DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Gap Plans to Lay Off Hundreds of Corporate Workers in Latest Cuts
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Suzanne Kapner | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Gap leaders conducted a review with the goal of stripping out layers of management to speed decision making. Photo: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg NewsGap Inc. is eliminating hundreds of corporate jobs from its global workforce as part of a broad restructuring aimed at making the company more nimble and less bureaucratic, according to people familiar with the situation. The current round of cuts is slated to be larger than in September, when Gap eliminated roughly 500 corporate positions, one of the people said. Those job cuts were mostly at its main offices in San Francisco and New York, and were part of efforts to save about $250 million annually.

☆ ByteDance is pushing a new app in the U.S. as TikTok faces a ban
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Sheila Chiang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

While political scrutiny continues to intensify on the widely popular short video app TikTok in the U.S. and across the world, Lemon8 owned by ByteDance is going viral. Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty ImagesChinese tech giant ByteDance is pushing another social media app in the U.S. — even as its flagship short video app TikTok faces a possible ban stateside. It seems like ByteDance is pushing Lemon8 as a potential alternative to TikTok," said Lindsay Gorman, senior fellow for emerging tech at the German Marshall Fund. But Lemon8's links to ByteDance and TikTok will come under the radar of U.S. regulators too, especially as the app continues to rise in popularity. Not a solutionCreating another app to replace TikTok is not a quick solution for ByteDance, the analysts said.

☆ Coca-Cola Posts Higher Sales as Consumers Buy Drinks Away From Home
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Dean Seal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Coca-Cola’s global sales topped analysts’ expectations, as sales of its soft drinks and water ticked up. Photo: GABBY JONES for The Wall Street JournalCoca-Cola Co. saw first-quarter sales rise as customers bought more beverages on the go. The beverage company said global sales rose 5% in the first three months of the year to $10.98 billion, topping analyst expectations for $10.8 billion.

☆ Secondhand resale is getting cutthroat as platforms like Depop and Poshmark boom
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Rebecca Picciotto | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Demand for secondhand resale has been booming since the early days of the pandemic, generating a culture shift within the indie marketplaces where it all began. Users on platforms like Depop and Poshmark set up online shops to list vintage, secondhand or unique items for sale and generate notable followings of loyal shoppers. Robertson is now 17 and says the growth of resale has allowed him to turn his Depop shop, which now has over 19,000 followers, into a part-time gig. Blake Robertson, 17, poses with his closet, some of which is up for resale on his Depop shop. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Beaux Abington, 49, models some of her own Depop items.

☆ TikTok's ad business is growing around live sports as platform faces possible U.S. ban
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The social media platform has been under scrutiny from the U.S. government and faces a possible ban. But the company is nonetheless attracting billions of dollars in advertising revenue as major companies look to reach a younger audience. Hyundai prioritized TikTok this year as many automakers bypassed TV advertising during the Super Bowl to preserve cash or spend on ads elsewhere. TV ads drew more than $7 million for 30-second spots during this year's Super Bowl on Fox's broadcast network. While this makes up about 2% of overall digital advertising spending, the growth of the spending for the platform has been rapid.

☆ What's next for Disney and Ford? Here's our view on the latest news on both Club stocks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Paulina Likos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Walt Disney (DIS) and Ford Motor (F) could both be at inflection points. Here's the latest news on both Club holdings as of Thursday, and our take on where things stand. Iger simultaneously unveiled a comprehensive restructuring program, part of a larger effort to make its beleaguered direct-to-consumer (DTC) unit — which includes streaming platforms Hulu, Disney+ and ESPN+ — profitable. Citi reiterated a buy rating on Disney stock and a price target of $130 per share. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade.

☆ Nestlé says food prices will rise further this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Food, including ice cream, will see significant price increases in 2023, CEO Alan Jope said on the same call. Unilever said price increases caused sales volumes to decline by 2.1% in 2022. Heineken, meanwhile, said it expected to sell less beer in Europe this year because of “steep” price increases related to energy costs. At the time, Tesco (TSCDF) described the company’s price increases as “unjustifiable.” Once the products were restored, prices were unchanged on Heinz’s most popular lines. Gabby Jones/Bloomberg/Getty ImagesTesco has also “fallen out with other suppliers” over price increases, its chairman John Allen recently told the BBC.

☆ Companies Tap Tech Behind ChatGPT to Make Customer-Service Chatbots Smarter
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Katie Deighton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

Businesses hope the artificial-intelligence technology behind ChatGPT can turn ordinary chatbots into impressive fonts of information, potentially transforming customer service. But customer-experience executives said overreliance on such AI models could lead to companies dishing out incorrect information to customers online without knowing they are doing so. Some executives hope the technology that drives ChatGPT might also improve customer-service chatbots. But companies should exercise care when dealing with the new AI, Mr. Truog said. Nice is also working on building OpenAI’s language models into chatbots, Mr. Willcutts said, adding that the company plans to run more tests and fine-tune more models before selling its own take on ChatGPT to clients.

☆ Teachers are adapting to concerns about a powerful new AI tool
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Some teachers said they’ve also heard of students being required to film short videos that elaborate on their thought process. Public schools in New York City and Seattle, meanwhile, have already banned students and teachers from using ChatGPT on the district’s networks and devices. Reid, the professor at Coastal Carolina University, believes teachers should work with ChatGPT and teach best practices in the classroom. Reid said teachers could encourage students to plug an assignment question into the tool and have them compare that result to what they personally wrote. “Like with other new technologies, this could be a tool instructors use to help students express their ideas,” she said.

☆ As BlockFi files for bankruptcy, what to know about crypto investor protections
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

The ongoing FTX fallout — and bankruptcies earlier this year for lenders Celsius Network and Voyager Digital — is teaching crypto investors a hard lesson about their protections relative to more traditional asset classes. Howey Co., established the so-called Howey test to determine what constitutes a security, or "investment contract." More on how the Howey test works can be found below. Here's why this is important for crypto: It's unclear in many cases if digital assets are an "investment contract" under the 76-year-old Howey test. The Securities Investor Protection Corporation insures investors for up to $500,000 in the event a brokerage firm liquidates and their holdings are tied up in the insolvent firm.

Jell-O GirlEarly Jell-O advertising depicted women as inept, needing the help of a simple recipe like Jell-O. Jell-O released flavors such as seasoned tomato, celery, mixed vegetable and Italian salad, and Jell-O salads were a colorful way to use leftovers in side dishes. In 1955, the company introduced the slogan “A Jell-O salad makes the meal.”“The Jell-O salad really hits the American sensibility and palate perfectly. Constance Bannister Corp/Getty ImagesBut as more Americans traveled and global cuisines entered the mainstream, the simplicity of Jell-O salads became a downside. “Upscale becomes the new mainstream and Jell-O salads moves into a niche,” Shapiro said.

☆ Kraft Heinz turns to gimmicks and nostalgia to revive its ‘dusty’ brands
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Because they’re incredible.”More than half of Kraft Heinz’s business comes from just eight brands — the aforementioned three, plus Kraft Mac and Cheese, Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Heinz, Lunchables and Ore-Ida. For Kraft Heinz, which is relying on Patricio to execute a comeback, there’s a lot on the line. So we have more loyalty.”For that reason, Kraft Heinz has leaned in to promoting its legacy brands — and with sometimes outrageous marketing. Kraft HeinzOther Kraft Heinz brands have also used attention-grabbing marketing campaigns. Kraft Heinz’s brands now have a presence on gaming platforms like Roblox, in addition to social media channels and other platforms.

☆ Analyst says buy Constellation Brands, makes a bullish case we can agree on
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Even earlier in the session, when all three major U.S. stock indexes were in the red, STZ shares were slightly in the green. "Pricing optionality" — jargon that really just means raising prices to help offset rising costs — is another part of Wedbush's bullish case. The Club's take Wedbush's positive note comes less than a week after Constellation released its very solid second-quarter results . Just as we saw little to nitpick in the company's numbers and guidance, we see little to disagree with in Wedbush's STZ thesis. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade.

Gabby Jones | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesBenefits of bundlingFor consumers that buy many streaming services already, purchasing a bundle of them for a discount would be an instant money saver. For corporations, pushing together streaming services reduces the number of people who cancel each month, known in the industry as churn. But those companies also offer their own competing streaming services – The Roku Channel, Prime Video and Apple TV+, respectively – which could deter broader partnerships. Wireless companies already offer promotional pricing to streaming services as sign-up bonuses. From the standpoint of niche services, Peacock hasn't come to them with a coherent strategy, according to several people familiar with the talks.

Bed Bath & Beyond has tapped its chief accounting officer as interim CFO after its former executive died on Friday. Laura Crossen is interim chief financial officer as of Monday, the company said in a regulatory filing. Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond were down by about 15% early Tuesday as investors weighed the struggling retailer’s path forward. It said last week that it would eliminate the jobs of chief operating officer and chief stores officer. Customers leave a Bed Bath & Beyond store in New York on Aug. 25.

Organizations: & $

Search resuls for: "GABBY JONES"

15 mentions found