DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

Yellow's demise underscores the shift in the U.S. trucking industry from too few trucks and truck drivers during the pandemic to too many today. Most U.S. trucking companies have about 20% spare capacity in their networks, Stifel analyst Bruce Chan said in a client note on Monday. Yellow struggled for more than a decade after loading up on debt from acquisitions of rival trucking firms Roadway and USF. Still, it is not good news for Yellow's customers, which likely will face double-digit price increases when they turn that business over to companies, Chan said. "If you weren't prepared for this, it's probably a pretty tough day for you," Adamo said of Yellow's customers.

Persons: Bruce Chan, Chan, Stifel's Chan, Donald Trump, Ken Adamo, it's, Adamo, Lisa Baertlein, Marguerita Choy Organizations: Yellow Corp, Walmart, Teamsters, Forward, TFI, FedEx Freight, Dominion, Apollo Global Management, Analytics, Thomson Locations: ANGELES, U.S, USF, Los Angeles

☆ Walmart focuses India’s retail valuation debate
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MUMBAI, July 31 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Walmart (WMT.N) is bumping up its stake in Flipkart, India’s e-commerce giant, at a handsome valuation. The U.S. retailer is buying shares from Tiger Global for $1.4 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. It’s a good deal for the seller as investors assess India’s hottest retail businesses. Reliance Industries’ (RELI.NS) retail unit might come sooner; analysts peg its valuation anywhere between $57 billion and $131 billion. How the market finally values India’s consumer will be closely watched.

Persons: India’s, Japan’s SoftBank, Robyn Mak, Pranav Kiran Organizations: Reuters, Walmart, Tiger Global, Wall Street, Reliance Industries, Twitter, BT boss’s, of Japan, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI, Flipkart, U.S, Una

☆ Walmart buys out $1.4 billion Tiger Global stake in India's Flipkart, Wall Street Journal reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 30 (Reuters) - Walmart (WMT.N) has paid $1.4 billion to buy out hedge fund Tiger Global's investment in e-commerce firm Flipkart, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing a letter by the hedge-fund to its investors. Walmart, Flipkart and Tiger Global did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. Earlier this year the Economics Times reported that private equity firms Accel and Tiger Global, two early backers of Flipkart, were in talks to sell their remaining stake in the company to Walmart. Tiger Global held about 4% of the company, according to the ET report. Walmart acquired a majority stake of 77% in Flipkart for about $16 billion in 2018, and later that year said it could take the company public in four years.

Persons: Japan's SoftBank, Yana Gaur, Kim Coghill, Chris Reese Organizations: Walmart, Tiger, Flipkart, Wall Street, Tiger Global, Reuters, Economics Times, Accel, Thomson Locations: U.S, Flipkart, Bengaluru

☆ Digital ad vultures descend on TV’s carcass
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Jennifer Saba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, July 28 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The digital advertising hunt is back on. Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsAlthough Meta and Alphabet dominate the digital ad market, there’s plenty of money yet to fight for. Comcast (CMCSA.O), for example, said on Thursday that U.S. ad revenue at its NBC Universal media division fell 5% and overall EBITDA was down nearly a fifth. Despite the volatile nature of advertising revenue because of its close links to economic trends, it also typically generates healthy operating margins. It’s no wonder then that Amazon.com (AMZN.O), Walmart (WMT.N), DoorDash (DASH.N) and many more are descending on TV’s carcass.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Jerome Powell, WPP’s, Jeffrey Goldfarb, Sharon Lam Organizations: YORK, Reuters, Meta, Google, Uber Technologies, Netflix, Facebook, YouTube, Conference Board, Federal, PepsiCo, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Comcast, NBC Universal, Walmart, Thomson Locations: New York

☆ U.S. Trucking firm Yellow prepares for bankruptcy - WSJ
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 26 (Reuters) - U.S. trucking firm Yellow (YELL.O) is preparing to file for bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, as customers abandon the company amid a cash crunch and union negotiations. The company could seek bankruptcy court protection as soon as this week, though no decision has been made, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. On Sunday, the third-biggest U.S. trucking company averted a threatened strike by 22,000 Teamsters-represented workers after compensating more than $50 million it owed in worker benefits and pension accruals. In 2020, the Donald Trump led government rescued the company with a $700 million pandemic relief loan in exchange for a 30% stake. Reporting by Urvi Dugar and Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun KoyyurOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Donald Trump, Urvi Dugar, Mrinmay Dey, Arun Koyyur Organizations: Wall Street, Reuters, U.S, Teamsters, Walmart, Uber, Thomson Locations: U.S, Bengaluru

☆ Walmart teams up with Expedia on travel perks
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Doyinsola Oladipo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, July 25 (Reuters) - Retail giant Walmart (WMT.N) on Tuesday said it is teaming up with online travel agency Expedia Group (EXPE.O) to offer its subscription service members travel benefits for the first time as retailers increase service offerings to offset a slowing in spending on goods. "We're bringing together the ultimate savings membership and vacation booking site to deliver a first-ever travel-focused benefit for Walmart+ members," said Venessa Yates, senior vice president and general manager of Walmart+, the retailer's subscription service. Walmart+ members will be able to book travel on a Walmart travel website powered by Expedia and earn Walmart cash rewards. Walmart also partnered with veterinary telehealth provider Pawp in May to offer Walmart+ subscribers free access to virtual veterinarians for a year. Amazon.com (AMZN.O) partnered with travel booking site Priceline, owned by Booking Holdings, in July to offer discounts for Prime Day, the first time an online travel agency participated in the event.

Persons: Venessa Yates, Morgan Stanley, Doyinsola Oladipo, Siddharth Cavale, Sandra Maler Organizations: YORK, Retail, Walmart, Expedia, Amazon, Pawp, Booking Holdings, Thomson Locations: New York

☆ Walmart can rally more than 30% as it gains grocery market share, Piper Sandler says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Walmart has a chance to grow its market share in the grocery business, which could boost the stock in a big way, according to Piper Sandler. The firm upgraded the retail giant to overweight from neutral Monday and raised its price target to $210 per share from $145. Analyst Edward Yruma said the company will benefit as grocery inflation eases, allowing it to take more market share in the space. Walmart stock has climbed more than 12% in 2023. WMT YTD mountain Walmart stock has added more than 12% from the start of the year.

Persons: Piper Sandler, Piper, Edward Yruma, Yruma, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Walmart

☆ Here are Tuesday's biggest analyst calls: Apple, Disney, Costco, Nike, Imax, Walmart, Meta & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Here are Tuesday's biggest calls on Wall Street: UBS reiterates Nike as buy UBS said it's getting incrementally bullish on the stock and that it could double. " BTIG upgrades Zscaler to buy from neutral BTIG said its checks on the IT stock have been "consistently positive." Morgan Stanley reiterates Apple as overweight Morgan Stanley said it's standing by its overweight rating heading into Apple earnings next week. Goldman Sachs reiterates Apple as buy Goldman said it's standing by its buy rating heading into earnings next week. Morgan Stanley names Elevance a top pick Morgan Stanley named the health insurance provider as a top pick and said it sees further earnings per share growth.

Persons: it's, Morgan Stanley, Apple, Piper Sandler, Wells, Goldman Sachs, Goldman, Mizuho, Oppenheimer, TSCO, Citi downgrades Goldman Sachs, TD Cowen, Wolfe, Baird, HWM, Elevance, Comm, Flywire Organizations: UBS, Nike, Apple, Walmart, Piper, Signet, Superior Unit, Costco, Citi, adv, 2Q, Meta, Digital Ad, Bank of America downgrades, Supply, Bank of America, HSBC, Zynga, Disney, Mizuho, Howmet Aerospace, Airbus Locations: Wells Fargo, 2Q23

New York CNN —A 68-year-old woman has her job back after she was fired last month for attempting to stop shoplifters at a Lowe’s store in Georgia. “The Lowes (sic) employee, Donna Hansbrough was fired for attempting to stop the theft,” the post said. “After senior management became aware of the incident and spoke to Donna Hansbrough today, we are reinstating her job and we are pleased that she has accepted the offer to return to Lowe’s,” Lowe’s said. In Kansas, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, a Republican, said retail crime is a “spiraling problem,” adding that Kansas and Missouri are among the top 10 states in the nation for the volume of retail crime. “There is a link between drug trafficking and organized retail crime,” Kobach told lawmakers in June.

Persons: Donna Hansbrough, Lowes, “ Lowes, Donna, ” Lowe’s, Hansbrough, “, Kris Kobach, Kobach, ” Kobach, ”, Read Hayes, they’ve, Lululemon Organizations: New, New York CNN, Rincon Police Department, Lowes, CNN, Retailers, National Retail Federation, Republican, Kansas, “, University of Florida, Prevention Research Council, Walmart, “ Retailers Locations: New York, Georgia, Rincon, San Francisco, America, In Kansas, Kansas, Missouri, Peachtree Corners , Georgia

July 24 (Reuters) - SoftBank Group (9984.T) is forming a joint venture with warehouse automation company Symbotic (SYM.O) to build AI-powered warehouses that will be majority owned by the Japanese technology investor, the companies said on Monday. The unit has also signed a contract to buy AI-powered systems from Symbotic that will be worth $7.5 billion in the next six years. Based in Wilmington, Massachusetts, Symbotic provides robotics warehouse automation solutions and counts Walmart (WMT.N) as its major backer and customer. The Japanese company will have a 65% stake in GreenBox, with Symbotic owning the rest. For fiscal year 2022, Symbotic reported revenue of $593.3 million, up 136% year over year, with a loss of $139.1 million.

Persons: Symbotic, Rick Cohen, upping, Masayoshi Son, Zaheer Kachwala, Krystal Hu, Shailesh Kuber, Anil D'Silva, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: SoftBank, Systems, SoftBank Group Corp, Walmart, JV, Tokyo bourse, Thomson Locations: SoftBank, Wilmington , Massachusetts, Tokyo, GreenBox

☆ Strike at trucking firm Yellow averted after deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 23 (Reuters) - U.S. trucking firm Yellow (YELL.O) averted a threatened strike by 22,000 Teamsters-represented workers on Sunday, saying the company will pay the more than $50 million it owed in worker benefits and pension accruals. Yellow is the third-biggest U.S. trucking company specializing in the less-than-truckload segment that combines shipments from different customers in the same trailer. Competitors, who are grappling with a sharp drop in freight volume, are expected to cherry-pick the company's customers, trucking experts and analysts said. It has successfully won such concessions in the past, but this time was rebuffed by new Teamsters General President Sean O'Brien. A federal judge in Kansas on Friday rejected Yellow's request to block the Teamsters from striking over the delinquent benefit payments.

Persons: Donald Trump, Sean O'Brien, O'Brien, O’Brien, Yellow's, Lisa Baertlein, Ananta Agarwal, Mrinmay Dey, Diane Craft, Chris Reese Organizations: Teamsters, Central, U.S, Walmart, Uber, Apollo Global Management, . Company, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, United Parcel Service, Thomson Locations: U.S, Central States, Nashville , Tennessee, Kansas, Los Angeles, Bengaluru

☆ Not every version of Barbie was a hit. Check out these flops
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-22 | by ( Parija Kavilanz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Barbie’s pregnant sidekick, MidgePregnant Midge was featured in Mattel's Happy Family Barbie Collection that also included Alan (pictured here behind the stroller). Fast-forward to 2002, Mattel introduced a pregnant Midge doll, featuring a detachable baby bump with a toy baby inside. The Midge doll created ripples. Walmart (WMT) ended up pulling the pregnant Midge doll from its store shelves, citing customer complaints about the appropriateness of a “pregnant” doll. When the FBI came after this BarbieVideo Barbie doll with a built-in LCD screen and download port for videos.

Persons: New York CNN —, Barbie, She’s, who’ve, Barbie Fashionistas, “ Barbie, ”, James Zahn, “ There’s, Midge, Alan, Lawrence Lucier, Zahn, Allan, Ryan, “ Allan ”, “ Allan didn’t, Mattel, “ Alan ”, Tanner, Barbie’s, Mark Ralston, Tanner playset, Tanner playsets, Barbie Mattel, Martin James Brannan, Skipper, Skipper ”, “, Miguel Villagran, Barbie Mark Lennihan, Richard Gottlieb Organizations: New, New York CNN, Bel Air, Mattel, Walmart, “, US Consumer Product Safety Commission, OREO, Nabisco, Fairfax Media, FBI, Global Toy Experts, New York Times Magazine Locations: New York, American, Barbie, AFP

[1/3] The sign outside the Sam's Club is seen at its store in Shanghai, China July 12, 2023. The membership stores are also gaining ground amid a sales decline in China's hypermarket sector, which struggled with a shift towards online purchases during the pandemic. The club warehouse format "is the only bright spot," said Derek Deng, who leads Bain & Company's consumer products practice in greater China. "Sam's Club are doing well. But Sam's Club was ultimately confident it is currently miles ahead, one of the people said.

Persons: Aly, Liu Zheng, lockdowns, Derek Deng, Bain, Kantar Worldpanel, Judith McKenna, Bain's Deng, Christina Zhu, Sophie Yu, Brenda Goh, Jamie Freed Organizations: Sam's, REUTERS, Sam's Club, Costco, Walmart, HK, Freshippo, Carrefour, Yonghui, Bain, Reuters Graphics, Reuters, Sun, Retail, M, Beijing Yaodi Agriculture, M Club, Thomson Locations: Shanghai, China, BEIJING, Beijing, U.S, United States, Carrefour China, Peking, Yangzhou, Lanzhou, Sam's

☆ Here are Thursday's biggest analyst calls: Tesla, Netflix, Chevron, Alphabet, Apple, Nvidia, IBM and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Morgan Stanley reiterates Tesla as equal weight Morgan Stanley said it's standing by its equal-weight rating on Tesla after its earnings report Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upgrades Anheuser-Busch InBev to overweight from equal weight Morgan Stanley said the beer giant's valuation is attractive right now. Morgan Stanley reiterates Microsoft as overweight Morgan Stanley said the company is a top pick heading into earnings next week. Bank of America reiterates Alphabet as buy Bank of America said it's bullish on the stock heading into earnings next week. Bank of America reiterates IBM as buy Bank of America said it's standing by its buy rating on the artificial intelligence beneficiary after its earnings report Wednesday. "

Persons: it's, Morgan Stanley, Tesla, Bud, Wolfe, NVDA, Estée Lauder, Skyworks, McDonald's, Wells, Wells Fargo, it's bullish, Goldman Sachs, ServiceNow Organizations: Credit Suisse, Apple, Suisse, Vision, Tesla, Anheuser, Busch InBev, RBC, Nvidia, Barclays, UBS, Chevron, Bank of America, Netflix, Deutsche Bank downgrades Avis Budget, Deutsche Bank, Avis Budget, Walmart, " Bank of America, IBM, Citi Locations: underperform, China

But while 44% of India's smartphones sales are now online, the brick-and-mortar segment remains the bigger play and Xiaomi expects it to grow further. "Our market position in offline is substantially lower than what it is online," Xiaomi's India head, Muralikrishnan B., said in an interview on Friday. The South Korean giant has a 20% market share in India, while Xiaomi, which historically focussed on budget phones, has 16%. Xiaomi plans to hire more store promoters - salespeople who lure, pitch and sell phones to prospective buyers inside outlets. Another significant India challenge for Xiaomi is a federal agency's $673 million freeze on its bank assets since last year.

Persons: Xiaomi, Flipkart, Muralikrishnan, Tarun Pathak, We'll, Aditya Kalra, Munsif Vengattil, William Mallard Organizations: DELHI, HK, South, Samsung, Research, Thomson Locations: India, Hong Kong

☆ Saudi golf shot plays through CFIUS hazards
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Jennifer Saba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

U.S. congressional lawmakers scrutinized PGA Tour officials on Tuesday this week about the group’s tie-up with a rival golf tournament owned by Saudi Arabia. Enter the Saudis, who launched an upstart golf tournament last year, LIV Golf, that competed with the U.S.-based PGA Tour and its European counterpart DTP. There are worries that Saudi Arabia, a regime viewed as hostile to women and LGBTQ groups, would have significant sway over golf’s culture. LIV Golf is owned by Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund. Former AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson resigned from the PGA Tour policy board, the Washington Post reported on July 9.

Persons: State Condoleezza Rice, Darla Moore, Covid, LIV Golf, Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Yasir Al, Ed Herlihy, Wachtell, Lipton, Katz, hasn’t, Randall Stephenson, Jamal Khashoggi, ”, Richard Blumenthal, –, Sherrod Brown, Maxine Waters, Janet Yellen, LIV Golf’s, Joe Biden hasn't, Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Khashoggi, Uncle Sam, Refinitiv, China’s ByteDance, LIV, Stephenson, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Sharon Lam Organizations: YORK, Reuters, Public Investment Fund, Augusta National Golf Club, State, U.S, PGA, LIV, Rosen, Breakingviews, Former AT, PGA Tour, Saudi, Department of Justice, Foreign Investment, U.S . Treasury, Saudi Arabian Crown, Walmart, Visa, Uber Technologies, Nation Entertainment, National Basketball League, Houston Rockets, People’s, NBA, backtrack, FIFA, Qatar, The Justice Department, Treasury, Committee, Homeland Security, Governmental Affairs, Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, T, Washington Post, Thomson Locations: Saudi Arabia, United States, American, U.S, South Carolina, Iran, China, Saudi, Hong Kong, People’s Republic, Beijing

Amazon said over the two-day event, Prime members bought more than 375 million items worldwide and saved more than $2.5 billion on several deals, making it the biggest Prime Day event ever. The second day saw an increase in sale of back-to-school items including stationary and office supplies, said Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights. Online sales on July 12 for appliances were up 52% compared to average daily sales in June, while apparel was up 24% and stationary and office supplies was up 76%. On the second day, consumers were most enticed by 14% discount for electronics and 12% for apparel and toys, Adobe said. Amazon has also offered for the first time Prime Day travel discount, partnering with travel booking site Priceline, while its loyalty program members were also given access to "invite-only deals" in the weeks leading up to Prime Day.

Persons: Vivek Pandya, Pandya, Amazon, Granth, Arun Koyyur Organizations: Adobe, Shoppers, Adobe Digital, Walmart, Target, Thomson Locations: Coventry, Britain, Bengaluru

☆ Uninsured US patients pay up to $330 for Eli Lilly’s $25 insulin, Senator Warren says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Patrick Wingrove | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Warren’s survey of chain and independent pharmacies across all 50 states, carried out between June 9 and 28, found a third of drug stores charged $164 or more to uninsured patients for Lilly’s Insulin Lispro. Lilly said at the time it would drop the price of its Lispro insulin injection, a generic version of its own branded Humalog, to $25 a vial. The senator’s office found chain stores charged uninsured customers an average of $123 per vial for the generic insulin, compared to $63 at independent pharmacies. “This is a deeply troubling finding, revealing that the pharmacies offering the most affordable Insulin Lispro were the least likely to have it in stock,” the report said. Around 8.4 million of the 37 million people in the United States with diabetes use insulin, according to the American Diabetes Association.

Persons: Eli Lilly, George Frey, Eli, Elizabeth Warren’s, Lilly, Joe Biden’s, drugmaker, Warren, Patrick Wingrove, Caroline Humer, Bill Berkrot Organizations: Company, REUTERS, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi, U.S, National Community Pharmacists Association, Democrat, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Walmart, Rite, CVS Health, Aid, CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, American Diabetes Association, Thomson Locations: Provo , Utah, U.S, Indianapolis, United States, New York

Online sales for appliances jumped 37% compared to average daily sales in June, while sales of toys rose 27%. Data firm Numerator said the average Prime Day spend per order rose to $56.64 from $53.14 a year ago. Rival retailers, including Walmart (WMT.N), Target (TGT.N) and Best Buy (BBY.N), are also offering large discounts during the Prime Day week. Data from Deloitte showed 69% of shoppers planned to rely on Prime Day sale for back-to-school purchases. Meanwhile, nearly 900 Amazon workers at a warehouse in Coventry, in Britain are striking over a pay dispute for three days from July 11-13, coinciding with the Prime Day sales event.

Persons: Vivek Pandya, Adobe's Pandey, Granth Vanaik, Ananya Mariam Rajesh, Arun Koyyur Organizations: Amazon, Walmart, Adobe, Insights, Apparel, Deloitte, Thomson Locations: Coventry, Britain, Bengaluru

☆ Why Amazon’s Prime Day is in July
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Amazon Prime Day is back again starting Tuesday. “Step Aside Black Friday - Meet Prime Day,” Amazon (AMZN) said in a press release unveiling the sale. Prime Day helps Amazon draw new members to Amazon Prime, its $139 annual free-shipping program, and bolsters existing customer relationships with the company’s products and businesses, which includes Whole Foods. The vast majority of the company’s offerings on Prime Day in the past are exclusive to Prime members. This will be the first Prime Day with Amazon’s revamped delivery network.

Persons: Doug Anmuth, Amazon’s Organizations: New, New York CNN, Amazon, Research, Bank of America, Amazon Prime, Target, Walmart Locations: New York, Detroit, Amazon

July 11 (Reuters) - Amazon.com (AMZN.O) hopes to tempt U.S. shoppers on Tuesday to open inflation-thinned wallets by offering deeper discounts on a wide range of goods and services during this year's "Prime Day" 48-hour shopping event, including its first-ever travel discounts. A year of inflation has lifted mortgage rates, rents and food prices for consumers ahead of Prime Day, which falls on July 11-12 this year. CFRA Research analyst Arun Sundaram said Amazon's U.S. Prime Day discounts this year are mostly deeper than in previous years. Amazon Prime members can also save up to 40% on items such as Sherpani bags and ZOA Energy drinks, by checking out using "Buy with Prime," directly from Amazon's third-party merchants. Amazon plans yet another Prime sales event this year, according to screenshots of its seller notification platform seen by Reuters.

Persons: Arun Sundaram, Michael Ashley Schulman, Schulman, Brian Gleason, Sundaram, Granth Vanaik, Ananya Mariam Rajesh, Arriana McLymore, David Gregorio Our Organizations: CFRA, Sony, Bank of America, Amazon, Energy, Amazon's, Adobe, Running, Capital Advisors, Exchange, Priceline's, Express, Walmart, Reuters, Thomson Locations: United States, Bengaluru, New York City

☆ India’s push to democratise credit tests limits
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Shritama Bose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Yet barely half of them have active loans and only up to 10% have a credit card. That’s why the regulator is allowing the use of RuPay credit cards, the country’s low-cost answer to Mastercard (MA.N) and Visa (V.N), for UPI payments. Earlier, in June 2022, the central bank had allowed lenders to link RuPay credit cards to UPI accounts. HDFC Bank became the first private bank to go live on UPI with RuPay credit cards in February. Paytm tied up with SBI Cards and Payment Services in May to issue RuPay credit cards to its consumers via UPI, offering cashbacks on small-value payments.

Persons: It’s, Paytm, –, Bernstein, Una Galani, Pranav Kiran, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, UPI, Google, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Mastercard, Visa, Merchants, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Punjab National Bank, One97 Communications, Reserve Bank, Tiger, Uni, “, Reserve Bank of India, SBI Cards, Services, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI, India, Punjab

☆ US retailers targeted with bomb threats, seeking bitcoin and gift cards, Wall Street Journal reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 25 (Reuters) - Law-enforcement officials and retailers are investigating a recent wave of bomb threats across the United States, targeting grocery operators and other stores, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. Retail companies including Kroger (KR.N), Walmart (WMT.N) and Amazon's (AMZN.O) Whole Foods Market, among others, have received bomb threats at their stores in recent months, the report said, adding that some callers demanded gift cards, bitcoin or money and threatened to detonate bombs if payments were not made. A similar incident was reported in a suburb north of Chicago, where a caller told a Whole Foods Market employee a pipe bomb had been placed in the store and demanded $5,000 in bitcoin, according to the Wall Street Journal. According to the report it is unclear to authorities whether the threats are part of an organized effort. Reporting by Shivani Tanna in Bengaluru, editing by Ros RussellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Shivani Tanna, Ros Russell Organizations: Wall Street, Kroger, Walmart, Foods, FBI, Thomson Locations: United States, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Chicago, bitcoin, Bengaluru

☆ Here are Friday's biggest analyst calls: Meta, Apple, Uber, Target, SoFi, Nike, Amazon, GM and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Here are Friday's biggest calls on Wall Street: Morgan Stanley reiterates Apple as overweight Morgan Stanley said in a note Friday that it sees several reasons for share outperformance. Morgan Stanley upgrades Evotech to overweight from equal weight Morgan Stanley said the drug discovery and development company is well-positioned for artificial intelligence. As such we are upgrading to Market Perform with a $44 price target." Morgan Stanley reiterates Snowflake as overweight Morgan Stanley said it's bullish heading into the company's upcoming investor day. Barclays reiterates Uber as overweight Barclays raised its price target on Uber to $70 per share from $57 and says it's well-positioned.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Apple, Stephens, KeyBanc, Wells, Armour, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Valvoline, underperform SVB, Wayfair, Snowflake, it's, Uber, Roth, Bernstein, Jefferies Organizations: Deutsche Bank, Nike, Sovos Brands, UAA, Outsized NA, JPMorgan, Global Products, Securities, Bed, Barclays, Amazon, Citi, General Motors Locations: China, Italian, downgrades, EBITDA

Search resuls for: "WMT"

25 mentions found