Microsoft, GM Strike Autonomous Vehicle Partnership

One of the world’s largest technology companies is teaming up with one of the world’s largest automotive manufacturers.What Happened: General Motors and Microsoft are partnering on self-driving vehicles.The companies will partner to bring together software and hardware engineering excellence, clo...

By Lauren Muskett • Jan. 19, 2021

Wells Fargo Shares Dip 7% on Q4 Revenue Miss

Wells Fargo shares fell on Friday after the beleaguered bank reported lower-than-expected quarterly revenue, reflecting the continuing impact of near-zero interest rates.For the fourth quarter, Wells Fargo made a profit of $2.99 billion, or 64 cents per share, beating analysts’ estimates of 60 ce...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 18, 2021

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

CFOs On the Move: Week Ending January 15

Deidra Merriwether Grainger promoted Deidra Merriwether to finance chief. Merriwether joined the industrial supply company in 2013 as head of North America finance and was most recently senior vice president and president of North American sales and services. Before that, she worked in various ro...

By Lauren Muskett • Jan. 15, 2021

U.S. Government Blacklists Xiaomi and Cnooc

The outgoing President Donald Trump’s administration continues to add pressure on China even as its term nears an end. In the latest move, U.S. has added China’s leading smartphone maker Xiaomi and its third-biggest driller Cnooc to blacklisted firms — banning them from American investment due to...

By Lauren Muskett • Jan. 15, 2021

U.S. Retail Sales Fall for Third Consecutive Month

U.S. retail sales fell 0.7% in December from the previous month, according to the latest report from the Department of Commerce. It was the third consecutive month in which there was no growth.Economists surveyed by Reuters had expected sales to be unchanged.“The December retail results were an a...

By Lauren Muskett • Jan. 15, 2021

Unemployment Claims Jump

The number of people filing first-time unemployment claims reached 965,000 last week, the highest level since August, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Department of Labor.The consensus estimate among economists was for 789,000 new claims, according to Bloomberg.Continuing claims were...

By Lauren Muskett • Jan. 14, 2021

Delta Posts Record Loss, Cuts Cash Burn

Delta Air Lines posted a record annual loss for 2020 on Thursday but its shares rose as executives forecast a recovery this year and a reduced cash burn.The second-largest U.S. airline by passenger traffic said it lost $12.4 billion last year – its first loss since 2009 – and $755 million in the ...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 14, 2021

LoanDepot Seeks NYSE Listing Amid Mortgage Boom

In its latest filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, mortgage lending company LoanDepot disclosed its plans to go public with a listing on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol LDI.What Happened: The recently filed preliminary prospectus does not mention details abou...

By Lauren Muskett • Jan. 12, 2021

Oil Prices Rise as Suppliers Hold Back

U.S. crude oil prices neared $57 per barrel Tuesday as major global producers signaled they would curb supply. It was the first time since last February that prices surpassed $50.Shale producers in the U.S. have said they would pay down debt and return money to shareholders rather than increasing...

By Lauren Muskett • Jan. 12, 2021

The Complexities of a COVID-19 Year-End

Two-thousand twenty was a year of countless challenges and setbacks. But it’s also witnessed impressive innovation, improvisation, and modification. As companies addressed the challenges spawned by COVID-19  — from supply chain disruptions to government-ordered shutdowns and from virtual workforc...

By Vincent Ryan • Jan. 12, 2021

Bitcoin Breaches $41,000 Mark in Unfazed Rally

Bitcoin breached the $41,000 mark early Friday morning (New York time) in an unfazed rally that is seeing the world’s apex cryptocurrency hit a new all-time high every day. At last check, Bitcoin traded at $41,415.89, up 11.1% over a 24-hour period.What Happened: Among other cryptocurrencies, Eth...

By Lauren Muskett • Jan. 8, 2021

Airlines Expect Turbulent 2021

Travel data and analytics company Cirium said in a report that “the pandemic and its consequences wiped out 21 years of global passenger traffic growth in a matter of months, reducing traffic this year to levels last seen in 1999.”A press release about the report added that passenger traffic in 2...

By Vincent Ryan • Jan. 5, 2021

Google Workers Form a Union

More than 200 workers at Alphabet have formed a labor union. The Alphabet Workers Union, which includes some employees of the company’s Google unit, will be part of the Communication Workers of America and will be open to employees and third-party contractors.The “minority union” will have limite...

By Lauren Muskett • Jan. 5, 2021

2020 CFO Departures and Arrivals

CFOs this year played a critical role in navigating their companies through a global economic crisis. The increasing pressure intensified the spotlight on finance chiefs, and many CFOs left their posts over the last 12 months. Some joined new companies, others pursued new opportunities. Their pla...

By Lauren Muskett • Jan. 4, 2021

Producing Management Reports Faster: Metric of the Month

Period-end management reports are an important form of decision-making support that helps leaders gain insight into specific business areas. These reports typically include financial highlights, graphical analyses, and comments on trends or variance from expected results. They also provide a foun...

By Perry D. Wiggins • Jan. 4, 2021

China Vows Retaliation After NYSE Announces Plans to Delist Telecoms

The China Securities Regulatory Commission said the delisting of three Chinese telecoms ignored the “legitimate rights” of global investors and “severely disrupted” market order after the New York Stock Exchange said it would delist China Telecom, China Mobile, and China Unicom Hong Kong under an...

By Lauren Muskett • Jan. 4, 2021

The Most-Read CFO Stories of 2020

Which of the more than 1,100 stories we published in 2020 are worth a second read (maybe even a third)? The following 10 articles and columns fit the bill. They were the most widely read stories on CFO and are presented here in no particular order. Together, they form a portrait of a tumultuous 1...

By Vincent Ryan • Dec. 28, 2020

Five Lessons for CFOs As We Approach 2021

While many companies are still dealing with the acute impacts of the economic and social disruption of 2020, innovative companies will apply what they’ve learned to excel in 2021. Here are five ways that companies can build resilience and weather future challenges while being better positioned to...

By Vincent Ryan • Dec. 21, 2020

Google Waives $1.5B in DeepMind Startup Debt

Google continues to heavily subsidize its DeepMind artificial intelligence startup, writing off $1.5 billion in debt as losses grew.According to a filing with the U.K.’s Companies House, DeepMind’s revenue more than doubled from 103 million pounds ($140 million) in 2018 to 266 million pounds ($36...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 17, 2020

The Advantages of Switching to Long-Term Remote Work

The ability to work remotely has been a lifeline for countless companies trying to keep their operations running while the COVID-19 pandemic persists, but few business leaders could have predicted how broad and deep the adoption would be. Many major enterprises continue to have a large percentage...

By Lauren Muskett • Dec. 16, 2020

Oracle Beats Estimates on Strong Cloud Results

Oracle reported better-than-expected quarterly results as its key cloud applications businesses continued to benefit from the shift to remote work.For the second quarter, the software giant’s revenue rose nearly 2% to $9.80 billion while net income increased 5.7% to $2.44 billion. On an adjusted ...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 11, 2020

The Decision to Buy or Sell Non-Core Assets

As the coronavirus pandemic stretches on, the role of the chief financial officer has been adapting to meet organizations’ changing needs. CFOs have always worked to maximize ROI for stakeholders and ensure the immediate and long-term health of their organizations. Now their finance acumen is pro...

By Frank Williamson • Dec. 8, 2020

Kodak Loan Involved No Wrongdoing, DFC Concludes

There was no wrongdoing involved in the process of Eastman Kodak Company receiving a $765 million federal loan for its pharmaceuticals foray, the U.S. International Development Finance Corp. has reportedly concluded.What Happened: The DFC is the federal agency that originally granted the loan. As...

By Lauren Muskett • Dec. 7, 2020

Cheesecake Factory Fined Over COVID Disclosures

In the first enforcement action of its kind, the Cheesecake Factory has been charged with misleading investors about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on its business.According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the restaurant chain’s regulatory filings on March 23 and April 2 w...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 4, 2020

Snowflake Posts 119% Revenue Gain, Shares Slip

Snowflake shares fell Wednesday after the data warehouse startup posted a larger-than-expected loss in its first quarterly earnings report as a public company.For the third quarter, Snowflake’s revenue increased 119% year over year to $159.6 million while its net loss declined to $1.01 per share ...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 3, 2020