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  • Nasdaq logs best January since 2001 as stocks climb to cap off stellar month

    Nasdaq logs best January since 2001 as stocks climb to cap off stellar month

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    U.S. stocks finished in the green on Tuesday as the Nasdaq cemented its best January performance since 2001 amid a broad-based rally in equities that saw some of 2022’s worst performers take the lead. The S&P 500 SPX gained 58.83 points, or about 1.5%, to finish January at 4,076.60, a gain of 6.2% for the month, according to Dow Jones Market Data. That’s the large-cap index’s best monthly gain since October, and its best January since 2019, something that is also true for the Dow. The Nasdaq Composite COMP rose by 190.74 points, or 1.7%, to 11,584.55 on Tuesday, bringing its gain for January to 10.7%. January was also…

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  • These 20 stocks led the January rally

    These 20 stocks led the January rally

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    The initial version of this story had incorrect price changes for 2023. It is now updated with information as of the market close on Jan. 31.

    Investors staged a January rally, with solid gains for the S&P 500 and an even better showing for technology stocks that led the dismal downward action in 2022.

    This…

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  • Europe’s crackdown on Big Tech omitted TikTok — but now that’s set to change

    Europe’s crackdown on Big Tech omitted TikTok — but now that’s set to change

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    TikTok holds its End Of Year Event 2022 in Milan, Italy, on Dec. 13.

    Claudio Lavenia | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images

    TikTok is beginning to feel the sting of political and regulatory pressure in Europe, where the Chinese-owned app has largely evaded the scrutiny it’s faced in the U.S.

    EU Commissioner of the Internal Market Thierry Breton warned TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew in a meeting this month the bloc could ban the app if it didn’t comply with new rules on digital content well ahead of a Sep. 1 deadline.

    That’s a marked shift from the EU’s near silence on TikTok, while U.S. lawmakers have been aggressive — banning the app from federal devices in December over national security concerns. A proposed bipartisan bill also seeks to block the app from operating in the U.S.

    It’s not that the EU is soft on tech. Europe has fined U.S. tech giants for violating the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation.

    The difference with TikTok is that the app has kept out of the crosshairs of commercial interests in Europe.

    Read more about tech and crypto from CNBC Pro

    “There is no political demand for investigation into Chinese entities,” Hosuk Lee-Makiyama, the director of think tank the European Centre for International Political Economy, said in an interview in December.

    “The user base of TikTok is a lot bigger than a lot of people in Europe think,” he said. But, he added, “you’re not going to look very closely if they don’t steal too much from your ad revenue.”

    TikTok had about 275 million monthly active users in Europe as of December, according to Sensor Tower’s Abe Yousef, noting that’s more than one third of Europe’s population of about 750 million.

    The data dragon TikTok must be placed under the surveillance of the European authorities. Europe must finally wake up.

    Moritz Korner

    MEP, European Parliament

    TikTok was the most-downloaded social media app last year in Italy and Spain, according to data.ai, formerly called App Annie. The app held second place in France and Germany, the data showed.

    WhatsApp, owned by Facebook parent Meta, ranked first among social media app downloads in France and Germany, and third in Italy and Spain, according to data.ai.

    Meta reported $29.06 billion in European revenue in 2021, a region the company defined as including Russia and Turkey. In contrast, TikTok recorded turnover of just $531 million in the European Union in 2021, according to the latest available filing in the U.K. But that was well over four times what was disclosed for 2020.

    “It takes a little bit of time for the European Commission to get its act together on these issues,” said Dexter Thillien, lead tech and telecoms analyst at The Economist Intelligence Unit.

    “It’s not because of a lack of willingness from the European Commission to do something,” Thillien told CNBC in a phone interview. “They’ve got their hands full with bigger companies.”

    TikTok isn’t yet a behemoth at the scale of companies like Meta, Alphabet and Amazon when it comes to social media, advertising and e-commerce. But TikTok has become so popular that its app has inspired copycat products, such as Meta’s Reels short video feature.

    More than half of people aged 16 to 24 in France and Germany use TikTok, according to data.ai.

    Since its launch in 2016, TikTok has amassed a worldwide monthly user base of more than 1 billion, and cemented the careers of well-known media personalities, from the D’Amelio sisters to Addison Rae.

    That gives it an attractive pool of data to train its algorithms to target users aggressively with content most aligned with their interests. TikTok’s parent, Beijing-based ByteDance, has found similar success in China with a local version of the app, called Douyin.

    A big fear among U.S. intelligence officials — and increasingly lawmakers in Europe, as well — is that Beijing could influence how TikTok targets its users to engage in propaganda or censorship.

    Read more about China from CNBC Pro

    “TikTok’s success is the result of a European policy failure,” Moritz Korner, a member of the European Parliament for Germany’s Free Democratic Party, told CNBC via email.

    “From a geopolitical perspective, the EU’s inactivity towards TikTok has been naive.”

    Korner has been calling on the European Commission to pressure data protection authorities into taking action against TikTok since 2019. He is worried the platform poses “several unacceptable risks for European users,” including “data access by Chinese authorities, censorship, [and] tracking of journalists.”

    “The data dragon TikTok must be placed under the surveillance of the European authorities,” said Korner. “Europe must finally wake up.”

    Why Europe’s tone is changing

    Last month, ByteDance admitted to using two journalists’ TikTok data to locate their physical movements, according to an internal memo. TikTok distanced itself from the activity, and said the employees involved were no longer employed at ByteDance.

    Surveillance concerns, in addition to the EU’s tough Digital Services Act, were a big topic of conversation in Chew’s meetings with EU officials earlier this month.

    The DSA, which was approved last year, is yet to be applied in Europe. EU officials are pressuring tech giants of all stripes to get their houses in order before a Sep. 1 deadline, including TikTok.

    “The EU takes privacy and data protection issues very seriously. And it is building one of the most rigorous regulatory architectures for digital platforms, including TikTok, in the world,” Manuel Muniz, provost at IE University, told CNBC.

    Under Chinese counter-espionage and national security rules, TikTok’s parent company ByteDance and other Chinese tech firms would be forced to share user data with Beijing if asked to by the government, experts previously told CNBC.

    This was a concern back when the U.S. was pressuring allies to ban Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications giant, in 2019.

    China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement to CNBC that the Chinese government has never and will not require companies or individuals to collect or share data located in foreign countries in violation of local laws.

    The ministry said relevant parties should respect the principles of market economy and fair competition, stop abusing the concept of national security and provide Chinese companies with a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory business environment.

    TikTok has admitted that data on its European users can be accessed by employees based in China, but denies it would ever share such information with the Chinese government. A company spokesperson told CNBC the firm has “always been bound by and strived to comply with EU regulations that apply to us.”

    “We’re continuing to foster a strong culture of compliance by investing heavily in evolving our platform and business to align with the changing regulatory framework,” the spokesperson said.

    The firm nonetheless says it is committed to creating a robust system for processing the data of Europeans within Europe. This will include establishing a new data center in Ireland to house European users’ data locally.

    That reflects a major difference: European regulators have focused on data processing, while U.S. regulators look for national security threats.

    Meanwhile, investigations into TikTok’s accessing of users’ data in China are “starting to bear fruit,” according to Thillien.

    Investigations take time. The Irish Data Protection Commission took nearly five years to end its probe into Meta’s targeted advertising practices, which resulted in a fine of more than $400 million.

    The commission is examining whether the transfer of user data from TikTok to China and processing of data on minors is in breach of the bloc’s strict GDPR privacy rules. An outcome in the Irish privacy probe isn’t expected until late this year or 2024.

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  • Could Big Tech layoffs keep growing? Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google may give hints in biggest week of earnings.

    Could Big Tech layoffs keep growing? Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google may give hints in biggest week of earnings.

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    In the biggest week of the holiday-earnings season, Big Tech results will receive the spotlight amid thousands of layoffs that could only be the beginning.

    After tech stocks were decimated in 2022, investors will be looking for signs of a turnaround in holiday reports and potential forecasts for the year ahead from three of 2022’s top five market-value losers: Amazon.com Inc.
    AMZN,
    -0.66%    ,
    Apple Inc.
    AAPL,
    -0.63%
    and Meta Platforms Inc.
    META,
    -0.60%    .
    The other two stocks on that list — Microsoft Corp.
    MSFT,
    -1.38%
    and Tesla Inc.
    TSLA,
    -0.15%
    — reported last week, and Microsoft’s results in the wake of a mass-layoffs announcement did not bode well for its Big Tech brethren.

    See also: Microsoft could be the cloud sector’s ‘canary in the coal mine’

    Those companies — along with Google parent Alphabet Inc.
    GOOGL,
    -1.32%
    GOOG,
    -1.49%
    — will deliver results after finding themselves in unfamiliar territory: A backdrop of layoffs amid slowing demand for core products like digital ads, electronics and e-commerce, after a two-year pandemic surge and a two-decade-plus honeymoon with investors. Some analysts say the bottom hasn’t arrived, for either their finances or their workforces.

    The one Big Tech company that hasn’t taken a sword to its payroll is Apple, which also increased its staff the least among the group during the COVID-19 pandemic. Apple shed $846 billion from its market cap last year, and now reports after its core product was part of the smartphone industry’s worst year since 2013 and worst holiday-season decline on record. The iPhone maker could also face questions from Wall Street about changing up its product sourcing, which has relied heavily on China, a nation whose COVID-19 restrictions have constrained production of some phones.

    While the tech-industry layoffs have yet to hit Apple, some analysts say the company is unlikely to be spared, despite Chief Executive Tim Cook requesting and receiving a healthy cut to his compensation.

    “Similar to other big technology companies, we expect Apple to adjust its head count to reflect an increasingly challenging global macroeconomic environment,” D.A. Davidson analyst Tom Forte said in a research note Tuesday.

    Rivals that have already cut could face more if profit continues to fall along with revenue growth. Alphabet, for instance, is cutting 12,000 employees, but an activist investor has already said that is not enough considering how much the company grew during the pandemic, and the difficulties it now faces in the online-ad sector.

    Opinion: Microsoft’s big move in AI does not mean it will challenge Google in search

    Analysts have said Meta’s “darkest days” are still ahead, as it navigates a round of more than 11,000 layoffs, competition from TikTok and its early stumbles in the metaverse. While cutting, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has promised to keep spending on metaverse development, even as the efforts slash the Facebook parent company’s previously healthy bottom line.

    “In 2023, we expect Meta to remain engulfed in arduous battles inside the Octagon,” Monness Crespi Hardt analyst Brian White said in a research note on Thursday. “In the long run, we believe Meta will benefit from the secular digital ad trend and innovate in the metaverse; however, regulatory scrutiny persists, internal headwinds remain, and we believe the darkest days of this downturn are ahead of us.”

    Full Facebook earnings preview: Meta’s ‘darkest days’ are ahead, but some analysts say ad sales are still on track

    Online retailer Amazon
    AMZN,
    -0.66%
    was the first Big Tech company to publicly declare cost-cutting was in order a year ago, and still coughed up $834 billion in market value in 2022. It kicked off 2023 with plans to lay off more than 18,000 workers as struggles continued throughout last year, when inflation siphoned away more consumer dollars toward essentials.

    Amazon’s own AWS cloud-infrastructure unit has helped to drive sales in years past, as businesses built out their tech infrastructures. But remarks and the outlook from Microsoft executives — the third-biggest market-cap loser of 2022, and a big barometer for tech spending overall — weren’t exactly encouraging for cloud growth: Executives there last week warned of “moderating consumption growth” for its own cloud business.

    For more: One company could determine whether U.S. corporate profits rise to a record in 2023

    “Sentiment was already bearish on AWS, with investors looking for slowing revenue over the next three quarters, largely confirmed after Microsoft earnings and conversations with industry checks,” Oppenheimer analyst Jason Helfstein said in a note on Wednesday. “Positively, we believe e-commerce revenue has stabilized, and margins should improve from organic scale and announced head-count reductions.”

    Layoffs are also starting to spread beyond Big Tech companies that grew fast during the pandemic in response to massive demand spikes. International Business Machines Corp.
    IBM,
    +0.76%
    confirmed plans for 3,900 layoffs as it reported earnings, despite already reducing its workforce by at least 20% during the pandemic.

    One sector to watch is semiconductors, where a chip shortage has turned into a glut: Chip-equipment maker Lam Research Corp.
    LRCX,
    +0.04%
    announced layoffs in the past week as Silicon Valley semiconductor giant Intel Corp.
    INTC,
    +0.27%
    displayed “astonishingly bad” results while laying off workers. When Intel rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc.
    AMD,
    -1.64%
    reports this week, it could determine whether there is any silver lining in the semiconductor storm.

    Earnings preview: AMD faces even more scrutiny after ‘astonishingly bad’ Intel outlook

    Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives said in a Sunday note that a common theme of this week’s Big Tech earnings will be that “tech layoffs will accelerate with more pain ahead to curb expenses,” though he added that “Apple will likely cut some costs around the edges, but we do not expect mass layoffs from Cupertino this week.”

    Big Tech earnings were a salve to other problems in the market for the past decade-plus, but with layoffs already under way and doubts about the path forward, don’t expect salvation from their results this week.

    This week in earnings

    For the week ahead, 107 S&P 500
    SPX,
    -0.19%
    companies, including six members of the Dow Jones Industrial Average
    DJIA,
    +0.18%    ,
    will report results, according to FactSet. While more Dow components reported last week, this will be the busiest week for S&P 500 holiday earnings of the season, FactSet senior earnings analyst John Butters confirmed to MarketWatch.

    Appliance-maker Whirlpool Corp.
    WHR,
    +1.18%
    reports on Monday, after it forecast fourth-quarter sales that were below expectations, following what it called a “one-off supply-chain disruption” and the pandemic home-renovation boom.

    On Tuesday, package-deliverer United Parcel Service Inc.
    UPS,
    -0.26%
    reports, amid questions about holiday-season demand. So does streaming service Spotify Technology,
    SPOT,
    -0.02%
    following its own layoffs and suggestions of possible price hikes, as well as McDonald’s Corp.
    MCD,
    -0.30%    ,
    amid concerns that rising prices are keeping people from dining out. Exxon Mobil Corp.
    XOM,
    -0.99%    ,
    Caterpillar Inc.
    CAT,
    -0.12%    ,
    Snap Inc.
    SNAP,
    +0.64%
    and Pfizer Inc.
    PFE,
    +0.72%
    also report Tuesday.

    Earnings outlook: McDonald’s earnings haven’t been hit by higher prices

    On Wednesday, T-Mobile US Inc.
    TMUS,
    +0.23%
    reports, in the wake of a data breach and wobbling cellphone demand. Coffee chain Starbucks Corp.
    SBUX,
    -0.58%
    reports on Thursday, with analysts likely to be zeroed in on U.S. demand and China’s reopening, after executives said they were confident that higher prices, along with enthusiasm from younger customers and for customizable drinks, could help them navigate any potholes in the economy.

    For the Big Tech companies, Thursday is also the big day: Apple, Amazon and Alphabet will report that afternoon, after Meta reports the prior day.

    The calls to put on your calendar

    WWE upheaval: World Wrestling Entertainment Inc.
    WWE,
    +0.91%
    reports earnings on Thursday, as Vince McMahon — who returned to the professional-wrestling organization this month following allegations of sexual misconduct — seeks a buyer or some other so-called “strategic alternative” for the company.

    Analysts have speculated how the company’s wrestling events and backlog of media content might be repurposed, with some entertaining the possibility of interest from Amazon or Netflix Inc.
    NFLX,
    -0.39%    .
    But WWE has struggled to develop story lines that stick with viewers, and has thinned its ranks of wrestlers.

    The Wall Street Journal this month reported that McMahon would pay a multimillion-dollar settlement to a former referee who accused him of raping her. Among the changes since McMahon returned was the departure of his daughter, who had been promoted to co-CEO after he stepped down from the role last year.

    There isn’t much clarity on whether Vince McMahon will be on Thursday’s earnings call, which was moved from the morning to the afternoon due to a scheduling conflict. But it should offer drama no matter who attends.

    The numbers to watch

    GM and Ford auto sales: Auto makers General Motors Co.
    GM,
    -2.00%
    and Ford Motor Co.
    F,
    -0.94%
    will issue results on Tuesday and Thursday respectively, amid signs of waning demand and rising interest rates that have made car loans more expensive. Despite falling new-vehicle sales in the third quarter, GM managed to keep its own sales higher, the AP noted.

    Mary Barry, GM’s chief executive, called out the popularity of vehicles like the Escalade, the Chevrolet Bolt EV and some pickups and SUVs during the auto maker’s third-quarter earnings call in October. During that quarter, GM said it completed and shipped nearly 75% of the unfinished vehicles held in its inventory in June. She said supply-chains were opening up again, but added that “short-term disruptions will continue to happen.”

    The auto makers report as they try to put a chip shortage and other production constraints behind them. But some forecasts call for 2022 auto sales, or sales volumes, to be the weakest in roughly a decade. Electric vehicle maker Tesla’s recent price cuts could also cut into GM’s and Ford’s own EV sales.

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  • I see this year’s budding stock rally signaling a different kind of bull market, one that’s not so reliant on just a few stocks

    I see this year’s budding stock rally signaling a different kind of bull market, one that’s not so reliant on just a few stocks

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    Jim Cramer at NYSE with bull. June 30, 2022.

    Virginia Sherwood | CNBC

    This nascent bull market started with the peak in interest rates and the dollar back in the fall and then broadened to include bank and semiconductor stocks in 2023. Is it fragile? Is it alchemy? Is it real? We’ll know after we see the quarterly earnings this week from the likes of Club holdings Apple (AAPL), Meta Platforms (META) Alphabet (GOOGL) and Amazon (AMZN), as well as what the Federal Reserve decides at its two-day meeting ending Wednesday and what the monthly nonfarm payroll numbers show Friday.

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  • Cramer’s week ahead: Fed decision on Wednesday could let the bulls ‘party on’

    Cramer’s week ahead: Fed decision on Wednesday could let the bulls ‘party on’

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    CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Friday said that Wall Street’s recent gains could continue next week depending on the Federal Reserve’s actions.

    “A decision not to raise rates at all might show too much weakness. A quarter-point with a statement that they’ll remain vigilant will allow the bulls to party on,” he said.

    The central bank is set to conclude its first meeting of the year on Wednesday, which Wall Street largely expected to beget a quarter-percentage point interest rate hike. 

    Cramer said he’ll also have his eye on the January nonfarm payrolls report set to be released Friday. “If wage inflation’s very strong, the quarter-point move will be criticized. If it’s weaker, we’ll be hearing all about that hard landing,” he said.

    All estimates for earnings, revenue and economic data are courtesy of FactSet.

    Monday: Whirlpool

    • Q4 2022 earnings release at 4:05 p.m. ET; conference call on Tuesday at 8 a.m. ET
    • Projected EPS: $3.23
    • Projected revenue: $5.08 billion

    He predicted that the company will report abating supply chain headwinds and a more frugal consumer on its conference call.

    Tuesday: Caterpillar, Pfizer, Advanced Micro Devices

    Caterpillar

    • Q4 2022 earnings release at 6:30 a.m. ET; conference call at 8:30 a.m. ET
    • Projected EPS: $4.02
    • Projected revenue; $15.82 billion

    He said the company will likely report a solid quarter.

    Pfizer

    • Q4 2022 earnings release at 6:45 a.m. ET; conference call at 10 a.m. ET
    • Projected EPS: $1.05
    • Projected revenue: $24.44 billion

    There’s more to the company than unsustainable earnings from its Covid vaccine, despite what Wall Street believes, Cramer said.

    Advanced Micro Devices

    • Q4 2022 earnings release at 4:15 p.m. ET; conference call at 5 p.m. ET
    • Projected EPS: 67 cents
    • Projected revenue: $5.51 billion

    “AMD’s got a great portfolio now, and they keep taking market share,” he said.

    Wednesday: Meta Platforms

    • Q4 2022 earnings release at 4:05 p.m. ET; conference call at 5 p.m. ET
    • Projected EPS: $2.26
    • Projected revenue: $31.54 billion

    “All I know is the stock’s had a real run, and while we own it for the Charitable Trust, we’re not pounding the table on this one. Not here,” Cramer said.

    Thursday: Ford Motor, Apple, Amazon, Alphabet

    Ford

    • Q4 2022 earnings release at 4:05 p.m. ET; conference call at 5 p.m. ET
    • Projected EPS: 62 cents
    • Projected revenue: $41.39 billion

    He said he isn’t worried that price cuts from Tesla will affect demand for Ford’s electric vehicles.

    Apple

    • Q1 21023 earnings release at 4:30 p.m. ET; conference call at 5 p.m. ET
    • Projected EPS: $1.94
    • Projected revenue: $121.81 billion

    Investors should hold onto their shares of the iPhone maker, according to Cramer.

    Amazon

    • Q4 2022 earnings release at 4:01 p.m. ET; conference call at 5:30 p.m. ET
    • Projected EPS: 17 cents
    • Projected revenue: $145.64 billion

    Amazon stock will soar if the company lays off 100,000 employees, he predicted.

    Alphabet

    • Q4 2022 earnings release at 4 p.m. ET; conference call at 4:30 p.m. ET
    • Projected EPS: $1.18
    • Projected revenue: $76.17 billion

    Cramer said that Alphabet also needs to downsize its workforce.

    Friday: Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

    • Q4 2022 earnings release at 6:30 a.m. ET; conference call at 8:30 a.m. ET
    • Projected EPS: $10.1
    • Projected revenue: $3.14 billion

    He said he likes the stock.

    Disclaimer; Cramer’s Charitable Trust owns shares of Apple, Amazon, Advanced Micro Devices, Caterpillar, Ford and Meta.

    Cramer's game plan for the trading week of Jan. 30

    Jim Cramer’s Guide to Investing

    Click here to download Jim Cramer’s Guide to Investing at no cost to help you build long-term wealth and invest smarter.

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  • ‘Robots are treated better’: Amazon warehouse workers stage first-ever strike in the UK

    ‘Robots are treated better’: Amazon warehouse workers stage first-ever strike in the UK

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    Amazon packages move on a conveyer belt at a fulfillment center in England.

    Nathan Stirk | Getty Images

    Hundreds of Amazon workers are on strike in Britain. The walkout marks the first formal industrial action in the country for the U.S. tech giant.

    The 24-hour strike action began Wednesday a minute after midnight. Strikers are expected to picket outside the company’s site in Coventry in central England throughout the day.

    At 6 a.m. London time, workers were pictured camping by a bonfire and waving union flags outside the Coventry site near Birmingham airport, known as BHX4.

    Striking workers gather around a fire pit on a picket line at the Amazon.com Inc. fulfilment centre in Coventry, UK, on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023.

    Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    One poster behind the workers had a slogan that said “Fight for £15,” and encouraged workers to join the GMB union. Another, which was bannered across a fence, read: “The wrong Amazon is burning.”

    A striking worker attaches a banner that reads “The Wrong Amazon Is Burning” on a fence near a picket line at the Amazon fulfilment center in Coventry, U.K., on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023.

    Darren Staples | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    The GMB Union, which represents the workers involved, said it expects 300 employees out of a total 1,000 at the plant to turn up to the walkout.

    Workers are planning to hold a larger scale demonstration from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. London time.

    Staff are unhappy with a pay increase of 50 pence (56 U.S. cents) per hour, equivalent to 5% and well below inflation. Amazon introduced the pay hike last summer. But warehouse workers say it fails to match the rising cost of living. They want the company to pay a minimum £15 an hour.

    They also want better working conditions. Amazon workers have raised concerns about long working hours, high injury rates, and the unrelenting pace of work, as well as aggressive, tech-enhanced monitoring of employees.

    A striking worker holds a “GMB Midlands” union flag as workers queue to pass a picket line at an Amazon fulfilment center in Coventry, U.K., on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023.

    Darren Staples | Bloomberg via Getty Images

    A spokesperson for the tech giant told CNBC in a statement that the staff involved represent “only a fraction of 1% of our UK employees.” The spokesperson said that pay for Amazon’s U.K. warehouse workers has increased 29% since 2018, and pointed to a £500 one-time payment made out to staff to help with the cost-of-living crisis.

    Wednesday’s action against the firm is the first legally mandated strike to take place in the U.K. Amazon’s U.K. staff previously stopped working spontaneously in August and on Black Friday in November.

    ‘Historic’

    Darren Westwood, one of Amazon’s warehouse workers taking part in the strikes, said it “has been a long road” to the day itself, which he described as “historic.”

    “We all saw the profits they’re making during the pandemic — that’s what angered people more,” Westwood told CNBC via phone call. “We were expecting a better increase than what they were imposing.”

    Someone the other day said we’re treated like robots — no, robots are treated better.

    Darren Westwood

    Amazon warehouse worker

    Inflation has soared due to increased energy costs and supply chain disruptions stemming from the war in Ukraine. Consumer prices rose 10.5% year-over-year in December; in response, the Bank of England has hiked interest rates to tame rising costs.

    Westwood said that he and his partner are in a reasonable financial position for now. But he worries for other employees, one of whom he said was working 60 hours a week to meet mortgage payments.

    “Someone the other day said we’re treated like robots — no, robots are treated better,” Westwood told CNBC.

    Wednesday’s action in the U.K. comes as Amazon is laying off thousands worldwide. The company began laying off 18,000 workers last week in an attempt to dial back some of the expansion it undertook during the Covid-19 period and brace for a possible recession in 2023.

    Earlier this month, Amazon launched a consultation to close down three of its U.K. sites, where it employs a combined 1,200 people. The move is not part of Amazon’s 18,000 job cuts, according to the firm.

    Amazon has long been criticized for labor shortcomings, with the company often accused of poor working conditions in its warehouses and delivery operations and squashing attempts from employees to unionize. In April, staff at the company’s Staten Island warehouse in New York became the first group in the U.S. to vote in favor of joining a union.

    “We stand in solidarity with the Amazon workers of Coventry fighting for higher pay and benefits,” Chris Smalls of Amazon Labor Union, which established the union, told CNBC. “It’s time Amazon who claims to be Earth’s best company come to the table and bargain in good faith with its unions.”

    Amazon has previously said its employees have the right to join or not join a union, but that it doesn’t believe unions are the best choice for its workers.

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  • Google axes 12,000 jobs as layoffs spread across tech sector

    Google axes 12,000 jobs as layoffs spread across tech sector

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    LONDON (AP) — Google is laying off 12,000 workers, or about 6% of its workforce, becoming the latest tech company to trim staff as the economic boom that the industry rode during the COVID-19 pandemic ebbs.

    Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who also leads its parent company Alphabet, informed staff Friday at the Silicon Valley giant about the cuts in an email that was also posted on the company’s news blog.

    It is the company’s biggest-ever round of layoffs and adds to tens of thousands of other job losses recently announced by Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook parent Meta and other tech companies as they tighten their belts amid a darkening outlook for the industry. Just this month, there have been at least 48,000 job cuts announced by major companies in the sector.

    “Over the past two years we’ve seen periods of dramatic growth,” Pichai wrote. “To match and fuel that growth, we hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today.”

    He said the layoffs reflect a “rigorous review” carried out by Google of its operations.

    The jobs being eliminated “cut across Alphabet, product areas, functions, levels and regions,” Pichai said. He said he was “deeply sorry” for the layoffs.

    Regulatory filings illustrate how Google’s workforce swelled during the pandemic, ballooning to nearly 187,000 people by late last year from 119,000 at the end of 2019.

    Pichai said that Google, founded nearly a quarter of a century ago, was “bound to go through difficult economic cycles.”

    “These are important moments to sharpen our focus, reengineer our cost base, and direct our talent and capital to our highest priorities,” he wrote. He called out the company’s investments in artificial intelligence as an area of opportunity.

    There will be job cuts in the U.S. and in other unspecified countries, according to Pichai’s letter.

    Tech companies that “not long ago were the darlings of the stock market” have been forced to freeze hiring and cut jobs in preparation for an economic downturn, said a note from Victoria Scholar, an analyst with U.K.-based Interactive Investor.

    “Digital spending is suffering, and ad revenues are falling with it,” she wrote.

    Just this week, Microsoft announced 10,000 job cuts, or nearly 5% of its workforce. Amazon said this month it is cutting 18,000 jobs, although that’s a fraction of its 1.5 million strong workforce, while business software maker Salesforce is laying off about 8,000 employees, or 10% of the total. Last fall Facebook parent Meta announced it would shed 11,000 positions, or 13% of its workers. Elon Musk slashed jobs at Twitter after after he acquired the social media company last fall.

    Those job cuts are hitting smaller players as well. U.K.-based cybersecurity firm Sophos laid off 450 employees, or 10% of its global workforce. Cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase cut 20% of its workforce, about 950 jobs, in its second round of layoffs in less than a year.

    Employment in the U.S. has been resilient despite signs of a slowing economy, and there were another 223,000 jobs added in December. Yet the tech sector grew exceptionally fast over the last several years due to increased demand as employees began to work remotely.

    CEOs of a number of companies have taken blame for growing too fast, yet those same companies, even after the latest round of job cuts, remain much larger than they were before the economic boom from the pandemic began.

    “I take full responsibility for the decisions that led us here,” Pichai wrote.

    While the tech layoffs are “shocking numbers,” their effect on tech industry employment is “nowhere near as bad as what it seems,” said John Blevins, an adjunct professor at Cornell University’s business school.

    “These workers who were laid off will readily get new jobs,” most likely at smaller tech companies, Blevins said. “They’re coming with high credentials from these big firms. That knowledge will be transferred and will actually work to everyone’s benefit.”

    In their layoff announcements, both Pichai and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella emphasized the importance of capitalizing on their advances in artificial intelligence technology, reflecting renewed competition between the tech giants sparked by Microsoft’s growing partnership with the San Francisco startup OpenAI.

    Shares of Alphabet Inc., based in Mountain View, California, rose more than 4% Friday.

    —-

    AP Technology Writers Matt O’Brien and Michael Liedtke contributed to this report.

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  • Spotify latest tech name to cut jobs, axes 6% of workforce

    Spotify latest tech name to cut jobs, axes 6% of workforce

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    LONDON (AP) — Music streaming service Spotify said Monday it’s cutting 6% of its global workforce, or about 600 jobs, becoming yet another tech company forced to rethink its pandemic-era expansion as the economic outlook weakens.

    CEO Daniel Ek announced the restructuring in a message to employees that was also posted online.

    As part of the revamp involving a management reshuffle, “and to bring our costs more in line, we’ve made the difficult but necessary decision to reduce our number of employees,” Ek wrote.

    Big tech companies like Amazon, Microsoft and Google announced tens of thousands of job cuts this month as the economic boom that the industry rode during the COVID-19 pandemic waned.

    Stockholm-based Spotify had benefited from pandemic lockdowns because more people had sought out entertainment when they were stuck at home. Ek indicated that the company’s business model, which had long focused on growth, had to evolve.

    The company’s operating costs last year grew at double its revenue growth, a gap that would be “unsustainable long-term” in any economic climate, but even more difficult to close with “a challenging macro environment,” he said.

    Spotify made “considerable effort” to rein in the costs over over the past few months, “but it simply hasn’t been enough,” he said.

    “I hoped to sustain the strong tailwinds from the pandemic and believed that our broad global business and lower risk to the impact of a slowdown in ads would insulate us. In hindsight, I was too ambitious in investing ahead of our revenue growth,” Ek said.

    He said that’s why the company is cutting its global workforce by about 6%. Ek didn’t give an actual number of job losses but a company spokesman said it’s 600, based on 9,808 employees listed in its latest quarterly report.

    “I take full accountability for the moves that got us here today,” Ek said.

    After years of heady growth, analysts say tech companies are being forced to cut jobs in preparation for an economic dowturn that’s likely to cut demand for their software, products and services and reduce digital ad spending.

    Just last week, Google announced it was slashing 12,000 jobs while Microsoft said it would cull 10,000 workers, bringing to at least 48,000 the number of cuts that Big Tech companies announced in January alone.

    Even with all of the recent layoffs, most tech companies are still vastly larger than they were three years ago. Spotify had 4,405 employees in 2019, before the pandemic began, according to that year’s annual report.

    In morning trading, shares of Spotify added 3.5% to $101.32.

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  • Here are the companies that have laid off employees this year — so far | CNN Business

    Here are the companies that have laid off employees this year — so far | CNN Business

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    New York
    CNN
     — 

    Just this week, Alphabet, Google’s parent company, Microsoft

    (MSFT)     and Vox Media announced layoffs that will affect more than 22,000 workers.

    Their moves follow on the heels of job cuts earlier this month at Amazon, Goldman Sachs and Salesforce. More companies are expected to do the same as firms that aggressively hired over the last two years slam on the brakes, and in many cases shift into reverse.

    The cutbacks are in sharp contrast to 2022, which had the second-highest level of job gains on record, with 4.5 million. But last year’s job numbers began falling as the year went on, with December’s job report showing the lowest monthly gains in two years.

    The highest level of hiring occurred in 2021, when 6.7 million jobs were added. But that came on the heels of the first year of the pandemic, when the US effectively shut down and 9.3 million jobs were lost.

    The current layoffs are across multiple industries, from media firms to Wall Street, but so far are hitting Big Tech especially hard.

    That’s a contrast from job losses during the pandemic, which saw consumers’ buying habits shifting toward e-commerce and other online services during lockdown. Tech firms went on a hiring spree.

    But now, workers are returning to their offices and in-person shopping is bouncing back. Add in the increasing likelihood of a recession, higher interest rates and tepid demand due to rising prices, and tech businesses are slashing their costs.

    January has been filled with headlines announcing job cuts at company after company. Here is a list of layoffs this month – so far.

    Google

    (GOOGL)    ’s parent said Friday it is laying off 12,000 workers across product areas and regions, or 6% of its workforce. Alphabet added 50,000 workers over the past two years as the pandemic created greater demand for its services. But recent recession fears has advertisers pulling back from its core digital ad business.

    “Over the past two years we’ve seen periods of dramatic growth,” CEO Sundar Pichai said in an email to employees. “To match and fuel that growth, we hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today.”

    The tech behemoth is laying off 10,000 employees, the company said in a securities filing on Wednesday. Globally, Microsoft has 221,000 full-time employees with 122,000 of them based in the US.

    CEO Satya Nadella said during a talk at Davos that “no one can defy gravity” and that Microsoft could not ignore the weaker global economy.

    “We’re living through times of significant change, and as I meet with customers and partners, a few things are clear,” Nadella wrote in a memo. “First, as we saw customers accelerate their digital spend during the pandemic, we’re now seeing them optimize their digital spend to do more with less.”

    The publisher of the news and opinion website Vox, tech website The Verge and New York Magazine, announced Friday that it’s cutting 7% of its staff, or about 130 people.

    “We are experiencing and expect more of the same economic and financial pressures that others in the media and tech industries have encountered,” chief executive Jim Bankoff said in a memo.

    Layoffs are also hitting Wall Street hard. The world’s largest asset manager is eliminating 500 jobs, or less than 3% of its workforce.

    Today’s “unprecedented market environment” is a stark contrast from its attitude over the last three years,, when it increased its staff by about 22%. Its last major round of cutbacks was in 2019.

    The bank will lay off up to 3,200 workers this month amid a slump in global dealmaking activity. More than a third of the cuts are expected to be from the firm’s trading and banking units. Goldman Sachs

    (FADXX)     had almost 50,000 employees at the end of last year’s third quarter.

    The crypto brokerage announced in early January that it’s cutting 950 people – almost one in five employees in its workforce. The move comes just a few months after Coinbase laid off 1,100 people.

    Though Bitcoin had a solid start to the new year, crypto companies were slammed by significant drops in prices of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

    McDonald’s

    (MCD)    , which thrived during the pandemic, is planning on cutting some of its corporate staff, CEO Chris Kempczinski said this month.

    “We will evaluate roles and staffing levels in parts of the organization and there will be difficult discussions and decisions ahead,” Kempszinski said, outlining a plan to “break down internal barriers, grow more innovative and reduce work that doesn’t align with the company’s priorities.”

    The online personalized subscription clothing retailer said it plans to lay off 20% of its salaried staff.

    “We will be losing many talented team members from across the company and I am truly sorry,” Stitch Fix

    (SFIX)     founder and former CEO Katrina Lake wrote in a blog post.

    As the new year began, Amazon

    (AMZN)     said it plans to lay off more than 18,000 employees. Departments from human resources to the company’s Amazon

    (AMZN)     Stores will be affected.

    “Companies that last a long time go through different phases. They’re not in heavy people expansion mode every year,” CEO Andy Jassy said in a memo to employees.

    Amazon boomed during the pandemic, and hired rapidly over the last few years. But demand has cooled as consumers return to their offline lives and battle high prices. Amazon says it has more than 800,000 employees.

    At The New York Times DealBook summit In November, Jassy said he believes Amazon “made the right decision” regarding its rapid infrastructure build out but said its hiring spree is a “lesson for everyone.”

    Even as he spoke, Amazon warehouse workers who helped organize the company’s first-ever US labor union at a Staten Island facility last year were picketing Jassy’s appearance outside the conference venue.

    “We definitely want to take this opportunity to let him know that the workers are waiting and we are ready to negotiate our first contract,” Amazon Labor Union President Chris Smalls said, calling the protest a “welcoming party” for Jassy.

    Salesforce

    (CRM)     will cut about 10% of its workforce from its more than 70,000 employess and reduce its real estate footprint. In a letter to employees, Salesforce

    (CRM)    ’s chair and co-CEO Marc Benioff admitted to adding too much to the company’s headcount early in the pandemic.

    – CNN’s Clare Duffy, Matt Egan, Oliver Darcy, Julia Horowitz, Catherine Thorbecke, Paul R. La Monica, Nathaniel Meyersohn, Parija Kavilanz, Danielle Wiener-Bronner and Hanna Ziady contributed to this report.

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  • Amazon axes its charity donation program | CNN Business

    Amazon axes its charity donation program | CNN Business

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    New York
    CNN
     — 

    Amazon is shutting down its “Smile” charity donation program as the company cuts costs and rethinks its strategy.

    The Smile initiative will shut down by February 20, Amazon said in a statement Wednesday, explaining the “program has not grown to create the impact that we had originally hoped.”

    Amazon Smile donated a small percentage of sales made on eligible purchases to a charity that shoppers chose. In total, $500 million has been donated since its 2013 launch, with an average donation of less than $230 per charity, the company said.

    “With so many eligible organizations — more than 1 million globally — our ability to have an impact was often spread too thin,” Amazon

    (AMZN)     added. Charities enrolled in the program will get a one-time donation “equivalent to three months of what they earned in 2022,” Amazon

    (AMZN)     said, noting that charities will still be able to accrue donations until the program closes.

    The company isn’t completely shying away from donations, however. Amazon said it will continue to “pursue and invest in other areas where we’ve seen we can make meaningful change,” including charities that help with natural disaster relief and affordable housing.

    Amazon recently announced it would lay off roughly 18,000 employees. Several teams were affected, including the human resources department and Amazon Stores, according to a memo from CEO Andy Jassy shared with employees earlier this month.

    Amazon and other tech firms significantly ramped up hiring over the past couple of years as the pandemic shifted consumers’ habits toward e-commerce.

    Now, many of these seemingly untouchable tech companies are experiencing whiplash and laying off thousands of workers as consumers return to pre-pandemic habits and macroeconomic conditions deteriorate.

    Jassy, in his memo, said Amazon’s executives recently met to determine how to slim down the company and prioritize “what matters most to customers and the long-term health of our businesses.”

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  • Jim Cramer names 6 e-commerce plays that are buys, says to wait on Amazon

    Jim Cramer names 6 e-commerce plays that are buys, says to wait on Amazon

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    CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Friday offered investors a list of e-commerce plays he believes are worth buying, despite the group’s rough performance in 2022.

    “There are still some e-commerce plays that I’m willing to get behind here, the ones that have truly prioritized profitability,” he said.

    Here is his list: 

    1. Etsy
    2. Shopify
    3. Pinterest
    4. MercadoLibre
    5. Chewy
    6. Prologis

    E-commerce stocks skyrocketed during the height of the Covid pandemic, as at-home consumers made purchases online rather than in-store. But when the economy reopened, consumers prioritized spending on travel and experiences over goods.

    That shift, along with the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes, sent e-commerce stocks tumbling from their highs last year.

    Cramer cautioned that while he believes the group’s struggles are temporary, it’s still too early to buy many of the names in the e-commerce space — including Amazon. 

    He said that one of his biggest concerns with the company is that it needs to cut more costs. Amazon said earlier this month that it plans to lay off over 18,000 employees. 

    While that might seem like a sizable cut, “this is a company with well over a million employees — to them, this is a drop in the bucket,” Cramer said.

    But Amazon’s stock will eventually bottom, he said. “I think the business can eventually make a big comeback and there will come a point where the stock’s a screaming buy.”

    Disclaimer: Cramer’s Charitable Trust owns shares of Amazon.

    Jim Cramer gives his take on e-commerce stocks

    Jim Cramer’s Guide to Investing

    Click here to download Jim Cramer’s Guide to Investing at no cost to help you build long-term wealth and invest smarter.

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  • Ad mogul sees Meta rebounding ‘extremely strongly,’ Amazon ad revenue hitting $100 billion

    Ad mogul sees Meta rebounding ‘extremely strongly,’ Amazon ad revenue hitting $100 billion

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    Sir Martin Sorrell, Executive Chairman, S4 Capital.

    Eóin Noonan | Sportsfile | Getty Images | Web Summit

    Advertising titan Martin Sorrell believes Meta will rebound “extremely strongly this year” and sees a promising outlook for U.S. tech giants, despite a bruising 2022 and mass layoffs.

    U.S. tech companies have let go of more than 60,000 employees in the last year, as slowing economic growth, higher interest rates in response to soaring inflation and competitive challenges squeezed margins and hammered the stock prices of tech behemoths.

    Facebook parent Meta in November announced plans to eliminate 13% of its staff, amounting to more than 11,000 employees. It also issued bleak fourth-quarter guidance that wiped out around a quarter of its market cap, pushing the stock to its lowest since 2016.

    A broad slowdown in online ad spending and competition from new rivals such as TikTok, along with challenges associated with privacy changes to Apple’s iOS, have hampered the social media group’s business over the past year.

    The company has also taken a substantial hit from its massive investment in building its augmented reality world known as the metaverse — a strategy that has proven divisive among analysts and investors.

    Sorrell, executive chairman of U.K. advertising agency S4 Capital, expects Meta to address most of its business challenges in 2023, while benefiting from China’s reopening.

    “I think you’ll see Meta come back extremely strongly this year, on the back of reels and business messenger, to deal with the competition from TikTok and other short form video competitors,” Sorrell told CNBC on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

    “Google had a solid year last year, and I think they’ll have a strong year this year. Amazon increased its advertising revenues from $31bn to $41bn, and I think [it] will hit $100bn in time, despite what you’re seeing in terms of jobs and hiring.”

    He also suggested that the reopening of the Chinese economy would be “huge” for big tech firms, noting that outbound Chinese business, or Chinese companies expanding their businesses abroad, were historically the second-largest profit centers for the likes of Meta, Amazon and Google parent Alphabet.

    Sorrell launched S4, which operates in both the digital advertising and digital transformation spaces, after leaving ad giant WPP in 2018. S4 on Wednesday confirmed its full-year guidance, and Sorrell said his clients’ advertising spending priorities in 2023 would be “topline growth in activation and performance” and “reducing [the] cost of digital transformation.”

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  • Microsoft, Amazon and other tech companies have laid off more than 60,000 employees in the last year

    Microsoft, Amazon and other tech companies have laid off more than 60,000 employees in the last year

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    Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks at the company’s Ignite Spotlight event in Seoul on Nov. 15, 2022.

    SeongJoon Cho | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    The job cuts in tech land are piling up, as companies that led the 10-year bull market adapt to a new reality.

    Microsoft said Wednesday that it’s letting go of 10,000 employees, which will reduce the company’s headcount by less than 5%. Amazon also began a fresh round of job cuts that are expected to eliminate more than 18,000 employees and become the largest workforce reduction in the e-retailer’s 28-year history.

    The layoffs come in a period of slowing growth, higher interest rates to battle inflation, and fears of a possible recession next year.

    Here are some of the major cuts in the tech industry so far. All numbers are approximations based on filings, public statements and media reports:

    Microsoft: 10,000 jobs cut

    Microsoft is reducing 10,000 workers through March 31 as the software maker braces for slower revenue growth. The company also is taking a $1.2 billion charge.

    “I’m confident that Microsoft will emerge from this stronger and more competitive,” CEO Satya Nadella announced in a memo to employees that was posted on the company website Wednesday. Some employees will find out this week if they’re losing their jobs, he wrote.

    Amazon: 18,000 jobs cut

    Earlier this month, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said the company was planning to lay off more than 18,000 employees, primarily in its human resources and stores divisions. It came after Amazon said in November it was looking to cut staff, including in its devices and recruiting organizations. CNBC reported at the time that the company was looking to lay off about 10,000 employees.

    Amazon went on a hiring spree during the Covid-19 pandemic. The company’s global workforce swelled to more than 1.6 million by the end of 2021, up from 798,000 in the fourth quarter of 2019.

    Alphabet (Verily): 230 jobs cut

    Google parent company Alphabet had largely avoided layoffs until January, when it cut 15% of employees from Verily, its health sciences division. Google itself has not undertaken any significant layoffs as of Jan. 18, but employees are increasingly growing worried that the ax may soon fall.

    Crypto.com: 500 jobs cut

    Crypto.com announced plans to lay off 20% of its workforce Jan. 13. The company had 2,450 employees, according to PitchBook data, suggesting around 490 employees were laid off. 

    CEO Kris Marszalek said in a blog post that the crypto exchange grew “ambitiously” but was unable to weather the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire FTX without the further cuts.

    “All impacted personnel have already been notified,” Marszalek said in a post.

    Coinbase: 2,000 jobs cut

    On Jan. 10, Coinbase announced plans to cut about a fifth of its workforce as it looks to preserve cash during the crypto market downturn.

    The exchange plans to cut 950 jobs, according to a blog post. Coinbase, which had roughly 4,700 employees as of the end of September, had already slashed 18% of its workforce in June saying it needed to manage costs after growing “too quickly” during the bull market.

    “With perfect hindsight, looking back, we should have done more,” CEO Brian Armstrong told CNBC in a phone interview at the time. “The best you can do is react quickly once information becomes available, and that’s what we’re doing in this case.”

    Salesforce: 7,000 jobs cut

    Salesforce is cutting 10% of its personnel and reducing some office space as part of a restructuring plan, the company announced Jan. 4. It employed more than 79,000 workers as of December.

    In a letter to employees, co-CEO Marc Benioff said customers have been more “measured” in their purchasing decisions given the challenging macroeconomic environment, which led Salesforce to make the “very difficult decision” to lay off workers.

    Salesforce said it will record charges of $1 billion to $1.4 billion related to the headcount reductions, and $450 million to $650 million related to the office space reductions.

    Meta: 11,000 jobs cut

    Facebook parent Meta announced its most significant round of layoffs ever in November. The company said it plans to eliminate 13% of its staff, which amounts to more than 11,000 employees.

    Meta‘s disappointing guidance for the fourth quarter of 2022 wiped out one-fourth of the company’s market cap and pushed the stock to its lowest level since 2016.

    The tech giant’s cuts come after it expanded headcount by about 60% during the pandemic. The business has been hurt by competition from rivals such as TikTok, a broad slowdown in online ad spending and challenges from Apple’s iOS changes.

    Twitter: 3,700 jobs cut

    Lyft: 700 jobs cut 

    Lyft announced in November that it cut 13% of its staff, or about 700 jobs. In a letter to employees, CEO Logan Green and President John Zimmer pointed to “a probable recession sometime in the next year” and rising ride-share insurance costs.

    For laid-off workers, the ride-hailing company promised 10 weeks of pay, health care coverage through the end of April, accelerated equity vesting for the Nov. 20 vesting date and recruiting assistance. Workers who had been at the company for more than four years will get an extra four weeks of pay, they added.

    Stripe: 1,100 jobs cut

    Online payments giant Stripe announced plans to lay off roughly 14% of its staff, which amounts to about 1,100 employees, in November. 

    CEO Patrick Collison wrote in a memo to staff that the cuts were necessary amid rising inflation, fears of a looming recession, higher interest rates, energy shocks, tighter investment budgets and sparser startup funding. Taken together, these factors signal “that 2022 represents the beginning of a different economic climate,” he said.

    Stripe was valued at $95 billion last year, and reportedly lowered its internal valuation to $74 billion in July.

    Shopify: 1,000 jobs cut

    In July, Shopify announced it laid off 1,000 employees, which equals 10% of its global workforce. 

    In a memo to staff, CEO Tobi Lutke acknowledged he had misjudged how long the pandemic-driven e-commerce boom would last, and said the company is being hit by a broader pullback in online spending. Its stock price is down 78% in 2022.

    Netflix: 450 jobs cut

    Netflix announced two rounds of layoffs. In May, the streaming service eliminated 150 jobs after the company reported its first subscriber loss in a decade. In late June, it announced another 300 layoffs. 

    In a statement to employees, Netflix said, “While we continue to invest significantly in the business, we made these adjustments so that our costs are growing in line with our slower revenue growth.” 

    Snap: 1,000 jobs cut 

    In late August, Snap announced it laid off 20% of its workforce, which equates to over 1,000 employees. 

    Snap CEO Evan Spiegel told employees in a memo that the company needs to restructure its business to deal with its financial challenges. He said the company’s quarterly year-over-year revenue growth rate of 8% “is well below what we were expecting earlier this year.”

    Robinhood: 1,100 jobs cut

    Retail brokerage firm Robinhood slashed 23% of its staff in August, after cutting 9% of its workforce in April. Based on public filings and reports, that amounts to more than 1,100 employees.

    Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev blamed “deterioration of the macro environment, with inflation at 40-year highs accompanied by a broad crypto market crash.”

    Tesla: 6,000 jobs cut

    In June, Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote in an email to all employees that the company was cutting 10% of salaried workers. The Wall Street Journal estimated the reductions would affect about 6,000 employees, based on public filings.

    “Tesla will be reducing salaried headcount by 10% as we have become overstaffed in many areas,” Musk wrote. “Note this does not apply to anyone actually building cars, battery packs or installing solar. Hourly headcount will increase.”

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  • Microsoft is laying off 10,000 employees

    Microsoft is laying off 10,000 employees

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    Microsoft said Wednesday that it’s letting go of 10,000 employees through March 31 as the software maker braces for slower revenue growth. The company is also taking a $1.2 billion charge in the fiscal second quarter, which will result in a negative impact of 12 cents to earnings per share.

    Alphabet, Amazon and Salesforce are among the technology companies that have lowered head count in recent weeks. The contraction comes after demand for cloud computing and collaboration services picked up as enterprises, government agencies and schools encouraged remote work to reduce Covid exposure.

    Rising prices have prompted companies to become more careful about technology spending, hurting prospects for the tech stocks that outperformed other market sectors year after year. Now Microsoft and its peers are taking stock. In July Microsoft said it will trim less than 1% of employees, and in October it confirmed an additional round of job cuts that reportedly affected fewer than 1,000 workers.

    “I’m confident that Microsoft will emerge from this stronger and more competitive,” CEO Satya Nadella told employees in a memo that was posted on Microsoft’s website. The move will reduce Microsoft’s head count by less than 5%, and some employees will find out this week if they’re losing their jobs, he wrote.

    Microsoft shares moved modestly higher at the U.S. open after the announcement.

    The workforce adjustment will hit all teams and geographies, with more impact coming to sales and marketing than engineering, a company spokesperson told CNBC in an interview.

    Employees in the U.S. who are eligible for benefits will receive severance that’s above the market and six months of health care and stock vesting, along with 60 days’ notice before their work ends, Nadella wrote.

    Nadella reiterated trends in the business climate that he has described in recent months.

    “As we saw customers accelerate their digital spend during the pandemic, we’re now seeing them optimize their digital spend to do more with less,” he wrote. “We’re also seeing organizations in every industry and geography exercise caution as some parts of the world are in a recession and other parts are anticipating one.”

    Earlier this month Nadella had indicated the company might have to make adjustments.

    “I think for us as a global company, we’re not going to be immune from what’s happening in the macro,” he said in an interview with CNBC-TV18. “We will have to also get our own sort of operational focus on making sure our expenses are in line with our revenue growth.”

    Microsoft has called for 2% revenue growth in the fiscal second quarter, which would be the slowest rate since 2016.

    The layoffs are not a major surprise given the deterioration in Microsoft’s cloud-infrastructure and Windows operating system sales over the past few quarters, said Gil Luria, an analyst at DA Davidson who has a buy rating on Microsoft stock.

    Investors are very concerned about the margins of many technology companies, including Microsoft, he said.

    “I think there’s been a broad expectation from all these companies, especially the ones that hired more over the last two to three years, to adapt and react to a slower-growth environment and show the discipline and the focus on shareholder value that investors need to feel right now as they try to ride out a slower-growing economy,” Luria told CNBC in an interview.

    Major layoffs aren’t an annual exercise for 47-year-old Microsoft, but they do happen occasionally. In 2017 Microsoft laid off thousands of employees in a broad reorganization of its sales unit. In 2014, following the acquisition of Nokia’s devices and services business, Microsoft cut 18,000 people.

    The charge relates to severance, changes to the company’s hardware lineup and the cost of consolidating leases, Nadella wrote.

    “Every one of us and every team across the company must raise the bar and perform better than the competition to deliver meaningful innovation that customers, communities, and countries can truly benefit from,” Nadella wrote. “If we deliver on this, we will emerge stronger and thrive long into the future; it’s as simple as that.”

    WATCH: Microsoft’s OpenAI investment won’t help it rival Google search, says tech analyst

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  • Here are Wednesday’s biggest analyst calls: Apple, IBM, Amazon, Tesla, Exxon, Gap, Netflix & more

    Here are Wednesday’s biggest analyst calls: Apple, IBM, Amazon, Tesla, Exxon, Gap, Netflix & more

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  • Silicon Valley layoffs go from bad to worse | CNN Business

    Silicon Valley layoffs go from bad to worse | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    Shortly before Thanksgiving, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy confirmed rumors that layoffs had begun in multiple departments at the e-commerce giant and said it would review staffing needs into the new year.

    On Wednesday, Jassy provided a sobering update on that review: Amazon is cutting more than 18,000 jobs, nearly double the 10,000 that had previously been reported and marking the highest absolute number of layoffs of any tech company in the recent downturn.

    At Amazon and other tech companies, the second half of last year was marked by hiring freezes, layoffs and other cost-cutting measures at a number of household names in Silicon Valley. But if 2022 was the year the good times ended for these tech companies, 2023 is already shaping up to be a year when people at those companies brace for how much worse things can get.

    On the same day Amazon announced layoffs, cloud-computing company Salesforce said it was axing about 10% of its staff – a figure that easily amounts to thousands of workers – and video-sharing outlet Vimeo said it was cutting 11% of its workforce. The following day, digital fashion platform Stitch Fix said it planned to cut 20% of its salaried staff, after having cut 15% of its salaried staff last year.

    The continued fallout in the industry comes as tech firms grapple with a seemingly perfect storm of factors. After initially seeing a boom in demand for digital services amid the onset of the pandemic, many companies aggressively hired. Then came a whiplash in demand as Covid-19 restrictions receded and people returned to their offline lives. Rising interest rates also dried up the easy money tech companies relied on to fuel big bets on future innovations, and cut into their sky-high valuations.

    Heading into 2023, recession fears and economic uncertainties are still weighing heavily on consumers and policymakers’ minds, and interest rate hikes are expected to continue. Beyond that, the growing number of layoffs may also give certain tech companies some cover to take more severe steps to trim costs now than they may have otherwise done.

    While there have been some layoffs recently in the consumer goods sector and hints of more to come elsewhere, the situation in Silicon Valley remains in stark contrast to the economy as a whole.

    The Labor Department’s latest employment report on Friday pointed to a year of extraordinary job growth in 2022, marking the second-best year for the labor market in records that go back to 1939. Meanwhile, a separate report from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas found tech layoffs were up 649% in 2022 compared to the previous year, versus just a 13% uptick in job cuts in the overall economy during the same period.

    In his note to employees this month, Jassy chalked up the need for significant cost cutting at Amazon to “the uncertain economy and that we’ve hired rapidly over the last several years.” Others across the industry have echoed those points, with varying degrees of atonement.

    In a series of apologies that are beginning to sound the same, Silicon Valley business leaders from Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg to Salesforce’ Marc Benioff have blamed the wave of job cuts on their own misreading of how pandemic-fueled demand for tech products would play out.

    Benioff began a memo to the employees of Salesforce last week by invoking, as he so often does, the Hawaiian word for family. “As one ‘Ohana,” he wrote, “we have never been more mission-critical to our customers.” But the economic environment was “challenging,” Benioff wrote. “With this in mind, we’ve made the very difficult decision to reduce our workforce by about 10 percent, mostly over the coming weeks.”

    “As our revenue accelerated through the pandemic, we hired too many people leading into this economic downturn we’re now facing, and I take responsibility for that,” Benioff went on to say. Like other tech leaders, however, it’s unclear if Benioff will face any repercussions to his title or compensation.

    Patricia Campos-Medina, the executive director of the Worker Institute at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, slammed this spate of mea culpas as “empty apologies” to the workers now paying for their miscalculations.

    While there will be a lot of near-term uncertainty for these tech workers, as well “a big economic hit on their lives,” Campos-Medina added, “I do think that this is a very skilled workforce that will find a way to engage back in the economy.” She predicts many of the laid-off tech workers will likely be able to find jobs and “we will see more stability in the mid-to-long term.”

    But the end may still not be in sight. Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities said last week that the Salesforce and Amazon layoffs “add to the trend we expect to continue in 2023 as the tech sector adjusts to a softer demand environment.” The industry is now being forced to cut costs after “spending money like 1980’s Rock Stars to keep up with demand,” he added.

    And despite the robust overall labor market, there are growing concerns that tech layoffs could spread elsewhere.

    “I think we’re seeing an inflection point; the rate of jobs growth is slowing and a lot of these tech layoffs that we’re hearing about, I think are going to start materializing across the broader economy by the end of the first quarter,” John Leer, chief economist at Morning Consult told CNN’s Chief Business Correspondent Christine Romans in an interview Friday.

    In that sense, at least, Silicon Valley may once again be ahead of the curve, but not in the way it wants.

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  • 18 stock picks in a ‘Goldilocks’ scenario for U.S. consumers

    18 stock picks in a ‘Goldilocks’ scenario for U.S. consumers

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    It may not have been a surprise to see the consumer discretionary sector of the S&P 500 get hammered last year amid talk of a looming recession while the Federal Reserve jacked up interest rates to push back against inflation.

    But the stock market always looks ahead. Following a decline of 19.4% for the S&P 500
    SPX,
    +0.42%
    in 2022 and a 37.6% drop for the benchmark index’s consumer discretionary sector, this may be the time to begin looking for bargains.

    And now, analysts at Jefferies have lifted the sector to a “bullish” rating.

    In a note to clients on Jan. 10, Jefferies’ global equity strategist, Sean Darby, wrote: “A Goldilocks scenario might be unfolding for the U.S. consumer — falling inflation but steady employment conditions.”

    He sees consumer confidence improving, in part because “households are still sitting on [about] $1.4 trillion of Covid savings.”

    Darby pointed to a list of 18 consumer discretionary stocks favored by Jefferies analysts that was published on Jan. 6. Those are listed below, along with three stocks in the sector the analysts rate “underperform.”

    The ratings of the Jefferies analysts for individual stocks is based on their 12-month outlooks for the companies, in keeping with Wall Street tradition.

    So we have added another list further down, showing which companies in the S&P 500 consumer discretionary sector are expected by analysts polled by FactSet to increase sales the most through 2024.

    The Jefferies 18

    Here are the 18 consumer discretionary stocks recommended by Jefferies analysts with “buy” ratings on Jan. 6, sorted by how much upside the firm sees for the shares from closing prices on Jan. 9:

    Company

    		 Ticker

    		 Jan. 9 price

    		 Jefferies price target

    		 Implied 12-month upside potential

    		 Three-year estimated sales CAGR through 2022

    		 Two-year estimated sales CAGR through 2024
    Topgolf Callaway Brands Corp.

    		 MODG,
    -0.22%         		$20.76

    		 $56

    		 170%

    		 32.8%

    		 10.0%
    Bloomin’ Brands Inc.

    		 BLMN,
    +3.87%         		$22.08

    		 $35

    		 59%

    		 2.4%

    		 3.7%
    Coty Inc. Class A

    		 COTY,
    +1.23%         		$9.38

    		 $14

    		 49%

    		 -7.1%

    		 3.7%
    MGM Resorts International

    		 MGM,
    +1.71%         		$37.64

    		 $56

    		 49%

    		 -0.1%

    		 6.6%
    Chewy Inc. Class A

    		 CHWY,
    +1.63%         		$40.13

    		 $57

    		 42%

    		 28.0%

    		 10.6%
    Planet Fitness Inc. Class A

    		 PLNT,
    +0.69%         		$82.36

    		 $115

    		 40%

    		 10.4%

    		 13.9%
    Molson Coors Beverage Co. Class B

    		 TAP,
    +0.67%         		$50.21

    		 $69

    		 37%

    		 0.5%

    		 1.4%
    Fox Factory Holding Corp.

    		 FOXF,
    +3.95%         		$99.90

    		 $135

    		 35%

    		 28.1%

    		 6.6%
    Hasbro Inc.

    		 HAS,
    +0.99%         		$63.70

    		 $85

    		 33%

    		 9.1%

    		 3.6%
    Hostess Brands Inc. Class A

    		 TWNK,
    +0.33%         		$23.10

    		 $30

    		 30%

    		 14.2%

    		 5.0%
    Lowe’s Cos. Inc.

    		 LOW,
    +0.08%         		$199.44

    		 $250

    		 25%

    		 10.6%

    		 -1.9%
    Walmart Inc.

    		 WMT,
    -0.27%         		$144.95

    		 $175

    		 21%

    		 4.9%

    		 3.3%
    Dollar General Corp.

    		 DG,
    -0.26%         		$241.05

    		 $285

    		 18%

    		 10.9%

    		 6.7%
    Church & Dwight Co. Inc.

    		 CHD,
    -1.17%         		$82.25

    		 $97

    		 18%

    		 7.0%

    		 4.6%
    McDonald’s Corp.

    		 MCD,
    +0.39%         		$267.25

    		 $315

    		 18%

    		 2.4%

    		 4.0%
    Estee Lauder Cos. Inc. Class A

    		 EL,
    +0.39%         		$261.63

    		 $304

    		 16%

    		 2.8%

    		 5.8%
    Mondelez International Inc. Class A

    		 MDLZ,
    -0.04%         		$67.24

    		 $75

    		 12%

    		 6.3%

    		 4.1%
    Tapestry Inc.

    		 TPR,
    +0.73%         		$41.25

    		 $45

    		 9%

    		 3.3%

    		 3.2%
    Sources: Jefferies, FactSet

    Click on the tickers for more information about the companies.

    Click here for Tomi Kilgore’s detailed guide to the wealth of information available for free on the MarketWatch quote page.

    The two right-most columns on the table show estimated compound annual growth rates (CAGR) for the companies over the past three calendar years and expected sales CAGR for two years through calendar 2024, based on the companies’ financial reports and consensus estimates among analysts polled by FactSet.

    (We used calendar-year numbers, some of which are estimated by FactSet for prior years, because some companies have fiscal years or even months that don’t match the calendar.)

    The stock pick with the highest 12-month upside potential, based on Jefferies’ price target, is Topgolf Callaway Brands Corp.
    MODG,
    -0.22%    .
    This company has the highest estimated three-year sales CAGR on the list, and has the third-highest projected sales CAGR through 2024, after Planet Fitness Inc.
    PLNT,
    +0.69%
    and Chewy Inc.
    CHWY,
    +1.63%    .

    On Jan. 6, the Jefferies analysts also listed three stocks in the sector they rated “underperform.” Here they are, sorted by how much the analysts expect the stocks to decline over the next 12 months:

    Company

    		 Ticker

    		 Jan. 9 price

    		 Jefferies price target

    		 Implied 12-month upside potential

    		 Three-year estimated sales CAGR through 2022

    		 Two-year estimated sales CAGR through 2024
    Lululemon Athletica Inc.

    		 LULU,
    +2.98%         		$298.66

    		 $200

    		 -33%

    		 26.3%

    		 14.6%
    Williams-Sonoma Inc.

    		 WSM,
    +1.75%         		$122.17

    		 $98

    		 -20%

    		 14.1%

    		 -0.3%
    Harley-Davidson Inc.

    		 HOG,
    +0.35%         		$43.25

    		 $39

    		 -10%

    		 -2.8%

    		 4.4%
    Sources: Jefferies, FactSet
    Screen of consumer discretionary sales growth

    A look head at which companies are expected to increase sales the most over the next two years might serve as a good starting point for your own research.

    Bear in mind that some of the companies in travel-related industries suffered declining sales for three years through 2022 because of the coronavirus pandemic. Some of those are on this new list of 20 stocks in the S&P 500 consumer discretionary sector expected to show the highest two-year sales CAGR through calendar 2024:

    Company

    		 Ticker

    		 Two-year estimated sales CAGR through 2024

    		 Three-year estimated sales CAGR through 2022

    		 Share “buy” ratings

    		 Jan. 9 price

    		 Consensus price target

    		 Implied 12-month upside potential
    Las Vegas Sands Corp.

    		 LVS,
    +1.59%         		59.2%

    		 -32.6%

    		 79%

    		 $52.78

    		 $53.53

    		 1%
    Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.

    		 NCLH,
    +1.67%         		39.6%

    		 -9.3%

    		 44%

    		 $13.78

    		 $16.96

    		 23%
    Carnival Corp.

    		 CCL,
    +1.64%         		35.2%

    		 -14.7%

    		 30%

    		 $9.47

    		 $10.11

    		 7%
    Tesla Inc.

    		 TSLA,
    -1.83%         		34.3%

    		 49.7%

    		 64%

    		 $119.77

    		 $232.43

    		 94%
    Wynn Resorts Ltd.

    		 WYNN,
    +2.01%         		29.3%

    		 -17.5%

    		 53%

    		 $94.33

    		 $96.07

    		 2%
    Royal Caribbean Group

    		 RCL,
    +2.22%         		28.4%

    		 -6.8%

    		 53%

    		 $57.29

    		 $66.43

    		 16%
    Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.

    		 CMG,
    -0.17%         		13.4%

    		 15.9%

    		 71%

    		 $1,446.74

    		 $1,778.81

    		 23%
    Amazon.com Inc.

    		 AMZN,
    +2.61%         		12.2%

    		 22.1%

    		 92%

    		 $87.36

    		 $133.76

    		 53%
    Booking Holdings Inc.

    		 BKNG,
    +0.37%         		11.9%

    		 3.9%

    		 63%

    		 $2,208.41

    		 $2,307.67

    		 4%
    Aptiv PLC

    		 APTV,
    +1.66%         		11.9%

    		 6.4%

    		 70%

    		 $97.98

    		 $117.23

    		 20%
    Starbucks Corp.

    		 SBUX,
    +1.28%         		11.2%

    		 7.2%

    		 42%

    		 $104.74

    		 $103.44

    		 -1%
    Etsy Inc.

    		 ETSY,
    +3.56%         		11.1%

    		 45.3%

    		 50%

    		 $120.99

    		 $124.04

    		 3%
    Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc.

    		 HLT,
    +0.06%         		10.1%

    		 -2.9%

    		 38%

    		 $129.08

    		 $146.17

    		 13%
    Expedia Group Inc.

    		 EXPE,
    +0.39%         		9.0%

    		 -0.9%

    		 50%

    		 $93.77

    		 $125.65

    		 34%
    NIKE Inc. Class B

    		 NKE,
    +0.68%         		8.1%

    		 5.8%

    		 62%

    		 $124.85

    		 $126.15

    		 1%
    Marriott International Inc. Class A

    		 MAR,
    +0.47%         		7.5%

    		 -1.2%

    		 30%

    		 $152.53

    		 $172.81

    		 13%
    BorgWarner Inc.

    		 BWA,
    +1.82%         		7.1%

    		 15.3%

    		 53%

    		 $42.24

    		 $46.93

    		 11%
    Tractor Supply Co.

    		 TSCO,
    +1.06%         		6.8%

    		 19.0%

    		 61%

    		 $217.48

    		 $232.34

    		 7%
    Yum! Brands Inc.

    		 YUM,
    -0.76%         		6.7%

    		 6.4%

    		 47%

    		 $129.76

    		 $137.79

    		 6%
    Dollar General Corp.

    		 DG,
    -0.26%         		6.7%

    		 10.9%

    		 67%

    		 $241.05

    		 $267.54

    		 11%
    Source: FactSet

    Among the companies on this list that didn’t suffer sales declines from 2019 levels, Tesla Inc.
    TSLA,
    -1.83%
    is expected to achieve the highest two-year sales CAGR through 2022.

    Dollar General Corp.
    DG,
    -0.26%
    is the only company to appear on this list based on consensus sales growth estimates and the Jefferies recommended list.

    Don’t miss: These 15 Dividend Aristocrat stocks have been the best income builders

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  • Cramer: This market is split in two and only one part is worth owning right now

    Cramer: This market is split in two and only one part is worth owning right now

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    Jim Cramer at the NYSE, June 30, 2022.

    Virginia Sherwood | CNBC

    Hardly a day goes by without someone asking me, “Why do you like Jay Powell so much?” He will question whether I am somehow buddies with the Federal Reserve chair, or assume I knew him before he got the job.

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  • Did the market already show its hand in the first week of 2023? What we’ve learned so far

    Did the market already show its hand in the first week of 2023? What we’ve learned so far

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