U.S. Trade Gap Hits 14-Year High of $68.1B

The U.S. trade deficit widened to a 14-year high in November as retailers stocked up on imported consumer goods ahead of the Christmas holiday season.The Commerce Department reported Thursday that the foreign-trade gap in goods and services expanded 8% from the prior month to a seasonally adjuste...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 7, 2021

World Bank Lowers 2021 Growth Forecast to 4%

The World Bank lowered its growth forecast for the global economy last year, reflecting the resurgence of the coronavirus pandemic and renewed restrictions on economic activity.According to the bank’s latest semi-annual Global Economic Prospects report, the global economy “appears to have entered...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 6, 2021

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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

Walgreens Boots to Sell Unit to AmerisourceBergen

Walgreens Boots Alliance has agreed to sell most of its pharmacy distribution unit to drug wholesaler AmerisourceBergen for $6.5 billion to focus on its core retail business and expanding its health-care offerings.The Alliance Healthcare unit distributes health-care products and services to more ...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 6, 2021

P&G Scraps Deal to Buy Billie Razor Startup

Procter & Gamble has called off its planned takeover of women’s razor startup Billie, citing regulatory action to block the deal as anti-competitive.The Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint last month alleging the deal was “likely to result in significant harm by eliminating competition...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 5, 2021

MGM Offers $11B for U.K. Gaming Firm Entain

Casino operator MGM Resorts has offered about $11 billion to acquire the owner of British bookmaker Ladbrokes in a move to expand its reach in the booming online gaming market.MGM’s offer for Entain, which owns online gaming brands and more than 3,300 betting shops, comes just a few months after ...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 4, 2021

Peloton Bulks Up by Buying Precor for $420M

Peloton is buying exercise equipment maker Precor for $420 million to bulk up supplies of its at-home fitness products amid increased demand fueled by the coronavirus pandemic.The acquisition comes about six weeks after Peloton reported sales growth of 232% for the first quarter but warned it wou...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 22, 2020

CFO Optimism Continues to Grow Despite Virus

CFO optimism about their firms and the U.S. economy continued to rebound this quarter after the big decline at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, according to The CFO Survey.The report, a collaboration of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and the Federal Reserve Banks of Richmond and...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 22, 2020

Congress Includes PPP Extension in New Relief Bill

The new $900 billion coronavirus relief package that Congress is expected to pass on Monday includes a $284 billion extension of Paycheck Protection Program small business loans and tax breaks for borrowers.Lawmakers reached a deal on a package Sunday that fell well short of the $3 trillion bill ...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 21, 2020

Coke to Cut 2,200 Jobs Amid Virus Slowdown

Coca-Cola is planning to cut 2,200 jobs, including 1,200 in the U.S., as it continues to regroup from declining sales amid the coronavirus pandemic.The cuts amount to roughly 12% of Coke’s U.S. workforce and will be made through a combination of buyouts and layoffs. The company had about 86,000 e...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 18, 2020

Retail Sales Fall 1.1% in Largest Pandemic Drop

U.S. retail sales fell in November by the largest amount since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, setting the stage for what could be a “bleak winter” for retailers before vaccines are widely available.The Department of Commerce reported Wednesday that retail sales dropped 1.1% last month, th...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 16, 2020

Vista Buys Pluralsight in $3.5B Ed Tech Deal

Vista Equity Partners has agreed to acquire online training company Pluralsight in a $3.5 billion deal that highlights the continuing appeal of the enterprise software sector to private equity firms.Utah-based Pluralsight, which was founded in 2004, offers a library of more than 7,500 online cour...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 14, 2020

Oracle to Move HQ From Silicon Valley to Texas

Oracle is changing its corporate headquarters from Silicon Valley to Austin, Texas, to give its employees more flexibility amid the shift to remote work from the coronavirus pandemic.The software giant, founded in 1977, is one of the older Valley tech firms, occupying 3.5 million square feet of o...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 14, 2020

Execs Fear Harm Without Further Economic Aid

A majority of business executives expect a negative impact to their organizations if Congress does not pass another round of economic stimulus by early 2021 though optimism about the economy is increasing, according to the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants.In its Eco...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 10, 2020

DoorDash Shares Deliver 78% Pop in Market Debut

Investors gobbled up DoorDash shares on their first day of trading Wednesday, reflecting enthusiasm for the company’s food-delivery model as the coronavirus pandemic changes dining habits.The stock opened at $182 on the New York Stock Exchange — a 78.2% pop from the IPO price of $102 — before fal...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 9, 2020

Japan’s Economy Surges 22.9% in Third Quarter

Japan’s economy surged at a 22.9% annualized rate in the third quarter though some economists fear the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic is threatened by rising infections.The third-quarter gain, which was revised upward from the preliminary estimate of 21.4% on firmer consumer spending, was...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 8, 2020

Northrop Sells Federal IT Business to PE-Backed Firm

Northrop Grumman is selling its federal IT unit to an affiliate of private equity firm Veritas Capital for $3.4 billion to focus on its core defense businesses.Veritas plans to combine the Northrop business with its Peraton portfolio company, which provides intelligence, cyber and homeland securi...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 8, 2020

Cisco Buys IMImobile to Boost Call Center Offerings

Cisco Systems said Monday it had agreed to buy U.K.-based communication software firm IMImobile for about $730 million in a move to boost its cloud solutions for call centers.The networking giant’s push into software includes its Webex Contact Center, which uses data-driven artificial intelligenc...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 7, 2020

Warner Bros. to Release 2021 Movies on HBO Max

Warner Bros has announced a radical departure from the traditional model for distributing movies that reflects the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic on U.S. theaters.The studio said Thursday it would release its entire slate of 2021 films — including potential blockbusters such as “D...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 4, 2020

3M to Cut 3% of Workforce Amid Virus Slowdown

3M said Thursday it will cut about 3% of its global workforce as it continues to restructure amid slumping demand for its products in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.The announcement of the layoffs, which are expected to eliminate about 2,900 jobs, comes three weeks after the maker of Post-I...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 3, 2020

Salesforce Goes Social With $27.7B Slack Deal

In its largest-ever acquisition, Salesforce is buying workplace messaging app Slack for $27.7 billion, setting up a battle for enterprise social media customers with arch rival Microsoft.The mega-deal will make Slack’s remote communication platform available to users of Salesforce’s Customer 360 ...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 2, 2020

Exxon to Take Record Writedown, Slash Spending

Exxon Mobil announced it would take its largest-ever writedown and slash capital spending amid the continuing fallout from the sharp decline in oil demand and prices from the COVID-19 pandemic.The biggest U.S. oil producer by volume said it would write down the value of natural gas properties in ...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 1, 2020

Facebook Adds CRM Platform With Kustomer Buy

Facebook has agreed to acquire Kustomer, a customer relationship management startup, in a move to boost its offerings to businesses that communicate with customers through its messaging apps.Kustomer’s omnichannel CRM platform enables businesses to manage customer conversations across multiple se...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 1, 2020

U.S. Consumer Spending Growth Slows to 0.5%

U.S. consumer spending started the fourth quarter with another gain but economists expect the pace of growth will slow as the coronavirus surges and federal aid expires.The Department of Labor reported that spending rose 0.5% in October — the sixth straight monthly increase but the smallest since...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 30, 2020

Core Capital Goods Orders Rise 0.7% in October

A key measure of U.S. business investment rose for a sixth straight month in October, fueling optimism over the health of the manufacturing sector despite the current surge in coronavirus infections.The Department of Commerce reported Wednesday that orders for non-defense capital goods excluding ...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 27, 2020

Merck Buys OncoImmune in COVID Treatment Move

Merck has agreed to acquire biotech firm OncoImmune for $425 million to add a promising treatment for serious COVID-19 infections to its assault on the virus.The acquisition comes two months after a late-stage clinical study showed OncoImmune’s CD24Fc drug, also known as Saccovid, reduced the ris...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 23, 2020