Sales Rebound Drives JC Penney Stock up 14%

J.C. Penney’s third-quarter results gave a surprising boosts to hopes of a turnaround at the retailer, with same-store sales showing their first gain in a year.The 1.7% increase in comparable store sales topped analysts’ estimates of a 0.7% upswing and followed a 1.3% decline in the second quarte...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 10, 2017

Sizing Up the New Hedge Accounting Rules

It’s just over a year until the scheduled effective date for Accounting Standards Update 2017-12, the long-awaited update to the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s derivatives and hedge accounting standard.Chandu Chilakapati The goal of the update, issued in August of this year, is to align f...

By Chandu Chilakapati • Nov. 10, 2017

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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

Metric of the Month: Annual Budget Cycle Times

It’s budget season again. How long will your budgeting process take this year, compared to last? If you don’t know the answer, there may be room for improvement in the cycle time to complete your organization’s annual budget.Let’s be honest: When you ask most CFOs and business unit managers about...

By Marisa Brown • Nov. 10, 2017

Square Revenue Jumps 33% to $585 Million

Payments company Square reported strong top-line growth for the third quarter, driven by gross payment volume gains among both larger and midmarket users.Square’s total net revenue increased 33% year-over-year to $585 million while adjusted revenue rose 45% to $257 million. The company posted a l...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 9, 2017

Storms Dent Wendy’s Same-Store Sales in Q3

The recent hurricanes may have caused Wendy’s to miss quarterly same-store sales estimates as the burger chain also faced increasing competition from rivals McDonald’s and Burger King.Wendy’s reported Wednesday that same-restaurant sales in North America rose 2.% in the third quarter, missing ana...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 8, 2017

Royal Caribbean Cruises to Record Q3 Earnings

Royal Caribbean Cruises reported record third-quarter earnings on Tuesday even though the recent hurricanes cost it more than $55 million, or $0.26 per share.The cruise operator’s net income rose 8.6% to $752.8 million or $3.49 per share, including a $0.20 negative impact from the hurricanes, whi...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 7, 2017

The Impact of the House Tax Cut Bill on CFOs

The House Ways and Means Committee recently released a series of talking points that serve as an outline of the major features of the House tax bill, which is tentatively titled “the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.” The House bill, which appears to be  a synthesis of President Trump’s campaign tax plan an...

By Matthew A. Morris • Nov. 7, 2017

FP&A Technology Explained

For those involved in financial planning and analysis, the bad news is that the work can be boring much of the time. The good news: It’s quickly getting more interesting.As with many corporate processes, technology is driving fundamental changes in FP&A. Thanks to a new generation of tools, t...

By Keith Button • Nov. 7, 2017

CVS Beats Estimates But Same-Store Sales Fall

CVS Health on Monday reported quarterly earnings that beat analysts’ expectations on strong growth in pharmacy services but its retail drugstore business continued to lag.For the third quarter, CVS’ net revenue increased 3.5%, or $1.6 billion, to approximately $46.2 billion while net income fell ...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 6, 2017

Location Lures

There seems to be no limit these days to what U.S. states and cities will do to lure businesses to their communities. Incentives recently dangled in front of companies include the $3 billion in tax breaks — amounting to $15,000 to $19,000 per job annually — that Wisconsin’s governor has offered F...

By Bob Violino • Nov. 6, 2017

Tax Reform, As It Was

In discussions of the likelihood that federal tax reform will be enacted this year or in 2018, it’s often pointed out that it has been 31 years since the last reform effort became law. While the Tax Reform Act of 1986 is viewed by some as a starting point for this year’s effort, the times have ch...

By CFO Editorial Staff • Nov. 6, 2017

CFO Pushes Pharma Startup to Market

For the CFO of a pharmaceutical company whose only products are in trials, the future is uncertain and the end is always near.Josh Blacher Well, almost always. Josh Blacher, finance chief at Therapix Biosciences, is waxing optimistic about prospects for the company’s synthetic cannabinoids that a...

By David McCann • Nov. 3, 2017

Starbucks Misses Estimates With 2% Sales Rise

Starbucks reported another quarter of disappointing sales and lowered its profit forecast, missing analysts’ same-store sales target amid competition at both the high and low ends of the coffee market.For the fourth quarter, the coffee giant’s net income attributable to the company fell 1.6% to $...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 3, 2017

Osiris Executives Accused of Accounting Fraud

Biotech firm Osiris Therapeutics has agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle charges that four former top executives, including two finance chiefs, used “illegal accounting gimmicks” to artificially inflate revenue.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said the alleged fraud reflected a cultur...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 3, 2017

DowDuPont’s First Earnings Beat Estimates

Newly-merged chemicals giant DowDuPont on Thursday reported a better-than-expected profit in its first quarterly earnings report and detailed its plan to save $3 billion in costs, including job cuts and plant consolidations.For the third quarter, DowDuPont posted $232 million, or 55 cents of per ...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 2, 2017

Under Armour Shares Dive as U.S. Sales Slump

Under Armour shares dropped sharply after the sneaker company reported lower-than-expected quarterly sales and trimmed its outlook amid lower demand in the key U.S. market.For the third quarter, Under Armour’s total revenue fell 4.5% to $1.41 billion while net profit declined to $54.2 million, or...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 1, 2017

SEC Audit Committee Rule Is Worthless: Study

With the perennial issue of regulatory reform gaining renewed impetus from the Trump administration, some new research suggests a potential target: the Securities and Exchange Commission’s mandate spelling out the basic composition of audit committees.Arthur Levitt The regulation has its roots in...

By David McCann • Nov. 1, 2017

Mastercard Profit Jumps 21% to Record $1.43B

Mastercard posted a record quarterly profit as the payments company maintained the momentum of the first half of the year amid particularly strong growth overseas.For the third quarter, Mastercard’s revenue jumped 18% to $3.4 billion while net income rose 21% to $1.43 billion, or $1.34 per share....

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 31, 2017

Many Factors Influence the Market for IPOs

The SEC’s focus on capital formation gives a perennial rush to commercial interests, mainly lawyers and investment banks who make lots of revenue from the IPO-underwriting business.Kurt Schact The notion is that our economic engine is turbocharged by companies’ ability to access public capital ma...

By Kurt Schacht • Oct. 30, 2017

SEC Unfairly Seen as Scapegoat for IPO Slump

Every few years, when the IPO market takes a dip, the SEC’s disclosure requirements get blamed. But it might be time to step back and take account of all of the ways that the Congress and SEC have made it easier for young companies to access the U.S. capital markets through an initial public offe...

By Thomas Conaghan • Oct. 30, 2017

Google Revenue Hits Record on Ad Sales Surge

Google parent Alphabet’s stock price rose above $1,000 after it reported record quarterly revenue driven by a 21% increase in revenue from its core advertising business.Revenue for the third quarter totaled $27.77 billion, with $24.1 billion, or about 87%, of that coming from Google ad sales. Alp...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 27, 2017

Strong Deal Intensity Can Backfire

Analyzing major software companies’ 10-year performance and merger and acquisition activity, EY found enormous differentiation in both returns and degree of reliance on M&A. Some companies achieved differentiated returns while doing lots of deals, while others performed well with minimal M&am...

By Dean McCauley and Joel John • Oct. 27, 2017

JC Penney Stock Dives 14% on Q3 Loss Warning

J.C. Penney shares fell sharply on Friday after the struggling retailer said its third-quarter loss would be far worse than analysts expected due to heavy discounting on its apparel lines.For the quarter ending Oct. 28, Penney is now expecting a loss of between 40 cents to 45 cents a share, well ...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 27, 2017

Durable Goods Orders Rise 2.1% in September

Orders for U.S. durable goods in September posted the biggest gain in three months, easily beating economists’ forecasts and signalling that the rebound in manufacturing remains on track.The Commerce Department on Wednesday said orders for long-lasting goods manufactured by U.S. companies rose 2....

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 26, 2017

Twitter May Be Headed for First Profit in Q4

Twitter shares jumped more than 18% on Thursday after the social media platform posted better-than-expected quarterly results and indicated it could turn its first-ever profit in the next quarter.For the third quarter, Twitter’s revenue fell 4% to $590 million but beat analysts’ estimates of $586...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 26, 2017