When Projects Have a Zero or Negative NPV

The net present value (NPV) rule is essentially the golden rule of corporate finance that every business school student is exposed to in most every introductory finance class. The NPV rule dictates that investments should be accepted when the present value of all the projected positive and negati...

By Gregory V. Milano • Aug. 8, 2017

OnDeck Capital Narrows Q2 Loss to $1.49M

Shares of OnDeck Capital rose sharply on Monday after the online lender reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss and predicted a return to profitability by the end of the year as a result of cost-cutting and improved loan quality.From a net loss of more than $17.9 million, or 25 cents per ...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 7, 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

SEC Probes Deeper If Cos. Have Political Ties: Study

Contrary to previous research supporting the belief that public companies with political ties get less scrutiny from the Securities and Exchange Commission, well-connected outfits are probed more deeply, a new study finds.The political connections companies have “positively predict” reviews of co...

By David Katz • Aug. 7, 2017

Microsoft Scales Accounting Mountain

In a move only a company as massive as Microsoft would consider making, the company is planning to offer a set of restated financial statements on Oct. 1 that reflect its early adoption of both of the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s two major new standards, the rules covering revenue recog...

By David Katz • Aug. 4, 2017

Teva Stock Drops 24% on Q2 Earnings Miss

Shares in Teva Pharmaceuticals plunged to their lowest price in nearly 13 years after the generic drugmaker reported disappointing earnings, citing a saturated U.S. market for generics.Teva on Thursday posted second-quarter revenue of $5.69 billion, up 13% year over year, but below the $5.85 bill...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 4, 2017

Burger King Delivers 3.9% Comp Sales Gain

Restaurant Brands International reported a slight drop in profit but the company’s Burger King chain delivered another strong quarter, with same-store sales beating Wall Street estimates.Net income fell to $89.5 million in the second quarter from $90.9 million a year earlier on revenues of $1.13 ...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 3, 2017

AMC Shares Plunge on Warning of Big Loss

AMC Entertainment shares tumbled to record lows on Wednesday after the world’s largest movie theater owner said it expects to report a much larger-than-expected quarterly loss amid an unusually weak box office.AMC’s second-quarter earnings aren’t due until Aug. 7 but the company startled investor...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 2, 2017

Generic Competition Hits Pfizer’s Q2 Sales

Pfizer posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings but revenue missed analysts’ estimates, reflecting in part the loss of market exclusivity for some drugs.For the second quarter, the drugmaker posted net income of $3.07 billion, or 51 cents per share, compared to $2.05 billion, or 33 cents pe...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 2, 2017

Time Warner Soars on ‘Wonder Woman’ in Q2

Time Warner on Wednesday reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, getting a boost from the box-office success of “Wonder Woman” and cable subscriber growth.The media conglomerate, which is awaiting government approval for its $85 billion sale to AT&T, posted net income of $1.06 billi...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 2, 2017

Would a Territorial Tax System Help Investors?

As corporate tax reform emerges as a national legislative priority, a key proposal by the Trump administration and others is to scrap the United States’ current worldwide system of taxation. In that system, income earned abroad by subsidiaries of U.S. multinationals is subject to federal taxes wh...

By David McCann • Aug. 1, 2017

Indices to Bar New Issuers That Offer Multiple Share Classes

Just as the initial public offering market revs up again, the providers of stock market indices are taking a stand against new issuers that trample on shareholder voting rights.According to announcements in the past week, both S&P Dow Jones Indices and FTSE Russell will bar companies from som...

By Vincent Ryan • Aug. 1, 2017

Under Armour Narrows Loss, Shares Dip 8%

Under Armour’s shares fell to a record low on Tuesday after the “athleisure” pioneer reported weak North American sales, downgraded its guidance and launched a restructuring plan.Under Armour, which has been facing increasing competition in the athletic wear market and criticism that its products...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 1, 2017

Amazon Sales Jump 25% But Profits Disappoint

Amazon posted another big quarterly sales jump, with most of the growth coming from outside its traditional e-commerce business, but its continued high spending cut into the bottom line.Such ventures as logistics, Prime memberships and cloud computing powered Amazon’s second-quarter results, whic...

By Matthew Heller • July 28, 2017

Exxon Earnings Double But Miss Estimates

Exxon’s quarterly earnings doubled over the same period last year but missed analysts’ expectations due in part to a dip in oil and gas production.The company reported second-quarter net income of $3.35 billion, or 78 cents a share, compared to $1.7 billion, or 41 cents, a year earlier. Revenue f...

By Matthew Heller • July 28, 2017

GE Alum Brings Discipline to High-Growth Financial Firm

After 16 years at General Electric, Chris Capozzi was still a young man. That was because he’d joined the company upon graduating from Boston College, where he earned a degree in finance and management information systems.Chris Capozzi It was early 2015, and Capozzi’s career was fully flourishing...

By David McCann • July 28, 2017

GM Profit Drops 42% But EPS Beats Estimates

General Motors reported a 42% drop in profit for the second quarter, reflecting in part the sale of its European operations, but adjusted earnings beat analysts’ estimates.The No. 1 U.S. automaker said Wednesday it made a profit of $1.7 billion, down from last year’s record $2.9 billion profit as...

By Matthew Heller • July 27, 2017

Twitter Shares Dive on Static Monthly Usage

Twitter’s share price fell more than 14% on Thursday as the news that it failed to add any monthly users in the last quarter disappointed investors following a growth surge earlier in the year.For the second quarter, the company reported 328 monthly active users, exactly where usage was three mon...

By Matthew Heller • July 27, 2017

Crowe Horwath Censured Over China Audits

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has sanctioned Hong Kong-based audit firm Crowe Horwath CPA Limited for refusing to cooperate with the board’s investigation of the firm’s audits of a publicly-traded Chinese company.According to the PCAOB’s disciplinary order, the board’s Division of...

By Matthew Heller • July 26, 2017

Chipotle Soothes Investors With Earnings Beat

Amid renewed concerns over food safety at its restaurants, Chipotle Mexican Grill reported it more than doubled earnings but its same-store sales growth missed Wall Street expectations.The restaurant chain was hit last week by reports of a norovirus outbreak at a store in Virginia and of vermin i...

By Matthew Heller • July 26, 2017

Late Shift: The 2017 Working Capital Scorecard

The 2017 CFO/Hackett Group Working Capital ScorecardCash is the lifeblood of a company, so managing short-term assets and liabilities to a strong working capital position is one of the things a company has to be great at. After all, efficiently managing cash leads to higher liquidity and a reduct...

By Vincent Ryan • July 26, 2017

Growth, Interrupted

Uncertainty about U.S. regulatory and trade policies is prompting some companies to put business expansion plans on hold, according to the second-quarter Duke University/CFO Magazine Global Business Outlook survey.More than one-third of U.S. finance executives (36%) report that the level of uncer...

By CFO Editorial Staff • July 26, 2017

Caterpillar Earnings Beat Drives Stock up 5.9%

Caterpillar shares rose nearly 6% on Wednesday after the construction and mining giant reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and raised its outlook for the full fiscal year.For the second quarter, Caterpillar posted revenue of $11.33 billion, up 10% on the year-ago period, and net inco...

By Matthew Heller • July 25, 2017

Alphabet Beats Estimates With 21% Sales Rise

Google-parent Alphabet Inc. reported a better-than-expected increases in revenue and profit but its cost of sales rose faster as it spent heavily to deliver mobile traffic to its search engine.For the second quarter, the company said late Monday it earned $5.01 per share on revenues of $26.06 bil...

By Matthew Heller • July 25, 2017

Landing the Megadeal: Seven Keys to Closing Big Sales That Make Money

It all started out so well. A long-time, valued customer of a networking company put out the word that it was planning a massive purchase of equipment. The supplier assembled a deal team, submitted a bid, and made the sale. But not at a profit. The customer loved the extra scope the supplier had ...

By Brian Selby, David Levitch, and Aditya Pande • July 24, 2017

Colgate Sales Sag Amid ‘Challenging’ Conditions

Colgate-Palmolive reported that net sales fell 0.5% in the second quarter and forecast a low-single digit increase for 2017 amid “challenging” market conditions.The consumer products giant said net sales dropped to $3.83 billion from $3.85 billion a year earlier, missing analysts’ estimates of $3...

By Matthew Heller • July 24, 2017