Opening Bell: 7.27.21

Elon Musk snipes at Apple twice on Tesla earnings call [CNBC]
“I think we do want to emphasize that our goal is to support the advent of sustainable energy,” Musk said in response to a question about letting competitors use its charger network. “It is not to create a walled garden and use that to bludgeon our competitors which is used by some companies.”
Musk then faked a cough and said, “Apple.”
During the call, Musk said he likely would not appear on future Tesla earnings calls unless he has “something really important” that he needs to say.

Here’s what every major Tesla analyst says about its second-quarter earnings [CNBC Pro]
The automaker reported on Monday afternoon net income of $1.14 billion for the period, its most profitable quarter on record. That equates to $1.45 in adjusted earnings per share on $11.96 billion in revenue. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were looking for 98 cents in earnings per share on $11.30 billion in revenue.

Beijing Gives Tech Investors a Brutal New Tutorial [WSJ]
Fighting the Fed, or Washington, is usually a losing game—but betting against Beijing’s fast-moving, often opaque regulatory apparatus in Xi Jinping’s new era of centralized control is suicidal…. Regulatory risks are notoriously difficult to quantify everywhere and shouting down angry politicians is always a dangerous game. In China, companies now know better than to try and investors should recognize that there is little they can do other than get out of the way.

Private equity firms in China ‘waiting for death’ after new rules [Al Jazeera]
While stricter regulations were expected with China looking to ease pressure on children and the cost burden on parents that has contributed to lower birth rates, private equity industry sources say they were surprised by the severity of the rules that could kill many companies and block their exits…. The rules ban these firms from raising money via listings or other capital-related activities and also bar listed Chinese companies from investing in such private tutorial institutions, an official document shows. Foreign investments are disallowed in such companies.

Judge Extends Deadline for FTC to Refile Facebook Antitrust Suit [WSJ]
The Federal Trade Commission has until Aug. 19 to file an amended version of its antitrust lawsuit against Facebook Inc…. After the agency files an amended suit, Facebook would have until Oct. 4 to respond.

JPMorgan's head of electronic trading analytics left for a hedge fund [eFinancialCareers]
[Pascal] Tomecek is joining the New York office of Cubist Systematic Strategies, where he'll be head of research technology according to his LinkedIn profile…. Working in a data role for Cohen can be an opening to a whole new baseball career: Sameer Gupta, the head of data solutions for Point72 has also been made the head of data solutions for the Mets.

GE’s Turnaround Rides a Pandemic Rebound [WSJ]
GE said its second-quarter revenue rose 9% to $18.3 billion from the year-ago period, when airlines grounded planes and canceled jet purchases as Covid-19-related lockdowns took hold.
The company reported another quarterly net loss on Tuesday, but said it had an adjusted profit that topped Wall Street’s expectations excluding one-time charges.