DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Chewy Looks to Open More Automated Fulfillment Centers in Drive to Control Costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Nina Trentmann | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

Online pet retailer Chewy Inc. plans to open more automated fulfillment centers in 2023 to control costs and raise efficiency, which could help the company repurpose certain capital spending, its finance chief said. Photo: Chewy Inc.“When we think about the future of our fulfillment network, automation is at the center of that,” Mr. Marte said. The company, which had over 21,000 employees and 13 fulfillment centers in December, usually requires about 1,200 people for a manned distribution center. “Those are real dollars,” Mr. Marte said, adding that Chewy is working to grow profits and taking out costs. Over time, the company could defer or lower some of its capital expenditures, Mr. Marte said.

TORONTO, Dec 28 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Like dogs seeking forever homes, stray pet businesses will find new owners in 2023. After a surge in Covid-19 lockdown adoptions, some seven out of 10 U.S. households owned one, according to a recent survey by The American Pet Products Association. Nestlé (NESN.S) boss Mark Schneider, for one, said he is open to opportunities in pet food, while Colgate-Palmolive (CL.N) recently bought additional manufacturing facilities to beef up its Hill’s Pet Nutrition division. Privately held Mars, which acquired Canada-based Champion Petfoods and Nom Nom, also could be on the hunt. Separately, Mars also agreed to acquire pet food brand Nom Nom for an undisclosed price, Bloomberg reported on Jan. 14.

☆ FedEx cost cuts stanch losses, analysts see need for more
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Shares in FedEx rose 4.7% to $172 at midday Wednesday, a level far below their 52-week high of $266.79. FedEx has been underperforming its unionized rival United Parcel Service (UPS.N), which is squeezing greater profit from its leaner, more streamlined operating structure. FedEx has outlined plans to integrate its disparate businesses, revive its long-troubled Europe operations and appease activist investor D.E. On Tuesday, FedEx issued a new 2023 profit forecast, signaling that it may be "finding the floor," Susquehanna analyst Bascome Majors said. Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Cynthia OstermanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ 14 Best Gifts for Dog Lovers
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: +10 min

Browse the ideas below, and take a look at our roundups of expert-approved products to keep your pet calm and the best gifts for cat lovers too. For the bakerThe Dash Dog Treat Maker—a small waffle iron with bone-shaped plates—lets your pal whip up homemade dog treats. Dockx eased her golden retriever’s separation anxiety while she was at work with a Snuggle Puppy, a plush toy with a battery-powered heartbeat. To brush up on dog speak, DeWillems recommends “Doggie Language: A Dog Lover’s Guide to Understanding Your Best Friend,” which decodes canine body language through illustrations that highlight subtle nuances in their mannerisms. For the devoted dog dadDog Dad Hats Custom Dog Dad Hats $69 at Dog Dad HatsAny proud parent will dig a Dog Dad Hat, with a custom embroidered illustration of their pet’s portrait.

☆ The 25 big companies with the best cultures
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Madison Hoff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

1 in Comparably's list of the best company cultures among large firms. Therapy Brands ranked at the top of the Best Company Culture list focused on small and midsize companies. To create the Best Company Culture lists, the company used anonymous workers' ratings and responses from around the end of November 2021 to about the end of November this year. "It's clear from our research that company culture is being reinvented to a degree and at a pace not often seen in the past." Below are the top 25 companies that placed on the large list this year.

☆ December is the month for eating all the cookies
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Casey Barber | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Editor’s Note: Food writer Casey Barber says December is the month for baking cookies. Freezing cookies can also help save time in the long run by allowing you to start your holiday baking early. Lin makes cookies weeks in advance of his parties and thaws them at room temperature up to two days before an event. If you are short on timeBar cookies are Lin’s secret weapon when it comes to holiday baking. Many cookies, such as Lin’s red velvet crackle cookies, require that the dough be chilled before portioning and rolling, so it’s key to take that into consideration.

☆ Chewy’s Online Pet Dominance Could Lose Its Bite
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Jinjoo Lee | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Chewy remains the dominant pet e-commerce player, capturing roughly 40% of the market, according to a MoffettNathanson estimate. The online pet kingdom is no longer a free pasture for Chewy . Chewy said Thursday that revenue rose 14.5% from a year earlier in its quarter ended Oct. 30, better than the 10.8% that Wall Street analysts polled by Visible Alpha were expecting. That breaks a streak of six consecutive quarters of slowing year-over-year revenue growth, and easily tops Petco ‘s 4% growth. Chewy turned a profit of $2.3 million, a pleasant surprise compared with the $33 million loss analysts were penciling in.

☆ Jim Cramer's top 10 things to watch in the market Friday: Hot inflation, Costco earnings, FTC Microsoft
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The government says November producer prices rose 0.3% overall versus the 0.2% expected increase. Citi raises 3M (MMM) price target to $126 per share from $117; sees still emerging fiscal tailwinds. Wells Fargo upgrades Netflix (NFLX) to overweight from equal weight (buy from hold), raising its price target to $400 per share from $300. Baird raises price target on RH (RH), formerly known as Restoration Hardware, to $300 per share from $275; keeps neutral rating. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade.

☆ GameStop reports decline in revenue and sharp decrease in cash
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A screen displays the logo and trading information for GameStop on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) March 29, 2022. GameStop said Wednesday its fiscal third quarter sales declined and its cash pile sharply dwindled, as the brick-and-mortar retailer has been working to expand its digital presence. The company's cash and cash equivalents fell to nearly $804 million from approximately $1.4 billion a year earlier. GameStop has been working to become profitable and revamp its brick-and-mortar retail business, after what executives have said were years of underinvestment. GameStop said last month that it had ended its partnership with FTX, after the crypto exchange filed for bankruptcy.

☆ Here are Wednesday's biggest analyst calls: Apple, Tesla, Carvana, Expedia, Shopify, Roku & more
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Bank of America reiterates Warner Brothers Discovery as buy Bank of America said Warner Brothers Discovery shares are the "best value in media." Wolfe downgrades Shopify and Chewy to peer perform from outperform Wolfe downgraded Shopify and Chewy on concerns about consumer weakness in e-commerce. "We are also revising our ratings on SHOP and CHWY to Peer Perform from Outperform after the recent rally." Peer Perform previously)." JMP upgrades MongoDB to market outperform from market perform JMP upgraded the developer data platform company after its earnings report on Tuesday.

☆ Meme stock mania may finally be over
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Meme stocks, that is. Shares of movie theater chain AMC (AMC) have plummeted 55% this year. But investors may also be realizing that companies like GameStop, AMC and Bed Bath & Beyond face legitimate challenges. But mostly, investors are aware of the fact that in uncertain times like this, it may make more sense to play it safe instead of taking a huge gamble on a meme stock. Add all that up and it’s a miserable time for investors to be considering speculative meme stocks.

☆ Is the worst over for bitcoin and the rest of crypto?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

This is not the first crypto winter, as long-term fans of bitcoin can attest. “It is very clear that we as an industry need to build better products,” said Hany Rashwan, CEO of 21.co, a crypto investment firm. That’s about triple where prices were during the depths of the crypto bear market in the early pandemic days of 2020. Others point out that the underlying blockchain technology behind bitcoin and crypto remains solid. Pride and Reynolds added that it’s erroneous to think that bitcoin can hold up well during stock market volatility.

☆ 19 best white elephant and Secret Santa gift ideas under $50
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Mili Godio | Mili Godio Is An Associate Reporter For Select On Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +11 min

What is a white elephant gift exchange? A white elephant gift exchange — sometimes referred to as a Yankee swap — is a fun holiday activity in which everyone brings one wrapped gift and leaves with a different one. To help even the odds, most white elephant gift exchanges work best when all the gifts align in cost — typically within the $30-to-$75 range. What is a Secret Santa gift exchange? The best white elephant and Secret Santa gift ideasTo help you find the right gift for your white elephant and Secret Santa gift exchanges, we rounded up gift ideas based on our previous coverage and reader interest, all under $50.

☆ Expect more choppiness ahead after a week of mixed market signals
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Driving the action were several key economic reports, including the November ADP employment and nonfarm payrolls reports and the October personal spending report. The comments came after a softer-than-expected ADP employment report, but before a stronger-than-expected nonfarm payrolls report. With these kinds of mixed signals, expect more market choppiness as investors remain on the hunt for more definitive signs that the Fed is winning its war on inflation and can therefore definitively ease up on their hawkish stance. Initial jobless claims for the week ending Nov. 26 were 225,000, a decrease of 16,000 from the prior week and below expectations of 235,000. Finally, on Friday the all-important nonfarm payrolls report was released, indicating a 263,000 payrolls increase in November, above the 200,000 expected.

☆ Markets looking for the next catalyst might latch on to worries about 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Patti Domm | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Markets could be volatile and in search of a catalyst in the week ahead, as investors consider year-end trades in the lull before the Federal Reserve's December 13-14 policy meeting. Stocks were higher in the past week, with the year's worst performing sectors, communications services and consumer discretionary companies, leading the gains. On the geopolitical front, Arone said investors will watch the Dec. 6 runoff election in Georgia's senate race . Week ahead calendar Monday Earnings: Sumo Logic , Gitlab 9:45 a.m. Services PMI 10:00 a.m. ISM services 10:00 a.m. Initial jobless claims 10:00 a.m. Quarterly services survey Friday 8:30 a.m. PPI 10:00 a.m. Consumer sentiment 10:00 a.m. Wholesale trade

☆ Holiday rush: Why investors may want to add retail ETFs to their cart
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Noah Sheidlower | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Despite consumer headwinds tied to the economic slowdown, Amplify ETFs' Brian Giere sees opportunities in retail. Giere oversees the Amplify Online Retail ETF, which trades under the IBUY. VettaFi's Todd Rosenbluth, who's taking a wait and see approach on retail spending this holiday season, highlights the SPDR S&P Retail ETF as a "more targeted way of getting exposure" to traditional consumer discretionary companies such as Macy's and Gap . "[It] has become larger than some of the online retail peers that are out there." The SPDR S&P Retail ETF is down 26% so far this year.

☆ These discounted e-commerce stocks could be winners this holiday season. Here’s why
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Christina Cheddar Berk | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

The National Retail Federation expects holiday sales growth of about 6% to 8% over 2021 — about in line with inflation. Adobe Analytics is predicting U.S. online sales during November and December will grow 2.5% from last year. "The last few years, we actually saw an incredible amount of sales demand momentum, if you will, really early in the season." Her observations, which are based on data from hundreds of clients she works with, echo findings from Adobe Analytics, released Wednesday, that show a slow start to online sales in November. "I think [investors] should expect a continued commitment to sustainable growth and what we mean by that is sort of aggressive, ambitious growth coupled with expanding profitability," he said.

☆ Meme-stock billionaire Ryan Cohen explains why he bet on GameStop and dumped Bed Bath & Beyond in a new interview. Here are the 10 best quotes.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Ryan Cohen reflected on his GameStop bet and explained his sudden sale of Bed Bath & Beyond stock. Chewy's billionaire cofounder emphasized the impact of higher interest rates on investors. "Higher interest rates are a game changer. "Before, you had 0% interest rates so there really was no discount rate, and there really wasn't much of a difference between long-term cash flows and short-term cash flows. Now you have a real discount rate, you've got the 10-year Treasury north of 4%, so the value of short-term cash flows is much greater than long-term cash flows."

☆ GameStop’s Ryan Cohen Wants to Be More Than a Meme-Stock King
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Miriam Gottfried | Caitlin Mccabe | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Ryan Cohen is the face of an investing revolution that captivated amateur traders, punished Wall Street and favored memes over fundamentals. Many of his other bets belong to a more conservative playbook. The 37-year-old billionaire, who made his fortune with online pet retailer Chewy Inc., gained fame during a period of market frenzy last year when he used a stake in struggling videogame retailer GameStop Inc. to push out the executive team and become chairman. His enigmatic tweets—including a picture of himself with chopsticks up his nose—helped his investment gain viral popularity as a so-called meme stock and motivated his followers to seek revenge against professional traders who had bet against the company.

☆ Amazon remains a show-me stock but we're encouraged by some positive Wall Street commentary
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Amazon (AMZN) received several mentions Tuesday from Wall Street analysts covering a range of topics. While including commentary on Alphabet and Meta from the note as a point of reference, we're mostly focusing on Amazon. From a top-down view, Morgan Stanley maintained that Amazon remains "strategically positioned" to take market share in e-commerce and enterprise spend "through/post downturn." From a bottom-up view, the analysts acknowledged that Amazon, along with other large-cap tech names, is finally taking its medicine. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio.

☆ Aviatrix: 2022 Top Startups for the Enterprise
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Cnbc.Com Staff | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

In 2014, Sherry Wei, Aviatrix's CTO and founder, left Cisco to create Aviatrix on the premise that cloud networking is far different than data center networking from the perspective of an enterprise customer. Steve Mullaney, who had been CEO of software-defined networking pioneer Nicira, came out of retirement in 2019 to join Wei in her mission after he too saw the massive growth in cloud demand from enterprise companies. The Santa Clara, California-based Aviatrix provides a networking platform that companies use to manage the flow of data traffic in their cloud environment. In September 2021, the company raised $200 million in funding with growth equity firm TCV leading the round. The 2022 Top Startups for the Enterprise list is powered and inspired by the members of CNBC's Technology Executive Council (TEC).

Pet food prices rose 14% between September 2021 and September 2022, according to the Bureau for Labor Statistics. Fifty percent are shopping for cheaper alternatives to their standard pet food, and 35% say they've had to reduce the frequency of their visits to grooming services. More worryingly: 46% of pet owners said that they've decided to forego or delay veterinary treatments in the wake of inflation — including dental procedures and X-Rays. She told Insider: "Google searches for "can I give my dog paracetamol?" have surged recently, as we fear people are seeking to self-medicate animals and avoid vet costs."

☆ 11 Best Gifts for Dog Lovers
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: +8 min

For the bakerThe Dash Dog Treat Maker—a small waffle iron with bone-shaped plates—lets your pal whip up homemade dog treats. It makes up to eight bone-shaped dog treats at a time, and it includes sweet and savory recipes. Dockx eased her golden retriever’s separation anxiety while she was at work with a Snuggle Puppy, a plush toy with a battery-powered heartbeat. To brush up on dog speak, DeWillems recommends “Doggie Language: A Dog Lover’s Guide to Understanding Your Best Friend,” which decodes canine body language through illustrations that highlight subtle nuances in their mannerisms. For the devoted dog dadDog Dad Hats Custom Dog Dad Hats $69 at Dog Dad HatsAny proud parent will dig a Dog Dad Hat, with a custom embroidered illustration of their pet’s portrait.

☆ Late Bed Bath & Beyond CFO Dropped From Shareholder Suit
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Jennifer Williams-Alvarez | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

Gone are claims from the original 24-page complaint that Mr. Arnal and Mr. Cohen colluded to boost the company’s share price. Bed Bath & Beyond has said the lawsuit was without merit. Bed Bath & Beyond and Mr. Cohen, along with JP Morgan Securities LLC, are still named as defendants in the suit, which seeks class-action status. Bed Bath & Beyond shares traded around $4.05 on Wednesday, down more than 70% since the beginning of the year. Mr. Toll said he hadn’t heard from Bed Bath & Beyond or Mr. Arnal’s estate leading up to the filing of the amended complaint.

☆ Late Bed Bath & Beyond CFO Dropped From Suit Alleging Collusion With Ryan Cohen
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Jennifer Williams-Alvarez | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

“There’s plenty of grief in his family, and us making it even worse didn’t seem worth it,” Mr. Toll said. Gone are claims from the original 24-page complaint that Mr. Arnal and Mr. Cohen colluded to boost the company’s share price. Bed Bath & Beyond and Mr. Cohen, along with JP Morgan Securities LLC, are still named as defendants in the suit, which seeks class-action status. Mr. Cohen unloaded his entire stake in Bed Bath & Beyond in mid-August. Bed Bath & Beyond shares traded around $4.05 on Wednesday, down more than 70% since the beginning of the year.

Search resuls for: "chewy"

25 mentions found