Intel Misses Estimates on Weaker Cloud Sales

Intel shares fell sharply in extended trading Thursday after the company missed quarterly revenue estimates, reflecting in part weaker sales to cloud customers.In the fourth quarter, traditionally Intel’s strongest, revenue rose 9% to $18.66 billion and net income increased 14% to $5.9 billion to...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 25, 2019

Shutdown Puts Cloud on Southwest’s Revenue

Southwest Airlines reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings on Thursday but said it is losing revenue because of the partial government shutdown.The fourth largest U.S. airline by passenger traffic posted fourth-quarter earnings of $1.17 per share, above analysts’ estimates of $1.07.Reven...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 24, 2019

Ford Profit Hit by Losses in Overseas Markets

Ford Motor’s ailing overseas operations weighed heavily on its latest quarterly results as every global region except North America posted losses.For the fourth quarter, the automaker reported operating income, adjusted for one-time items, of $1.5 billion, generated entirely by its lending arm an...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 24, 2019

Synchrony Shares Jump on Big Earnings Beat

Synchrony Financial reported quarterly earnings on Wednesday that easily beat analysts’ estimates, reflecting in part the impact of its acquisition of PayPal’s U.S. consumer credit portfolio.Shares in the financial services company rose 10.3% to $29.28 after it announced fourth-quarter earnings o...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 23, 2019

IBM Posts First Annual Revenue Gain in 7 Years

IBM posted a second straight decline in quarterly revenue but still beat analysts’ estimates, led by its global business services unit.For the fourth quarter, the company’s revenue fell 3% to $21.76 billion, ahead of estimates of $21.71 billion. It made a net profit of $4.4 billion, or $4.87 per ...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 23, 2019

Activist Fund Urges ‘Immediate’ Change at eBay

EBay shares surged on Tuesday after an activist investor urged the pioneering e-commerce company to make “substantial and immediate” change to address its “significant underperformance.”Elliott Management, a hedge fund known for activist campaigns, said in a letter to eBay’s board that change at ...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 22, 2019

3 Surprising Factors in the IRS Mileage Rate

It’s a new year, which means the IRS has issued a new optional standard deduction rate for automotive mileage. It’s 58 cents per mile driven for business purposes — a 3.5-cent increase over last year and the second-largest annual hike in the past decade.Because most experts predict gas prices to ...

By Leonard DeFranco • Jan. 22, 2019

Tesla to Slash Full-Time Workforce by 7%

Tesla said Friday it would reduce full-time staff by 7% in a cost-cutting move aimed at making its Model 3 vehicle more affordable.Tesla’s stock tumbled 13% on news of the layoffs, which CEO Elon Musk delivered in an email to employees.“We face an extremely difficult challenge: making our cars, b...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 18, 2019

Netflix Adds 8.8 Million Subscribers in Q4

Netflix posted a second straight quarter of strong subscriber growth on Thursday but its shares fell in extended trading as revenue missed estimates.During the fourth quarter, the streaming service added a record 8.8 million paid memberships — 1.5 million in the U.S. and 7.3 million international...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 18, 2019

Goldman Shares Surge on Big Earnings Beat

Goldman Sachs reported quarterly profit that far exceeded analysts’ estimates though its bottom line was inflated by a $467 million tax benefit.The bank’s shares jumped 9.5% to their biggest one-day gain in 10 years on Wednesday after it posted earnings of $6.04 per share for the fourth quarter o...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 17, 2019

Retailer Shopko Files for Bankruptcy Protection; Plans to Close 105 Stores

Retail chain Shopko filed for Chapter 11 protection in U.S. bankruptcy court in Nebraska on Wednesday, citing excessive debt and ongoing competitive pressures.The company said it had assets of less than $1 billion and liabilities of between $1 billion and $10 billion. It said it has secured up to...

By William Sprouse • Jan. 16, 2019

Here’s Another Reason to Avoid Tax Avoidance

A year ago, a paper in the American Accounting Association journal The Accounting Review featured a surprising finding: CEOs are at increased risk of losing their jobs not only if their companies pay much more than their peers in taxes, but also if they pay much less.The authors credited legislat...

By David McCann • Jan. 16, 2019

Market Volatility Reduces Citigroup Revenue

Citigroup reported mixed quarterly results as market volatility hurt revenue but earnings benefited from better-than-expected expense declines and loan losses.The third-largest U.S. bank said Monday that fourth-quarter revenue fell to $17.1 billion from $17.5 billion in the year-ago period, refle...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 15, 2019

GM Raises Guidance, Predicts Strong 2019

General Motors raised its full-year guidance for 2018, saying it now expects to earn between $6.50 and $7.00 a share, well above consensus estimates of $5.88 per share. The company also said it expected to have automotive free cash flow between $4.5 billion and $6 billion in 2019.At a presentatio...

By William Sprouse • Jan. 11, 2019

Holiday Season Weakness Hits Macy’s, Kohl’s

Shares of Macy’s and Kohl’s took a pounding on Thursday after the department store chains reported disappointing sales growth despite a generally strong holiday season for retailers.Macy’s said sales slowed after a good start to the holidays, citing particular weakness in women’s sportswear, slee...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 10, 2019

Grant Thornton Revenue Jumps to Record High $5.45B

Accountant Grant Thornton reported revenue of $5.45 billion (4.29 billion pounds) for the year ended September 30, an increase of 9.4% and its highest rate of growth in six years. The company said a combination of strong markets and mergers helped to drive growth.The company said its tax services...

By William Sprouse • Jan. 9, 2019

Job Openings Drop in November but Remain Strong

The Labor Department said the number of U.S. job openings fell to 6.89 million in November, its lowest level since early summer of 2018, but still higher than the 6 million people classified by the government as unemployed.Job openings were a record 7.29 million in August. They were 7.13 million ...

By William Sprouse • Jan. 8, 2019

Has the TCJA Actually Helped Companies?

One thing that became clear as 2018 progressed was that the initial elation over the new 21% corporate income tax rate provided by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act had been a somewhat hasty reaction.Tempering the enthusiasm were realizations that other provisions of the law would, for most companies, si...

By David McCann • Jan. 7, 2019

Delta Shares Fall After Lower Guidance

Shares of Delta Air Lines were down as much as 10% after the company said its unit revenues grew at a slower-than-expected pace in the last three months of 2018. Delta issued fourth-quarter profit guidance of $1.25 to $1.30 per share — at the high end of its earlier range.Unit revenues likely gre...

By William Sprouse • Jan. 3, 2019

Apple Lowers Q1 Guidance Amid China Woes

Apple shares fell more than 7% in extended trading on Wednesday after the company slashed quarterly revenue guidance for the first time in more than 15 years, citing weak iPhone sales in China.For the first quarter, Apple is now expecting about $84 billion in revenue and a gross margin of about 3...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 3, 2019

The 11 Best Accounting Articles of 2018

As we look ahead to what is sure to be a busy 2019, we rounded up the top accounting articles of 2018. From new lease accounting rules to the dark side of accounting expertise, from defining free cash flow to the new revenue recognition standard, here are CFO editors’ picks for the 11 best accoun...

By CFO Editorial Staff • Dec. 27, 2018

The 10 Best Human Capital and Careers Articles of 2018

From close-up views of finance chiefs careers, to new human capital reporting standards, to puzzling guidance on executive compensation, here are CFO editors’ picks for our 10 best human capital and careers articles of 2018:Time to Shine: CFOs to Watch 2018A new crop of CFOs has risen to prominen...

By CFO Editorial Staff • Dec. 26, 2018

Darden Earnings Beat On Olive Garden Sales Gain

Darden Restaurants reported better-than-expected earnings on Tuesday as strong sales at its Olive Garden chain offset the continued sluggishness of newly-acquired Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen.Darden’s overall revenue increased 4.9% to $1.97 billion in the second quarter, driven by the addition of 40...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 19, 2018

Lesson from Nissan: Go the Extra Mile

The Nov. 19 arrest of Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn for misreporting his income, and the investigation into his use of company funds for homes and other perks, seem to paint a picture of gross impropriety that is uncommon in the modern corporate world.Nonetheless, there are basic lessons that ever...

By Robert Rostan • Dec. 19, 2018

Cloud Revenue Helps Oracle Beat Q2 Estimates

Oracle’s cloud-computing revenue growth remained sluggish in the second quarter but earnings beat analysts’ estimates, in part due to share repurchases.The software giant on Monday reported total revenue fell slightly to $9.56 billion, while net income rose to $2.33 billion, or 61 cents per share...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 18, 2018