Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
More tech earnings. Amazon, Microsoft, and Intel will report first quarter earnings for 2018. Investors are waiting to see whether Amazon can continue to grow, after the company announced last week it had reached 100 million Prime members. Microsoft is expected to report more than $23 billion in revenue, thanks, in part, to its cloud-computing service, Azure.
Porsche will open a driving experience center in Shanghai. The company says its classic two-door sports cars are taking off in China, where it sold 71,000 cars last year, a 10% rise from the year before. This follows China’s move toward lighter regulations on foreign car manufacturers and lower import duties.
General Motors’ president will visit South Korea. Dan Ammann will meet with lawmakers and government officials to discuss raising the size of GM’s investment in its South Korean subsidy from an originally proposed $2.8 billion. GM Korea narrowly avoided bankruptcy on Monday after striking a deal with its labor union.
While you were sleeping
Facebook beats earnings expectations. Facebook’s first quarter revenue defied scandal to rise 49% to $12 billion, and its profit rose 63%, to $5 billion. Since news of Cambridge Analytica’s illicit data harvesting broke late in the quarter, it’s still possible the scandal will eventually affect Facebook’s bottom line.
Comcast put in a bid for Sky. Comcast confirmed it submitted a $31 billion bid for the media company, putting pressure on 21st Century Fox, which has a 39% stake in Sky. The terms of the bid were good enough to prompt Sky to withdraw its recommendation (paywall) for Fox’s $16 billion bid for the share of Sky it doesn’t already own.
Twitter reported earnings. For the second quarter in a row, Twitter posted a profit, signaling the company may finally have reached stable profitability. The social network now has 336 million monthly active users, up 3% from the previous quarter. But the company’s stock price dropped anyway, on the news that revenue growth would likely slow in the future.
Peter Madsen was sentenced to life in jail. The Danish inventor was convicted of the murder of Swedish freelance journalist Kim Wall, who went missing after a trip on Wall’s homemade submarine. Madsen admitted to dismembering Wall’s body and throwing her remains overboard, but claims her death was an accident.
Officials may have found the Golden State Killer. New DNA evidence led to the arrest of Joseph James DeAngela, a 72-year old former policeman, in a case that’s been ongoing for four decades. He is suspected to have killed 12 people, raped at least 45 victims, and burglarized hundreds of homes.
Quartz obsession interlude
Marc Bain on the two garment factory fires a century apart that show how globalization has sapped labor’s power: “The aftermath of [the] Rana Plaza [factory collapse in Bangladesh] represents an unprecedented effort by international brands to reform an entire industry—a new role for clothing companies. Historically, governments move to regulate, or private owners are forced to act after pressure from the workers themselves.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Music industry upswings don’t necessarily help musicians. Streaming revenues finally put the industry back on the map, but labels, not artists, still pocket most of the cash.
Cash isn’t dead. Eliminating a way to anonymously exchange funds may decrease crime, but it also assumes government regulations will always be morally sound.
Reddit needs to do more than just clean house. Banishing violently misogynist groups like “r/incels” may only push them deeper into the web.
Surprising discoveries
Pig brains can be kept alive outside the body. The discovery could allow scientists to study healthy, functioning brain cells.
An English dog got its own Windsor Castle. The lhasa apso’s owner, a lottery winner and huge royal wedding fan, spent thousands on a replica kennel.
A loud noise knocked out stock exchange servers in northern Europe. It came from an errant fire prevention system and was as loud as a rock concert.
Alexa can teach your kids how to say “please.” The new Echo Dot Kids Edition is undoubtedly the first wave of AI for kids.
Win a scholarship by playing Fortnite. Being exceptionally good at the addicting survival shooter video game could earn you $4,000 to put towards tuition at an Ohio university.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, lavish kennels, and magic words to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day or download our apps for iPhone and Android. Today’s Daily Brief was written and edited by Susan Howson and Preeti Varathan.