case, we are the extended arm of the party, and it is our primary duty to execute what we are tasked with," Diggaj Mogra of Jarvis Consulting, told ET. Bhupendra Yadav is back in Delhi executing his ministerial work. The BJP election machinery quietly left the state and has started working on forthcoming elections. (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel )
Apple’s game-changing new iPhone update is now just a few weeks away. And while iOS 18.2 is all about Apple Intelligence, it also hugely improves the security and privacy around photo sharing, and— in a surprise move —will enable users to change their default messaging, phone and other apps. This comes just a few months after Apple’s u-turn on RCS, which has gone live within iMessage, albeit it’s still carrier and geography dependent. But there’s a huge issue with RCS, one that’s about to get much worse, and while Google has revealed a new update to fix this on Android, it’s critical that Apple does the same. We’re talking spam, unsolicited “RCS Business Messaging.” Dress it up any way you want, this is partly driven by spam messages pushed out to billions of devices. it’s such a serious problem, that Google started addressing it before iPhone jumped onboard . But that’s not enough. Juniper Research forecasts “that RCS business messaging traffic will reach 50 billion messages globally in 2025; Apple’s first full year of support for the technology—single-year growth from 33 billion in 2024.” The numbers are staggering. One leading platform providing RCS Business Messaging has just announced that “it has crossed 10 billion RCS messages globally, on its platform in 2024, marking a 5x growth as compared to 2023,” adding that this “highlights the growing adoption of RCS as a preferred messaging platform for enterprises globally, particularly in markets like India, Brazil, Mexico, Europe, and Africa, where the technology has seen exponential growth over the last year.” Not all of this is spam, of course, but while “RCS is a great feature for the most part,” says Android Authority , “it also comes with some annoyances. In certain regions, ‘verified’ businesses have been using RCS to spam users with unsolicited advertisements. The RCS ad spam issue on Google Messages was very annoying once upon a time, and while the frequency is lower these days, it’s still a problem.” Well now it seems that Google is about to launch a solution for Android users that will add one-click simplicity to RCS messaging opt-outs, albeit one sender at a time. As discovered by Android Authority in one of its APK teardowns, “Google Messages is testing a new ‘STOP’ button to unsubscribe from RCS Business Messages, which users recognize as ads sent through RCS. The feature aims to simplify the process of opting out of unwanted RCS communications.” While users can already just reply STOP to do the same, there’s a big psychological difference between sending a text and tapping a button in an app. This will make it much easier and more likely for users to turn down the deluge of spam. “This will make it significantly easier to manage the incessant business ads that users in some regions regularly receive when they activate RCS.” Apple provides various protections against such spam messaging already . Users can filter unknown senders, report messages as junk, block those senders, and there’s also a new toggle to disable RCS business messaging, albeit that requires enabling by a carrier and won’t be available for all users. It would be great to see a similar one-click option for iMessage, albeit most iPhone users outside the US already use over-the-top platforms like WhatsApp more than iMessage anyway. Partly because iMessage is a honeypot for spam, business notifications and OTPs and doesn’t have the natural cleanliness of other platforms—most of our WhatsApps (or similar) come from friends and family. Android users should make use of this option when available. And iPhone users should use what’s there today ahead of any future updates that may or may not come. RCS also suffers from a lack of end-to-end security cross-platform, combined with this spam issue, it is not the compelling offering Google and others want it to be .
BEIJING, Dec. 12, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 17 Education & Technology Group Inc. YQ ("17EdTech" or the "Company"), a leading education technology company in China, today announced its unaudited financial results for the third quarter of 2024. Third Quarter 2024 Highlights 1 Net revenues were RMB59.6 million (US$8.5 million), compared with net revenues of RMB45.1 million in the third quarter of 2023. Gross margin was 60.9%, compared with 54.1% in the third quarter of 2023. Net loss was RMB17.4 million (US$2.5 million), compared with net loss of RMB72.9 million in the third quarter of 2023. Net loss as a percentage of net revenues was negative 29.2% in the third quarter of 2024, compared with negative 161.6% in the third quarter of 2023. Adjusted net loss 2 (non-GAAP) , which excluded share-based compensation expenses of RMB11.7 million (US$1.7 million), was RMB5.7 million (US$0.8 million), compared with adjusted net loss (non-GAAP) of RMB53.7 million in the third quarter of 2023. Adjusted net loss (non-GAAP) as a percentage of net revenues was negative 9.5% in the third quarter of 2024, compared with negative 119.1% adjusted net loss (non-GAAP) as a percentage of net revenues in the third quarter of 2023. First Nine Months 2024 Highlights Net revenues were RMB152.6 million (US$21.7 million), compared with net revenues of RMB123.6 million in the first nine months of 2023. Gross margin was 37.3%, compared with 48.6% in the first nine months of 2023. Net loss was RMB129.2 million (US$18.4 million), compared with net loss of RMB213.3 million in the first nine months of 2023. Net loss as a percentage of net revenues was negative 84.6% in the first nine months of 2024, compared with negative 172.6% in the first nine months of 2023. Adjusted net loss (non-GAAP) , which excluded share-based compensation expenses of RMB38.2 million (US$5.5 million), was RMB90.9 million (US$13.0 million), compared with adjusted net loss (non-GAAP) of RMB146.3 million in the first nine months of 2023. Adjusted net loss (non-GAAP) as a percentage of net revenues was negative 59.6% in the first nine months of 2024, compared with negative 118.3% of adjusted net loss (non-GAAP) as a percentage of net revenues in the first nine months of 2023. 1 For a reconciliation of non-GAAP numbers, please see the table captioned "Reconciliations of non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP measures" at the end of this press release. 2 Adjusted net loss represents net loss excluding share-based compensation expenses. Mr. Andy Liu, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company commented, "In the third quarter of 2024, we have continued our business progress and have seen consistent growth in school subscribing to our teaching and learning SaaS offerings under subscription model. This is a strong testimony in the value of our offerings and creates a clear growth path into the future." "We continue to evolve our teaching and learning SaaS solutions and expand customer base to improve efficiency through digital means, ensuring high-quality development and fostering growth in the school-based procurement," he added. Mr. Michael Du, Director and Chief Financial Officer of the Company commented, "During the quarter, our teaching and learning SaaS business saw revenue growth compared to the same quarter last year. As we enhance operating efficiency, net loss on a GAAP basis continued to narrow for the past three consecutive quarters. As our SaaS billing model is maturing, we achieved significant progress with a remarkable growth rate that outpaces the overall revenue growth." Third Quarter 2024 Unaudited Financial Results Net Revenues Net revenues for the third quarter of 2024 were RMB59.6 million (US$8.5 million), representing a year-over-year increase of 32.2% from RMB 45.1 million in the third quarter of 2023. This was mainly due to the increased number of teaching and learning SaaS contracts and the recurring revenue generated from on-going projects. Cost of Revenues Cost of revenues for the third quarter of 2024 was RMB23.3 million (US$3.3 million), representing a year-over-year increase of 12.5% from RMB20.7 million in the third quarter of 2023, which was mainly due to the increase in project deliveries for our teaching and learning SaaS offerings during the quarter. Gross Profit and Gross Margin Gross profit for the third quarter of 2024 was RMB36.3 million (US$5.2 million), compared with RMB24.4 million in the third quarter of 2023. Gross margin for the third quarter of 2024 was 60.9%, compared with 54.1% in the third quarter of 2023. Total Operating Expenses The following table sets forth a breakdown of operating expenses by amounts and percentages of revenue during the periods indicated (in thousands, except for percentages): For the three months ended September 30, 2023 2024 Year- RMB % RMB USD % over-year Sales and marketing expenses 27,948 62.0 % 20,244 2,885 34.0 % -27.6 % Research and development expenses 45,933 101.9 % 12,789 1,822 21.4 % -72.2 % General and administrative expenses 29,177 64.7 % 24,950 3,555 41.8 % -14.5 % Total operating expenses 103,058 228.6 % 57,983 8,262 97.2 % -43.7 % Total operating expenses for the third quarter of 2024 were RMB58.0 million (US$8.3 million), including RMB11.7 million (US$1.7 million) of share-based compensation expenses, representing a year-over-year decrease of 43.7% from RMB103.1 million in the third quarter of 2023. Sales and marketing expenses for the third quarter of 2024 were RMB20.2 million (US$2.9 million), including RMB1.9 million (US$0.3 million) of share-based compensation expenses, representing a year-over-year decrease of 27.6% from RMB27.9 million in the third quarter of 2023. This was mainly due to the decrease in the share-based compensation and efficiency improvements in marketing and sales work force and expenses compared with the same period last year. Research and development expenses for the third quarter of 2024 were RMB12.8 million (US$1.8 million), including RMB3.5 million (US$0.5 million) of share-based compensation expenses, representing a year-over-year decrease of 72.2% from RMB45.9 million in the third quarter of 2023. The decrease was primarily due to the decrease in the share-based compensation and efficiency improvements in our research and development work force and expenses. General and administrative expenses for the third quarter of 2024 were RMB25.0 million (US$3.6 million), including RMB6.4 million (US$0.9 million) of share-based compensation expenses, compared with RMB29.2 million in the third quarter of 2023. This was mainly due to the decrease in the office and professional service fees compared with the same period last year. Loss from Operations Loss from operations for the third quarter of 2024 was RMB21.6 million (US$3.1 million), compared with RMB78.7 million in the third quarter of 2023. Loss from operations as a percentage of net revenues for the third quarter of 2024 was negative 36.3%, compared with negative 174.4% in the third quarter of 2023. Net Loss Net loss for the third quarter of 2024 was RMB17.4 million (US$2.5 million), compared with net loss of RMB72.9 million in the third quarter of 2023. Net loss as a percentage of net revenues was negative 29.2% in the third quarter of 2024, compared with negative 161.6% in the third quarter of 2023. Adjusted Net Loss (non-GAAP) Adjusted net loss (non-GAAP) for the third quarter of 2024 was RMB5.7 million (US$0.8 million), compared with adjusted net loss (non-GAAP) of RMB53.7 million in the third quarter of 2023. Adjusted net loss (non-GAAP) as a percentage of net revenues was negative 9.5% in the third quarter of 2024, compared with negative 119.1% of adjusted net loss (non-GAAP) as a percentage of net revenues in the third quarter of 2023. Please refer to the table captioned "Reconciliations of non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP measures" at the end of this press release for a reconciliation of net loss under U.S. GAAP to adjusted net loss (non-GAAP). Cash and Cash Equivalents and Term Deposit Cash and cash equivalents and term deposit were RMB339.7 million (US$48.4 million) as of September 30, 2024, compared with RMB476.7 million as of December 31, 2023. Conference Call Information The Company will hold a conference call on Wednesday, December 11, 2024 at 8:00 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time (Thursday, December 12, 2024 at 9:00 a.m. Beijing time) to discuss the financial results for the third quarter of 2024. Please note that all participants will need to preregister for the conference call participation by navigating to https://register.vevent.com/register/BIcb0cb8cc902d426b9cbd52d075f15685 . Upon registration, you will receive an email containing participant dial-in numbers, and PIN number. To join the conference call, please dial the number you receive, enter the PIN number, and you will be joined to the conference call instantly. Additionally, a live and archived webcast of this conference call will be available at https://ir.17zuoye.com/ . Non-GAAP Financial Measures 17EdTech's management uses adjusted net income (loss) as a non-GAAP financial measure to gain an understanding of 17EdTech's comparative operating performance and future prospects. Adjusted net income (loss) represents net loss excluding share-based compensation expenses and such adjustment has no impact on income tax. Adjusted net income (loss) is used by 17EdTech's management in their financial and operating decision-making as a non-GAAP financial measure; because management believes it reflects 17EdTech's ongoing business and operating performance in a manner that allows meaningful period-to-period comparisons. 17EdTech's management believes that such non-GAAP measure provides useful information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating 17EdTech's operating performance in the same manner as management does, if they so choose. Specifically, 17EdTech believes the non-GAAP measure provides useful information to both management and investors by excluding certain charges that the Company believes are not indicative of its core operating results. The non-GAAP financial measure has limitations. It does not include all items of income and expense that affect 17EdTech's income from operations. Specifically, the non-GAAP financial measure is not prepared in accordance with GAAP, may not be comparable to non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies and, with respect to the non-GAAP financial measure that excludes certain items under GAAP, does not reflect any benefit that such items may confer to 17EdTech. Management compensates for these limitations by also considering 17EdTech's financial results as determined in accordance with GAAP. The presentation of this additional information is not meant to be considered superior to, in isolation from or as a substitute for results prepared in accordance with US GAAP. Exchange Rate Information The Company's business is primarily conducted in China and all of the revenues are denominated in Renminbi ("RMB"). However, periodic reports made to shareholders will include current period amounts translated into U.S. dollars ("USD" or "US$") using the exchange rate as of balance sheet date, for the convenience of the readers. Translations of balances in the consolidated balance sheets and the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive loss, change in shareholders' deficit and cash flows from RMB into USD as of and for the three months ended September 30, 2024 are solely for the convenience of the readers and were calculated at the rate of US$1.00=RMB7.0176 representing the noon buying rate set forth in the H.10 statistical release of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board on September 30, 2024. No representation is made that the RMB amounts could have been, or could be, converted, realized or settled into US$ at that rate on September 30, 2024, or at any other rate. About 17 Education & Technology Group Inc. 17 Education & Technology Group Inc. is a leading education technology company in China, offering smart in-school classroom solution that delivers data-driven teaching, learning and assessment products to teachers, students and parents. Leveraging its extensive knowledge and expertise obtained from in-school business over the past decade, the Company provides teaching and learning SaaS offerings to facilitate the digital transformation and upgrade at Chinese schools, with a focus on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of core teaching and learning scenarios such as homework assignments and in-class teaching. The product utilizes the Company's technology and data insights to provide personalized and targeted learning and exercise content that is aimed at improving students' learning efficiency. Safe Harbor Statement This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about 17EdTech's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. 17EdTech may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the SEC, in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: 17EdTech's growth strategies; its future business development, financial condition and results of operations; its ability to continue to attract and retain users; its ability to carry out its business and organization transformation, its ability to implement and grow its new business initiatives; the trends in, and size of, China's online education market; competition in and relevant government policies and regulations relating to China's online education market; its expectations regarding demand for, and market acceptance of, its products and services; its expectations regarding its relationships with business partners; general economic and business conditions; and assumptions underlying or related to any of the foregoing. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in 17EdTech's filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and 17EdTech does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law. For investor and media inquiries, please contact: 17 Education & Technology Group Inc. Ms. Lara Zhao Investor Relations Manager E-mail: ir@17zuoye.com 17 EDUCATION & TECHNOLOGY GROUP INC. UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (In thousands of RMB and USD, except for share and per ADS data, or otherwise noted) As of December 31, As of September 30, 2023 2024 2024 RMB RMB USD ASSETS Current assets Cash and cash equivalents 306,929 280,180 39,925 Term deposits 169,756 59,497 8,478 Accounts receivable 59,206 70,397 10,031 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 94,835 96,793 13,793 Total current assets 630,726 506,867 72,227 Non-current assets Property and equipment, net 32,013 28,385 4,045 Right-of-use assets 20,007 17,656 2,516 Other non-current assets 1,780 2,803 399 TOTAL ASSETS 684,526 555,711 79,187 LIABILITIES Current liabilities Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 128,001 98,880 14,090 Deferred revenue and customer advances, current 44,949 38,192 5,442 Operating lease liabilities, current 7,647 7,579 1,080 Total current liabilities 180,597 144,651 20,612 As of December 31, As of September 30, 2023 2024 2024 RMB RMB USD Non-current liabilities Operating lease liabilities, non-current 9,660 9,217 1,313 TOTAL LIABILITIES 190,257 153,868 21,925 SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY Class A ordinary shares 305 304 43 Class B ordinary shares 38 38 5 Treasury stock (97 ) (98 ) (14 ) Additional paid-in capital 10,987,407 11,025,756 1,571,158 Accumulated other comprehensive income 77,363 75,769 10,797 Accumulated deficit (10,570,747 ) (10,699,926 ) (1,524,727 ) TOTAL SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY 494,269 401,843 57,262 TOTAL LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY 684,526 555,711 79,187 17 EDUCATION & TECHNOLOGY GROUP INC. UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (In thousands of RMB and USD, except for share and per ADS data, or otherwise noted) For the three months ended September 30, 2023 2024 2024 RMB RMB USD Net revenues 45,097 59,627 8,497 Cost of revenues (20,708 ) (23,289 ) (3,319 ) Gross profit 24,389 36,338 5,178 Operating expenses (Note 1) Sales and marketing expenses (27,948 ) (20,244 ) (2,885 ) Research and development expenses (45,933 ) (12,789 ) (1,822 ) General and administrative expenses (29,177 ) (24,950 ) (3,555 ) Total operating expenses (103,058 ) (57,983 ) (8,262 ) Loss from operations (78,669 ) (21,645 ) (3,084 ) Interest income 6,163 3,835 546 Foreign currency exchange loss (89 ) (638 ) (91 ) Other (loss) income, net (282 ) 1,047 149 Loss before provision for income tax and income from equity method investments (72,877 ) (17,401 ) (2,480 ) Income tax expenses — — — Loss from equity method investments (1 ) — — Net loss (72,878 ) (17,401 ) (2,480 ) Net loss available to ordinary shareholders of 17 (72,878 ) (17,401 ) (2,480 ) Education & Technology Group Inc. Net loss per ordinary share Basic and diluted (0.17 ) (0.04 ) (0.01 ) Net loss per ADS (Note 2) Basic and diluted (8.50 ) (2.00 ) (0.50 ) Weighted average shares used in calculating net loss per ordinary share Basic and diluted 435,674,849 387,922,097 387,922,097 Note 1: Share-based compensation expenses were included in the operating expenses as follows: For the three months ended September 30, 2023 2024 2024 RMB RMB USD Share-based compensation expenses: Sales and marketing expenses 4,380 1,868 266 Research and development expenses 7,086 3,450 492 General and administrative expenses 7,714 6,430 916 Total 19,180 11,748 1,674 Note 2: Each one ADS represents fifty Class A ordinary shares. Effective on December 18, 2023, the Company changed the ratio of its ADS to its Class A ordinary shares from one ADSs representing ten Class A ordinary shares to one ADS representing fifty Class A ordinary shares. All earnings per ADS figures in this report give effect to the foregoing ADS to share ratio change. 17 EDUCATION & TECHNOLOGY GROUP INC. Reconciliations of non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP measures (In thousands of RMB and USD, except for share, per share and per ADS data) For the three months ended September 30, 2023 2024 2024 RMB RMB USD Net Loss (72,878 ) (17,401 ) (2,480 ) Share-based compensation 19,180 11,748 1,674 Income tax effect — — — Adjusted net loss (53,698 ) (5,653 ) (806 ) 17 EDUCATION & TECHNOLOGY GROUP INC. UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (In thousands of RMB and USD, except for share and per ADS data, or otherwise noted) For the nine months ended September 30, 2023 2024 2024 RMB RMB USD Net revenues 123,616 152,619 21,748 Cost of revenues (63,484 ) (95,695 ) (13,636 ) Gross profit 60,132 56,924 8,112 Operating expenses (Note 1) Sales and marketing expenses (71,357 ) (55,905 ) (7,966 ) Research and development expenses (127,002 ) (55,028 ) (7,841 ) General and administrative expenses (102,263 ) (90,729 ) (12,929 ) Total operating expenses (300,622 ) (201,662 ) (28,736 ) Loss from operations (240,490 ) (144,738 ) (20,624 ) Interest income 22,006 13,361 1,904 Foreign currency exchange gain (loss) 72 (394 ) (56 ) Other income, net 5,069 2,592 369 Loss before provision for income tax and income from equity method investments (213,343 ) (129,179 ) (18,407 ) Income tax expenses — — — Income from equity method investments 2 — — Net loss (213,341 ) (129,179 ) (18,407 ) Net loss available to ordinary shareholders of 17 (213,341 ) (129,179 ) (18,407 ) Education & Technology Group Inc. Net loss per ordinary share Basic and diluted (0.46 ) (0.33 ) (0.05 ) Net loss per ADS (Note 2) Basic and diluted (23.00 ) (16.50 ) (2.50 ) Weighted average shares used in calculating net loss per ordinary share Basic and diluted 466,663,905 387,825,526 387,825,526 Note 1: Share-based compensation expenses were included in the operating expenses as follows: For the nine months ended September 30, 2023 2024 2024 RMB RMB USD Share-based compensation expenses: Sales and marketing expenses 14,337 5,933 845 Research and development expenses 20,920 10,777 1,536 General and administrative expenses 31,792 21,538 3,069 Total 67,049 38,248 5,450 Note 2: Each one ADS represents fifty Class A ordinary shares. Effective on December 18, 2023, the Company changed the ratio of its ADS to its Class A ordinary shares from one ADSs representing ten Class A ordinary shares to one ADS representing fifty Class A ordinary shares. All earnings per ADS figures in this report give effect to the foregoing ADS to share ratio change. 17 EDUCATION & TECHNOLOGY GROUP INC. Reconciliations of non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP measures (In thousands of RMB and USD, except for share, per share and per ADS data) For the nine months ended September 30, 2023 2024 2024 RMB RMB USD Net Loss (213,341 ) (129,179 ) (18,407 ) Share-based compensation 67,049 38,248 5,450 Income tax effect — — — Adjusted net loss (146,292 ) (90,931 ) (12,957 ) © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.Intuit's EVP Laura Fennell sells $5.06 million in stock
UK startup PhysicsX, founded by former Formula 1 engineering whizz Robin “Dr. Rob” Tuluie, has unveiled an AI tool that could fast-track the time it takes to design a new aircraft from months to just a few days. Dubbed LGM-Aero, the software creates new designs for aeroplanes. Using advanced algorithms trained on more than 25 million geometries, the model predicts lift, drag, stability, structural stress and other attributes for each shape. It then tailors the design according to what you want your plane to do. PhysicsX said the AI is the first-ever Large Geometry Model (LGM) for aerospace engineering. A barebones version of the model, Ai.rplane, is also accessible free of charge. “This is a first step in transforming the way engineering is practised in advanced industries [like automotive, aerospace, and manufacturing],” said Tuluie, founder and chairman of PhysicsX. “Over time, we will bring new capabilities to LGM-Aero and Ai.rplane, allowing users to select powertrains, add controls and further content to reach mature designs in days rather than months or years,” he said. Tuluie wasn’t always an entrepreneur. For the first half of his life, he worked alongside Nobel Prize winners as an astrophysicist. Then, at 41, he entered the F1 scene where he devised designs that helped Renault, and later Mercedes, win four Formula One world championships between them. In 2019, Tuluie founded PhysicsX alongside Jacomo Corbo, a Harvard-educated engineer who ran McKinsey’s AI lab. Together, the duo have assembled a 50-strong team of some of the world’s top minds in data science, AI, and machine learning. PhysicsX, based in London, emerged from stealth in November 2023 with €30mn in funding. The company is on a mission to reimagine simulation for science and engineering using AI in sectors such as automotive, aerospace, and manufacturing. PhysicsX says it is looking to help engineers better anticipate design bottlenecks, such as the drag of a new aeroplane or car design before they set out on building a physical prototype — saving them time and money. Its software acts like a supercharged wind tunnel for ideas. “In the same way that large language models understand text, Ai.rplane has a vast knowledge of the shapes and structures that are important to aerospace engineering,” explained Corbo. “The technology can optimise across multiple types of physics in seconds, many orders of magnitude faster than numerical simulation, and at the same level of accuracy.” Corbo called LGM-Aero “an important stepping stone” towards developing physics foundation models. These are AI systems designed to simulate and solve complex physical problems by learning patterns from data and physical laws. Applying AI to complex scientific problems is gaining traction. In 2020, Google Deepmind’s Alphafold model famously cracked a puzzle in protein biology that had confounded scientists for centuries. The discovery has accelerated research in drug discovery, molecular biology, and bioengineering. Other companies, like Dutch scaleup VSParticle, are using algorithms to fastrack the discovery and synthesis of potentially game-changing materials . While the applications of AI in science may differ from discipline to discipline, the benefits are shared: artificial intelligence can supercharge scientific discovery by analysing data, simulating complex systems, and uncovering insights faster than humans ever could. So AI isn’t all about asking ChatGPT what to eat for dinner? No, dear reader, it’s a actually pretty big deal.We needed it – Pep Guardiola relieved to end Man City’s winless run
Hegseth meets with moderate Sen. Collins as he lobbies for key votes in the Senate
Two more Hindu priests arrested in Bangladesh: ISKCON Kolkata
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren forced to walk back wild comments on 'assassin' Luigi Mangione
Peacock’s ‘Hysteria!’ set in Michigan during 1980s satanic panic