Sysco Shares Rise Despite $618 Million Loss

Sysco shares jumped on Tuesday as the foodservice giant posted a smaller-than-expected loss amid the coronavirus headwinds that have slammed its customers in the restaurant industry.For the fourth quarter, Sysco lost $618.4 million, or $1.22 a share, compared with a profit of $535.8 million, or $...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 11, 2020

California Judge Says Lyft and Uber Drivers Are Employees

A judge in California ordered ridesharing companies Lyft and Uber to reclassify their drivers in the state as employees instead of as independent contractors.In a 34-page ruling, Judge Ethan Schulman of San Francisco Superior Court cited the companies’ “prolonged and brazen refusal” to comply wit...

By Lauren Muskett • Aug. 11, 2020

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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

Marriott Posts Big Loss, Sees Recovery Signs

Marriott International took a larger-than-expected quarterly loss due to the coronavirus pandemic but its shares rose as investors focused on signs of a recovery in global travel, particularly in China.For the second quarter, the world’s second-largest hotel chain posted a loss of $234 million, o...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 10, 2020

Zynga Rides Gaming Binge to Record Quarter

Zynga delivered a record quarter for sales and bookings as Americans sheltering at home from the coronavirus binged on video games to entertain themselves.The social gaming giant said revenue jumped 47% to a best-ever $452 million in the second quarter while bookings rose 38% to $518 million, ano...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 6, 2020

MetLife Earnings Tumble 43% to $758M in Q2

MetLife reported a sharp drop in quarterly profit, reflecting in part losses in private equity and derivative investments.For the second quarter, the insurer’s adjusted earnings fell 43% to $758 million, or 83 cents per share. Analysts had expected earnings of 91 cents per share.Net investment in...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 6, 2020

The Hidden Tax Obligations in Financial Restructuring

It is an unfortunate reality that as the economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to be felt, companies — even those that were performing quite strongly at the start of 2020 — will face significant headwinds, if they haven’t already. Many may need to consider some sort of restruct...

By Vincent Ryan • Aug. 5, 2020

BP Halves Dividend, Posts $16.8B Loss in Q2

BP cut its dividend for the first time in a decade and reported a huge quarterly loss as the coronavirus pandemic forced it to write down the value of assets.The energy giant said its second-quarter dividend would halve to 5.25 cents a share, compared to 10.5 cents in the first quarter. It tradit...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 4, 2020

Metric of the Month: Uncollectable Balances as a Percentage of Revenue

In a chaotic business environment hampered by a global pandemic, many vendors, suppliers, and other businesses are holding “bad debt” in the form of payments owed that will never be collected from customers. When does a finance chief know his or her company is holding too much bad debt, and what ...

By Perry D. Wiggins • Aug. 4, 2020

Stay-at-Home Demand Drives Apple Growth

Apple reported sales growth across all its products, with iPads and Mac computers in particular benefiting from the shift to working and learning from home.Apple’s overall sales rose 11% in the third quarter to $59.7 billion and profits increased 12% to $11.25 billion. Earnings came in at $2.58 p...

By Matthew Heller • July 31, 2020

PayPal Crushes Estimates, Posts 25% Sales Gain

PayPal posted its best quarter as a public company amid an acceleration in the use of digital payments that it believes is irreversible.PayPal executives said the company’s second-quarter results indicate the COVID-19 pandemic has moved society a crucial step closer toward the “death of cash,” wi...

By Matthew Heller • July 30, 2020

GM Posts $806M Loss, 47% Drop in Sales

General Motors swung to a big loss but aggressive cost-cutting and a large cash hoard helped cushion the blow from the coronavirus pandemic and the automaker sees stronger sales ahead with its plants now back in production.GM lost eight of 13 weeks of production in the second quarter due to virus...

By Matthew Heller • July 29, 2020

GE Beats Revenue Estimates, Reports Q2 Loss

General Electric reported revenue of $17.7 billion for the second quarter, slightly beating analyst estimates, but the company recorded a loss of 15 cents per share.Analysts had expected a loss of 10 cents per share, according to a survey by Refinitiv.“Our earnings performance was impacted by the...

By Lauren Muskett • July 29, 2020

Visa Profit Drops 23% as Card Spending Slows

Visa reported that quarterly profit fell 23% amid a decline in payments activity resulting from coronavirus-related shutdowns.For the third quarter, Visa’s net income dropped to $2.37 billion, or $1.07 per Class A share, from $3.10 billion, or $1.37 per Class A share, a year earlier. Net revenue ...

By Matthew Heller • July 29, 2020

Harley-Davidson U.S. Sales Plunge 27% in Q2

Harley-Davidson CEO Jochen Zeitz doubled down on his “Rewire” turnaround plan as the company reported its steepest decline in U.S. retail sales in at least six years.Zeitz’s plan, which he unveiled in April, is intended to revive an iconic brand that has been struggling for years to grow sales be...

By Matthew Heller • July 28, 2020

Centrica Sells North American Energy Unit to NRG

U.K.-based Centrica has reached an agreement to sell Direct Energy, its North American subsidiary, to NRG Energy for $3.63 billion.Centrica, which announced the sale along with its half-year earnings, said the deal represents an enterprise value of 7.9 times its 2019 underlying adjusted EBITDA.“W...

By Lauren Muskett • July 27, 2020

Reduced T&E Spending Continues to Hit AmEx

American Express reported a surprise quarterly profit on Friday but the coronavirus crisis continued to weigh on its transaction volumes, particularly in the crucial travel and entertainment sector.For the second quarter, AmEx’s net income fell 85% to $257 million, or 29 cents per share, beating ...

By Matthew Heller • July 24, 2020

Mattel Beats Estimates But Sales Drop 15%

Mattel reported sales declines across all of its product categories even though coronavirus shutdowns have boosted the toy industry as a whole.For the second quarter, Mattel’s net toy sales declined nearly 15% to $732.1 million as the economic impact of the health crisis hammered demand in overse...

By Matthew Heller • July 24, 2020

Tesla’s Emission Credits Fuel $104 Million Profit

Tesla delivered a fourth straight quarter of profitability as reduced operating expenses and an increase in regulatory credit revenue helped offset a decline in sales due to the coronavirus pandemic.Tesla’s second-quarter net income of $104 million came despite what CEO Elon Musk called “tremendo...

By Matthew Heller • July 23, 2020

Snap User Growth Rises But Misses Forecast

The owner of Snapchat reported better-than-expected quarterly results but slowing user and revenue growth appeared to weigh on investors.Snap’s revenue, which comes from advertising sales, rose 17% to $454.2 million in the second quarter, beating estimates of $439.1 million but declining sharply ...

By Matthew Heller • July 22, 2020

IBM Beats Q2 Estimates, Sees Cloud Growth

IBM reported a 5.4% decline in quarterly revenue but its stock jumped in after-hours trading Monday amid optimism that its push into cloud computing may finally be paying off.According to Reuters, IBM’s cloud strategy may be getting a boost as “large corporations accelerate their digital shift du...

By Matthew Heller • July 21, 2020

LinkedIn to Cut 6% of Global Workforce

Microsoft-owned career networking platform LinkedIn said it is cutting about 6% of its workforce, or 960 jobs, citing the disastrous effects of the COVID-19 crisis on the hiring market.In a note to employees, chief executive officer Ryan Roslansky said the cuts were being made across the company’...

By Lauren Muskett • July 21, 2020

Will There Be a Second Round of Paycheck Protection Loans?

Around the country, small businesses are still struggling to survive, despite many states partially reopening. And a bloom of coronavirus cases nationwide ensures that the economic recovery will take a longer time than some economists thought.Therefore, when U.S. lawmakers return to Washington th...

By Vincent Ryan • July 20, 2020

Ally Financial’s Profit Drops by More Than Half

Ally Financial reported a 58% drop in quarterly earnings as its core auto lending business took a hit from stay-at-home orders that kept consumers away from dealerships.For the second quarter, the 17th-largest U.S. bank’s net income fell to $241 million from $582 million. Adjusted earnings declin...

By Matthew Heller • July 20, 2020

Netflix Adds 10 Million Subs But Stock Slides

Netflix reported a huge increase in subscribers but its shares fell sharply after it forecast lower-than-expected growth in the current quarter.The streaming giant added 10.1 million net subscribers in the second quarter, benefiting from stay-at-home orders that left people with few options for e...

By Matthew Heller • July 17, 2020

Apple Wins Appeal on $15B Irish Tax Bill

The General Court of the European Union has annulled a 2016 order that said the U.S. tech giant Apple owed Ireland $14.9 billion in taxes.The court ruled that the European Commission did not prove that the Irish government had given the company a tax advantage.“The Commission didn’t succeed in sh...

By Lauren Muskett • July 15, 2020