DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

The ADP National Employment report showed U.S. private employment rose by 145,000 jobs last month, compared with economists' projections of an increase of 200,000 jobs, adding to recent signs of a cooling economy. Traders' bets of a pause by the Fed in May shot up to 60.8%, while odds of a 25-basis point interest rate hike fell to 39.2%, according to CME Group's Fedwatch tool. Defensive stocks such as healthcare (.SPXHC), utilities (.SPLRCU) and consumer staples (.SPLRCS) were in the green among major S&P 500 sectors. All eyes are now on the non-farm payrolls data for March, a more comprehensive employment report, that is due on Friday for further clues on the state of the labor market. Both the benchmark S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq (.IXIC) are now on track for their first weekly declines in four in the holiday-shortened week.

☆ Amazon, other retailers revamp 'free' shipping as costs soar
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Lisa Baertlein | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

REUTERS/Alyssa PointerLOS ANGELES, March 24 (Reuters) - There is no such thing as free shipping. "The days of free delivery are numbered," Ken Morris, managing partner at Cambridge Retail Advisors, said of the fast-changing retail marketing tool. It is an open secret that most retailers raise product prices to subsidize free shipping. Postal Service hitting record levels, the industry where nearly three-quarters of e-commerce companies offer some sort of free shipping is rethinking the financial cost of habituating shoppers to free shipping. While retailers like Amazon and fashion purveyor Asos Plc (ASOS.L) have raised thresholds for fast shipping, others are dropping free shipping altogether or taking product prices up again.

☆ Wall Street ends sharply lower on bank contagion fears
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Stephen Culp | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

For the week, while the benchmark S&P 500 ended higher than last Friday's close, the Nasdaq and the Dow posted weekly declines. "(The sell-off) is a bit of an overreaction," said Oliver Pursche, senior vice president at Wealthspire Advisors in New York. Those concerns have spread to Europe, as Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) shares stumbled over liquidity worries, prompting policymakers to scramble to reassure markets. First Republic Bank (FRC.N) plunged after the bank announced it was suspending its dividend, reversing Thursday's surge that was sparked by an unprecedented $30 billion rescue package from large financial institutions. First Republic's peers, PacWest Bancorp (PACW.O) and Western Alliance (WAL.N), both ended the session sharply lower.

The boost was shortlived and fears of a banking crisis gripped the market on Friday, with shares of First Republic Bank (FRC.N), which also suspended its dividend payout, dropping 24.5%. The KBW regional banking index (.KRX) and the S&P 500 banks index (.SPXBK) fell over 9% each in the week. Investors are now looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision, due next week, to gauge how it will tame inflation. Money market participants now see a 67% chance of the Fed raising rates by 25 basis points on March 22. . Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 5.46-to-1 ratio on the NYSE by a 3.56-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

Shares of First Republic fell 20.7% in early trading after the bank suspended its dividend payout. The KBW regional banking index (.KRX) and the S&P 500 banks index (.SPXBK) fell over 2% each. "Deposits have fled from regional banks like First Republic into the big banks who are now bailing them out by putting the deposits back in. "Until you stop the deposit flight from regional banks into the systemically important banks that are too big to fail, it doesn't matter how much money you pour into the bucket." The S&P index recorded two new 52-week highs and four new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded seven new highs and 75 new lows.

SummarySummary Companies First Republic Bank tumbles on suspending dividendFedEx jumps on full-year profit forecast raiseFutures mixed: Dow down 0.30%, S&P down 0.11%, Nasdaq up 0.10%March 17 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were mixed on Friday as investors remained wary about a potential banking crisis despite the country's largest banks throwing troubled regional lender First Republic Bank a lifeline. Big U.S. banks were mixed, with JPMorgan and Citigroup (C.N) flat, while Wells Fargo (WFC.N) edged 0.1% higher. European Central Bank supervisors saw no contagion to euro zone banks from the recent market turmoil, a source said. Investors are now looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision, due next week, to gauge how it will tame inflation amid a banking crisis. Money market participants now see an 83% chance of the Fed raising rates by 25 basis points on March 22.

☆ Futures waver as banking crisis worries persist
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Shares of First Republic Bank (FRC.N), however, fell 3.8% in premarket trading as the bank suspended its dividend payout. Concerns about a global banking crisis have dominated market sentiment this week after the collapse of SVB Financial (SIVB.O) and Signature Bank (SBNY.O). While the focus remains on the health of the banking sector, investors also looked ahead to U.S. central bank's policy meeting next week to gauge how it will tame inflation amid a banking crisis. Yield on the two-year Treasury note, which best reflects interest rate expectations, rose to 4.15% as some tensions about the banking sector abate. Shares of Fedex Corp (FDX.N) rose 11.1% premarket after the delivery giant raised full-year earnings forecast after cost cuts.

☆ FedEx Earnings Fall During Shipping Slowdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Denny Jacob | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

FedEx workers sort packages in New York City. FedEx Corp.’s earnings fell for the second straight quarter, as a slowdown in shipping collides with turbulent economic conditions. The delivery company said that ongoing cost cuts and higher shipping rates it charges led to improvements at its Ground and Freight divisions, while its Express unit struggles to cope with a decrease in shipping volumes.

Fedex has been wringing costs from its bloated operations by shuttering offices, cutting jobs, reducing flights, grounding airplanes and canceling profit-sapping Sunday deliveries in far-flung areas. "Our cost actions are taking hold, driving an improved outlook for the current fiscal year," Chief Executive Raj Subramaniam said in a statement. Adjusted income for the fiscal third quarter ended Feb. 28 came in at $865 million, or $3.41 per share. Earnings per share were down $1.18 from the year earlier, but 68 cents higher than analysts' average estimate. FedEx shares jumped 11.3% to $227.12 in after hours trade.

March 16 (Reuters) - FedEx Corp (FDX.N) on Thursday raised its fiscal 2023 profit forecast and reported progress on its plan to shave $3.7 billion in costs from its global delivery business, and its shares jumped 12%. Fedex has been wringing costs from its bloated operations by shuttering offices, cutting jobs, grounding airplanes and canceling profit-sapping Sunday deliveries in far-flung areas. On Thursday, FedEx forecast fiscal 2023 adjusted profit of $13.80 to $14.40 per share, up from its previous projection of $12.50 to $13.50. Adjusted income for the fiscal third quarter ended Feb. 28 came in at $865 million, or $3.41 per share. At the close of the regular trading session on Thursday, FedEx shares were up about 18% year-to-date, versus the 8% gain in shares of more profitable rival United Parcel Service (UPS.N).

☆ FedEx Raises Earnings Outlook Despite Shipping Slowdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Denny Jacob | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

FedEx workers sort packages in New York City. FedEx Corp.’s stock climbed more than 11% in after-hours trading as the delivery company raised its outlook and said it cut more of its costs after earnings declined for the second straight quarter. The delivery company said that by May it would reduce its U.S. head count by 25,000, among other expense reductions. Shares rose to $227.25.

"We do not believe the optimism is yet justified," Morgan Stanley analyst Ravi Shanker wrote in a recent note. Those plans helped FedEx report better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter results on Dec. 20, sparking a stock rally that offset a swoon in mid-September, when the company retracted financial forecasts issued just three months earlier and blamed a swift pullback by customers. Analysts are skeptical that FedEx can deliver a repeat performance in the fiscal third quarter that ended on Feb. 28, as demand from e-commerce and other sectors remains soft. He expects FedEx to report adjusted earnings of $2.52 per share for the quarter - about 20 cents less than analysts' average estimate complied by Refinitiv IBES. Reporting by Kannaki Deka in Bengaluru and Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Bill BerkrotOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Circuit Court of Appeals that said because her overtime pay lawsuit was filed in Pennsylvania, only workers from that state could join. The Supreme Court last year declined to take up appeals of those cases. Under the FLSA, workers can file "collective actions" that are similar to class action lawsuits but have some key procedural differences, including that other workers must opt in to be included. The 3rd Circuit upheld that ruling last year, prompting Fischer's Supreme Court petition. The case is Fischer v. Federal Express Corp, U.S. Supreme Court, No.

☆ USPS Contracted Trucks Frequently Violate Safety Rules. Crashes Killed 79 People Since 2020.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Christopher Weaver | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

For years, the U.S. Postal Service has faced competition from the likes of United Parcel Service Inc. and FedEx Corp. To fight them off, it hired outside trucking companies at cut-rate prices, required them to meet aggressive schedules and then looked the other way when they ran afoul of highway safety rules, a Wall Street Journal investigation found. The result has been deadly. Postal contractors have been involved in at least 68 fatal crashes that killed 79 people in the past three years, according to police crash and inspection records.

☆ Union Pacific shares rise after CEO Fritz to step down amid investor pressure
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 27 (Reuters) - Shares of Union Pacific Corp (UNP.N) surged nearly 10% before the bell on Monday, a day after the U.S. railroad operator announced that its Chief Executive Lance Fritz would step down this year amid pressure from investor Soroban Capital Partners. The gains came after some Wall Street analysts backed the leadership change at the company, which has struggled with labor shortages and service issues. Union Pacific's shares have dropped more than 25% over the past 10 months. Other analysts said a new leadership has the potential to improve the company's operating ratio — a key profitability metric. In its most-recent quarter, the company flagged higher operating expenses caused by operational inefficiencies and the current economic environment hitting its revenue growth.

☆ FedEx, Southwest Planes May Have Come Within 100 Feet of Each Other During Close Call
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Alison Sider | Micah Maidenberg | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A FedEx Corp. flight landing at Austin’s airport last weekend appeared to come within 100 feet of a Southwest Airlines flight taking off, according to the head of the safety agency leading the investigation into the incident, the second such close call in three weeks. “FedEx was right over that Southwest plane at one point and they were both going down the runway, with one over the other,” Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board said in an interview.

☆ Southwest, FedEx Planes Came Within a Thousand Feet in Austin on Saturday
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( Micah Maidenberg | Alison Sider | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Concerns have been raised about the potential for collisions on runways and taxiways in recent years. Southwest Airlines Co. and FedEx Corp. planes came within a thousand feet of each other Saturday morning near a runway at the Austin, Texas, airport, a close call that air-safety officials are investigating. Around 6:40 a.m. CT, a FedEx Boeing Co. 767 cargo plane was cleared to land on one of the runways at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration said, citing preliminary information.

☆ Air-Safety Officials Investigate Close Call Between FedEx and Southwest Planes in Austin
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Micah Maidenberg | Alison Sider | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board have opened probes into the incident, which occurred at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. U.S. aviation-safety agencies said they are investigating an incident Saturday at the airport in Austin, Texas, where planes operated by Southwest Airlines Co. and FedEx Corp. could have collided. Around 6:40 a.m. CT, a FedEx cargo plane was cleared to land on one of the runways at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration said, citing preliminary information. Shortly before that aircraft was set to land, an air-traffic controller cleared a Southwest flight to depart from the same runway, he said.

☆ FedEx to cut senior jobs as part of larger staff reduction
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Lisa Baertlein | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

FedEx did not say how many positions would be affected by the new layoffs. In mid-September, FedEx pulled its profit forecast and shares swooned more than 20% - the largest single-day drop in the company's 50-year history. But those numbers only tell part of the story because they exclude roughly FedEx 6,000 contractors and their workers, who handle most of the FedEx Ground's home delivery business. FedEx already has temporarily furloughed workers at its trucking division FedEx Freight as the pandemic-fueled e-commerce delivery bubble deflates and recession threatens, joining transportation-focused companies ranging from delivery upstart Amazon.com (AMZN.O) and trucking company C.H. Robinson Worldwide (CHRW.O) to freight broker Uber Freight and freight forwarding startup Flexport in announcing layoffs.

☆ FedEx Is Laying Off More Than 10% of Its Management Ranks
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Esther Fung | Will Feuer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

FedEx Corp. is laying off more than 10% of its global management staffers as the delivery company faces a shipping slowdown. In an email to staff Wednesday, Chief Executive Raj Subramaniam said the company is reducing the size of its officer and director ranks and consolidating some teams and functions. The company declined to say how many jobs were being eliminated.

☆ FedEx is laying off 10% of its officers and directors amid cooling demand
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Rebecca Picciotto | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Raj Subramaniam, FedEx Corporation, speaks at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Aviation Summit in Washington, D.C. on March 5, 2020. FedEx is cutting more than 10% of its officers and directors, CEO Raj Subramaniam announced Wednesday, as the company slashes corporate jobs to cut costs amid cooling consumer demand. During its second-quarter earnings call with analysts, Subramaniam outlined what he called an "aggressive and decisive plan to cut costs in fiscal 2023." The shipping company on Tuesday posted a revenue decline in its fourth quarter, as shipping volumes continue to dip. To counteract slowing consumer demand, UPS also raised its shipping prices by 6.9% at the end of last year.

☆ UPS beats profit view on high-margin deliveries, boosts shareholder returns
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] A United Parcel Service (UPS) vehicle reverses into a facility in Queens, New York City, U.S., May 9, 2022. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File PhotoJan 31 (Reuters) - United Parcel Service Inc (UPS.N) on Tuesday beat expectations for quarterly adjusted profit, as it prioritized shipments of high-margin parcels and kept a tight lid on costs amid a softening e-commerce environment. UPS reported an adjusted profit of $3.62 per share for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, above Wall Street's expectations of $3.59 per share. UPS forecast 2023 full-year revenue between $97.0 billion and $99.4 billion, compared with analysts' expectations of $99.98 billion, as per Refinitiv data. Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles And Shivansh Tiwary in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini GanguliOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Small Package-Delivery Companies Grow as Businesses Seek Alternatives to UPS, FedEx
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Esther Fung | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Smaller parcel carriers made big gains during the pandemic handling packages that the larger players couldn’t deliver. Some want to get bigger. Regional shipping companies across the U.S. are expanding their operations to pick up business from bigger rivals, seeking to capitalize on labor uncertainty at United Parcel Service Inc., higher rates charged by UPS and FedEx Corp. and growing reluctance among merchants to rely on a single carrier.

☆ Prologis Says Warehouse Demand Remains Strong in Slowing Economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Paul Berger | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +3 min

Prologis Inc., the world’s largest developer of logistics properties, is bullish about warehouse demand this year despite signs of an economic slowdown. Executives at San Francisco-based Prologis said Wednesday they remain cautious about building new facilities as the economy wavers. But they said vacancy rates remain near record lows and that much of the leasing activity for this year is already secured or underway. Warehouse demand peaked last year, as average national vacancy rates plummeted to near 3% and reached close to 1% in Southern California. Average occupancy in Prologis’s owned and managed portfolio ticked up to 98% in the fourth quarter from 97.7% in the prior quarter.

☆ Companies’ Capital Spending Forecast to Slow in 2023 Amid Recession Fears
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Kristin Broughton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +8 min

Companies are expected to tap the brakes on capital investments this year as they assess the risk of a downturn and contend with higher financing costs. Capital spending in 2021 rose by 9% compared with 2020, the first year of the pandemic, EY said. After two years of spending heavily, some companies want to take a pause to digest the investments they’ve made, advisers said. FedEx Corp. last month lowered its capital spending forecast for the current fiscal year by $400 million, to $5.9 billion. The remainder said they don’t finance their capital spending plans through borrowing, or their borrowing isn’t sensitive to changes in interest rates.

Search resuls for: "Fedex Corp"

25 mentions found