Streetbeat News

Labor Issues

EWG

Germany's unemployment rate for January came in at 5.8%, which is lower than the estimated 5.9% and also below the prior rate of 5.9%.

Portfolio Pulse from Benzinga Newsdesk

January 31, 2024 | 9:05 am

EWG

Germany's unemployment change for January showed a decrease of 2,000, beating the estimate of an 11,000 increase and improving from the prior 5,000 increase. This indicates a stronger German labor market than expected.

Portfolio Pulse from Benzinga Newsdesk

January 31, 2024 | 9:04 am

SQ

Block Inc. (NASDAQ:SQ), co-founded by Jack Dorsey, has laid off approximately 10% of its workforce, impacting over a thousand employees. The layoffs affected the Cash App, Foundational, and Square sectors and were conducted in a single day to improve efficiency. Despite the layoffs, Block reported a $5.62 billion revenue for Q3 2023 and a $44 million profit from Bitcoin holdings. The tech industry has seen significant job cuts this year, with Google and Amazon also reducing their workforces.

Portfolio Pulse from Mehab Qureshi

January 31, 2024 | 4:39 am

POST

Rob Vitale, President and CEO of Post Holdings, is set to return from medical leave effective January 30. His return is expected to bring stable leadership back to the company.

Portfolio Pulse from Charles Gross

January 30, 2024 | 10:02 pm

APOG

Apogee Enterprises announced strategic changes under Project Fortify, including workforce reduction by 250 employees, elimination of lower-margin products, and consolidation of its Architectural Framing Systems segment. Production will be transferred from Michigan to facilities in Missouri and Wisconsin.

Portfolio Pulse from Benzinga Newsdesk

January 30, 2024 | 9:59 pm

PYPL

PayPal has started company-wide layoffs, as reported by The Information. The move is part of a broader trend in the tech industry where companies are looking to cut costs and streamline operations in response to economic challenges. The extent of the layoffs at PayPal, including the number of employees affected, has not been specified in the article.

Portfolio Pulse from Benzinga Newsdesk

January 30, 2024 | 7:15 pm

ABNB

AMZN

BAC

IBM

NVDA

IBM (NYSE:IBM) has issued a return to office mandate for its managers, requiring them to work from an office or client location at least three days a week. This move contrasts with companies like Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Airbnb (NASDAQ:ABNB), which maintain work-from-home policies. Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) also demands staff return to the office, threatening disciplinary action. Research from the University of Pittsburgh suggests RTO mandates may be more common in firms with poor stock performance, using RTO to reassert control and shift blame for bad performance. However, this is questioned by the strong market gains of companies like IBM and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) in 2023.

Portfolio Pulse from Neil Dennis

January 30, 2024 | 6:37 pm

SQNXF

THQQF

Embracer Group AB has canceled a Deus Ex game in development and laid off 97 staff at Eidos Montreal. The studio will shift focus to an original franchise. This is part of a larger restructuring at Embracer, which has also affected other studios such as Volition and Free Radical Design. The layoffs and cancellations follow a failed $2 billion deal with Savvy Games Group. Embracer acquired Eidos Montreal from Square Enix Holdings in 2022 but has not commented on the Deus Ex cancellation.

Portfolio Pulse from Franca Quarneti

January 30, 2024 | 4:43 pm

UPS

United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE:UPS) shares fell sharply after reporting lower-than-expected revenues and future guidance. The company announced a reduction of 12,000 jobs to save costs, with labor contract-related costs exceeding estimates by $500 million. UPS's Q4 revenues were $24.9 billion, down from $27 billion, and full-year sales declined by 9.3% to $90.96 billion. The 2024 revenue forecast is set between $92 billion and $94.5 billion, below analysts' expectations of $95.57 billion, with a projected adjusted operating margin of 10% to 10.6%.

Portfolio Pulse from Piero Cingari

January 30, 2024 | 4:34 pm

AAPL

AMZN

GLD

GOOG

META

MSFT

NVDA

QQQ

SLV

SPY

TSLA

UPS

USO

Microsoft's (MSFT) earnings report is considered the most important this season, with a focus on AI monetization and cloud revenue growth. Whisper numbers are higher than consensus, indicating potential for a significant stock move. UPS (UPS) reported earnings below whisper numbers, suggesting economic weakness, impacting the broader market. Treasury borrowing plans are lower than expected, raising questions about political motives. Layoffs at UPS and IBM's work-from-home policy are noted. Early trades show positive money flows for MSFT, NVDA, and TSLA, neutral for GOOG and META, negative for AAPL and AMZN, and mixed for SPY and QQQ. Gold (GLD) and oil (USO) are seeing buying from the momo crowd, while smart money is inactive. Bitcoin (BTC) is moving higher with speculative stocks.

Portfolio Pulse from The Arora Report

January 30, 2024 | 4:18 pm