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

GE Improves Cash Flow But Loses $10B in Q4

General Electric’s cash performance in the fourth quarter eased concerns about its liquidity but the company reported another earnings miss and disclosed its accounting practices were under investigation.In a news release, GE Chief Executive John Flannery on Wednesday touted the fourth-quarter re...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 24, 2018

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

FASB Seeks Rescue of Stranded Taxes

While many CFOs may be celebrating the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the big tax-rate decreases their companies are enjoying are spawning an accounting mismatch that will be at best a compliance headache and at worst a loss of flexibility in deploying capital.The mismatch boils down to a discrepancy cre...

By David Katz • Jan. 24, 2018

Tax Law Ravages Exec Comp Deductions

The Russell 3000 companies could collectively lose almost $100 billion over the next three years because of compensation-related provisions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, new research shows. But they’ll make that up, and more, from the decreased corporate tax rate.On the negative side, the big-tic...

By David McCann • Jan. 24, 2018

Capital One Swings to $971 Million Loss in Q4

Credit card issuer Capital One swung to a quarterly loss and adjusted earnings missed expectations, reflecting in part a large provision for credit losses.For the fourth quarter, the company said Tuesday lost $971 million, or $2.17 per share, compared with a profit of $791 million, or $1.45 per s...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 24, 2018

After Another Cadillac Tax Delay, Now What?

The proposed two-year delay in the implementation of the Affordable Care Act’s “Cadillac Tax,” an element of Congress’ emergency government funding bill, is now law after President Trump signed the bill on Monday.Under the new timetable, the tax — a 40% excise tax on the cost of health plans abov...

By David McCann • Jan. 23, 2018

Kimberly-Clark to Cut 12-13% of Workforce

Huggies maker Kimberly-Clark is extending its cost-cutting efforts, including reducing its workforce by 12-13% over the next four years, as it seeks profitable growth amid weak sales in its key North American market.The personal care company on Tuesday not only set a cost savings target of more t...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 23, 2018

P&G Shares Fall as Price Cuts Eat Into Margins

Procter & Gamble on Tuesday reported better-than-expected quarterly sales and profit but its shares fell 3% amid investor concerns over a decline in gross margins.The world’s largest consumer goods maker has been cutting prices in its grooming business to boost Gillette sales against cheaper ...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 23, 2018

Brand Value Drives Corporate Value

Most CFOs have a good sense of how to evaluate investments in plant and equipment to improve current manufacturing facilities or expand production. The facts are almost always available and clear, and the analysis is straightforward. How much capital is needed, and what’s the expected impact on c...

By Joseph Theriault and Gregory V. Milano • Jan. 23, 2018

Six CPAs Accused of Rigging Audit Inspections

In a major jolt to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, three former staff accountants have been accused of leaking confidential information to KPMG partners so the firm could perform better on inspections of its audits.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said the information di...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 23, 2018

What Will Artificial Intelligence Be Doing in 2018?

It would be impossible to predict what artificial intelligence will look like 10 or even 5 years from now. Even a modest goal like making a 12-month forecast could prove challenging.However, PricewaterhouseCoopers has done just that in a new paper, released in mid-January, that offers up several ...

By David McCann • Jan. 22, 2018

Tax Law Knocks American Express Into the Red

A $2.6 billion, one-time charge related to the new tax law pushed American Express into a quarterly loss for the first time in a quarter of a century.For the fourth quarter, American Express reported a net loss of $1.197 million or $1.41 per share, compared with net income of $825 million or $0.8...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 19, 2018

Black Rock Chief Tells CEOs to Behave like Citizens

Over the last few years, analysts have been thirsting for data attesting that the companies their clients are investing in have been attuned to societal factors like their treatment of employees and their sensitivity to the negative effects of climate change.Part of that lust for sustainability d...

By David Katz • Jan. 18, 2018

What’s the Best Time to Announce Earnings?

Companies are united in their belief that it’s best not to announce quarterly earnings results during trading hours. About 95% of publicly held companies subscribe to that policy, according to new research.Among those that do, there’s a fairly even split between earnings announced after the closi...

By David McCann • Jan. 17, 2018

What the Retail Crisis Can Teach CFOs

The current retail crisis can teach CFOs some valuable lessons. This crisis can be felt across many industries, not just retail — from hotels, to taxi services, to restaurants. Last year set a record pace for retail bankruptcies and store closings with household names faring no better than small ...

By Ken Crutchfield • Jan. 17, 2018

Citigroup Takes $22B Charge on Tax Law Adjustments

Citigroup on Tuesday reported a $22 billion charge due to the new tax law but its adjusted fourth-quarter earnings beat analysts’ estimates on strong growth in its consumer banking business.Joining several other banks that have recalculated their tax position since the corporate income tax rate w...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 17, 2018

GM’s Streak of Profit Growth to End This Year

General Motors said Tuesday it expects to post another record profit for 2017 but earnings will be flat this year due to the costs of launching a new truck range and a likely decline in U.S. sales.Previewing its 2017 results, the automaker forecast that adjusted earnings will hit the higher end o...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 16, 2018

Tax Savings Fuel Wells Fargo Q4 Earnings Beat

Wells Fargo’s quarterly earnings got a boost from the new tax law but the fake-accounts scandal continued to loom over the bank as it disclosed another large writedown for litigation expenses.For the fourth quarter, Wells Fargo reported net income of $6.15 billion on revenue of $22.05 billion, bo...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 15, 2018

JPMorgan Takes $2.4B Charge Due to Tax Law

JPMorgan Chase’s fourth-quarter net profit fell 37% but earnings excluding a one-time charge related to the new tax law beat analysts’ expectations and the bank expects the tax cuts will boost profitability this year.As The New York Times reports, JPMorgan’s “underlying finances were obscured [in...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 12, 2018

Delta Stock Soars 4.4% on Q4 Earnings Beat

Delta Air Lines shares flew to a record high on Thursday after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, with passenger revenue increasing in every region.For the fourth quarter, Delta reported net income of $572 million, or 80 cents per share, a decline of 8% percent from the...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 11, 2018

Companies Share Tax Savings With Workers

It’s a burning question in corporate finance early this year: What are companies going to do with the cash windfall they’ll be reaping because of the reduced corporate tax rate?Shareholders likely will get some of it, via dividend increases or share buybacks. Perhaps acquisition activity will pic...

By David McCann • Jan. 11, 2018

‘Taxpayer Friendly’ IRS Guidance Could Ease Offshore Worries

Barely a week after President Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act into law, the U.S. Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service issued a guidance that could ease the confusion CFOs might have had about how corporations should calculate the act’s “transition tax” on offshore earnings....

By David Katz • Jan. 10, 2018

Sorry, Jodie Foster, Big-Budget Films Are Winning

Jodie Foster may think big-budget films are ruining the future of Hollywood, but financially these films perform better than small-budget films, with rare exceptions, according to an analysis released on Wednesday by Standard & Poor’s.In analyzing the box office performance of 3,406 big-studi...

By Vincent Ryan • Jan. 10, 2018

Target’s Comp Sales Surge 3.4% Over Holidays

Target’s shares rose nearly 3% on Tuesday after the retailer reported better-than-expected holiday season sales and boosted its guidance for the full year.Target said same-store sales, a key retail metric, increased 3.4% in November and December, well above its forecast of 0% to 2% growth and Wal...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 9, 2018

Deutsche Bank Expects $1.8B Tax Act Writedown

Largely because the new tax law will cut the deferred tax assets of its U.S. operations, Deutsche Bank expects to take a non-cash tax charge of 1.5 billion euros ($1.8 billion) for the fourth quarter of 2017.The adjustment, which would be reported under International Financial Reporting Standards...

By David Katz • Jan. 8, 2018