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☆ The average workday shrank by nearly an hour over the last 3 years, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-01 | by ( Noah Sheidlower | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. The analysis looked at over 135,000 users across 958 companies, looking into nearly 97 million hours of data. Efficiency overall remained flat even as days shrank by nearly an hour. On Friday, workers sign off at 4:03 p.m., about an hour earlier than at the start of 2021. The percentage of disengaged employees was just 12% in 2021.

Persons: —, ActivTrak, they're Organizations: Service, Business, Wall Street, Employees, Gallup Locations: underutilization

☆ When Covid-19 finally got me, here’s what I did next
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-12 | by ( Katia Hetter | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Story highlights Getting a Covid-19 vaccination reduces risk of hospitalization or death All should have a plan in the event of infection, our medical expert advises There are treatments available for patients not eligible for PaxlovidCNN —Covid-19 finally got me. There are more key points I want to emphasize: The Covid-19 vaccine is not going to protect you 100% from contracting the virus. That’s because the viral load may not be high enough initially to trigger a positive test. You should also consider getting tested for the flu, as antiviral treatments are available for influenza, too. Wen: Individuals who test positive should stay home for at least five days and isolate from others, according to CDC guidance.

Persons: Paxlovid CNN —, I’ve, “ Hamilton, Leana Wen, Wen, it’s, It’s, Joe Raedle, Covid Organizations: Paxlovid CNN, CNN Health, World Health, WHO, George Washington University, CNN, Covid, US Centers for Disease Control, Paxlovid Locations: naps, Covid

"If interest rates remain high ... it's that much harder for people to buy the car. The price of the popular Model Y SUV was "almost unchanged" for consumers even after Tesla's price cuts, Musk said, accounting for higher financing costs. Reuters GraphicsPRICE CUTSTesla's aggressive price cuts this year have battered its gross margin even as it faces stiff competition in China from local automakers. Still, it stuck to its annual production target of 1.8 million cars, a sign that the price cuts were buoying demand to an extent. In the second quarter, Tesla had posted a gross margin of 18.2%.

Persons: Matthew Childs, Elon Musk, Musk, Tesla, Jesse Cohen, Akash Sriram, Hyunjoo Jin, Joe White, Abhirup Roy, Sayantani Ghosh, Sriraj Kaluvilla, Deepa Babington, Jamie Freed Organizations: REUTERS, General Motors, Chrysler, Reuters, Visible Alpha, Revenue, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, Mexico, Nuevo Leon, China, Bengaluru, Hyunjoo, San Francisco, Detroit

But the company on Wednesday stuck to its annual production target of 1.8 million vehicles, suggesting the discounts were driving demand. Some analysts said Tesla may need to cut prices further to achieve its annual delivery target amid a broader slowdown in electric vehicle demand. In the second quarter, Tesla had posted a gross margin of 18.2%. Wall Street had on average expected Tesla to post a margin of 18.02%, according to 21 analysts polled by Visible Alpha. According to LSEG data, an average of 17 analysts polled expected gross margin of 18.25%.

Persons: Matthew Childs, Tesla, Akash Sriram, Hyunjoo Jin, Abhirup Roy, Sayantani Ghosh, Sriraj Kaluvilla, Deepa Babington Organizations: REUTERS, Investors, Visible Alpha, Revenue, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, Texas, Bengaluru, Hyunjoo, San Francisco

☆ Western Digital's first-quarter forecast disappoints as weak cloud demand weighs
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 31 (Reuters) - Memory chipmaker Western Digital Corp (WDC.O) forecast a bigger-than-expected loss in the first quarter and revenue below Wall Street targets on Monday as weak demand, mainly for its cloud business, forces it to cut production. Cloud companies will take another "couple of quarters" to clear out excess inventory, finance chief Wissam Jabre said in June. Western Digital forecast its adjusted loss per share to be in the range of $2.10 to $1.80, compared to an estimated loss of $1.40 per share. It also forecast revenue for the same period below estimates. Rival Seagate Technology (STX.O) also forecast downbeat revenue for its first quarter last week, on weakness in major market China and lower tech spending.

Persons: Wissam Jabre, David Goeckeler, Goeckeler, Chavi Mehta, Stephen Nellis, Pooja Desai Organizations: Digital Corp, Seagate Technology, Western Digital, Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Thomson Locations: China, South, Bengaluru, San Francisco

☆ Analyst likes these 4 EV stocks — and says one is 'head and shoulders' above others
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Lee Ying Shan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The electric vehicle market is still a "long way" from a shakeout, according to consulting firm Sino Auto Insights. China's EV market has been roiled by Tesla 's aggressive price cuts and the country's government ended subsidies for EV buyers. But Sino Auto Insights' managing director, Tu Le, is still bullish on EV giant Tesla and its Chinese counterpart BYD. "BYD has still been able to be head and shoulders above everyone else, and not only in the Chinese market, but they're the number one brand for EVs in Israel and Thailand," he said. Other bright spots Tu acknowledges that Tesla and BYD are the EV market's top two players, but sees promise in some emerging ones.

There are "more questions than answers" surrounding Skyworks Solutions , BMO Capital Markets said in its downgrade of the company. "Semi stocks typically do not do well with [general margins] headwinds, especially when they are longer in duration," he added. The analyst noted that Skyworks has not had general margins below 50% since 2015. He added that while general margins in the second fiscal quarter were in line, outlook for the next two quarters is flat. Furthermore, Skyworks' recovery in China has been slower than anticipated, leading to underutilization of its factory network, according to Srivastava.

During a conference call with investors, the company projected that adjusted gross margins will climb above 40% in the second half, having hit historic lows in the first half of the year. Underscoring Intel's profitability slump in recent years, its first-quarter unadjusted gross margin fell to 34.2%, almost half of its multi-decade high of over 67% in 2010. The company forecast a further drop to an unadjusted gross margin of 33.2% for the second quarter. "While we understand investors may be disappointed in its 2Q23 gross margin outlook, we are confident that Intel's gross margin will recover in 2H23 as the burden of factory underutilization and new product start-up cost diminishes," said Kinngai Chan, analyst at Summit Insights Group. Intel said adjusted losses were 4 cents per share, above analysts' expectations of a 15 cent per share adjusted loss.

Elon Musk-led Tesla reported total gross margin of 19.3%, compared with expectations of 22.4%, according to 14 analysts polled by Refinitiv. For the first quarter, Tesla's automotive gross margins, a closely watched figure by analysts and investors, dropped. Finance chief Zachary Kirkhorn promised in January that Tesla would not go below automotive gross margins of 20% and an average selling price of $47,000 across models. Excluding items, Tesla reported a profit of 85 cents, in line with estimates. Deliveries of higher-priced Model S and Model X vehicles slumped from the previous quarter, it said.

The firm has a price target of $65, which implies 9.6% from the stock's closing price on Tuesday. Meanwhile, JPMorgan said that it is "starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel" for Micron as inventory levels begin to improve. The firm has a price target of $75, implying 26.5% upside from Tuesday's close price. His price target of $46 implies shares falling by almost a third from their closing price on Tuesday. Micron shares have rallied more than 18% in 2023, but have tumbled 27.7% over the last 12 months.

☆ Wolfe Research downgrades travel stocks, says demand likely to slow as economic headwinds pick up
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Travel companies could be in trouble with a recessionary period could likely on the horizon, according to Wolfe Research. Analyst Deepak Mathivanan downgraded the online travel sector to market underweight from market weight, citing a potential demand decline as the economy contracts. However, we struggle to see travel demand exhibiting high levels of resiliency and growth during a slowing economy in 2023." The stock, which was down 4.4% on Wednesday, was held at peer perform. Also downgraded to underperform, he said Tripadvisor is seeing its value proposition "erode" as the travel research space grows.

☆ Oatly plans job cuts as investors sour
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN Business —Oat milk brand Oatly is planning to cut jobs as coronavirus restrictions in Asia dampen its sales forecast for this year. An Oatly spokesperson told CNN Business on Tuesday that they could not confirm the planned number of job losses until it had finished its discussions with unions. CEO Toni Petersson said in a statement that the results were “largely driven” by coronavirus restrictions in Asia, production issues in the Americas and foreign exchange pressures. Coronavirus restrictions in Asia led to an “underutilization” of Oatly’s production facilities in the region, the company said in its earnings report. “[Oatly is] facing downward pressure from uncertain macroeconomic factors, like any other company operating on the global stage,” a company spokesperson told CNN Business.

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