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☆ Walmart offers affordable Easter meals to lure thrifty shoppers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 13 (Reuters) - Walmart Inc (WMT.N) said on Monday it would offer Easter meals and bundles at affordable prices, a move aimed at drawing more customers to its stores at a time when egg prices have surged and consumers are keeping a tight grip on their wallets. The price of eggs, a staple of Easter baskets, has been near a record high for months as outbreaks of avian flu have killed more than 58 million backyard and commercial chickens and turkeys since February 2022. Walmart said on Monday it would keep the prices of its Easter essentials consistent with 2022 and offer the Easter meal and basket combo for less than $100, both online and in stores. This year, Walmart's Easter meals and baskets will include staples like ham, green beans and cherry pies, along with decorative grass, Hershey's (HSY.N) Milk Chocolate Bunnies and Reese's Eggs. Reporting by Mehr Bedi in Bengaluru and Siddharth Cavale in New York; Editing by Pooja DesaiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Domino's Pizza misses sales estimates as demand wavers amid driver shortage
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 23 (Reuters) - Domino's Pizza Inc (DPZ.N) missed quarterly sales estimates on Thursday, in a sign that price hikes were eating into demand for its pizzas and chicken wings amidst decades-high inflation, sending its shares down nearly 10% in premarket trade. The Michigan-based company has also been facing acute staffing shortages, especially of delivery drivers at its U.S. stores, which has lengthened delivery times and further dented sales. Still, hiking menu prices by about 7%, as estimated by the company in October, helped Domino's adjusted earnings of $3.97 per share top estimates of $3.94 per share. BTIG analyst Peter Saleh has estimated Domino's currently has the highest level of menu pricing in more than a decade. Reporting by Mehr Bedi and Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Milla NissiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Analysis: To raise prices or not? Consumer goods makers weigh bets on buyer strength
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Jessica Dinapoli | Thomson Reuters | New York-Based Reporter Covering U.S. Consumer Products Spanning Paper Towels To Packaged Food | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

But, there are small signs the pressure is easing, with U.S. consumer prices a month earlier declining for the first time in two-and-a-half years, due in part to gas prices. Price hikes - or halts - are set to take center stage at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York annual conference on Feb. 20 in Boca Raton, Florida. DIFFERENT PREDICTIONSAfter more than a year of consistent price hikes, some consumer goods makers such as Kraft Mac & Cheese manufacturer Kraft Heinz Co (KHC.O) are pressing pause as they weigh consumer demand for their items. Frozen pizza prices have risen about 14% in the last year, according to IRI data. "Retailers cannot truly push back on prices … if the company has an important brand," Bernstein analyst Bruno Monteyne said.

☆ Business Technology Chiefs Question ChatGPT’s Readiness for the Enterprise
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Angus Loten | Chris Bedi | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

Yet some business-technology professionals are uneasy about integrating it into the enterprise stack, citing concerns over its use of online data and security risks. But at the moment, ChatGPT “should be used with caution in an enterprise business setting,” she said. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | CIO Journal The Morning Download delivers daily insights and news on business technology from the CIO Journal team. For now, Mr. Schmidt said, generative AI capabilities should be reserved for writing corporate boilerplate—product or service announcements, or other promotional materials. For enterprise information-technology, “ChatGPT use cases might be a smaller universe than people are imagining,” he said.

"Consumers are looking for convenient, filling, and nutritious meals, while at the same time paying more attention to the price tag," Kraft's chief executive Miguel Patricio said, adding the company would halt fresh price hikes in North America, Europe, Latin America and most of Asia. Retailers have also been increasingly opposing food manufacturers' price hikes. Last year, Kraft briefly stopped supplying some products to Tesco (TSCO.L) due to pricing disagreements with the British supermarket chain. It said average selling prices rose 15.2 percentage points in the fourth quarter, while sales volumes declined 4.8 percentage points. Net sales rose 10% to $7.38 billion, beating the estimate of $7.27 billion.

☆ Kellogg beats sales and profit estimates, to keep plant-based business
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Pringles maker, which is in the process of a three-way break-up of its business, also said it has decided to keep its plant-based business, which represents 2% of net sales, in-house. Kellogg had last June announced plans to explore strategic options for its profitable MorningStar Farms business. The company forecast organic sales growth of 5% to 7% for full year 2023, as it expects sustained demand for its snacks and emerging markets business region. Shares of the Michigan-based company rose 1.5% before the bell. Kellogg's net sales rose 12% to $3.83 billion in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31.

☆ British cybersecurity firm NCC Group to cut workforce by 7%
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Shares of the Manchester-headquartered FTSE Mid Cap (.FTMC) firm were down about 10% to an over two-and-a-half-year low of 147 pence in morning trade. NCC said the job cuts would lead to a one-off implementation cost of 4 million pounds ($5 million) in the second half of the fiscal year ending May 31. The company said delays in revenue recognition, particularly in North America and the UK, have weighed on annual outlook, and now expects single-digit revenue growth for the year. NCC also forecast an 8% growth in annual adjusted operating profit at about 52 million pounds, after it reported an about 28% jump in first-half earnings. ($1 = 0.8082 pounds)Reporting by Raechel Thankam Job and Prerna Bedi in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita BhattacharjeeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Cyber Startup Snyk Raises $25 Million From ServiceNow
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Belle Lin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

Cybersecurity company Snyk Ltd. announced on Tuesday a $25 million investment from enterprise software maker ServiceNow Inc. The Boston-based startup also announced an integration with ServiceNow that aims to provide cybersecurity and information-technology executives a view of potential security vulnerabilities originating from open-source code. “Security is a team issue that requires developers, security and IT professionals to work together,” Mr. Bedi said. “Vendors are starting to talk with each other more often and being able to exchange data,” Mr. Horvath said. The eight-year-old startup cut 14% of its workforce last year and now has over 1,000 employees, according to Mr. McKay.

"This was my road to Damascus experience, a turning point in my understanding of the role of talent density in organizations," Hastings wrote. Hastings credits the company's culture of internal transparency and innovation, which endows top-performers with unusual autonomy, for Netflix's success. "This is a big psychological change for Netflix," said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData. "There's no big strategy shifts or big culture shifts," he said in a post-earnings video interview with an analyst. They'll also need to find new sources of revenue, including in video games -- where Netflix will confront established rivals.

Companies Costco Wholesale Corp FollowJan 17 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Tuesday said Costco Wholesale Corp (COST.O) must face a lawsuit claiming it falsely advertises and labels its canned tuna as "dolphin safe" despite using fishing methods that harm and kill dolphins. The Issaquah, Washington-based retailer said Wright only speculated about the risk to dolphins in tuna she bought, and that it made no promises about dolphin safety beyond using a "dolphin safe" logo on labels. He said this was particularly important because consumers "overwhelmingly" prefer tuna labeled dolphin-safe when given a choice. The case is Wright v Costco Wholesale Corp, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Additional reporting by Mehr Bedi in Bengaluru; Editing by Rosalba O'BrienOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Global IT Spending Decreased in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

Companies worldwide made deep cuts in enterprise technology spending last year, with tighter information-technology budgets likely to stretch well into the year ahead. Global IT spending contracted 0.2% in 2022, dropping to $4.38 trillion—a rare instance of corporations spending less on digital business tools than in the previous year, according to IT consulting and research firm Gartner Inc.Gartner had initially estimated that IT spending had increased 0.8% last year. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | CIO Journal The Morning Download delivers daily insights and news on business technology from the CIO Journal team. Spending on business software and IT services is expected to remain steady year-over-year, together accounting for more than $2.16 trillion in projected spending in 2023, Gartner said. Within IT services, spending on consulting services alone is projected to reach $264 billion, up 6.7% from 2022, Gartner said.

☆ India's NDTV says president, other senior execs resign
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NDTV's chief strategy officer, Arijit Chatterjee, and chief technology and product officer, Kawaljit Singh Bedi, also quit, resignations that come after founders Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy left the company's board in December. NDTV made several failed attempts to block the takeover, citing regulatory restrictions on moving shares. The ports-to-energy conglomerate's takeover had stoked fears over the freedom of the press among some journalists and led to Ravish Kumar, a senior executive editor at NDTV, resigning soon after Adani acquired its stake. While announcing the latest set of resignations, NDTV, in a regulatory filing, said, "The company is in the process of putting up a new leadership team which will set a fresh strategic direction and goals for the company." (This story has been refiled to correct the typographical error in the fourth paragraph)Reporting by Chris Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'SouzaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Trading in shares of UK's Home REIT temporarily suspended
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 3 (Reuters) - Home REIT Plc's (HOMEH.L) shares were temporarily suspended from trading starting Jan. 3, as it missed a deadline to publish its annual financial report due to an ongoing audit after a short-seller report on the British company's finances. The results are expected to be published "as soon as practicable," the company said in a statement on Tuesday, without providing a timeline. On Dec. 12, Home REIT's shares plunged to a record low after it said its auditors were carrying out "enhanced audit procedures" and reiterated that all allegations made by Viceroy are "without substance". "We don't see HOME REIT's (trading) suspension being short-term," Viceroy told Reuters in an emailed statement. Reporting by Radhika Anilkumar and Prerna Bedi in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann ThoppilOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ CIO 2023 Priorities: Speed and Agility
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Belle Lin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

Technology executives in a recent CIO Journal end-of-year survey shared their priorities for 2023. In addition to delivering on a company’s technology goals, business technology executives have been navigating tricky waters over the past year as a result of rising interest rates, a tumultuous geopolitical landscape and stubborn inflation. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | CIO Journal The Morning Download delivers daily insights and news on business technology from the CIO Journal team. Alessandro Ventura, Unilever North America’s CIO and vice president of analytics and business services. “Nobody has a crystal ball,” Mr. Ventura said.

☆ CIOs Nominate Their Favorite Reads of 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Tom Loftus | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +9 min

Chief information officers, ever alert to any development in a field that only hurtles forward, largely reflected that alacrity in their choice of reading during 2022. PREVIEWChris Bedi, chief digital information officer, ServiceNow Inc. Photo: IBM Corp.Ron Guerrier, chief information officer, HP Inc. Photo: Cisco Systems Inc.Fletcher Previn, chief information officer, Cisco Systems Inc. Photo: Home Depot Inc.Fahim Siddiqui, chief information officer, Home Depot Inc.

☆ Nonstop partying, lavish spending, and sexual-harassment accusations: Inside the self-destruction of Pollen, the music startup once worth $800 million
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Melkorka Licea | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +41 min

About 400 Pollen employees were camped out in Mendocino County, California, for five straight days of partying. Two former Pollen employees told Insider that they recalled the assistant telling them about Callum's inappropriate comments at the time. (The Pollen representative said Callum and Bedi didn't date at Pollen or at any other company connected to Pollen. Out of 360 events Pollen announced over the past 12 months, 39 were canceled, the Pollen representative said. (The Pollen representative said that "out of hundreds of thousands of customers, fewer than 100 people were moderated" online.)

☆ Kohl's CEO Gass to leave for top job at Levi Strauss
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Uday Sampath Kumar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 8 (Reuters) - Kohl's Corp (KSS.N) Chief Executive Michelle Gass will step down and take the helm at Levi Strauss & Co (LEVI.N) amid renewed calls from activist investors for management and board reshuffles at the struggling department store chain. Gass came under renewed pressure from hedge funds Macellum Advisors and Ancora Holdings after Kohl's decided in July to remain independent after exploring a sale. The former Starbucks (SBUX.O) executive, who became Kohl's CEO in 2018, will leave in December to become president at Levi's early next year before taking over from long-time boss Chip Bergh within 18 months. At Levi's, Gass faces the challenge of helping the denim maker navigate out of an inflationary environment that has caused a slump in discretionary spending and hit earnings. Kohl's said Tom Kingsbury, a director nominated by Macellum and Ancora last year, will serve as interim CEO from Dec. 2.

☆ Kraft Heinz beats quarterly sales estimates on higher prices
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 26 (Reuters) - Kraft Heinz Co (KHC.O) beat third-quarter sales estimates on Wednesday, as higher product prices offset pressure from reduced demand for its packaged meals and condiments. Global packaged foods makers have been steadily raising product prices over the past year to counter increased costs tied to labor, ingredients and transportation at a time when consumers are steeling their wallets against skyrocketing energy and food prices. The Heinz ketchup maker's net sales rose to $6.51 billion in the third quarter from $6.32 billion a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected $6.27 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. Reporting by Mehr Bedi and Granth Vanaik in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju SamuelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/3] The logo for Google LLC is seen at the Google Store Chelsea in Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S., November 17, 2021. A strong dollar has hurt the overseas profits of large firms, while soaring inflation has prompted interest rate hikes and companies to raise product prices, even as consumers have been forced to cut spending. Google's results bode ill for Facebook parent Meta Platforms (META.O), which is especially reliant on advertising and reports results on Wednesday. Last week, its smaller rival Snap Inc (SNAP.N) forecast no revenue growth for the holiday quarter, setting off warning bells in the social media industry. Shares in Spotify (SPOT.N), which also warned on slow advertising growth, slid 4%.

[1/3] The logo for Google LLC is seen at the Google Store Chelsea in Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S., November 17, 2021. Google's results bode ill for Facebook parent Meta Platforms (META.O), which is especially reliant on advertising and reports results on Wednesday. Microsoft fell 2% and chipmaker Texas Instruments , which forecast quarterly revenue and profit below estimates, was down 5%. Shares in Spotify (SPOT.N), which also warned on slow advertising growth, slid 4%. "During the quarter we experienced expected weakness in personal electronics and expanding weakness across industrial," said TI boss Rich Templeton.

☆ Kraft Heinz beats quarterly estimates as prices soar
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 26 (Reuters) - Kraft Heinz Co (KHC.O) beat third-quarter sales and profit estimates on Wednesday, benefiting from price increases in the face of rising costs for its packaged foods and condiments. Shares of the Jell-O and Philadelphia Cream Cheese maker rose 3.5% in premarket trading as the company also reaffirmed its full-year sales and profit guidance. Kraft said average selling prices rose 15.4 percentage points in the quarter, which partly dented sales volumes that fell 3.8 percentage points. The company's net sales rose to $6.51 billion in the third quarter from $6.32 billion a year earlier. Reporting by Mehr Bedi and Granth Vanaik in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju SamuelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The US never banned asbestos. These workers are paying the price.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Kathleen Mcgrory | Neil Bedi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +39 min

But protocols failed to match reality at the Niagara Falls plant, according to more than a dozen workers. In addition to those signature diseases, which are rare even among asbestos workers, the tiny strands can harm the body in other ways. In the 15 years that followed, congressional attempts to ban asbestos would continue to fall short. OSHA declined to make an official available for an on-the-record interview or comment on ProPublica's findings at the Niagara Falls plant. At the OxyChem plant in Wichita, union president Keith Peacock said he was comfortable with the way asbestos was handled.

☆ Beyond Meat cuts revenue view, jobs as inflation hits plant protein demand
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 14 (Reuters) - Beyond Meat on Friday cut its annual revenue forecast for the second time due to slowing demand for faux meat as consumers look for cheaper options to beat rising prices and announced jobs cuts as well as executive departures. The plant-based meat producer plans to cut 200 jobs this year and said its finance chief Philip Hardin, who has been in the role for just over a year, will leave at the end of the month. FILE PHOTO - A Beyond Meat Burger is seen on display at a store in Port Washington, New York, U.S., June 3, 2019. "We are significantly reducing expenses and sharpening our focus on a set of key growth priorities," Chief Executive Officer Ethan Brown said. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Aishwarya Venugopal and Mehr Bedi in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun KoyyurOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

From a broader national perspective, a combined Kroger and Albertsons does not pose any major threat to the competitive dynamics of the market." Kroger said it expects to reinvest about half a billion dollars of cost savings from deal synergies to reduce prices for customers. "The merger will accelerate our position as a more compelling alternative to larger and non-union competitors," Kroger Chief Executive Officer Rodney McMullen said. Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse were the financial advisors to Albertsons, while Citigroup and Wells Fargo advised Kroger. Kroger will have to pay Albertsons $600 million if the deal is terminated.

☆ Beyond Meat announces layoffs, cuts revenue forecast as inflation hits demand
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 14 (Reuters) - Beyond Meat said on Friday it would cut 200 jobs and slashed its annual revenue forecast for the second time, citing slowing demand for faux meat as consumers look for more cheaper options to beat rising prices. The company also announced the departure of finance chief Philip Hardin at the end of the month and named board director Lubi Kutua as his replacement. Shares fell more than 10% before the bell, with the company saying rising competition as another reason for the forecast cut. The company said it would incur a one-time cash charge of about $4 million related to the job cuts in the fourth quarter. Beyond Meat, which had about 1,100 employees at the end of last year, expects the reduction in workforce to be complete by the end of year.

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