The Strategist

The Strategist
Latest News & Analysis
Companies & CEOs

ASML's market capitalization surpasses $500 billion on AI optimism

ASML's market capitalization surpasses $500 billion on AI optimism
ASML Holding has become the third European company to reach a market capitalization of more than $500 billion, according to Bloomberg, which is citing market data. Only LVMH, a luxury goods company, and Novo Nordisk, the producer of Ozempic, had...

Shell and Exxon Mobil abandon sale of UK gas assets to Viaro

Shell and Exxon Mobil abandon sale of UK gas assets to Viaro
Energy companies Shell and Exxon Mobil have decided not to proceed with the sale of North Sea gas assets to Viaro Energy, a firm controlled by Italian businessperson Francesco Mazzagatti. In a statement, Shell said the transaction could not be...

Chip maker TSMC increases net profit by a third in Q4

Chip maker TSMC increases net profit by a third in Q4
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the world's top custom chip manufacturer, reported a rise in its net profit to NT$505.7 billion, which is approximately $16 billion, for the fourth quarter of 2025. This is compared to $374.68 billion in...

Alphabet's market capitalization exceeds $4 trillion for the first time

Alphabet's market capitalization exceeds $4 trillion for the first time
Alphabet Inc., which is the parent company of Google, had a market value that surpassed $4 trillion during Monday's trading session. Throughout the trading session, its stock price increased by 1.7% to $334.04 per share, but later fell by 0.2%. Over...
Markets & Industries

Global smartphone shipments grow by 1.9% in 2025

Global smartphone shipments grow by 1.9% in 2025
Global smartphone shipments rose by 1.9% in 2025, reaching 1.26 billion units, as shown in preliminary figures from the International Data Corporation (IDC). During the last quarter, shipments increased by 2.3% compared to the previous year, hitting...

Global liquid hydrocarbon production grows by 3 million bpd in 2025

Global liquid hydrocarbon production grows by 3 million bpd in 2025
Global liquid hydrocarbon production went up by 2.95 million barrels per day in 2025, reaching a total of 106.28 million barrels per day, as reported by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) in their monthly report. For 2026, the EIA...

Global chipmaker revenue increases 21% in 2025

Global chipmaker revenue increases 21% in 2025
Global semiconductor manufacturer revenue rose by 21% in 2025, reaching $793.4 billion, as reported by Gartner, a research firm. Nvidia Corp., an American company, remained the top global chipmaker, expanding its lead over Samsung Electronics of...

Chinese stocks post their strongest gains since 2017

Chinese stocks post their strongest gains since 2017
The Chinese stock market is showing its strongest performance since 2017, according to Bloomberg, which is based on trading data. From the beginning of 2025, the MSCI China Index has increased by about 28%. Bloomberg also reports that the MSCI China...
In-depth coverage

European Tech Sovereignty: Europe Enters the Era of Exascale with the Inauguration of the Jupiter Supercomputer

Europe has taken a giant leap in technological development and supercomputing sovereignty with the launch of its first exascale computer in Germany. JUPITER, built using American chips but set to develop further with the integration of European microprocessors in 2026, is capable of performing over one quintillion (10¹⁸) operations per second, immediately cementing its place as Europe’s mos...
>>> Zoom on Earth
World & Politics

European governments want to appoint separate EU negotiator for Ukraine

European governments want to appoint separate EU negotiator for Ukraine
European governments are pushing the EU to send a representative to talk with Russia about a deal in Ukraine. They are worried that the US might make a deal with Russia without them, according to Politico's European edition. The report says that...

Trump imposes 25% tariffs on countries doing business with Iran

Trump imposes 25% tariffs on countries doing business with Iran
US President Donald Trump announced that a 25% tariff will be applied to countries engaged in business with Iran. He stated on the social media platform Truth Social that "effective immediately, any country conducting business with the Islamic...

Trump confirms that the US is exploring options amid protests in Iran

Trump confirms that the US is exploring options amid protests in Iran
The United States is keeping a close watch on the protests in Iran and is looking at several possible actions, according to US President Donald Trump. "In the military, they are looking into this. And we are considering some very serious options. We...

The Telegraph: EU plans to impose sanctions on the US over Greenland

The Telegraph: EU plans to impose sanctions on the US over Greenland
The European Union is working on plans to apply sanctions on American companies if US President Donald Trump refuses to support his suggestion to station NATO forces in Greenland, according to a report by the British newspaper The Telegraph, which...
Management & Strategy

Staff reductions at leading US banks in 2025 reach the highest in nine years

Staff reductions at leading US banks in 2025 reach the highest in nine years
In 2025, leading U.S. banks plan to reduce their workforce by a total of 10,600, which is the highest number of job cuts in nine years. As of the end of December, the combined number of employees at six major financial institutions – JPMorgan Chase...

Meta to lay off over 1,000 employees in virtual reality division

Meta to lay off over 1,000 employees in virtual reality division
Meta Platforms plans to cut jobs for more than 1,000 workers in its Reality Labs team, which makes virtual reality products, reports Bloomberg referring to the company’s internal memo. Employees who will be let go will start getting official notices...

Tesla board members earn over $3 billion from stock options

Tesla board members earn over $3 billion from stock options
Members of Tesla's board of directors have received over $3 billion in earnings from stock options, according to a report by Reuters, which references an analysis by Equilar. Notably, Kimbal, the brother of CEO Elon Musk, has earned approximately $1...

Eni distributes 3 million shares to its employees in 2025 as part of its employee support plan

Eni distributes 3 million shares to its employees in 2025 as part of its employee support plan
In 2025, the Italian oil and gas company Eni distributed more than 3 million shares to over 26,000 employees through its Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). The initiative was also extended to most of the company's operating countries. According...