ReportWire

Tag: Retail

  • Amazon gets 3 more warehouse-safety citations as OSHA warns company to ‘take these injuries seriously’

    Amazon gets 3 more warehouse-safety citations as OSHA warns company to ‘take these injuries seriously’

    [ad_1]

    The federal government on Wednesday hit Amazon.com Inc. with worker-safety related citations and penalties at three more warehouses, two weeks after issuing citations at the company’s warehouses in three different states.

    The latest citations are the result of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s investigation of Amazon
    AMZN,
    +1.96%
    warehouses stemming from referrals from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. At all six locations, OSHA investigators cited the company for exposing warehouse workers to a high risk of low back injuries and other musculoskeletal disorders and asked for a multitude of changes and corrections.

    “Amazon’s operating methods are creating hazardous work conditions and processes, leading to serious worker injuries,” said OSHA Assistant Secretary Doug Parker in a statement Wednesday. “They need to take these injuries seriously and implement a company-wide strategy to protect their employees from these well-known and preventable hazards.”

    See: Amazon cited for warehouse working conditions ‘designed for speed but not safety’

    The newest citations come from investigations into Amazon warehouses in Aurora, Colo.; Nampa, Idaho; and Castleton, N.Y. At all three sites, OSHA inspectors concluded that workers are suffering from musculoskeletal injuries “as a result of lifting heavy items while attempting to meet pace of work and production quotas,” according to each of the hazard letters that were sent to those warehouses’ operations managers. Those concerns were similar to those raised by OSHA at the three other Amazon warehouses in Florida, Illinois and a different warehouse in New York a couple of weeks ago.

    In Aurora and Nampa, inspectors also found evidence that injuries may not have been reported because Amazon’s on-site first-aid clinic “was not staffed appropriately.” In Castleton, staffers at the company’s on-site clinic, known as AmCare, “question whether workers are actually injured, pressure injured workers to work through their injuries, and steer injured workers to Amazon-preferred doctors,” Rita Young, OSHA area director, wrote in the hazard letter.

    The penalties associated with the citations at the three sites total $46,875. OSHA also asked Amazon to detail the changes it makes in response, and said the company’s response will determine whether more evaluation is needed. In addition, the agency’s inspectors may do follow-up visits within the next six months.

    Just like with the first three citations, Amazon intends to appeal.

    “We take the safety and health of our employees very seriously, and we don’t believe the government’s allegations reflect the reality of safety at our sites,” Amazon spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said in an emailed statement.

    A company spokeswoman also referred to several safety-related efforts by the company, including its partnership with the National Safety Council; equipment that’s supposed to help reduce the need for twisting, bending and reaching; and “process improvements” designed by Amazon’s robotics team.

    In anticipation of Wednesday’s OSHA citations, a group of worker advocates held a virtual news conference Tuesday. Among the panelists was Debbie Berkowitz, a former chief of staff at OSHA and now a fellow at the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor at Georgetown University.

    “I want to make it clear to everybody that these OSHA citations are incredibly historic and significant,” Berkowitz said. “Don’t get thrown by the low amount of penalties,” she added, saying the Occupational Safety and Health Act is a “weak law.”

    She went on to say that “OSHA really grounded their investigations using doctors, experts, and what to do to mitigate the hazards… They show that Amazon needs to take action.”

    Also present on the news conference was Amazon warehouse worker Jennifer Crane, from St. Peters, Mo.

    “I’m glad to see OSHA investigate the safety crisis at Amazon,” she said. “The company blames us for getting injured. They push us to work at unrealistic speeds.”

    Also: As Amazon shareholders call for audit of warehouse working conditions, report finds more than double the rate of injuries than at other warehouses

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • These 20 stocks led the January rally

    These 20 stocks led the January rally

    [ad_1]

    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…

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Biden to end U.S. COVID emergencies on May 11, but more than 500 people are still dying every day

    Biden to end U.S. COVID emergencies on May 11, but more than 500 people are still dying every day

    [ad_1]

    President Joe Biden will end the twin national emergencies for addressing COVID-19 on May 11, as most of the world gets closer to normalcy nearly three years after the emergencies were first declared, the Associated Press reported. 

    The move would formally overturn the federal response to the virus and change it to one where COVID is treated as an endemic threat to public health, much like the flu, which returns seasonally but can be managed without major disruption to the healthcare system.

    The…

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Tesla, GM, Lucid, Alibaba, and More Stock Market Movers

    Tesla, GM, Lucid, Alibaba, and More Stock Market Movers

    [ad_1]

    This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers visit http://www.djreprints.com.

    https://www.barrons.com/articles/stock-market-movers-tesla-alibaba-gm-lucid-51674835133

    • Order Reprints
    • Print Article

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • 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.

    [ad_1]

    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.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • FDA panel backs plan for annual COVID-19 booster, as new omicron subvariant continues to dominate in new cases

    FDA panel backs plan for annual COVID-19 booster, as new omicron subvariant continues to dominate in new cases

    [ad_1]

    A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted unanimously Thursday for Americans to get a once-a-year booster against COVID-19, with the strain to be decided midyear for a fall campaign, the Associated Press reported. 

    “This is a consequential meeting to determine if we’ve reached the point in the pandemic that allows for simplifying the use of current COVID-19 vaccines,” said the FDA’s Dr. David Kaslow.

    The panel agreed that people should get the same vaccine formula whether they’re receiving their initial vaccinations or a booster. Today, Americans get one formula based on the original coronavirus strain that emerged in 2020 for their first two or three doses, and their latest booster is a combination shot made by Pfizer
    PFE,
    -0.33%
    or Moderna
    MRNA,
    -0.90%
    that adds protection against omicron.

    The FDA would have to decide how to phase in that change.

    COVID-19 vaccines have saved millions of lives, and booster doses remain the best protection against severe disease and death. But Americans are tired of getting vaccinated. While more than 80% of the U.S. population has had at least one COVID-19 shot, only 16% of those eligible for the latest boosters — so-called bivalent doses updated to better match more recent virus strains — have gotten one.

    Separately, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offered an update Friday on the strains that are dominant in the U.S., showing that XBB.1.5, the omicron sublineage that first emerged in small numbers in October, has extended its lead over other variants.

    XBB.1.5 accounted for 61.3% of cases in the week through Jan. 28, the data shows, up from 49.1% a week ago. The prior dominant variants, BQ.1.1 and BQ.1, together accounted for 31.1% of new cases.

    In the CDC’s Region 2, which includes New York, New Jersey, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, XBB.1.5 accounted for 91.1% of new cases, up from 86.8% the previous week.

    The World Health Organization said this week that it now has data on XBB.1.5 from 54 countries, showing it has a growth advantage over other circulating strains but still appears no more severe.

    In its weekly epidemiological update, the agency said it has raised the confidence level of its risk assessment for XBB.1.5 to “moderate” from “low,” using these additional reports. The highest number of XBB.1.5 cases are showing up in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Denmark, Germany, Ireland and Austria.

    The news comes as the seven-day average of new cases stood at 46,300 on Thursday, according to a New York Times tracker. That’s down 24% from two weeks ago. The daily average for hospitalizations was down 24%, at 34,833. The average number of deaths was 549, down 3% from two weeks ago. 

    Cases are currently climbing in eight states — Illinois, Tennessee, Minnesota, Alaska, South Dakota, Vermont, Kentucky and Kansas — as well as in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Washington, D.C.

    Coronavirus update: MarketWatch’s daily roundup has been curating and reporting all the latest developments every weekday since the coronavirus pandemic began

    Other COVID-19 news you should know about:

    • China’s claim that COVID cases and deaths have peaked and are falling fast is failing to take on board that testing is not keeping up with infections, the Guardian reported. China ended its zero-COVID policy in December and promptly saw a wave of cases spread across the nation. Its health authorities said this week that the worst is behind it, but experts are wary that it is underreporting numbers, as it has since the start of the pandemic. Now the pullback in testing is a factor, according to the Guardian. Daily tests had dropped to 280,000 by Monday, down from 150 million on Dec. 9, and 7.54 million on Jan. 1. Some provinces had enacted systems for collecting the results of residents or allowing residents to self-report, but the figures were “affected by the willingness of residents to test.”

    What’s seen as the world’s largest annual human migration is under way again in China for the Lunar New Year, after the country lifted pandemic restrictions. WSJ’s Yoko Kubota reports on how it’s expected to boost the economy–and the risk of new Covid-19 outbreaks. Photo: Cfoto/Zuma Press

    • South Korea says it will continue to restrict the entry of short-term travelers from China through the end of February over concerns that the spread of COVID may worsen following the Lunar New Year holidays, the AP reported. South Korea in early January stopped issuing most short-term visas at its consulates in China, citing concerns about the virus surge in the country.

    • Spain is set to end the mandatory use of face masks on public transport nearly three years after the start of the pandemic, the AP reported separately. Spanish Health Minister Carolina Darias said Thursday she would recommend that the government remove the health regulation when the cabinet meets on Feb. 7. Face masks will remain obligatory inside hospitals, health clinics, dentist offices and pharmacies.

    Here’s what the numbers say:

    The global tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases topped 669.9 million Wednesday, while the death toll rose above 6.82 million, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University.

    The U.S. leads the world with 102.3 million cases and 1,107,559 fatalities.

    The CDC’s tracker shows that 229.6 million people living in the U.S., equal to 69.2% of the total population, are fully vaccinated, meaning they have had their primary shots.

    So far, just 51.4 million Americans, equal to 15.5% of the overall population, have had the updated COVID booster that targets both the original virus and the omicron variants.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Must Read: How Climate Change Has Affected Shopping Habits, Getting to Know Twitter’s ‘Menswear Guy’

    Must Read: How Climate Change Has Affected Shopping Habits, Getting to Know Twitter’s ‘Menswear Guy’

    [ad_1]

    These are the stories making headlines in fashion on Friday.

    How climate change has affected shopping habits
    Forecasting shopping trends has never been harder, due to the unpredictable weather the world has been experiencing in the face of climate change. And it’s made merchandising seasonally and managing inventory more difficult for retailers, as Sarah Kent writes in Business of Fashion. These shifts are leading to retailers seeking out seasonless products, to help navigate the unforeseeable future — and, naturally, that’s had an impact on consumers. {Business of Fashion}

    [ad_2]

    Brooke Frischer

    Source link

  • U.S. consumer sentiment strengthens in final January reading

    U.S. consumer sentiment strengthens in final January reading

    [ad_1]

    The numbers: U.S. consumer sentiment improved in late January to 64.9, according to the University of Michigan’s gauge of consumer attitudes.

    This added 5.2 index points from 59.7 in December and was up from the initial January reading of 64.6.

    Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had forecast an unchanged reading of 64.6.

    Key details: A  gauge of consumer’s views of current conditions rose to a final reading of 68.4 in January from 59.4 in the prior month.

    The indicator of expectations for the next six months rose to 62.7 from 59.9 in December.

    Americans viewed that inflation was moderating in January. They expected the inflation rate in the next year to average about 3.9%, down from 4.4% in December. This is the lowest level since April 2021.

    In the longer run, inflation expectations held steady at 2.9%.

    Big picture: Consumer confidence rose for the second straight month on lower energy prices and better financial market conditions. Assessments of personal finances are improving, supported by higher income and easing price pressures.

    But sentiment remains well below the pre-pandemic level of 101 hit in February 2020 and the more recent high of 88.3 hit in April 2021.

    Market reaction: Stocks
    DJIA,
    -0.20%

    SPX,
    -0.17%
    opened higher on Friday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note
    TMUBMUSD10Y,
    3.534%
    rose to 3.54%.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Hasbro plans to lay off 15% of workforce and warns of holiday-season loss

    Hasbro plans to lay off 15% of workforce and warns of holiday-season loss

    [ad_1]

    Hasbro Inc. late Thursday said it plans to lay off about 15% of its workforce and warned Wall Street to brace for a quarterly loss and a drop in revenue after a disappointing holiday season.

    Hasbro
    HAS,
    -0.50%
    reported preliminary losses between $1 a share and 93 cents a share for its fourth quarter, and an adjusted loss of between $1.29 a share and $1.31 a share in the period.

    That runs counter to FactSet consensus of an adjusted profit of $1.52 a share for the quarter.

    The maker of My Little Pony, Baby Alive and other toy brands also reported preliminary fourth-quarter revenue of about $1.68 billion, down 17% year-over-year. That compares with FactSet consensus for revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter.

    Hasbro stock fell more than 8% in the extended session after ending the regular trading day down 0.5%.

    Hasbro’s “consumer-products business underperformed in the fourth quarter against the backdrop of a challenging holiday consumer environment,” despite “strong growth” for digital gaming and other areas of the company, Chief Executive Chris Cocks said in a statement.

    Several retailers have posted lower-than-expected fourth-quarter sales as concerns about the economy simmer. Layoffs have also been widespread, with International Business Machines Corp.
    IBM,
    -4.48%
    and SAP
    SAP,
    -1.77%
    among the latest announcing cuts.

    The global job cuts will start in the next few weeks, Hasbro said. The toy maker employed 6,640 people worldwide as of December 2021, according to its most recent annual filing with securities regulators.

    Hasbro said that the layoffs and “ongoing systems and supply-chain investments” will keep the company on track to hit its goal of between $250 million and $300 million in cost savings by the end of 2025.

    Until then, however, 2022 and “particularly” the fourth quarter were a “a challenging moment for Hasbro,” the company said.

    Earlier this month, analysts at BMO said they expected Hasbro’s holiday-season sales were likely among “the weakest in the North American toy industry.”

    Hasbro’s stock has fallen about 29% in the last 12 months, compared with a decline of around 7% for the S&P 500 index
    SPX,
    +1.10%    .

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Bed Bath & Beyond stock plunges more than 20% after filing shows default on loans

    Bed Bath & Beyond stock plunges more than 20% after filing shows default on loans

    [ad_1]

    Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. shares plunged more than 20% and were halted Thursday afternoon, after the retailer disclosed in a filing that it was in default on loans that have been called in.

    The struggling retailer finally filed its quarterly report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday at roughly 2:30 p.m. Eastern time, after being threatened with having its stock delisted for being late with the required report.

    Included in the filing is news that Bed Bath & Beyond
    BBBY,
    -22.22%
    had defaulted on loans earlier this month, and executives were informed on Wednesday by banker JP Morgan Chase & Co.
    JPM,
    +0.62%
    that the debt was due immediately.

    “On or around January 13, 2023, certain events of default were triggered under the Company’s Credit Facilities as a result of the Company’s failure to prepay an overadvance and satisfy a financial covenant, among other things,” the filing reads.

    “As a result of the continuance of such events of default, on January 25, 2023, the administrative agent under the Amended Credit Agreement notified the Company that (i) the principal amount of all outstanding loans under the Credit Facilities, together with accrued interest thereon, the FILO Applicable Premium and all fees (including, for the avoidance of doubt, any break funding payments) and other obligations of the Company accrued under the Amended Credit Agreement, are due and payable immediately.”

    See also: Bed Bath & Beyond bankruptcy warning marks latest chapter in troubled retailer’s downward spiral

    Shares had traded between $3.25 and $3.47 on the day until about 5 minutes after the filing was released, when shares suddenly dove, triggering a halt. The stock fell as low as $2.10 and was halted three times between 2:46 p.m. and 3:14 p.m. before closing at $2.52, a 22.2% daily decline.

    The struggling retailer admitted earlier this year that it has “substantial doubt” about its “ability to continue as a going concern” and may need to declare bankruptcy. The home goods retailer also said that it expects to record lower sales for the latest quarter than analysts were anticipating.

    “As we consider all paths and strategic alternatives, we continue to work with our advisors and implement actions to manage our business as efficiently as possible,” a Bed Bath & Beyond spokesperson said in an email Thursday. “As is our practice, we do not comment on speculation. We will update all stakeholders on our plans as they develop and finalize.”

    Bed Bath & Beyond stock has become popular with “meme” traders and short sellers, who have been betting on opposite sides of the trade as the retailer reported a poor holiday season and plans to shut down stores. Shares have traded as high as $30.06 and as low as $1.27 in the past 12 months, while declining 81.8% overall in that time. The S&P 500 index
    SPX,
    +1.10%
    has declined 7.7% in the past 12 months.

    See also: Why naked short selling has suddenly become a hot topic

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Why Shopify’s New Pricing Plan Is Driving the Stock Higher

    Why Shopify’s New Pricing Plan Is Driving the Stock Higher

    [ad_1]



    Shopify


    stock got a lift after the e-commerce company announced changes to its pricing—a move one analyst said positions it for better growth.

    “The price we charge for access to the best tools in commerce has remained largely unchanged for the last 12 years,” wrote Kaz Nejatian,


    Shopify


    ‘s chief operating officer, in a blog post announcing the changes.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Nordstrom Report Hints at Weaker Spending by Wealthy Shoppers

    Nordstrom Report Hints at Weaker Spending by Wealthy Shoppers

    [ad_1]

    Nordstrom’s holiday season sales were softer than prepandemic levels, the company said.


    Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Nordstrom

    If
    Nordstrom’s
    latest sales update is anything to go by, high-income shoppers are finally starting to feel the pinch of a slowing economy.

    The luxury department store, whose product lineup is aimed mainly at wealthier people, said late on Thursday that holiday sales were softer than hoped. It is the latest retailer to warn that consumers took a more cautious approach to holiday shopping in 2022.

    “The holiday season was highly promotional, and sales were softer than prepandemic levels,” said CEO Erik Nordstrom in a news release late Thursday. “While we continue to see greater resilience in our higher income cohorts, it is clear that consumers are being more selective with their spending given the broader macro environment.”

    Shares of Nordstrom (ticker:
    JWN
    ) were largely unchanged in early Friday trading, with a gain of 0.1% to $17.47.

    The company also updated its financial forecasts for fiscal 2022, the 12 months ending January 2023. It now expects revenue growth to be at the low end of the range of 5% to 7% it had forecast. Holiday sales fell by 3.5% in 2022, driven by a 7.6% decline in the company’ Nordstrom Rack banner and a 1.7% decrease in core Nordstrom sales.

    Nordstrom also said that the need to sell off outdated inventory weighed heavily on profit and margins. Adjusted earnings per share will range between $1.50 and $1.70, compared with the company’s prior call for $2.30 to $2.60. The consensus call among analysts surveyed by FactSet was for earnings to land at $1.81 for fiscal 2022.

    Adjusted earnings before interest and taxes margin will be 3.1% to 3.3%, compared with the 4.3% to 4.7% management had predicted.

    While costly to the bottom line, discounting heavily during the holiday season may actually be better for Nordstrom in the long run. The company expects year-end inventory levels to be down by a double-digit percentage compared with last year, putting them roughly at 2019 levels.

    “We believe this reduction, coupled with cleaner inventory (~flat to 2019), may actually have been better than feared,” wrote BMO Capital Markets analyst Simon Siegel in a research note. Siegel maintained a Market Perform rating and trimmed his target for the stock price to $20 from $23.

    Still, it isn’t an easy time to be a department store. Nordstrom’s announcement comes weeks after
    Macy’s
    provided investors with a similar update, saying sales would come in at the low to middle end of the range it had forecast as a result of unexpected lulls in demand outside of the peak shopping weekends.

    On Wednesday, the Census Bureau reported that department stores’ retail sales fell by 6.6% in December from November, and were down 0.6% from December 2021.

    Analysts have also expressed concern about what Nordstrom’s guidance means for demand from high-end consumers, whose buying has remained fairly resilient despite macroeconomic challenges.

    For
    Piper Sandler
    ‘s Edward Yruma, who the revision indicates that high-income shoppers may be “undergoing a cyclical slowdown,” driven by layoffs in white-collar industries, a volatile stock market, and a weak housing market. He maintained a Neutral rating on the stock.

    Write to Sabrina Escobar at sabrina.escobar@barrons.com

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Bed Bath & Beyond gets Nasdaq delisting warning, stock tumbles 7%

    Bed Bath & Beyond gets Nasdaq delisting warning, stock tumbles 7%

    [ad_1]

    Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. has received a warning that it is not in compliance for continued Nasdaq listing because the company has not yet filed its Form 10-Q quarterly report with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

    In an SEC filing Thursday, the troubled home-goods retailer said it had received the Nasdaq notice on Jan. 12. The notice has no immediate effect on the listing or trading of Bed Bath & Beyond’s
    BBBY,
    -4.09%
    common stock on the Nasdaq
    COMP,
    +0.86%    ,
    the filing said. “The Notice states that the Company has 60 calendar days from the date of the Notice, or March 13, 2023, to submit a plan to regain compliance with the Listing Rule,” Bed Bath & Beyond said in the filing.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • A New Type of Online Retailer Turns to Curation to Solve Fashion’s Waste Problem

    A New Type of Online Retailer Turns to Curation to Solve Fashion’s Waste Problem

    [ad_1]

    Since the start of the pandemic, online shopping has grown at a faster rate than ever before. While this is true across most industries, the impact on fashion is unique: According to Statista, apparel currently makes up 23% of all e-commerce on the internet — and unsurprisingly, that number is expected to grow. (The same report predicts that in 2025, $300 billion in apparel will be sold online.)

    The inherent downside to this type of growth is that it leads to overproduction from brands seeking to capitalize on our increasingly online lives. That means more textile waste in landfills and secondhand markets, greater carbon emissions and continued unfair labor practices against garment workers to get product in stores faster and cheaper. For consumers, the problem is so big and confusing, it’s almost impossible to know how to shop better.

    [ad_2]

    Alyssa Hardy

    Source link

  • WHO calls on China to release more information on its COVID case surge to learn more about which variants are circulating

    WHO calls on China to release more information on its COVID case surge to learn more about which variants are circulating

    [ad_1]

    The World Health Organization has called on China to release more information about its current wave of COVID infections after China said nearly 60,000 people have succumbed to the virus since early December, the Associated Press reported. 

    The announcement of fatality numbers on Saturday came after weeks of complaints that China was not keeping experts abreast of what was happening.

    The announcement “allows for a better understanding of the epidemiological situation,” said a WHO statement. Director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus talked by phone with Health Minister Ma Xiaowei, it said.

    “WHO requested that this type of detailed information continued to be shared with us and the public,” the agency said.

    The National Health Commission said only deaths in hospitals were counted, which means anyone who died at home is not part of the tally. It gave no indication of when or whether it might release updated numbers. China has seen a wave of cases ever since the government ended stringent restrictions on movement in December.

    The WHO is now analyzing the data, which covers early December to Jan. 12. So far, the epidemiology is similar to what has been seen in other countries, “a rapid and intense wave of disease caused by known sub-variants of omicron with higher clinical impact on older people and those with underlying conditions,” said the statement.

     The agency is hoping to get more information on the exact variants that are circulating. China has reported that two omicron sublineages, dubbed BA.5.2 and BF.7 are spreading but the WHO needs more sequences to be shared with open databases to get fully up to date.

    See also: China reports first population drop in decades as birthrates plunge

    Tens of thousands of people resumed travels in and out of China on Sunday as the country lifted almost all of its border restrictions, ending three years of strict pandemic controls. Some travelers expressed relief to be reunited with their families. Photo: Tyrone Siu/Reuters

    In the U.S., the seven-day average of new U.S. COVID cases stood at 59,121 on Monday, according to a New York Times tracker. That’s flat from two weeks ago and below the recent peak of 70,508 on Christmas Eve.

    See also: Americans are facing years of ‘tripledemic’ winters that may put patients with other ailments at risk, Jha says

    The daily average for hospitalizations was down 8% at 45,052. The average for deaths stood at 562, up 78% from two weeks ago to continue the recent trend.

    Coronavirus Update: MarketWatch’s daily roundup has been curating and reporting all the latest developments every weekday since the coronavirus pandemic began

    Other COVID-19 news you should know about:

    • The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said its real-time surveillance system has met the statistical criteria to prompt additional investigation into whether there is a risk of ischemic stroke in people ages 65 and older who received the Pfizer/BioNTech
    PFE,
    -3.70%

    BNTX,
    -1.28%
    bivalent COVID vaccine. “Rapid-response investigation of the signal in the VSD (vaccine safety datalink) raised a question of whether people 65 and older who have received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent were more likely to have an ischemic stroke in the 21 days following vaccination compared with days 22-42 following vaccination,” the agency said in a statement. No such signal has been identified with the Moderna
    MRNA,
    -0.68%
    bivalent vaccine, it added.

    • Italian tennis player Camila Giorgi has denied allegations that she obtained a false COVID-19 vaccine certificate to allow her to travel, the AP reported. A doctor is under investigation in Italy for supplying false certificates and fake vaccines and Giorgi’s name was revealed in a long list of people implicated by an Italian newspaper. Giorgi is currently competing in the Australian Open.

    Getting the flu can increase the risk of getting a second infection, including strep throat. WSJ’S Daniela Hernandez explains the science behind that, plus what it means for the rest of the winter and how we can protect ourselves from the tripledemic. Illustration: David Fang

    • The New York State Department of Health is “exploring its options” after a state Supreme Court judge struck down a statewide mandate requiring healthcare workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19, the AP reported separately. Judge Gerard Neri wrote in a ruling released Friday that Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and the health department overstepped their authority by mandating a vaccine that’s not included in state public health law, the Syracuse Post-Standard reported. The mandate is “null, void, and of no effect,” the judge said. He sided with Medical Professionals for Informed Consent, a group of medical workers impacted by the vaccination mandate.

    Here’s what the numbers say:

    The global tally of confirmed cases of COVID-19 topped 667.3 million on Tuesday, while the death toll rose above 6.7 million, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University.

    The U.S. leads the world with 101.7 million cases and 1,099,885 fatalities.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s tracker shows that 229.4 million people living in the U.S., equal to 69.1% of the total population, are fully vaccinated, meaning they have had their primary shots.

    So far, just 49.6 million Americans, equal to 15.9% of the overall population, have had the updated COVID booster that targets both the original virus and the omicron variants.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Alibaba, XPeng, Goldman Sachs, and More Stock Market Movers Tuesday

    Alibaba, XPeng, Goldman Sachs, and More Stock Market Movers Tuesday

    [ad_1]

    This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers visit http://www.djreprints.com.

    https://www.barrons.com/articles/stock-market-movers-alibaba-xpeng-goldman-morgan-stanley-51673625139

    • Order Reprints
    • Print Article

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Tanking Biotech Stocks Will Mean a Big Year for Deals. Who Could Benefit.

    Tanking Biotech Stocks Will Mean a Big Year for Deals. Who Could Benefit.

    [ad_1]

    Nearly two years after biotechnology stocks began to tumble, executives at small and midsize companies in the space are finally accepting that share prices aren’t bouncing back anytime soon.

    With reality setting in, it’s a buyer’s market for companies looking for acquisitions and partnerships, according to many of the pharmaceutical and medical technology executives who gathered at this year’s


    J.P. Morgan


    healthcare investor conference, which wrapped up in San Francisco on Thursday.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • New COVID subvariant is now dominant across the U.S., accounting for 43% of all new cases in latest week, CDC says

    New COVID subvariant is now dominant across the U.S., accounting for 43% of all new cases in latest week, CDC says

    [ad_1]

    The XBB.1.5 omicron subvariant that has been dominant in the Northeast for several weeks is now officially dominant across the U.S., according to an update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention early Friday.

    XBB.1.5 accounted for 43% of all COVID cases in the week through Jan. 14, pulling ahead of BQ.1.1, which accounted for 28.8% of new cases, and BQ.1, which accounted for 15.9%, the data showed.

    Last week, BQ.1.1 was still dominant nationwide, accounting for 33.5% of new cases versus XBB.1.5’s 30.4%.

    In the New York region, which includes New Jersey, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, XBB.1.5 now accounts for 82.7% of new cases, up from 72.7% a week ago.

    On Thursday, the World Health Organization acknowledged that XBB.1.5, which was first detected in tiny numbers in the U.S. in October, has become the most transmissible variant yet thanks to a growth advantage, and said that it appears to have a greater ability to evade immunity than earlier variants.

    However, the immune-escape data is based on preliminary lab-based studies and not on research in humans. And with the only data to review coming from the U.S., the agency said there’s no information yet on clinical severity.

    XBB.1.5 is similar to its immediate predecessor XBB.1 but has an additional mutation to its spike protein that may be behind its growth advantage. For now, it does not appear to have any mutation that might lead to more severe disease or death, WHO officials have said. The agency is monitoring it along with five other omicron variants.

    On Friday, the WHO updated guidelines on face masks, treatments and patient care in the age of COVID, a reminder that the pandemic is not yet over, even if people are mostly behaving as if it is. Given current global trends, the agency is recommending that people wear face masks when in public settings that are enclosed or poorly ventilated. People who have been exposed to the virus should also wear masks.

    “Similar to previous recommendations, WHO advises that there are other instances when a mask may be suggested, based on a risk assessment,” the agency said in a statement. “Factors to consider include the local epidemiological trends or rising hospitalization levels, levels of vaccination coverage and immunity in the community, and the setting people find themselves in.”

    The WHO reduced its recommended isolation period for COVID patients and said they can end isolation early if they test negative on a rapid test. Patients with symptoms should isolate for 10 days from the start of symptom onset, but the agency has dropped its advice for an additional three days.

    For asymptomatic patients who test positive, the WHO now recommends five days of isolation, compared with 10 days previously.

    The WHO extended a strong recommendation for the use of Pfizer’s
    PFE,
    +0.29%
    antiviral Paxlovid for patients with mild to moderate symptoms who are at risk of hospitalization.

    The data comes as the seven-day average of new U.S. cases stood at 60,610 on Thursday, according to a New York Times tracker. That’s up 4% from two weeks ago and below the recent peak of 70,508 on Christmas Eve. The daily average for hospitalizations was up 10% to 45,842. The average for deaths was 564, up 61% from two weeks ago. 

    Coronavirus Update: MarketWatch’s daily roundup has been curating and reporting all the latest developments every weekday since the coronavirus pandemic began

    Other COVID-19 news you should know about:

    • The peak of China’s COVID-19 wave is expected to last two to three months and to soon extend over the country’s vast rural areas, where medical resources are relatively scarce, Reuters reported Friday, citing a Chinese epidemiologist. Infections are expected to surge in those areas as hundreds of millions of people travel to their hometowns for the Lunar New Year holiday, which starts Jan. 21. “Our priority focus has been on the large cities. It is time to focus on rural areas,” said Zeng Guang, the former chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a report published in local media outlet Caixin on Thursday.

    • Private services offering Chinese travelers access to mRNA vaccines are attracting droves of mainlanders to Hong Kong and Macau, the Guardian reported on Friday, as people seek a booster shot that their government has refused to approve. The government only allowed its citizens to get homegrown vaccines developed by Sinopac and Sinopharm
    8156,
    +6.45%
    throughout the pandemic, but many people are now seeking the greater protection offered by the mRNA vaccines developed by Moderna
    MRNA,
    +2.10%
    and by Pfizer and German partner BioNTech
    BNTX,
    -2.92%    .

    Tens of thousands of people have resumed travels in and out of China after the country lifted almost all of its border restrictions, ending three years of strict pandemic controls. Photo: Tyrone Siu/Reuters

    • Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly plans to return to work at the Statehouse Friday after learning that a COVID-19 test earlier in the week gave her a false positive result, her office said, the Associated Press reported. Kelly has been working in self-isolation at the governor’s residence since the false positive Tuesday. Her office announced that she had tested positive for COVID-19, and she postponed the annual State of the State address from Wednesday to Jan. 24.

    See also: Sick house: Florida man gets 8 ½ years for using COVID relief to buy lavish 12-acre estate, fleet of luxury cars

    Here’s what the numbers say:

    The global tally of confirmed cases of COVID-19 topped 666.3 million on Friday, while the death toll rose above 6.7 million, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University.

    The U.S. leads the world with 101.6 million cases and 1,099,629 fatalities.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s tracker shows that 229.4 million people living in the U.S., equal to 69.1% of the total population, are fully vaccinated, meaning they have had their primary shots.

    So far, just 49.6 million Americans, equal to 15.9% of the overall population, have had the updated COVID booster that targets both the original virus and the omicron variants.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • J Sainsbury sees 2023 profit toward upper end of views on robust Christmas period

    J Sainsbury sees 2023 profit toward upper end of views on robust Christmas period

    [ad_1]

    J Sainsbury PLC said Wednesday that it expects to deliver profits for fiscal 2023 toward the upper end of its current guidance following record trading during the Christmas period.

    The U.K. grocer
    SBRY,
    -3.09%
    said like-for-like sales excluding fuel rose 5.9% in the 16 weeks ended Jan. 7 compared with the same period a year ago. Like-for-like sales including fuel rose 6.8%, it said.

    The FTSE 100 listed company currently expects underlying pretax profit for the year ending March to be toward the upper end of the guidance range of between 630 million pounds and 690 million pounds ($765.5 million and $838.4 million).

    The company said the performance of its digital retailer business Argos was exceptional over the Christmas week.

    Write to Michael Susin at michael.susin@wsj.com

    [ad_2]

    Source link