Elliott Management Discloses $3B Stake in AT&T

Activist investor Elliott Management announced Monday it had acquired a $3.2 billion stake in AT&T and presented a plan to boost the value of the underperforming company through asset sales and cost reduction.In a letter to the AT&T board, Elliott said it had made its investment — one of ...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 9, 2019

Housing Finance Reform Disappoints Investors

The U.S. Treasury Department has unveiled a plan to recapitalize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and return them to private control but stopped short of the sweeping overhaul many investors were hoping for.Shares in each of the mortgage giants fell more than 8% on Friday after Treasury released a 53-p...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 9, 2019

Explore the Trendline➔

Tax policy shifts: What CFOs need to know to stay ahead

Discover how evolving tax policies are creating new opportunities and challenges for CFOs.

By CFO.com staff

Red Robin Rebuffs Activist’s $519M Buyout Offer

Red Robin has rejected a hostile $519 million buyout bid by activist investor Vintage Capital, saying its strategic plan was a better option for shareholders.The struggling restaurant chain’s shares fell 1.5% to $32.05 on Thursday after it announced its board had determined that Vintage’s $40-per...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 5, 2019

U.S. Consumer Spending Surges 0.6% in July

U.S. consumer spending continued to drive the economy in July, posting another solid gain, but income growth slowed sharply and inflation remained soft.The Commerce Department reported Friday that personal-consumption expenditures increased 0.6% last month from June, a pickup from the two previou...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 3, 2019

U.S. GDP Gain Revised Down to 2.0% for Q2

The U.S. economy grew at a slightly slower rate in the second quarter than originally estimated but corporate profits, boosted by strong consumer spending, rebounded after two straight quarterly declines.In its second reading of second-quarter growth, the Commerce Department reported Thursday tha...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 29, 2019

Hershey Buys ONE Brands to Boost Snacks Push

Hershey has expanded its push to become a “snacking powerhouse” by acquiring sweet nutrition bar maker ONE Brands for $397 million.The purchase of the maker of ONE Bars, formerly known as Oh Yeah! Nutrition, is at least Hershey’s fifth investment in snacks since late 2017, coming only a week afte...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 28, 2019

U.S. Home Price Growth Slows to 3.1% in June

U.S. home prices rose at the slowest rate in nearly seven years in June but economists are still not expecting a crash in prices as market fundamentals remain solid.Average national home prices increased 3.1% in the year ending in June, down from a 3.3% annual pace the prior month, according to t...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 27, 2019

Key Investment Measure Gains 0.4% in July

U.S. core capital goods rose at a sluggish pace in July and shipments fell by the most in nearly three years, suggesting continued softness in business investment.The Commerce Department reported Monday that orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft — a key measure of business inves...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 26, 2019

VMware Buys App Developer, Security Vendor

VMware continued its recent shopping spree with the purchases of cloud-application developer Pivotal and security vendor Carbon Black for a combined $4.8 billion.According to The Wall Street Journal, the acquisitions bolster VMware’s “push to allow customers to build, manage and secure applicatio...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 26, 2019

Powell Says Fed Grappling With Trade Uncertainty

Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell said Friday that the central bank is facing a “new challenge” as it tries to shape monetary policy to address trade conflicts.With the U.S.-China trade war escalating again as Beijing on Friday imposed a new round of tariffs, Powell indicated the Fed may be lim...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 23, 2019

Share Prices Plummet Following Divestitures in 2019

While companies for years have generally underperformed stock markets after divesting significant assets, that tendency was severely pronounced in the first six months of both 2018 and 2019.According to a study of 251 divestitures with a value of at least $50 million that closed in the first half...

By David McCann • Aug. 21, 2019

Banks Tend to See a Bright 12 Months Coming

Did you hear a recession may be on the way? Apparently, some banks — especially smaller ones — didn’t get the message.In its latest quarterly survey of bank executives, Promontory Interfinancial Network found the participants more optimistic about business prospects for the coming 12 months than ...

By David McCann • Aug. 21, 2019

Globalization Recedes from Its Prior Dominance

It wasn’t so long ago — just a few years — that globalization was a dominant business theme. Today, many companies are creeping in the opposite direction.In a survey of 444 C-suite executives by management consulting firm A.T. Kearney, almost half (46%) of them said it was “likely” that over the ...

By David McCann • Aug. 16, 2019

Retail Sales Jump Counters Recession Fears

U.S. retail sales in July indicated consumer spending continues to be robust, providing something of an antidote to fears of a recession.The Commerce Department reported Thursday that retail sales increased 0.7% last month after gaining 0.3% in June. It was the largest monthly gain since March.Ec...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 15, 2019

Will Inverted Yield Curve Invite Economic Chaos?

Wednesday’s yield curve inversion seems to have brought into clarity what some experts thought should have already been clear: at the moment, they say, the world economy is looking like a mess. Others, though, believe the inversion will not this time be the harbinger of recession that it’s been s...

By David McCann • Aug. 14, 2019

CBS, Viacom to Reunite After 13 Years Apart

Thirteen years after Sumner Redstone split up his media empire into its CBS and Viacom components, the companies are reuniting in a move to match up more effectively with the industry’s heavyweight players.The merger of CBS and Viacom announced on Tuesday will create a combined company with more ...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 14, 2019

Aramco Makes India Move With Reliance Stake

Saudi Aramco has agreed to buy 20% of Reliance Industries Ltd.’s flagship chemicals and refining business in a deal valued at $15 billion that will boost the refining capacity of the world’s largest oil producer.The acquisition would be one of Aramco’s largest foreign investments and, according t...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 12, 2019

Why Finance Should Lead Sustainability Efforts

Once considered a bonus feature for companies, sustainability is now a business imperative for many and is altering the way they conduct business.From marketing campaigns that rely on the value proposition of sustainable products, as we’ve seen Adidas execute, to HR leveraging sustainability as t...

By David McCann • Aug. 7, 2019

Cars.com Dashes Hopes of Sale, Shares Tank

Cars.com shares plunged for a second straight day on Tuesday after the online auto marketplace announced it had failed to find a buyer after a 10-month search.An “exhaustive strategic review process” included meetings with 29 prospective bidders but according to Cars.com Chairman Scott Forbes, “d...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 6, 2019

Fox Buys Online Loan Broker Credible Labs

Fox Corp. will feature the Credible Labs Inc. consumer-lending marketplace on digital sites for its media platforms. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said it will feature Credible Labs data.Rupert Murdoch’s Fox has agreed to buy a controlling stake in Credible Labs for $265 million,...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 5, 2019

Latest Tariff Threat Could Be ‘Gut Punch’ for Apple

A further escalation of the U.S.-China trade war could create a major headwind for Apple as it struggles with sagging iPhone demand, Wall Street analysts warn.Apple shares tumbled last week after President Donald Trump threatened a 10% tariff on the remaining $300 billion of Chinese goods that ar...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 5, 2019

Takeway.com Delivers $10B Deal to Buy Just Eat

Netherlands-based Takeaway.com has agreed to acquire Just Eat in a $10.1 billion deal that could spur further consolidation in the crowded online food delivery business.The combined company would be the world’s largest online food delivery firm outside China, with orders worth $8.1 billion based ...

By Matthew Heller • July 30, 2019

U.S. Approves $26B T-Mobile-Sprint Merger

The U.S. Department of Justice has approved the $26.5 billion merger of T-Mobile and Sprint, but a group of 14 states said they will continue their legal fight against the deal, citing “serious” antitrust concerns.The federal government’s green light for the merger came after T-Mobile and Sprint,...

By Matthew Heller • July 29, 2019

Is More Quantitative Easing in Sight?

With the end of second-quarter earnings season in sight, there is good news and bad news for the banking industry.The good news is that the rate of change in U.S. bank-funding costs is slowing, from 50% to 60% year-over-year increases to about 30% or 40% this past quarter.Indeed, even though the ...

By David McCann • July 29, 2019

Key Investment Measure Surges 1.9% in June

U.S. core capital goods orders surged in June, marking a third straight monthly gain after weakness earlier in the year.The Commerce Department reported that orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft — a key measure of business investment — increased 1.9% last month after rising 0.3...

By Matthew Heller • July 26, 2019