The R&D World Index (RDWI) for the week ending May 12, 2023, closed at 2,698.55 for the 25 companies in the RDWI. The Index was up 0.62% (or 16.69 basis points). Ten of the 25 RDWI members gained value last week from 0.10% (Roche Holdings) to 14.15% (Volkswagen AG). Fifteen of the 25 RDWI members lost value last week from -0.12% (Bristol-Myers Squibb) to -6.58% (Intel).

R&D25 – R&D World’s Top 25 Index is now available online at index.rdworldonline.com. The R&D25 is a stock market summary of the top 25 international industrial companies involved in R&D. These companies include pharmaceutical (10 companies), automotive (6 companies), and ICT (Information and communication technology) (9 companies). The industrial share of R&D varies from country to country with about two-thirds of all U.S. R&D (roughly $600 billion) provided by industrial sources. Fifteen of the R&D25 companies are headquartered in the U.S., but all 25 companies have global R&D budgets. The stock market values of these companies are an indicator of the resources these companies have to invest in R&D. The R&D25 listings provide a perspective of the global economic effects and changes on these companies’ overall R&D efforts. We invite you to review the online R&D25 listings which are regularly updated.

NASA and Boeing Co., Arlington County, Virginia, announced last week that they are teaming up to develop a Sustainable Flight Demonstrator. Boeing was given a $425 million contract to test, fly, and build the aircraft, while NASA will design and plan the aircraft. The aircraft will have thinner than normal wings, which will cause less drag and thereby lower fuel requirements and less pollution.

Global refrigeration manufacturer Danfoss Group, Nordborg, Denmark, announced last week that its Global Green Refrigerants Compressors Laboratory has opened in Tianjin, China. The new lab is the company’s most advanced and largest scroll compressor R&D and testing center and will focus on the research and testing of commercial compressors, especially with variable frequency technologies and their relevant applications in heat pumps.

Samsung Electronics, Seoul, South Korea, announced last week that it expects to increase its spending to raise semiconductor wafer input for R&D applications. While currently experiencing a severe industry downturn with slumping demand and falling prices, the company said it will stick to its capital expenditure plan to bolster R&D to gear up for the future. In 1Q 2023, the company invested a record $4.94 billion in R&D, more than 10 times the company’s operating profit, and a record $8 billion in equipment and facilities.

An international group of doctors and public health experts have requested a moratorium on AI (artificial intelligence) research until the development and use of the technology are properly regulated. The group made this request in the open-access journal BMJ Global Health, London, U.K. The group highlights three threats: 1) the organization of personal data; 2) the development of Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems and 3) the loss of jobs due to AI implementation. With the current exponential growth in AI R&D, the window of opportunity to avoid serious and potentially existential harm is closing, according to the group.

Large lithium producers, Livent, Bessemer City, North Carolina and Allkem, Brisbane, Australia, have agreed to merge, creating a company valued at $10.6 billion. The merger combines lithium mines and deposits in Canada, Australia, and South America with a network of chemical-processing plants in the U.S. and China. The combined group will be able to produce lithium for use in batteries for electric vehicles faster than either company can alone. The deal is expected to close by the end of 2023.

The Biden administration has proposed new rules to drastically reduce greenhouse gases from coal- and gas-fired power plants. These measures will cost billions of dollars to implement but will curb emissions that are warming the atmosphere and harming human health. Average utility bills are expected to rise by 2% by 2030 with these new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-dictated rules. The rules start in 2030, with full compliance required by 2042.

RDW Index member Toyota, Toyota Aichi, Japan, announced last week that it is increasing its investment in electric vehicle (EV) development by $7.4 billion through 2030, bringing its total investment for the period to about $37 billion. The company said it will sell 202,000 EVs in FY2023, more than five times the number from FY2022. The company stated in April that it will release 10 new EV models by 2026 and form a new unit within the company to focus solely on fully electric cars. While EVs are currently more expensive to produce than gasoline-fueled vehicles, Toyota currently says it aims to secure the same level of profitability with EVs.

RDW Index member Apple, Cupertino, California, is expected to announce a new product within the next several weeks that goes against many of its previous idioms for new product releases. First off, the proposed product is still in an experimental mode. Second, the product’s price tag of about $3,000 is outside of the realm for most Apple consumers. The product is a headset that combines augmented and virtual reality in one device and is aimed at video gamers. Mass production of the headset is not expected until September.

 

R&D World’s R&D Index is a weekly stock market summary of the top international companies involved in R&D. The top 25 industrial R&D spenders in 2020 were selected based on the latest listings from Schonfeld & Associates’ June 2020 R&D Ratios & Budgets. These 25 companies include pharmaceutical (10 companies), automotive (6 companies), and ICT (9 companies) which invested a cumulative total of nearly 260 billion dollars in R&D in 2019, or approximately 10% of all the R&D spending in the world by government, industries, and academia combined, according to R&D World’s 2021 Global R&D Funding Forecast. The stock prices used in the R&D World Index are tabulated from NASDAQ, NYSE, and OTC common stock prices for the companies selected at the close of stock trading business on the Friday preceding the online publication of the R&D World Index