Six Priorities for Travel CFOs During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented crisis in the travel industry. Major US airlines have eliminated as much as 40% of domestic flying and canceled most international flights. To help US carriers avoid bankruptcy, the government has approved $58 billion in aid. Hotel occupancy rates...

By Vincent Ryan • May 12, 2020

Marriott Takes Revenue Hit From Empty Rooms

Marriott International’s first-quarter earnings were well below estimates as a key revenue metric plunged due to the coronavirus-fueled collapse in demand for hotel rooms.The pandemic has forced the operator of the Marriott, Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis chains to close roughly a quarter of its hote...

By Matthew Heller • May 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

Multinationals Derive Huge Benefits From Shifting R&D Abroad

When the Tax Cut and Jobs Act (TCJA) was signed into law by President Trump in December 2017, its steep reduction of the U.S. corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% addressed what was widely considered the principal factor in companies’ shifting investments and profits abroad — namely, the disparity ...

By Vincent Ryan • May 11, 2020

Major US Automakers Plan to Return to Work May 18

Automakers such as General Motors, Ford, and Tesla are planning to reopen factories with enhanced safety precautions.General Motors workers in Flint, Saginaw, and Bay City, Michigan, are likely to return to work next week.Every GM employee will receive a “back-to-work” package containing five fac...

By Lauren Muskett • May 11, 2020

Senators Push for Clarity on Payroll Support After Airlines Threaten Cuts

Lawmakers are urging the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, Steven Mnuchin, to block U.S. airlines from laying off workers or cutting pay after they received support to cover payroll under the CARES Act.Under the legislation, intended to reduce economic trauma brought on by the coronavirus pandemic,...

By Lauren Muskett • May 8, 2020

Intuit Warns of Revenue Hit From Virus Crisis

Intuit shares fell in after-hours trading Thursday after the tax-preparation software firm forecast revenue would decline sharply in the third quarter due to the coronavirus pandemic.Intuit said it expected revenue to fall approximately 8% to between $2.99 billion and $3 billion, citing the negat...

By Matthew Heller • May 8, 2020

GM Banks on Cash Hoard to Ride out Pandemic

General Motors reported a sharp drop in quarterly profit on Wednesday but its share rose 3% amid optimism over its ability to weather the coronavirus crisis.The pandemic cost the largest U.S. automaker $1.4 billion before taxes during the first quarter, with net profit sliding 86.7% to $294 milli...

By Matthew Heller • May 6, 2020

Gilead Works to ‘Maximize Global Supply’ Of Coronavirus Candidate Remdesivir

Gilead Sciences recently received emergency use authorization from the FDA for its coronavirus treatment candidate remdesivir.The company now faces a conundrum: either mass-produce the drug to satisfy the rising global demand or license the drug to others, surrendering some of the windfall for wh...

By Vincent Ryan • May 6, 2020

Disney Earnings Plunge Amid Park Closures

Walt Disney’s profit tumbled 63% in the second quarter as its theme park business took a $1 billion hit to operating income due to coronavirus-related closures.For the quarter ended March 31, Disney posted earnings of 60 cents per share, down from $1.61 a year earlier and below analysts’ estimate...

By Matthew Heller • May 6, 2020

Norwegian Cruise Line Issues ‘Going Concern’ Alert

Norwegian Cruise Lines indicated Tuesday it may not be able to stay afloat, citing the effects of the coronavirus pandemic that has shut down the global cruise industry.The smallest of the three major publicly traded cruise operators said in a regulatory filing that it has experienced “substantia...

By Matthew Heller • May 5, 2020

COVID-19 Highlights Need to Reset SEC Proposal on MD&A Disclosures

The comment period for the Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposed rule, Management’s Discussion and Analysis, Selected Financial Data, and Supplementary Financial Information closed this week, and investors weighed in.In broad strokes, the proposal seeks to reduce the “burden” on preparers...

By Lauren Muskett • May 5, 2020

Selecting and Preparing Data for Machine Learning Projects

This article is the second in a series of articles called, “Opening the Black Box: How to Assess Machine Learning Models.” The first piece, “What Kind of Problems Can Machine Learning Solve?” was published last October. The third piece, “Understanding and Assessing Machine Learning Algorithms,” w...

By Devin Rochford and Chandu Chilakapati • May 5, 2020

Tyson Foods Shares Dive on 15% Profit Drop

Tyson Foods shares fell sharply on Monday after the company reported a 15% drop in quarterly profit due to business disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.For the second quarter, Tyson posted net income of $364 million, or $1 per share, compared to $426 million, or $1.17 per share a year ...

By Matthew Heller • May 4, 2020

Exxon Posts $610M Loss Amid Oil Price Dive

Exxon Mobil posted its first quarterly loss in decades on Friday, underscoring the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the oil industry.The company said it lost $610 million, or 14 cents per share, compared to a profit of $2.35 billion, or 55 cents per share. Revenue fell by $7.4 billion, or ne...

By Matthew Heller • May 1, 2020

Amazon’s Q1 Profit Dips on COVID Response

Coronavirus lockdowns sparked increased demand for Amazon’s services in the first quarter but profit fell more than 30% as the company spent heavily on responding to the pandemic.CEO Jeff Bezos said the crisis was “demonstrating the adaptability and durability of Amazon’s business as never before...

By Matthew Heller • May 1, 2020

What COVID-19 Has Revealed About Working Remotely

Large organizations around the world have pivoted to remote work amid the COVID-19 pandemic. And to a remarkable extent, many have continued to carry out much of their business operations. Especially compared to the macro-environment in which some industries and smaller businesses that interact d...

By Lauren Muskett • April 30, 2020

LabCorp Loses $317M as Test Demand Slumps

LabCorp swung to a quarterly loss of more than $300 million as demand for its COVID-19 tests only marginally offset a sharp decline in diagnostic testing volumes due to the pandemic.For the first quarter, the company reported a net loss of $317.2 million compared to earnings of $185.6 million a y...

By Matthew Heller • April 30, 2020

AICPA Calls for Federal Loans Backed by Accounts Receivables

The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) has called for the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve to create a federally backed short-term accounts receivable lending facility that would allow companies to deal with the cash flow shortfalls brought on by the coronavirus crisis.In an open lette...

By Lauren Muskett • April 29, 2020

HSBC Sets Aside $3B for Virus Loan Losses

HSBC, Europe’s largest bank, said Tuesday it had increased loan loss provisions by more than 400% as it anticipates “severe recession events” due to the coronavirus pandemic.The increase in HSBC’s expected credit losses (ECL) for the first quarter to $3 billion from $600 million — its highest qua...

By Matthew Heller • April 28, 2020

Hershey’s Sales Weaken Due to Virus Lockdowns

Hershey Co. missed quarterly earnings estimates amid signs that coronavirus-related changes in consumer behavior are depressing sales in such categories as snacks.For the first quarter, Hershey earned $1.63 per share as net sales rose 1% to $2.04 billion. Analysts had expected earnings of $1.71 p...

By Matthew Heller • April 24, 2020

AmEx Takes Profit Hit, Plans Spending Cuts

American Express took a major, coronavirus-related hit to quarterly profit as the credit card giant set aside $1.7 billion to cover possible card holder delinquencies.AmEx’s net income for the first quarter fell 76% to $367 million, or 41 cents per share, from $1.55 billion, or $1.80 per share, w...

By Matthew Heller • April 24, 2020

Virus Lays Bare Corporate Reporting Debate

U.S. companies faced with a later onset of the COVID-19 virus are also confronted with an earlier reporting obligation than companies in other jurisdictions who have a half-yearly, rather than quarterly, reporting obligation.While in jurisdictions outside the United States, 2019 annual accounts a...

By Vincent Ryan • April 23, 2020

Food, Glorious Food: The Quiz

It would seem painfully obvious that if a pandemic were going to force people to isolate at home, grocery stores would become essential businesses. Clearly, however, it wasn’t. As a tribute to the cashiers, stock clerks, food preparers, and order-takers keeping shopping carts filled and the natio...

By CFO Editorial Staff • April 22, 2020

AT&T Misses Q1 Estimates Amid Pay TV Woes

AT&T reported lower-than-expected quarterly results on Wednesday as continuing losses of premium TV subscribers outweighed growth in its wireless phone business.For the first quarter, the company earned an adjusted 84 cents per share as revenue fell 4% to $42.8 billion. Analysts had expected ...

By Matthew Heller • April 22, 2020

Casper Sleep Lays off 21% of Corporate Workers

Casper Sleep announced cost-cutting measures, including layoffs of 21% of its corporate workforce, as it seeks to become profitable despite the coronavirus crisis.The bed-in-a-box pioneer will also wind down its European operations as part of an effort to reduce operating costs by more than $10 m...

By Matthew Heller • April 22, 2020