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ViacomCBS Posts Loss as It Unveils Streaming Plans
ViacomCBS Inc. reported a loss in the final quarter of last year as Viacom completed its merger with sister company CBS and prepared to compete with the likes of Netflix Inc. in the increasingly crowded arena of online streaming video.
In its first earnings report since the merger closed, ViacomCBS posted a fourth-quarter net loss of $258 million, or 42 cents a share, compared with a profit of $887 million, or $1.44 a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings were 97 cents a share.
Ana...
U.S. Antitrust Officials Allow Dairy Cooperative to Purchase Dean Foods Plants
Justice Department antitrust authorities cleared the way for Dairy Farmers of America Inc. to buy the bulk of Dean Foods Co. ’s milk plants out of bankruptcy, uniting the nation’s largest dairy cooperative by membership with the biggest milk processor.
The Justice Department said Friday it would approve DFA’s $433 million purchase offer, subject to certain conditions, against the backdrop of “unprecedented challenges in the dairy industry” and Dean’s potential liquidation in the event the pro...
Instacart Taps Investment Banker as Finance Chief
At Instacart, Mr. Giovanni will succeed Sagar Sanghvi, who became CFO in August 2019 and previously worked as the company’s vice president of finance and strategy. Mr. Sanghvi, a former associate of financial firm KKR & Co., will remain with Instacart until February. He plans to return to investing after his departure, the company said.
In Mr. Giovanni, Instacart has chosen an executive experienced in shepherding late-stage startups through the public listing process. Mr. Giovanni during his ...
Stocks to Watch: AutoNation, Kraft Heinz, Wayfair, Zillow, Cinemark
Here are some of the companies with shares expected to trade actively in Friday’s session. Stock movements noted by ticker reflect movements during regular trading hours; premarket trading is specified separately.
AutoNation Inc. —Down 3.9% premarket: The nation’s largest car-dealership chain has named Carl Liebert its new CEO, tapping an industry outsider to steer the company through a period of transformation in the auto-retailing sector.
Kraft Heinz Co. —Down 26% premarket: The company wro...
Kraft Heinz Said Probe Delayed Financial Report
“We are working toward filing our 10-K in the next few weeks once we have finalized our investigation,” said spokesman Michael Mullen, referring to the company’s annual report.
He reiterated that the company doesn’t expect matters related to the investigation affect its financial statements.
Kraft Heinz said its internal investigation found that the company should have reported $25 million in costs in prior quarters, which it logged in the fourth quarter of last year. That compares to about $...
Chernova’s Take: Le Tote Bankruptcy Points to Vulnerable Clothing-Rental Model
The bankruptcy of clothing-rental startup Le Tote Inc. and its subsidiary, luxury retailer Lord & Taylor, isn’t a major loss for any prominent venture investors. But it does raise questions about the future of the clothing-rental business model.
Clothing rental is “really operationally complex,” and so far there hasn’t been “a proof point” that the business model will be successful, said Byron Ling, a partner at Canaan Partners, who invests in consumer startups but isn’t involved with Le Tote...
Dimon Condemns Trump Mobs as Wall Street Looks On in Horror
(Bloomberg) -- The heads of Wall Streets biggest firms, from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Blackstone Group Inc. to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and BlackRock Inc., called for violence to cease at the U.S. Capitol, where President Donald Trump’s supporters overwhelmed police and stormed the halls of Congress on Wednesday.
“I strongly condemn the violence in our nation’s capital,” JPMorgan Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said in an emailed statement. “This is not who we are as a people or a country...
Hack Attack Adds to Putin Mystique Even if Russia Faces Pain
(Bloomberg) -- The storm over a cyber attack on U.S. government agencies only helps Russian President Vladimir Putin’s image at home as a strong leader unafraid to confront the former Cold War enemy, even as the Kremlin denies involvement amid fears of a backlash when Joe Biden enters the White House.
“Inside the country it bolsters the authorities’ prestige,” said Andrey Kortunov, head of the Kremlin-founded Russian International Affairs Council. “Outside Russia, it only deepens mistrust and...
Disney’s Kareem Daniel Rises From Intern to Streaming Czar
(Bloomberg) -- As a kid, Kareem Daniel used to spend hours at the comic-book store at his local mall poring over the titles, sometimes with his mom waiting patiently in the car.
On Monday, he ascended to a top job at the dominant force in comic-book lore -- and many other forms of entertainment -- Walt Disney Co.
The native of Chicago’s South Side leapfrogged colleagues to become head of a newly formed Media and Entertainment Distribution group. In that position, he’ll make decisions over pri...
Trump Administration Designates Cuba State Sponsor of Terror
(Bloomberg) -- The Trump administration put Cuba back on the list of state sponsors of terrorism on Monday, reversing an Obama-era decision and making it harder for President-elect Joe Biden to quickly revive diplomatic ties with Havana.
Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said he’s designating Cuba because the country continues to harbor American fugitives including Joanne Chesimard, convicted of killing a New Jersey state trooper in 1973, and refuses a Colombian extradition request for Nation...
Erdogan Tests His Bond With Putin In Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict
(Bloomberg) -- If Vladimir Putin made one thing clear over the years, it’s that no power but Russia—not the U.S., the European Union, or even China—is allowed to meddle in the security affairs of its former Soviet stomping ground.
It appears Recep Tayyip Erdogan didn’t get the message. By ramping up support for Azerbaijan as it tries to win back territories lost to Armenian forces in 1994, the Turkish president has put his relationship with Russia to the test.
Erdogan’s forceful approach has ...
Kraft Heinz’s Junk Downgrade Rekindles Bond Market Jitters
(Bloomberg) -- Kraft Heinz Co., the iconic food giant created in a merger five years ago, was downgraded to junk by two credit raters, raising fresh worries among investors that a slowing economy could threaten the broader corporate bond market.
The packaged-food company was cut one level to BB+ by S&P Global Ratings, following Fitch Ratings earlier Friday. It will now become a so-called fallen angel, taking it out of investment-grade indexes.
Though Kraft Heinz, with just under $30 billion o...
Iran Boosts Nuclear Enrichment as U.S. Keeps Carrier in Gulf
(Bloomberg) -- Iran started the process of enriching uranium to 20%, a key acceleration in its nuclear program, hours after the U.S. abandoned its plan to pull an aircraft carrier from the Persian Gulf.
The United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency was informed on Saturday by Tehran that authorities might resume efforts to produce the fissile material at the Fordow facility, in the latest breach of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Such a level of purification could be used ...
Why Didn’t Dimon Step In on Repo? Just Ask the Fed
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- If JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Jamie Dimon had had his way, he would have happily lent money in the repo market last month to help offset a spike in short-term interest rates.
If it weren’t for those meddling regulators, that is.
When the head of the biggest U.S. bank was asked about the recent chaos in the short-term funding markets during a third-quarter earnings call, he wasted no time citing a range of limitations on how JPMorgan deploys its cash at the Fed...