Technology News

NEW YORK (AP) — Best Buy raised its sales outlook for the year Tuesday after breezing past Wall Street expectations in the second quarter.

The nation’s largest consumer electronics chain joined other major retailers including Walmart, Target and Macy’s in putting up banner numbers, suggesting that Americans have continued to be spend even as the delta variant spreads. Department store chain Nordstrom also upgraded its annual revenue outlook Tuesday after reporting fiscal second-quarter results that beat expectations.

Best Buy’s shares rose more than 8%, or $9.33, to close at $121.49 on Tuesday.

But shares of Seattle-based Nordstrom fell nearly 8%, or $2.86, to $34.95 in extended trading after it issued its quarterly report. Investors appeared disappointed with Nordstrom saying that its quarterly sales were still below the pre-pandemic 2019 period.

There have been concerns that consumer spending, which drives 70% of U.S. economic activity, would begin to slow again as it did early in 2020 when COVID-19 first hit the country.

Best Buy CEO Corie Barry, however, said there has been an impact from the spread of the delta variant. Younger shoppers who had begun to return to stores with the arrival of vaccines are now moving back to online shopping, particularly in urban areas. Foot traffic in stores outside of urban areas is stronger, Barry said.

Best Buy, based in Richfield, Minnesota, was somewhat insulated from the economic fallout last year because so many people stuck at home stepped up spending on webcams, laptops and other technology.

That pace, according to the numbers from Best Buy’s most recent quarter, has continued. Now the company is readying itself for potentially permanent changes in consumer behavior even as millions of people get vaccinated and plan a return to the office. Many will be adapting to hybrid work at home and at the office, and they’re embracing technology with similar gusto for their children even when they were learning online last year.

“Over the longer term, we are fundamentally in a stronger position than we expected just two years ago,” said Barry in a prepared statement. “There has been a dramatic and structural increase in the need for technology.”

As with other retailers, online shopping that spiked in the pandemic has eased with more people Online revenue at U.S. stores fell 28.1% in the second quarter compared with the same period a year ago. Online sales accounted for 31.7% of all revenue compared with 53.1% last year. Two years ago, however, online sales made up only 16% of total revenue.

Best Buy earned $734 million, or $2.90 per share, for the three-month period ended July 31. Adjusted for one-time gains or losses, per-share earnings were $2.98, easily eclipsing per-share projections of $1.91 from Wall Street, according to Zacks Investment Research.

Revenue surged 20% to $11.85 billion, also better than industry analysts had expected.

Sales at established stores jumped 20%.

For the current quarter ending in November, Best Buy said it expects revenue in the range of $11.4 billion to $11.6 billion. Analysts surveyed by Zacks had been expecting revenue of $10.49 billion.

The company expects full-year revenue in the range of $51 billion to $52 billion. Analysts expected $49.39 billion for the year, according to FactSet.

Best Buy also said it now expects comparable sales for the year to rise 9% to 11% compared with the previous outlook of 3% to 6%.

_____

Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on BBY at https://www.zacks.com/ap/BBY

_______

Follow Anne D’Innocenzio: http://twitter.com/ADInnocenzio

Copyright
© 2021 . All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The only time Californians voted to recall a governor, they replaced him with a Hollywood megastar. This time, could it be a 29-year-old YouTube star who ends up leading the nation’s most populous state?

It’s a very long shot, but Kevin Paffrath could conceivably win simply because he has some name recognition by virtue of the nearly 1.7 million followers of his video channel, where he dispenses financial advice. The other eight Democrats running are essentially unknowns.

The Democratic field is filled with anonymous political neophytes because of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s successful strategy of discouraging any prominent Democrats from running in the Sept. 14 election. His goal was to make it an all-or-nothing proposition for voters — keep Newsom, or live with the consequences of picking a replacement with a far different policy agenda.

“Social media stardom translates to name recognition, and that’s really what’s going to make a big difference in an election like this with 46 names on the ballot,” said Kim Nalder, a professor of political science at the California State University, Sacramento.

Voters already have received mail-in ballots with two questions: Should Newsom be recalled and, if so, who should replace him? If a majority want Newsom gone, the candidate with the highest vote total becomes governor even if they fall short of a majority, which is almost a certainty with so many candidates. People who vote against recalling Newsom can still choose a replacement option in case he’s recalled.

Paffrath’s climb is a steep one made more difficult by his failure to submit a statement describing his political beliefs for the voter guide that goes to all households with registered voters. For people loosely following the race, that could be the primary place to learn about replacement options.

He’d also have to overcome the message from Newsom and California Democratic Party officials that recall opponents should skip the second question altogether and focus only on keeping Newsom in office.

Paffrath thinks that’s a mistake. He’s been traveling the state — even showing up at some of Newsom’s events — and making the case to reporters and his followers that a vote for him gives California a chance at progress on issues like homelessness should Newsom be recalled. If Democrats forfeit their right to choose a replacement, he argues it could leave the state in the hands of a Republican likely to be in a stalemate with the overwhelmingly Democratic Legislature.

“We want folks in California to know there is a backup option, that if you are against the recall, do not leave the second part of the ballot blank — it’s stupid,” Paffrath told The Associated Press.

Paffrath, who is listed on the ballot as a “financial educator/analyst,” posts multiple videos a day on subjects like the stock market and cryptocurrency. And about his campaign.

Many have attention-grabbing headlines such as “It’s Official: California is Shutting me Down,” which featured Paffrath sharing that California’s secretary of state wouldn’t allow him to use his nickname “Meet Kevin” on the ballot. In another video titled “PLEASE HELP or I’m Screwed in 48 hours,” he asked his followers to assist him in texting voters.

Paffrath’s campaign is getting a boost. For the first time, he’s being included in a debate. He’ll appear Wednesday with three Republican candidates — former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, Assemblyman Kevin Kiley and businessman John Cox, who lost to Newsom in a 2018 landslide.

Newsom and Republican front-runner and talk show host Larry Elder have skipped all debates.

The recall campaign is Paffrath’s first foray into politics. He didn’t even vote in 2018, something he now says was a mistake.

Paffrath lives in Ventura with his wife, Lauren, and two sons, ages 3 and 5. The couple met on a high school trip to Paris, but their relationship quickly hit a snag: Lauren lived in Southern California, and Paffrath in Florida. He eventually moved to California for his senior year and lived with her family, then stayed and got into real estate with the help of his wife’s father. Paffrath says he and his wife have a net worth of at least $15 million.

Father-in-law Bill Stewart said Paffrath learned the ropes of the real estate business then quickly became one of Ventura County’s top agents.

“He combines intelligence with an incredible work ethic,” Stewart said. “He learns things incredibly quickly, and he’s always doing research to get the best results.”

Paffrath now owns many properties in Ventura County. When he started his YouTube channel, he made videos critiquing other people’s real estate advice and quickly started garnering attention.

He’s now hoping to capitalize on that following his bid for governor. If elected, he’d focus on homelessness, something Newsom identified as his No. 1 priority before the pandemic hit but has only worsened.

Paffrath said he’d use his emergency powers to build 80 shelters that would provide substance abuse help, mental health treatment and educational support on site, as well as meals and showers. While they’re under construction, he’d dispatch the National Guard to help homeless people on the streets by passing out supplies and building temporary bathrooms.

Once the shelters are up and running — he says within 60 days — no one would be allowed to sleep on the streets. He envisions ambulances picking up people on the streets at night and bringing them to shelters or helping them get medical care, but said people would not be arrested.

California has roughly 160,000 homeless people, and politicians and community groups have for years struggled to find policy solutions. Shelters have proven an insufficient support system.

But Paffrath believes his approach will build goodwill with lawmakers to move forward on other priorities, like a wide-ranging infrastructure plan that would include constructing a pipeline to the Mississippi River for a new source of water and building underground tunnels to alleviate traffic, an idea championed by billionaire Elon Musk.

He’s also proposing giving interested adults $2,000 per month to attend “future schools” where they can learn skills such as computer programming or electrical engineering to find high-paying jobs.

Paffrath feels he’s been unfairly blocked by the Democratic Party and its message to only vote no on the recall and not pick a replacement candidate. He said that could result in a conservative Republican governor. Paffrath believes Newsom’s campaign should tout his candidacy as a viable backup.

“Maybe they’ll be too arrogant to do it,” he said. “But it would be very smart for them to do that.”

__

This story has been corrected to say Paffrath and his wife have a net worth of at least $15 million, not assets totaling $15 million.

Copyright
© 2021 . All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

TikTok users will soon be able to buy stuff directly through the short videos on the app — something they had only been able to do through ads until now.

Canadian e-commerce company Shopify said Tuesday that businesses will be able to add a shopping tab to their TikTok profiles to create a “mini-storefront” that links directly to their online store for checkout.

The shopping tool, which is still being tested, is available to merchants in the U.S., the U.K. and Canada, and will roll out to more regions in the coming months. Shopify already had a deal with TikTok that let merchants create “shoppable” video ads that drive customers to online stores.

ByteDance, the Beijing-based company that owns TikTok, already runs a thriving social media marketplace on Douyin, its twin video app for the Chinese market. Buying products through social media websites isn’t yet as common in the U.S., though Pinterest and Facebook-owned Instagram have made some inroads.

Reality star Kylie Jenner is among the first merchants to participate in the program by selling her skincare and cosmetics line through TikTok.

Copyright
© 2021 . All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

BEIJING (AP) — China’s Zhurong Mars rover is soldiering on after completing its initial program to explore the red planet and search for frozen water that could provide clues as to whether it once supported life.

China’s National Space Administration said on its website Friday that Zhurong completed its 90-day program on Aug. 15 and was in excellent technical condition and fully charged.

It said it would continue to explore the area known as Utopia Planitia where it landed on May 14. Zhurong has been consistently sending back photos and data via the Tianwen-1 orbiter that crosses over it once a day.

After the United States, China is the second country to land and sustainably operate a spacecraft on Mars, where days are 40 minutes longer than on Earth.

At 1.85 meters (6 feet) in height, Zhurong is significantly smaller than the American Perseverance rover, which is exploring the planet with a tiny helicopter. NASA expects its rover to collect its first sample in July for return to Earth as early as 2031.

Concurrently, China is assembling its permanent space station, with three astronauts now aboard the Tianhe, or Heavenly Harmony, core that was put into orbit on April 29. Two of the astronauts completed their second space walk on Friday. All three are due to return to Earth in September and be replaced by a new crew.

China earlier launched two smaller experimental space stations. It has been excluded from the International Space Station largely at the insistence of the United States, which is wary of the Chinese space program’s secrecy and close military links. Congressional approval is also required for any cooperation between NASA and the CNSA.

China also recently brought back lunar samples, the first by any country’s space program since the 1970s, and has landed a probe and rover on the moon’s less explored far side.

China first put an astronaut into orbit in 2003, becoming just the third country to do so.

Copyright
© 2021 . All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The guard in a control room at Iran’s notorious Evin prison springs to attention as one by one, monitors in front of him suddenly blink off and display something very different from the surveillance footage he had been watching.

“Cyberattack,” the monitors flash. Other guards gather around, holding up their mobile phones and filming, or making urgent calls. ”General protest until the freedom of political prisoners” reads another line on the screens.

An online account, purportedly by an entity describing itself as a group of hackers, shared footage of the incident, as well as parts of other surveillance video it seized, with The Associated Press. The alleged hackers said the release of the footage was an effort to show the grim conditions at the prison, known for holding political prisoners and those with ties abroad who are often used as bargaining chips in negotiations with the West.

In one part of the footage, a man smashes a bathroom mirror to try to cut open his arm. Prisoners — and even guards — beat each other in scenes captured by surveillance cameras. Inmates sleeping in single rooms with bunk beds stacked three high against the walls, wrapping themselves in blankets to stay warm.

“We want the world to hear our voice for freedom of all political prisoners,” read a message from the online account to the AP in Dubai.

Iran, which has faced criticism from the United Nations special rapporteur over its prison conditions, did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent to its U.N. mission in New York. Iranian state media in the country have not acknowledged the incident at Evin.

However, several embarrassing hacking incidents have struck Iran amid ongoing tensions over its accelerated nuclear program and as talks with the West over reviving the atomic accord between Tehran and world powers remain on hold.

Four former prisoners at Evin, as well as an Iranian human rights activist abroad, have told the AP that the videos resemble areas from the facility in northern Tehran. Some of the scenes also matched photographs of the facility previously taken by journalists, as well as images of the prison as seen in satellite photos accessed by the AP.

The footage also shows rows of sewing machines that prisoners use, a solitary confinement cell with a squat toilet and exterior areas of the prison. There are images of the prison’s open-air exercise yard, prisoners’ bathrooms and offices within the facility.

Much of the footage bears timestamps from 2020 and this year. Several videos without the stamp show guards wearing facemasks, signaling they came amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Though there is no sound in the videos, they speak to the grim world faced by prisoners at the facility. One sequence shows what appears to be an emaciated man dumped from a car in the parking lot, then dragged through the prison. Another shows a cleric walking down the stairs and passing by the man, without stopping.

Guards in another video are seen beating a man in a prisoner’s uniform. One guard sucker-punches a prisoner in a holding cell. Guards also fight among themselves, as do the prisoners. Many are crammed into single-room cells. No one wears a facemask.

The account that shared the videos with the AP calls itself “The Justice of Ali,” a reference to the Prophet Muhammad’s son-in-law who is revered by Shiites. It also mocks Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

It claimed to have “hundreds” of gigabytes of data from what it described as a hack conducted several months ago. It did not answer questions about who was involved in the leak.

The account linked the timing of its leak to the recent election of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, a hard-line acolyte of Khamenei involved in the execution of thousands in 1988 at the end of the Iran-Iraq War.

“The Evin prison is a stain on Raisi’s black turban and white beard,” the message on the screens in the prison control room also read.

Iran, long sanctioned by the West, faces difficulties in getting up-to-date hardware and software, often relying on Chinese-manufactured electronics or older systems. The control room system seen in the video, for instance, appeared to be running Windows 7, for which Microsoft no longer provides patches. That would make it easier for a potential hacker to target. Pirated versions of Windows and other software are common across Iran.

In recent months, Iran’s railroad system was targeted by an apparent cyberattack. Other self-described hacker groups have published details about Iranians alleging hacking on behalf of the theocracy. Meanwhile the most-famous cyberattack — the Stuxnet virus that destroyed Iranian centrifuges at the height of Western fears over Tehran’s program — is widely suspected to have been an American and Israeli creation.

Evin prison was built in 1971 under Iran’s Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. It housed political prisoners then and later, after the 1979 Islamic Revolution swept the shah from power.

While in theory under the control of Iran’s prison system, Evin also has specialized units for political prisoners and those with Western ties, run by the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which answers only to Khamenei. The facility is the target of both U.S. and European Union sanctions.

After Iran cracked down on protesters following the disputed 2009 re-election of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, many of the arrested protesters ended up in Evin. Lawmakers later pushed for reforms at Evin, following reports of abuses at the prison — which led to the installation of the closed-circuit cameras.

Problems continued, however. Reports by U.N. Special Rapporteur Javaid Rehman repeatedly named Evin prison as a site of abuses of prisoners. Rehman warned in January that Iran’s entire prison system faced “long-standing overcrowding and hygiene deficiencies” and “insurmountable obstacles for responding to COVID-19.”

“Prisoners of conscience and political prisoners have contracted COVID-19 or experienced symptoms, with many denied testing or treatment or suffering unnecessary delays in receiving test results and treatment,” he wrote.

___

Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.

Copyright
© 2021 . All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.