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☆ How restaurants such as Panera and Chipotle are dipping into A.I. to streamline food prep and ordering
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( Kate Rogers | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

From drive-thru to back-of-house operations to predictive ordering for consumers, restaurant brands are starting to pilot artificial intelligence to streamline food service. McDonald's , for its part, sold McD Tech Labs to IBM in 2021, entering a strategic partnership to help bring AI technology to drive-thru lanes. McD Tech Labs, which was formerly known as Apprente before McDonald's acquired it, used AI to understand drive-thru orders. Del Taco is also using voice-activated AI for orders at its drive-thru, as is Wingstop for orders placed by phone. For Panera, it's a question of, "How do we redeploy our people to higher value, higher quality guest experiences," said Chief Digital Officer George Hanson.

Persons: there's, TD Cowen, Andrew Charles, Cowen, Charles ., Carl's Jr, CKE, Dragontail, McDonald's, George Hanson, Hanson Organizations: National Restaurant Association, Presto, Brands, Tech Labs, IBM, Miso Robotics, CNBC Locations: U.S, Del

June 15 (Reuters) - Mediterranean restaurant chain Cava Group (CAVA.N) notched a valuation of $4.7 billion in a stellar market debut on Thursday, signaling the IPO market was gaining momentum after a lull in 2022. Shares opened at $42 apiece on the NYSE, nearly double the IPO price of $22, last up 89%. Cava sold about 14.4 million shares in the offering, raising $318 million. “We think the markets are always welcoming long-term sustainable growth stories, especially category defining brands, as we try and define the Mediterranean category,” Cava Co-founder and CEO Brett Schulman said. Cava was founded by three friends with Greek roots — Ted Xenohristos, Ike Grigoropoulos and Dimitri Moshovitis — and opened its first restaurant Cava Mezze in Rockville in 2006.

Persons: Cava, Matthew Kennedy, Johnson, Brett Schulman, Ted Xenohristos, Ike Grigoropoulos, Dimitri Moshovitis —, Morgan, Jefferies, Manya Saini, Savyata Mishra, Echo Wang, Vinay Dwivedi Organizations: NYSE, Renaissance Capital, Reuters, Rivian, ”, Restaurant Brands, Cava, Citigroup, Thomson Locations: Cava, CAVA, United States, ” Cava, Rockville, Bengaluru, Echo, New York

☆ Here are Monday's biggest analyst calls: Oracle, Tesla, McDonald's, Amazon, Nio, Carnival, AMD and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

UBS reiterates McDonald's as buy UBS said McDonald's is "well positioned to drive further sales growth and market share gains." JPMorgan upgrades Carnival to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said it sees an "attractive risk/reward" for the cruise operator. Bank of America upgrades Carnival to buy from neutral Bank of America said it's getting bullish on cruise demand. Morgan Stanley upgrades Sentinel One to overweight from equal weight Morgan Stanley said the cybersecurity company has an attractive risk/reward. Morgan Stanley reiterates Home Depot as overweight Morgan Stanley said it's bullish on the company's long-term growth outlook.

Persons: McDonald's, it's, Morgan Stanley downgrades Bill.com, Morgan Stanley, Wolfe, Tesla, Nomura, Evercore, Wedbush, it's bullish, Argus, Abercrombie, Jefferies Organizations: UBS, JPMorgan, JPMorgan Chase, Petrobras, CCL, Bank of America, of America, Intuit, Oracle, Disney, Auto, Citi, U.S . Bancorp Citi, U.S . Bancorp, Sentinel, AMD, Abercrombie, Fitch

☆ Warren Buffett – he invests just like us!
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Jeffrey Goldfarb | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

NEW YORK, June 7 (Reuters Breakingviews) - “Do as I say, not as I do” sounds like the kind of pithy thing Warren Buffett might say to his adoring throngs. The conglomerate was an investor for a dozen years, until Buffett got spooked by Freddie Mac’s overly rosy earnings growth projections. The $1.3 billion stake it finished accumulating in 1994 was worth $25 billion last month. A $13 billion stake in IBM (IBM.N) came and went, as did $8 billion of JPMorgan (JPM.N) and almost $3 billion of biopharmaceutical company AbbVie (ABBV.N). Warren Buffett, Berkshire’s chairman and CEO, said that geopolitical tensions contributed to the decision to sell most of the $4.1 billion TSMC stake just a few months after buying it, the Nikkei reported on April 11.

Persons: Warren Buffett, can’t, There’s, Buffett, Freddie Mac, Freddie Mac’s, Coke, Benjamin Moore, TSMC, ”, Wells, ” Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway, John Foley, Sharon Lam Organizations: YORK, Reuters, Berkshire Hathaway, Home Loan Mortgage, U.S ., Berkshire, BNSF, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Buffett, ” Morningstar, Treasury, New York Stock Exchange, American Express, IBM, JPMorgan, Activision, Occidental Petroleum, Paramount Global, Oracle, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Nikkei, Thomson Locations: Berkshire, U.S, TSMC . Berkshire, Japan, Taiwan, Omaha, China

[1/5] Customers stand next to a counter at a Starbucks' outlet at a market in New Delhi, India, May 30, 2023. Starbucks plans to open more stores in smaller towns, said an industry source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Soon after Starbucks' May launch of $3.33 milkshakes, designed to attract children, Third Wave launched its own range, a fifth cheaper at $2.71. He saw Starbucks' cheaper, small-sized drinks as a response to competition in "an incredibly price-sensitive market". "Going deeper into smaller cities, beyond the metros, is the only way to grow," said Ankur Bisen, head of retail at India's Technopak Advisors.

Persons: Sushant Dash, Tim Hortons, Devangshu Dutta, We've, chai, Chas Hermann, Sushant Goel, Matt Chitharanjan, Dash, Ankur Bisen, Sriram, Aditya Kalra, Anushree Fadnavis, Varun Vyas, Euan Rocha, Miyoung Kim, Sophie Yu, Hilary Russ, Clarence Fernandez Organizations: REUTERS, MUMBAI, Blue, Starbucks, Tata Group, BET, CHAI, Wave, Third, Reuters, Blue Tokai, India's Technopak, Thomson Locations: New Delhi, India, American, DELHI, U.S, Blue Tokai, China, Singapore, United States, Bengaluru, Delhi, Aurangabad, Beijing, New York

☆ Russia's McDonald's heir growing quickly, in for the long haul
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Olga Popova | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) closed its Russian restaurants soon after Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, eventually selling to a local licensee, Alexander Govor. The chain has sold more than 24 million of its Big Mac replacement burgers, the Big Hit, CEO Oleg Paroev said. Hamstrung by agreements with McDonald's, Vkusno & tochka, can not open restaurants in countries where McDonald's already has a presence. Russian authorities and Govor have said McDonald's has an option to buy back its Russia restaurants within 15 years. It would find a market where Vkusno & tochka is the master franchisee should it do so.

Persons: Alexander Govor, Govor, Oleg Paroev, Natalya Fadeeva, Evgenia, I've, McDonald's, Olga Popova, Alexander Marrow, Sharon Singleton Organizations: McDonald's Corp, Reuters, REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Russia, Ukraine MOSCOW, Moscow, Ukraine, Russian, McDonald's, Belarus, Kazakhstan

☆ McDonald’s new battle over the way the Big Mac and fries are packaged
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( Carolyn Chun | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Reusable packaging may be next. McDonald's biggest reusable packaging changes are outside US McDonald's has made several big packaging changes in recent years, mostly coming from outside the U.S. and following governmental action. And at the end of last year, McDonald's France launched a reusable plastic food container in its signature red color – though not without initiating a new controversy over the decision to not use all glass or metal. There are many challenges that come with reusable packaging, and McDonald's has looked to highlight that as it agrees to conduct more research on the reusables economy. The economics case for reusable packagingAdvocates for reusable packaging argue that the economics will work.

☆ Here’s what’s getting cheaper at the grocery store
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Those menu prices went up by 0.6%. Shoppers started seeing relief in the grocery store in March, when grocery prices fell for the first time since September 2020. In the year through April, food prices went up by 7.7%, with grocery prices jumping 7.1% and menu prices increasing 8.6%. Ham got 6.5% more expensive, poultry prices rose 5%, and fish and seafood rose 2%. Prices in AprilEven though prices food prices overall have been high this year, April was an easier month for shoppers.

☆ Byron Allen sues McDonald's for allegedly lying about commitment to Black media
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Byron Allen, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Entertainment Studios and Allen Media Group, speaks at the 2021 Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., October 19, 2021. REUTERS/David SwansonMay 8 (Reuters) - The media entrepreneur Byron Allen has filed a second lawsuit against McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) over the fast-food chain's alleged refusal to advertise with Black-owned media. Allen said he would know if McDonald's were honoring that pledge because his Allen Media Group represents more than 90% of Black-owned media. The case are: Weather Group LLC et al v. McDonald's USA LLC, California Superior Court, Los Angeles County, No. 23STCV10045; and Entertainment Studios Networks Inc et al v McDonald's Corp, U.S. District Court, Central District of California, No.

☆ Carl's Jr. and Hardee's to roll out Presto's A.I. drive-thru ordering nationwide
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Carl's Jr. and Hardee's locations will roll out automated drive-thru ordering nationwide using Presto's artificial intelligence software. Together, Carl's Jr. and Hardee's have about 2,800 restaurants across 44 U.S. states. Hardee's locations are mostly in the Midwest and South, while Carl's Jr. restaurants are found in the West. CKE tested the software last year at a handful of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's locations. CKE operates about 250 of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's restaurants, while franchisees run the rest.

May 3 (Reuters) - Carl Icahn's empire took another hit on Wednesday when his holding company's shares plunged further in the aftermath of a critical report from short seller Hindenburg Research, bringing the valuation drop since the short seller attacked it to more than $6 billion. IEP shares hit an intraday low of $31.78 - their lowest in more than a decade. The company is now worth $11.5 billion, 35% less than its value on Monday before Hindenburg published its report. The Hindenburg report has wiped $7.5 billion off Icahn's fortune, leaving him with a net worth of $10.8 billion, according to Forbes. “There is a karmic quality to this short report that reinforces the notion of a circle of life and death," he tweeted on Tuesday.

☆ Icahn's investment firm sinks further, down 40% since Hindenburg attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 3 (Reuters) - Shares of activist investor Carl Icahn's investment firm lost nearly a fifth of their value on Wednesday, adding to a 20% decline a day earlier following short seller Hindenburg Research's scathing attack on the company. Icahn Enterprises LP's (IEP.O) shares hit an intraday low of $31.78 - their lowest in more than a decade. Hindenburg accused the company of over-valuing its holdings and relying on a "Ponzi-like" structure to pay dividends. But Hindenburg has taken on several high-profile targets in recent months, including India's Adani Group and Jack Dorsey-led Block Inc (SQ.N). Since its release on Tuesday, the report has wiped $7.5 billion off Icahn's fortune, leaving him with a net worth of $10.8 billion, according to Forbes.

☆ Icahn's investment firm sinks further, down 35% since Hindenburg attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Niket Nishant | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 3 (Reuters) - Shares of activist investor Carl Icahn's investment firm lost nearly a fifth of their value on Wednesday, adding to a 20% decline a day earlier following short seller Hindenburg Research's scathing attack on the company. Icahn Enterprises LP's (IEP.O) shares hit an intraday low of $31.78 - their lowest in more than a decade. The stock has lost nearly 35% since the release of the report. Icahn owned about 85% of the investment firm, as of Feb. 22 this year. Since its release on Tuesday, the Hindenburg report has wiped $7.5 billion off Icahn's fortune, leaving him with a net worth of $10.8 billion, according to Forbes.

☆ An investment chief who manages $1 billion in assets shares 10 investments that will reduce your portfolio's volatility while this bear market lasts longer than expected.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( James Faris | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Here are 10 ways to protect against losses and volatility in this long-lasting bear market. "It went beyond dodging a bullet," Steve Sosnick, the chief strategist at Interactive Brokers, said of first quarter earnings results in a late April interview with Insider. Weaker earnings raise valuation concernsBut some investors aren't impressed by Q1 earnings — at least not enough to get bullish. Besides weaker earnings growth and lofty valuations, another risk for stocks is that upcoming quarterly results will miss higher expectations in a shaky economy. "We're still looking at fairly high-single-digit earnings growth for the next couple of quarters overall," Sosnick said.

☆ Pizza Hut-parent Yum Brands profit sliced by promotions
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Deborah Mary Sophia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Shares of the KFC and Pizza Hut owner tumbled more than 4% after the company also warned of a $10 million to $20 million hit to current-quarter operating profit. However, along with higher food and labor costs, foreign exchange pressures and ramped up investments in automation and digital business, the aggressive promotions largely drove a 25% slump in profit. McDonald's Corp (MCD.N), Burger King parent Restaurant Brands (QSR.TO) and Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG.N) all topped quarterly sales and profit estimates on the back of price hikes and robust demand. Labor challenges were also easing, with the company seeing job application rates increase while staffing levels were either at or near 2019 levels. Excluding special items, it earned $1.06 per share, missing estimates of $1.13, according to Refinitiv data.

☆ Restaurant Brands beats quarterly estimates on higher pricing, traffic
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 2 (Reuters) - Restaurant Brands International Inc (QSR.TO) beat Wall Street estimates for first-quarter revenue and profit on Tuesday, boosted by higher prices and increased traffic at its Burger King and Tim Hortons chains. Restaurant Brands' Burger King chain has been able to attract younger customers to its restaurants through a newly released viral "Whopper Whopper" jingle. Restaurant Brands in February named its chief operating officer, Joshua Kobza, as CEO in a turnaround plan for its struggling Burger King brand. According to location analytics firm Placer.ai, Burger King saw positive week-over-week visit growth for the majority of weeks since January 2023. Excluding items, Restaurant Brands earned 75 cents per share, compared with estimates of 64 cents, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

In a report published on Tuesday, Hindenburg accused IEP of overvaluing its holdings and relying on a "Ponzi-like" structure to pay dividends. The subsequent plunge in IEP shares wiped $2.9 billion off Icahn's net worth, leaving him with an estimated $14.7 billion, according to Forbes. NAV is a key gauge of a fund's performance, measuring the market value of securities held by the fund. Driving the frothiness in IEP's stock, Hindenburg argued, is its dividend yield of 15.8%, the highest of any U.S. large cap company by far. Hindenburg also offered examples it said showed IEP itself was valuing its holdings way above their market value.

☆ Sales, spins and splits — what are the differences and why do they matter for investors like us?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +20 min

Investors may get one share in the spun-out entity for every share of the parent company they owned. What's left of J & J will be focused on pharmaceuticals and medical technologies, which were responsible for over 84% of the company's total 2022 revenue of $94.94 billion. It underscores that once free of the parent company tethers a divested company can chart its own destiny. Those priorities may not have necessarily been wrong when considering J & J as the overall enterprise. We believe J & J and Danaher are poised to deliver two more examples.

☆ These 7 Club holdings are using pricing power to boost profits this earnings season
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Paulina Likos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Pricing power is what's allowing many companies — including seven of our Club holdings — to support revenue growth and enhance, or at the very least protect, profitability during an earnings season marked by a still-elevated inflationary environment. When we're talking about "pricing power," it's the ability of companies with strong brands to raise prices without seeing too much impact on demand. Here's a list of Club holdings with pricing power, starting with a closer look at P & G. PG YTD mountain Procter & Gamble's stock performance year to date. LIN YTD mountain Linde's stock performance year to date. Halliburton has exhibited strong pricing power due to massive demand from global end markets, benefitting from years of under-investment in drilling.

☆ Domino's Pizza beats quarterly sales estimates on price hikes, steady demand
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 27 (Reuters) - Domino's Pizza Inc (DPZ.N) beat Wall Street estimates for first-quarter U.S. same-store sales on Thursday, boosted by higher prices as well as new promotional offers and menu items that helped draw more customers. Analysts have said the company's new menu item "Loaded Tots" that serves oven-baked potato tots with cheese and toppings in three varieties has helped boost sales during the January-March period. The world's largest pizza chain's U.S. same-store sales rose 3.6% in the first quarter, compared with analysts' estimate of a 1.96% increase, according to Refinitiv data. However, total revenue rose 1.3% to $1.02 billion but missed analysts' estimate of $1.04 billion hurt by a strong dollar. Reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra EluriOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

April 25 (Reuters) - Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc (CMG.N) topped Wall Street expectations for first-quarter profits and sales on Tuesday, helped by higher menu prices, 41 new restaurant openings and some recovery among lower-income customers. The company said it expects second quarter and full year comparable sales growth in the mid-to-high single digits. Even with inflation squeezing household budgets, restaurant chains are expected to post higher sales growth in the first quarter. Comparable sales at California-based Chipotle jumped about 11% in the first quarter, while analysts on average expected an 8.6% rise, according to Refinitiv data. Inflation in the second half is "really a wild card," Chief Financial Officer Jack Hartung said on the earnings call.

☆ 2023 layoff tracker: The latest on which companies have announced job cuts
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Jennifer Korn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +20 min

New York CNN —BuzzFeed, Lyft, Whole Foods and Deloitte all recently announced layoffs affecting thousands of US workers. With 11,000 job cuts announced in November and the 10,000 announced in March, Meta’s headcount will fall to around 66,000 — a total reduction of about 25%. The company announced in January that it was eliminating some 18,000 positions as part of a major cost-cutting bid at the e-commerce giant. IndeedJob listing website Indeed.com announced cuts of approximately 2,200 employees, representing almost 15% of its total workforce, the company said in March. The cuts come after the company announced several rounds of job cuts throughout the pandemic due to falling demand, followed by rapid hiring last year.

☆ Earnings playbook: Your guide to a busy week of earnings, featuring Meta and Amazon
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Fred Imbert | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +13 min

What history shows: GM has reported a better-than-expected bottom line in 29 of the last 30 quarters, per FactSet. McDonald's is set to report earnings in the premarket, with management slated to hold a call at 8:30 a.m. What history shows: History shows Google's parent company beats earnings expectations 68% of the time, with the stock averaging a gain of 1.6% on earnings day, per Bespoke. Meta Platforms is set to report earnings after market close, followed by a conference call at 5 p.m. What history shows: Bespoke data shows Intel beats earnings expectations 77% of the time.

☆ China makes major push in its ambitious digital yuan project
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Like cryptocurrency, the digital yuan incorporates some elements of blockchain technology: Every transaction is recorded and traceable in a digital ledger. Since last October, Changshu has been paying the transit subsidies for some government employees in digital yuan. It has also asked privately-owned apps to actively promote the digital yuan. Alipay began trialing digital yuan payments in 2021, and Tencent (TCEHY) announced last year that it would also start supporting the digital yuan in its WeChat Pay wallet. After all, industry leaders Alipay and WeChat Pay already have hundreds of millions of users who are familiar with their services.

☆ Big Tech earnings are on deck this week. Why that matters
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Krystal Hur | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New York CNN —With Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Meta Platforms all slated to report earnings this coming week, investors are turning their attention away from bank earnings to Big Tech. Another major theme for tech earnings is the race toward artificial intelligence. Earnings reports from Meta Platforms (META), Boeing (BA) and ServiceNow (NOW). Earnings reports from Amazon (AMZN), MasterCard (MA), T-Mobile (TMUS), Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) and Capital One (COF). Earnings reports from Exxon Mobil (XOM), Chevron (CVX), Colgate-Palmolive (CL) and New York Community Bancorp (NYCB).

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