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☆ CNBC's Inside India newsletter: Will AI make or break India?
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

But one that could foreshadow India's growth story. Can Teleperformance's stock plunge be the canary in the coal mine for what is likely to happen to India because of AI? But it's likely to be a blip for India's growth trajectory, given the macro forces at play. Besides creating jobs that are less likely to be immediately disrupted by AI, India could also be a net beneficiary of artificial intelligence. The Indian stock market indexes, Sensex and Nifty 50 , are heading for a positive week again — up by 1% and 1.2%, respectively.

Persons: Findlay Kember, Klarna, ChatGPT, K Krithivasan, Krithivasan, Narendra Modi, It's, Shilan Shah, Goldman Sachs, Vinay Dwivedi, Ashok Gulati, Nomura, League Pickleball, Karine Jean, Pierre, Jerome Powell, Raghuram Rajan, Ashish Jain, CNBC's Ayushi Jindal Organizations: AFP, Getty, India's Tata Consultancy Services, Financial Times, TCS, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, University of Oxford, Capital Economics, Investment, Nomura, Qualcomm, Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing, UPI, India, Commission, Agricultural, United Pickleball Association, Global Sports, PPA, League, Washington Post, White, U.S ., Federal, CNBC, Reserve Bank of India, University of Chicago Booth School of Business Locations: Swedish, Paris, India, Chennai, U.S, Europe, China, Singapore, South Korea, Canada, United States

☆ Call center group Teleperformance falls 23%; CEO insists AI cannot replace human staff
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-07 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Shares of Teleperformance plunged 23% on Thursday, after the French call center and office services group missed its full-year revenue target and flagged a "volatile economic environment." Teleperformance shares dropped 16% last week, according to LSEG data, after Swedish financial services company Klarna said its Open AI-powered customer service assistant was handling two-thirds of customer service calls. But Teleperformance CEO Daniel Julien on Thursday said that AI would be a positive for its business model — and that it will never fully replace the value of human interaction. "AI is part of the solutions we provide to the clients," Julien told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe." So we perceive AI as enhancing the job that our human employees do, but absolutely not replacing them."

Persons: Klarna, Daniel Julien, Julien, CNBC's, It's

☆ Why Power Eludes the French Left
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Elisabeth Zerofsky | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As transit walkouts snarled traffic and sanitation strikes caused trash to pile up in the streets, the protests were ridiculed abroad. Why must the French, among the best-protected workers in the Western world, make such a racket over two years of work? But for the demonstrators, this missed the point: It is because French workers put up a fight that they are protected. France has always been a vanguard of leftist politics. How it fares says much about where the left may be headed and the headwinds it faces, not just in France but throughout the West.

Persons: Samira Organizations: Writers Guild of America, United Auto Workers, UPS Teamsters, National Health Service Locations: Teleperformance, France, United States, Britain

☆ UBS downgrades stock of a company with 400,000 workers — thanks to 'significant uncertainty' from AI
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

UBS has downgraded the shares of Teleperformance , which has around 400,000 customer service agents worldwide, over the "significant uncertainty" the company faces from the rise of artificial intelligence. The stock has fallen over 50% in the past year to 116 euros ($122) on those fears. UBS also cut its price target for Teleperformance's stock by 65% to 130 euros per share. Analysts at Berenberg are also looking past Teleperformance's immediate challenges and believe the company will gain from artificial intelligence in the near term. Raynsford expects shares of the company to rise by 85% over the next 12 months to 211 euros a share.

Persons: Nicole Manion, Carl Raynsford, Raynsford Organizations: UBS Locations: Teleperformance, Paris, France, Berenberg

☆ Analysts love these cheaper stocks from the U.S. and beyond — and expect one to double
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Weizhen Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

As a result, however, valuations have risen, with the S & P 500's forward price-to-earnings ratio trading at 19.69 as of Friday. The index has a forward P/E ratio of around 16 as of Friday. When it comes to U.S stocks, Delta Airlines ' potential upside was among the highest at 34%, as was its 85% buy rating. And it has a forward P/E ratio of 6.3 — significantly below the S & P 500's. It has a 13.5 forward P/E ratio — on the list's higher side.

Persons: Wells Fargo Organizations: Dow, CNBC Pro, Delta Airlines, PayPal, Disney, Porsche Locations: U.S

McKinsey says generative AI could add $7.3 trillion in value to the world economy each year and believes half of today's work activities could be automated between 2030 and 2060. The latest Bank of America survey in June showed 29% of global investors don't expect AI to increase profits or jobs. "There's a lot of focus on the risks that generative AI can bring. He sounded confident over the capacity of some professional information and data providers, which own proprietary data, to integrate generative AI into their products. Cristina Matti, small and midcaps portfolio manager at Amundi, said indiscriminate investing was not an option for investors seeking AI exposure.

Persons: Gilles Guibout, UK's Pearson, Chegg, Pearson, Thomas McGarrity, Andrea Scauri, Scauri, Capgemini, Cristina Matti, Danilo Masoni, Lucy Raitano, Chizu Organizations: Nvidia, McKinsey, AXA Investment, Bank of America, Microsoft, RBC Wealth Management, Accenture, Thomson Locations: MILAN, Europe, United States, Paris, Lemanik, Amundi

☆ Teleperformance signs $185 million deal with Microsoft to launch GenAI tool
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

June 20 (Reuters) - France's Teleperformance (TEPRF.PA) signed a $185 million deal with Microsoft (MSFT.O) to launch its proprietary TP GenAI, the outsourcing group said on Tuesday, ahead of its artificial intelligence investor day. Teleperformance SE will host on Wednesday a virtual meeting with its AI experts to let investors peek behind the curtains of its efforts in the AI race. Teleperformance, which employs 410,000 staff in 170 countries, hosts conference calls, maintains pay and salary accounts, and provides automated translations to clients. Teleperformance said at the time that it predicts that 20% to 30% of its processes will be automated within the next three years. ($1 = 0.9163 euro)Reporting by Alessandro Parodi and Victor Goury-Laffont; editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Teleperformance, Bhupender Singh, Alessandro Parodi, Victor Goury, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: Microsoft, Thomson

☆ Ahead of World Refugee Day, dozens of multinationals pledge to hire and train 250,000 refugees in Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( Jeanne Sahadi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —Just ahead of World Refugee Day, 41 multinational companies on Monday publicly pledged to provide jobs, training and connections to work opportunities for more than 250,000 refugees in Europe. What different companies are doingAmong the companies that are making new pledges this week, many have already been hiring or training refugees in Europe over the past year. ISS, for instance, has already hired 500 refugees in Europe — a majority of them Ukrainian women — since March of last year. Others making hiring commitments include Adidas, Blackstone, BP, Hyatt, Ipsos, L’Oréal Group, Novartis, PepsiCo, Pfizer and The Kraft Heinz Company. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates the number of refugees worldwide is now approaching 35 million people, with more than 12 million of them in Europe.

Persons: ”, Margot Slattery, Slattery, Margaritis Schinas, —, Catherine Shoichet Organizations: New, New York CNN, Accenture, Adecco, Cisco, Generali, Marriott International, Microsoft, Starbucks, Tent Partnership, Refugees, ISS, Union, European Commission, Hilton, Marriott, Adidas, Blackstone, BP, Hyatt, L’Oréal, Novartis, PepsiCo, Pfizer, The Kraft Heinz Company, Cisco’s, Tent, United Nations Locations: New York, Europe, Amazon, Hilton, Paris, Ukraine, Ipsos

☆ Teleperformance launches 3 bln euro offer for call centre group Majorel
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 26 (Reuters) - Shares in Teleperformance (TEPRF.PA) dropped over 14% in early Wednesday trade after the French outsourcing and call centre group said it intends to buy rival Majorel (MAJ.AS) for 3 billion euros ($3.30 billion). The group, which employs more than 420,000 call centre workers worldwide, plans to raise 2.05 billion euros through a highly dilutive capital hike to entirely fund the acquisition. The announcement follows a $4.8 billion merger deal between U.S.-based competitor Concentrix Corp (CNXC.O) and French firm Webhelp in March. Majority shareholders in Majorel, Bertelsmann (BTGGg.F) and Saham, have irrevocably committed to tender their shares, Teleperformance said in a statement. Teleperformance is offering 30 euros per Majorel share, with an option for the latter's shareholders to receive Teleperformance shares at an exchange ratio of 0.1382.

☆ European shares fall as banking sector jitters eclipse upbeat earnings
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Shubham Batra | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) fell 0.7%, as regional banking stocks (.SX7E) dropped 1.2%. Earnings from Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and Google's parent Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) beat expectations, but recessionary worries in the world's largest economy kept investor sentiment fragile. Shares of Swiss banking software company Temenos AG (TEMN.S) jumped 10.2% after it reported first-quarter earnings above consensus. Meanwhile, ASM International NV (ASMI.AS) fell 10.0% after the Dutch semiconductor equipment maker reported a drop in first-quarter orders, citing softening market conditions, despite an estimate-beating revenue. Dassault Systemes SE (DAST.PA) slid 7.4% after the French software maker reported first-quarter numbers broadly in line with estimates but with a miss on software licenses.

☆ Citi says it's time to reconsider ESG, naming 3 stocks that could soar by 30%
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

ESG investing underperformed the broader market in 2022, but strategists at Citi think the segment could be about to rebound. Last year, the MSCI Europe Socially Responsible Investing index declined by 13.4% compared to the 8.9% fall in the broader MSCI Europe index. But Citi said ESG stocks — or those which take environmental, social, and governance factors into account — have historically shown resilience, with profit growth outpacing the broader market during earnings slowdowns. In line with this renewed focus, Citi has identified a number of stocks that it expects to rebound this year. To identify ESG stocks with "resilient" earnings per share, Citi screened the Stoxx Europe 600 index for large-cap stocks meeting several proprietary criteria, including ranking in the top 50 percentile of Truvalue Labs ESG index.

☆ Teleperformance full-year revenue tops guidance
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 16 (Reuters) - French office services and call centre company Teleperformance (TEPRF.PA) posted full-year revenue slightly above its previous guidance on Thursday, helped by a drive towards digitalisation among clients. The company posted 12.5% like-for-like revenue growth to 8.15 billion euros ($8.7 billion), slightly above its 12% growth estimate provided in November. Teleperformance came under pressure in Colombia last November over work practices in its content moderation business. Teleperformance targets recurring organic or self-generated growth of about 10.0% and an EBITA margin increase of 20 basis points in 2023. It had also confirmed its 2025 financial targets of at least 10 billion euros in revenue and an EBITA margin of 16%.

☆ Wall Street says Europe's a better bet than the U.S. right now — and names its top stock picks
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Zavier Ong | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

European stocks are are having a good year so far. While the underperformance has been marginal, the outlook for U.S. stocks is decidedly more muted — Wall Street is still wary of a recession. European stocks are therefore worth a look in the near term, according to Bernstein, which expects more upside for them. Stock picks One of Bernstein's top plays is low leverage stocks, which the bank defines as stocks with a low net debt to equity ratio. Bank of America has a number of European picks with exposure to higher Chinese consumer spending and improving overall demand in light of China's reopening.

☆ Morgan Stanley reveals its 8 favorite stocks ahead of Europe's earnings season
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Morgan Stanley has named eight stocks to buy ahead of a hotly anticipated earnings season in Europe. Morgan Stanley says: "We expect the stock to rally into earnings, due in early March. Morgan Stanley says: "Teleperformance shares have been under scrutiny since November following the outbreak of negative news flow around its Content Moderation in Colombia. More importantly none of this news flow alters the fundamental growth and earnings profile of the company." Morgan Stanley says: "Elis offers resilient GDP+ growth through the cycle, which is expected to be structurally higher post COVID (driven by increased demand for hygiene, reliability, accountability and ESG)."

☆ European shares bounce as battered miners rise, ECB loan repayments eyed
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Shreyashi Sanyal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) rose 0.9%, with basic resources stocks (.SXPP) up 1.2% after falling more than 3% in the last two sessions. The European Central Bank gears up to start the biggest withdrawal of cash from the euro zone's banking system in its history, with banks expected to repay about 500 bln euros in TLTRO loans. The STOXX 600 has gained about 4.9% so far this month, driven by better-than-feared earnings and expectations of smaller rate increases by the Fed. Among individual stocks, Austrian hydropower producer Verbund (VERB.VI) jumped 8.2% to top the STOXX 600, while energy and environmental services provider EVN (EVNV.VI) gained 5.2%. Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu SahuOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ An ex-TikTok moderator, who was paid $10 a day and had to scroll through child abuse and gun violence, was required to keep her webcam on all night, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A former TikTok moderator in Colombia was required to keep her webcam on all night while working. Moderators in Colombia are paid just $10 a day, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reported. A TikTok spokesperson told Insider in a statement: "We strive to promote a caring working environment for our employees and contractors. Neither TikTok nor Teleperformance responded to The Bureau of Investigative Journalism's detailed list of allegations. Another former TikTok moderator, Carlos, told TBIJ it was a video of child sexual abuse that had traumatized him.

☆ A Facebook contractor describes what it's like working on the company's customer service front lines
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Jordan Parker Erb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

In a conversation with Insider, a Meta customer service agent working for third-party firm described what it's like to work with customers, from torrents of abuse to insomnia from the stress. Each day, she fields around 20 cases a day from organizations, businesses, celebrities, and creators who depend on Facebook and Instagram for their livelihoods. More than 200 Gopuff customer service workers were let go last week. On a podcast, Glenn Howerton said he was locked out of his Tesla when his key fob broke, and that he had a difficult time reaching customer service, saying that Tesla "lost a customer." Acquired a decade ago for $22 billion, WhatsApp has yet to become a big business for Facebook.

☆ Inflation drives global firms eastward in Europe in search of cost savings
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Michael Kahn | Anna Koper | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

PRAGUE/WARSAW (Reuters) - Central European companies that provide remote, lower-cost business services for multinationals are ramping up their expansion plans as high inflation drives global firms to push more work to the region to cut costs and bolster margins. “If we started out here as an experiment, the experiment is working.”INFLATION ATTRACTS NEW INVESTORSThe business services sector has grown from almost nothing 25 years ago to an industry employing nearly 800,000 workers across Central and Eastern Europe, an increasingly important engine for local economies. At Comdata, whose 1,500 workers in the Czech Republic and Hungary operate telephone service lines, rising inflation and costs from Western companies have kept business humming. “As more and more companies try to cut and to lower the labour costs they will be moving the services from western Europe,” Nedelnik told Reuters. “I see during the last two or three months the tenders are rapidly growing for German, French, Spanish and English-speaking roles.

☆ Death threats, insomnia, and near-minimum wage: A Meta customer service contractor reveals what it's like to be on the frontline of Facebook customer complaints
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

A Meta customer service agent working for third-party firm Teleperformance revealed the job has become so stressful, she suffers from insomnia. Because sometimes she's powerless to help Meta users, it's tough to earn productivity bonuses, she said. She can investigate, troubleshoot, and as a last resort escalate the matter to the internal Meta team. Despite not being empowered to help, Meta customer support agents are also instructed not to use words such as "sorry" or "unfortunately," Charlotte said. *This article uses a pseudonym that was chosen by Insider, which is aware of the Meta customer service contractor's real identity.

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