Your Next Lawn Chair Is Coming From Vietnam, but It's Still Kind of Chinese
Factory owner Ren Li said so many other Chinese factories were moving to Vietnam to avoid high U.S. tariffs that he needed to give his workers a big increase to keep them from getting poached.

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Bloomberg
36 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Toyota's Internal Inertia Stifles Digital Transformation Effort
Inside Toyota Motor Corp., a group of employees are worried about the company's future in an era when a car's software matters just as much as its sheet metal. The world's biggest automaker is known for churning out reliable cars like clockwork, but it's been struggling to keep up with Elon Musk's Tesla Inc., China's BYD Co. and other frontrunners in the industry's shift toward electric vehicles with sophisticated software.


Fox News
2 hours ago
- Fox News
Humanoid robot swaps its own battery to work 24/7
Robots used to need our help to keep going. They had to be plugged in or manually recharged. Now, UBTech is changing that. The company's new humanoid, the Walker S2, has a feature that could reshape the future of factory work. It can swap out its own battery, requiring no human intervention. That means it can keep going, almost nonstop, 24/7. Sign up for my FREE CyberGuy ReportGet my best tech tips, urgent security alerts and exclusive deals delivered straight to your inbox. Plus, you'll get instant access to my Ultimate Scam Survival Guide — free when you join my Instead of shutting down to recharge, the Walker S2 walks to a nearby swap station. When one battery starts to run low, the robot turns its torso, uses built-in tools on its arms and removes the drained battery. It then picks up a fresh one, plugs it in and gets back to work immediately. The entire process takes about three minutes. This system is similar to battery-swapping tech used in electric vehicles. But this time, it's for humanoid robots. The Walker S2 is the size of a small adult. It's 5 feet, 3 inches tall and weighs 95 pounds. It has two 48-volt lithium batteries. When one runs out, it switches to the other. Each battery lasts approximately two hours while walking or four hours when the robot is standing still. Swap stations also monitor battery health. If a battery starts to degrade, a technician can replace it. UBTech claims the Walker S2 is designed for real-world use. It has been tested in car factories operated by BYD, Nio and Zeekr. These robots are not just for show. They have vision systems to detect battery levels. A green light indicates that a battery is ready to use. The robot reads that, picks it up and plugs it in using a USB-style connector. The robot also features a display face to communicate its status to human workers. And, yes, there's an emergency stop button, just in case. China is investing heavily in robotics. More than 1,600 robotics companies operate in Shenzhen, UBTech's home base. Projects range from humanoids like the Walker S2 to delivery robots that ride the subway and restock convenience stores. This move toward automation is about global competition. China is betting on AI and robotics to lead the next era of manufacturing. Robots like the Walker S2 are built to work nonstop. That changes what the workplace looks like, not just in factories, but everywhere. You could start seeing machines like this in airports, warehouses or even hospitals. They handle the physical tasks. You focus on the thinking, planning or managing. For businesses, 24/7 automation means more output without adding more staff. It keeps operations moving, day and night. This tech is no longer a preview of what's next. It's starting to show up on real job sites. UBTech's Walker S2 is an example of how automation is moving beyond the lab and into the workplace. With battery swapping, humanoid robots may soon be able to work longer hours than any human could ever do. They don't take coffee breaks. They don't sleep. They just keep going. Would you be comfortable working next to a robot that never needs rest, and would you worry it would eventually take your job? Let us know by writing us at Sign up for my FREE CyberGuy ReportGet my best tech tips, urgent security alerts and exclusive deals delivered straight to your inbox. Plus, you'll get instant access to my Ultimate Scam Survival Guide — free when you join my Copyright 2025 All rights reserved.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
JD.com, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:JD) Fundamentals Look Pretty Strong: Could The Market Be Wrong About The Stock?
It is hard to get excited after looking at (NASDAQ:JD) recent performance, when its stock has declined 2.2% over the past week. However, a closer look at its sound financials might cause you to think again. Given that fundamentals usually drive long-term market outcomes, the company is worth looking at. In this article, we decided to focus on ROE. Return on equity or ROE is an important factor to be considered by a shareholder because it tells them how effectively their capital is being reinvested. In short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments. Trump has pledged to "unleash" American oil and gas and these 15 US stocks have developments that are poised to benefit. How Is ROE Calculated? Return on equity can be calculated by using the formula: Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity So, based on the above formula, the ROE for is: 16% = CN¥49b ÷ CN¥309b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2025). The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. So, this means that for every $1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of $0.16. Check out our latest analysis for Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth? We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. We now need to evaluate how much profit the company reinvests or "retains" for future growth which then gives us an idea about the growth potential of the company. Generally speaking, other things being equal, firms with a high return on equity and profit retention, have a higher growth rate than firms that don't share these attributes. Earnings Growth And 16% ROE At first glance, seems to have a decent ROE. Even when compared to the industry average of 16% the company's ROE looks quite decent. Consequently, this likely laid the ground for the decent growth of 8.6% seen over the past five years by Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that reported growth was lower than the industry growth of 12% over the last few years, which is not something we like to see. The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. If you're wondering about valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry. Is Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits? has a healthy combination of a moderate three-year median payout ratio of 31% (or a retention ratio of 69%) and a respectable amount of growth in earnings as we saw above, meaning that the company has been making efficient use of its profits. While has been growing its earnings, it only recently started to pay dividends which likely means that the company decided to impress new and existing shareholders with a dividend. Upon studying the latest analysts' consensus data, we found that the company's future payout ratio is expected to drop to 22% over the next three years. However, the company's ROE is not expected to change by much despite the lower expected payout ratio. Summary Overall, we are quite pleased with performance. Specifically, we like that the company is reinvesting a huge chunk of its profits at a high rate of return. This of course has caused the company to see a good amount of growth in its earnings. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down. Are these analysts expectations based on the broad expectations for the industry, or on the company's fundamentals? Click here to be taken to our analyst's forecasts page for the company. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.