Apple’s Revenue Jumps 4.6% in ‘Strong’ Q2

Apple reported the second-best second quarter in its history but investors expressed some disappointment, sending its share price down as much as 2.4% in after-hours trading Tuesday.Apple’s revenue rose 4.6% to $52.9 billion while earnings per share improved to $2.10 from $1.90 in the year-ago qu...

By Matthew Heller • May 3, 2017

MasterCard Shares Surge on 12% Profit Gain

MasterCard on Tuesday reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and sales but faces tighter margins as it spends heavily to fend off competition from digital payment services.The world’s second-largest payments network said net income rose 12.7% to $1.081 billion in the first quarter while...

By Matthew Heller • May 2, 2017

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

Annual Harvest

Not very long ago, when people talked about software companies adopting or transitioning to the subscription business model, the discussion often focused on its relative merits. Was it better business to follow the traditional model, where vendors sold a perpetual license to a “box” of software —...

By David McCann • May 2, 2017

Information Inflation

Responding to both investor demand and Securities and Exchange Commission mandates, the 10-Ks, 10-Qs, and proxy statements issued by companies contain more nonfinancial information than ever before. In its latest 10-K, for example, Alphabet devotes close to 700 words to supply chain risks. Apple’...

By Ed Zwirn • May 2, 2017

Amazon Shrugs Off Cloud-Computing Rivals

Powered by its cloud computing business, Amazon is continuing to defy expectations that increasing competition will slow its momentum.For the first quarter, which ended March 31, the online shopping giant reported net income rose 41% to $724 million, or $1.48 per share — the eighth straight quart...

By Matthew Heller • April 28, 2017

GM’s Q1 Profit Hits Post-Bankruptcy Record

General Motors on Friday posted a record post-bankruptcy first-quarter profit as the No. 1 automaker benefited from a shift to larger SUVs, crossovers, and trucks despite the industry-wide trend of declining sales.GM’s profits soared 33% during the first three months of the year to $2.6 billion, ...

By Matthew Heller • April 28, 2017

Ford’s Profit Dips 35% on Increased Costs

Ford Motor’s profit in the first quarter of 2017 fell more than one third from last year’s record quarter but the company maintained its profit outlook for the whole year.The automaker on Thursday reported $1.6 billion in profit compared to $2.4 billion in the year-ago period. Revenue was up 4%, ...

By Matthew Heller • April 27, 2017

UPS’ E-Commerce Investment Hurts Profit

United Parcel Service’s first-quarter revenue beat estimates but the costs of adding facilities and services to accommodate e-commerce delivery weighed down operating profit.The company reported Thursday that revenue rose 6.2% to $15.32 billion while earnings per share increased 3.9% to $1.32. An...

By Matthew Heller • April 27, 2017

Higher Pay for Auditors Leads to Fewer Restatements

The offices of Big Four accounting firms that pay lower salaries for audit help have a higher portion of clients that experience restatements, according to a new study posted Tuesday.Jeffrey L. Hoopes Jeffrey Hoopes, Auditors“We obtain a sample of data on how much Big Four accounting firms are pa...

By David Katz • April 27, 2017

Short-Term Funding Bill May Avert Shutdown

Hoping to avoid a government shutdown at midnight Friday, congressional leaders introduced stopgap legislation that would give them another week to negotiate a longer-term spending bill.A vote on the legislation could come as early as Thursday, USA Today reported after House Appropriations Chairm...

By Matthew Heller • April 27, 2017

Twitter Beats Estimates But Revenue Drops 8%

Twitter reported its largest quarterly increase in users since early 2015 but an 8% drop in revenue suggests it is still struggling to monetize its audience.The addition of nine million new monthly active users in the first quarter was a positive sign for Twitter, which had posted several quarter...

By Matthew Heller • April 26, 2017

How Foreign Direct Investment Can Drive Business Growth

Globalization seems to be taking a hit in many respects, with persistently weak global trade growth, rising protectionism, and increasing anti-immigrant sentiments in markets around the world. How can CFOs find global growth opportunities? Foreign direct investment (FDI) offers one compelling str...

By Erik R. Peterson and Paul A. Laudicina • April 26, 2017

New Products Fuel Eli Lilly Q1 Earnings Beat

Eli Lilly swung to a loss in the first quarter but sales and adjusted profit beat estimates amid strong demand for new drugs including a diabetes injection.The drugmaker posted a net loss of $110.8 million, or 10 cents per share, for the first quarter ended March 31, compared with a profit of $44...

By Matthew Heller • April 26, 2017

In Defense of M&A Fairness Opinions

Editor’s note: The author of this article is employed by valuation and corporate finance advisor Duff & Phelps, the largest provider of fairness opinions for M&A transactions. The content of the article should be viewed in that light.Christopher Janssen The fairness opinion — a profession...

By Christopher Janssen • April 25, 2017

Riecker Named Sears’ Third CFO in Past Year

Sears has named Rob Riecker as its new finance chief, the third person to hold the position in the past year as the retailer struggles to implement a turnaround plan amid severe liquidity problems.Riecker, currently Sears’ controller and head of capital market activities, replaces Jason Hollar, w...

By Matthew Heller • April 24, 2017

GE Beats Estimates in ‘Strong Start’ to 2017

General Electric’s first-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings beat analysts’ estimates but a miss on industrial cash flow helped drive its stock down.GE’s Chief Executive Jeff Immelt called it a “strong start” to the year, citing 7% growth in organic revenues, 10% growth in orders and an increas...

By Matthew Heller • April 23, 2017

Risk Management Costs Dove 5% in 2016

With the insurance industry glutted with capital, corporations were among those benefiting from the oversupply by paying lower prices for property-casualty coverage in 2016, according to the Risk and Insurance Management Society’s annual benchmark study.  The main drivers of a 5% overall decline ...

By David Katz • April 21, 2017

Baseball CFO Looks to Win with CPM Software

Growing up in Philadelphia, Rob Gagliardi did what all baseball fans there do: bleed Phillies red.Rob Gagliaedi So it was “kind of surreal,” Gagliardi says, when, only a year after he landed a job as vice president of finance for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2007, the team had its first winning season a...

By David McCann • April 20, 2017

How to Get Your ROI on Employee Benefits Spending

If you’re like most employers, attracting and retaining the right talent is critical to your success. You want the right people in the right position with the right training to meet your customers’ needs, and you’ve likely made significant investments in your human capital to achieve these goals....

By Ron Shah • April 20, 2017

AmEx Sales Drop 2% to $7.9B, Beat Estimates

American Express posted first-quarter earnings and sales that beat analysts’ expectations as it continues to regroup from the loss of its partnership with warehouse chain Costco.The company’s profit fell to $1.24 billion, or $1.34 per share, from $1.43 billion, or $1.45 per share, in the same per...

By Matthew Heller • April 19, 2017

IBM Shares Sink on Unexpected Revenue Drop

IBM reported a bigger-than-expected drop in revenue amid the continuing weakness of its legacy hardware and software businesses and a surprising decline in its cloud infrastructure segment.Big Blue has been reorganizing itself around a set of emerging cloud, security, and data analytics businesse...

By Matthew Heller • April 19, 2017

Trump and the Age of Magical Thinking

The term “magical thinking” refers to how children believe that their thoughts have a direct effect on the rest of the world.And in that vein, last week we learned that the “Trump Bump” is not real. Lower taxes and increased spending — these were never really serious goals, but merely political t...

By Christopher Whalen • April 19, 2017

Auditors Can Be Friendly as Well as Skeptical, Study Finds

To maintain the professional skepticism that’s required of them, must independent auditors mistrust CFOs and chief executive officers?Following the audit scandals of the early part of this century, during which accounting giant Arthur Andersen went out of business as a result of its alleged fraud...

By David Katz • April 19, 2017

J&J Posts $17.7B in Revenue, Misses Estimates

Johnson & Johnson reported first-quarter revenue that missed analysts’ estimates amid tepid growth in its pharmaceutical and consumer product sales.The company, which is on track to close its $30-billion acquisition of Actelion in the current quarter, on Tuesday posted net earnings of $4.42 b...

By Matthew Heller • April 19, 2017

Trading Revenue Drop Hurts Goldman Profit

Goldman Sachs surprised Wall Street on Tuesday, reporting a rare earnings miss as trading revenue fell 2% to $3.36 billion.The firm’s shares dropped 4.7% to $215.59, a 4-1/2 month low, on the first-quarter report, which also showed earnings per share of $5.15 and revenue of $8.026 billion. Analys...

By Matthew Heller • April 18, 2017