Tax Reform Could Be Tipping Point for AI

Companies seem to be thinking about tax reform almost in relation to almost everything — except artificial intelligence. But hear me out.There are some good reasons why the recently adopted U.S. tax reform legislation may be a tipping point for AI adoption. One of the biggest has to do with money...

By Michael Shehab • Feb. 14, 2018

Under Armour Rebounds With 5% Sales Jump

Under Armour on Tuesday reported another sales decline in its key North America market but overall revenue beat analysts’ estimates on strong international demand, sending the sneaker company’s shares up more than 15%.Under Armour’s fourth-quarter results appeared to cheer investors after a third...

By Matthew Heller • Feb. 13, 2018

Auditor Independence Rule Isn’t Tough Enough

Familiarity may breed contempt, but not in corporate accounting, according to new research.In accounting, the term “familiarity threat” refers to the threat to auditor independence that arises when a CFO or other top executive of a company being audited was formerly employed by the accounting fir...

By David McCann • Feb. 12, 2018

Twitter Moves Into the Black With $91M Profit

Twitter has reached a major milestone, posting its first ever quarterly profit, though its monthly active user numbers remained stagnant.The company reported on Thursday that it made a profit of $91 million in the final three months of 2017, compared with a loss of $167 million a year earlier. It...

By Matthew Heller • Feb. 9, 2018

Yum Brands Posts 2% Same-Store Sales Gain

Restaurant operator Yum Brands on Thursday reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and same-store sales growth across its three brands.The owner of the KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut fast-food chains said fourth-quarter net income rose to $436 million, or $1.26 per share, up from $303 mil...

By Matthew Heller • Feb. 8, 2018

The Growing Importance of Forecasting

On January 1, a new set of tax cuts went into effect that, among many other things, should stimulate growth in the small to mid-size business sector. I speak to a lot of CEOs who oversee companies with revenues in the $50 million to $150 million range, and they’re approaching 2018 with cautious o...

By Chris Howard • Feb. 8, 2018

Hasbro Sales Hit By ‘Star Wars’ Toys Dropoff

Hasbro on Wednesday reported a surprising decline in quarterly sales amid weak demand for its “Star Wars” and “Frozen” toys, raising questions about its strategy of tying products to Hollywood films.For the fourth quarter, the toymaker posted adjusted earnings of $2.30 per share, easily beating a...

By Matthew Heller • Feb. 7, 2018

Seven Deadly Sins for Private Equity CFOs

Meet Bob. He’s the CFO of TechX, a growing SaaS platform-based company. Bob has been its CFO for seven years, having grown into the role from his roots in accounting.Nick Leopard The good news: TechX was just purchased by a private equity firm, and Bob is eagerly anticipating the enhancement that...

By Rishi Jain, Nick Leopard, and Neel Bhatia • Feb. 6, 2018

Metric of the Month: Accounts Payable Cost

For some companies, processing accounts payable is a time-consuming, detail-intensive function. For others, it’s a quick and easy task. But before jumping to conclusions about your company’s relative process performance, take the time to view data through multiple lenses: intra-company, intra-ind...

By Perry D. Wiggins • Feb. 5, 2018

Tax Reform’s Success Hangs On Capex, Expert Says

The real test of whether the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act succeeds in its goal of driving economic growth will be whether U.S. companies step up their sluggish capital expenditures, according to a leading expert in cash-flow accounting. Charles Mulford “We need to have longer term investment in capex be...

By David Katz • Feb. 2, 2018

Shadow of Rising Costs Looming Over Google

Google parent Alphabet reported another strong gain in quarterly revenue, with other key metrics beating Wall Street estimates, but rising costs weighed on margins.Revenue for the fourth quarter rose 24% to $32.32 billion, while, excluding a one-time $9.9 billion charge from the new tax law, Alph...

By Matthew Heller • Feb. 2, 2018

UPS’ Network Upgrade Costs Worry Investors

United Parcel Service on Thursday reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings but its shares fell more than 6% amid concerns about the costs of upgrading its delivery network.The world’s largest package delivery company posted adjusted earnings of $1.67 per share as revenue rose 11.2% t...

By Matthew Heller • Feb. 1, 2018

Big Pension Funding Opportunity Is At Hand

With the reduction in corporate tax rates having been dropped from 35% in 2017 to 21% this year, deductions taken for 2017 are generally worth more — as much as 14 percentage points more — than deductions taken for 2018. This has major implications for sponsors of defined-benefit pension plans.In...

By Brian Donohue • Feb. 1, 2018

Facebook Posts Record Sales of $12.9B in Q4

Facebook reported a record sales quarter and an 11th straight quarterly revenue beat even though users spent about 50 million hours per day less on the social network.The reduced usage, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, reflected changes to Facebook’s news feed, such as reducing the volume of viral video...

By Matthew Heller • Feb. 1, 2018

Harley Motorcycle Sales Drop 6.8% in 2017

Harley-Davidson’s latest quarterly and full-year results underlined the short-term challenges it faces as it tries to build the next generation of Hog riders.Harley said motorcycle revenue rose 12% to $1.05 billion in the fourth quarter but for the year, it was down 6.8% to $4.92 billion amid slu...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 31, 2018

Pfizer Q4 Profit Surges to $12B But Shares Fall

Pfizer’s fourth-quarter profit got a boost from a huge tax benefit related to the U.S. tax overhaul but it expects to pay tax this year at a higher rate than investors expected.The largest U.S. drug maker on Tuesday reported net income of $12.3 billion, or $2.02 per share, up from $775 million, o...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 30, 2018

Don’t Forget Cybersecurity in M&A Due Diligence

For companies seeking to grow or diversify, mergers and acquisitions make perfect sense. Global activity is accelerating, with Wall Street forecasts indicating an upswing in corporate M&A in 2018 and the U.S. merger market set to clear $1 trillion for the fourth year in a row.Kevin Richards B...

By Kevin Richards • Jan. 30, 2018

F-35 Sales Boost Lockheed to Earnings Beat

Lockheed Martin’s quarterly revenue and adjusted earnings beat analysts’ estimates, with the strong performance of its key aeronautics division being powered by the F-35 supersonic warplane program.For the fourth quarter, the defense contractor reported a net loss from continuing operations of $7...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 30, 2018

Honeywell Firing on Tax Cut Cylinders

For good and ill — but mostly good — Honeywell International is an excellent example of how the major provisions of the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act are affecting the financials of multinational conglomerates.At first glance, Honeywell seems a case study in the boons that President Trump and Congre...

By David Katz • Jan. 29, 2018

Will Tax Cuts Lead to More C Corporations?

An important question resulting from the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) is whether it is better to conduct business operations through a pass-through entity (i.e., a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, or S corporation) or a C corporation. Unfortunately, ther...

By Joseph J. Perry and Michael D'Addio • Jan. 29, 2018

Colgate Shares Drop 5% as Sales Disappoint

Colgate-Palmolive shares tumbled on Friday after the consumer products giant reported another tough quarter, with sales coming in below analysts’ estimates and profit declining by nearly half.Colgate has been spending more on advertising and cutting prices to stimulate demand. But for the fourth ...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 26, 2018

American Airlines Profit Falls on Higher Costs

American Airlines’ fourth-quarter profit fell 11% as higher labor and fuel costs cut into its margins but a key revenue metric jumped more than 5%, reflecting strong global demand.The world’s largest airline reported Thursday that net income for the last quarter of 2017 dropped too $258 million, ...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 25, 2018

Newell to Streamline Portfolio to Core Assets

Newell Brands shares fell sharply on Thursday, hitting a five-year low, after the consumer products company unveiled a sweeping restructuring plan that could involve selling businesses and closing half of its factories and warehouses.The announcement of the plan came less than two years after New...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 25, 2018

Trump Tax-Returns Defender on Tap to Head IRS: Report

President Trump is reportedly on the verge of naming Charles P. Rettig, a Beverly Hills tax lawyer who wrote that candidate Trump’s lawyers shouldn’t advise him to release his tax returns, as commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service.Charles P. Rettig “Is there any legal impediment to Trump pu...

By David Katz • Jan. 25, 2018

Discover Profit Takes $189M Hit From Tax Law

The new tax law ate into Discover Financial’s quarterly profit but the company’s revenue beat estimates amid growth in all its loan businesses.Net income for the fourth quarter fell to $387 million, or $0.99 per share, from $563 million, or $1.40 per share in the year-ago period, reflecting in pa...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 25, 2018