Yes, you read that right. The monthly jobs report, a Friday tradition, is out this morning, five days later than originally scheduled due to the partial government shutdown .The delayed report led with some surprisingly good news. The US added 130,000 jobs in January, well above the 65,000 economists expected. Unemployment ticked down to 4.3%, beating expectations of holding at 4.4%.Investors are looking at the January jobs report to see if the job market has continued stabilizing following a difficult 2025 ...

The Sonder fiasco cost Marriott millions. On a Tuesday earnings call, Marriott's outgoing finance chief, Leeny Oberg, said Marriott incurred a $23 million loss from terminating its contract with the luxury short-term rental company Sonder in November.A Tuesday earnings report said the $23 million in charges came from termination expenses and the write-down of Marriott's licensing agreement with Sonder. Oberg added that it was a one-time expense. There were no other mentions in the earnings call of any fal ...

Wall Street may be getting the AI trade wrong, says Dan Ives, a Wedbush analyst and longtime tech bull. Ives said on CNBC's "Closing Bell" published Tuesday that the recent investor pessimism toward software companies is 'the most disconnected call that I've ever seen."While much of the AI excitement has centered on data centers, chips, and GPUs, Ives said software will be the "heart and lungs of the AI revolution." The infrastructure buildout is still in its early innings and could stretch over the next ...

Core Insights - Lyft's stock fell 16% in after-hours trading following disappointing fourth-quarter earnings and a 2026 outlook that did not meet expectations [1] - The company's revenue increased by 3% to $1.59 billion, which was below the anticipated $1.76 billion [1] - Lyft's guidance for the first quarter indicated adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) between $120 million and $140 million, also missing analyst expectations [1] Financial Performance - Lyft reported a surprise operating loss of $188.4 million for 2025, attributed to increased competitive price promotions [2] - The company experienced an unexpected rise in competitors' promotional activities that negatively impacted quarterly results, as noted by CEO David Risher [2] Strategic Initiatives - Since David Risher became CEO in 2023, Lyft has focused on cost-cutting and introduced new products, including a price-lock feature for commuters [7] - Lyft's stock has seen an approximate 11% increase over the past year [7] - Risher outlined growth plans for 2026 and beyond, including the introduction of Black car rides and a service for teens, which are already offered by rival Uber [7] Future Expansion - Lyft is exploring the robotaxi market, collaborating with Waymo to integrate self-driving cars into its ride-hailing app in Nashville later this year [8] - The company faces challenges in the autonomous vehicle sector, with Risher indicating a limited number of suppliers capable of meeting Lyft's scale requirements [8] - Risher anticipates an increase in robotaxi availability by 2030, suggesting a positive outlook for future supply [9]

Core Insights - Financial firms and brokerages experienced a decline in share prices due to concerns over AI disruption, particularly following Altruist's announcement of its Hazel AI tool for tax planning [1][5] - The iShares U.S. Broker-Dealers & Securities Exchanges ETF dropped by 4%, indicating market anxiety [1] - The fear stems from the potential for inexpensive AI tools to impact profit margins across various financial services, similar to recent disruptions in the software sector [5] Company Performance - Interactive Brokers and Morgan Stanley showed slightly better performance on the same day, suggesting that Wall Street's concerns are more focused on retail-facing brokerage stocks [6] - Companies in the accounting sector, such as Intuit, saw a decline of about 3%, while accounting software firms like SAP SE and Xero experienced slight increases of 1% and 2% respectively [6] Market Trends - OpenAI's integration of an AI application on ChatGPT for direct insurance quotes highlights the ongoing trend of AI's encroachment into financial services [7] - Despite a recovery from the previous week's tech plunge, markets remain cautious as new disruptive tools continue to emerge [8]

Core Insights - Google is offering voluntary exit packages to certain employees within its global business organization (GBO) as part of a strategic move to align with its operational pace and mission [1][3]. Group 1: Voluntary Exit Program - The voluntary exit program is targeted at employees in specific roles within GBO, including solutions teams, sales, and corporate development, while excluding large customer sales teams and other customer-facing roles to minimize disruption [3][4]. - This initiative follows similar offers made by Google in the past year, including buyouts to US-based employees and YouTube staff during organizational changes [4]. Group 2: Company Strategy and Culture - Google's chief business officer, Philipp Schindler, emphasized the need for all GBO employees to be fully committed to the company's mission and to embrace AI for greater impact [2]. - The company is positioning itself strongly for the year ahead, highlighting the dynamic nature of the industry and the high stakes involved [2].

Core Viewpoint - Paramount's CEO David Ellison is making a renewed attempt to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) after previous offers were rejected, maintaining the bid at $30 per share while introducing new terms to enhance the offer's attractiveness to WBD shareholders [1][2]. Offer Details - Paramount's adjusted offer remains at $30 per share, but includes a "ticking fee" of $0.25 per share, amounting to approximately $650 million, payable to WBD shareholders for each quarter the deal remains unclosed until January 2027 [9]. - The total equity backing for the offer is $43.6 billion, fully supported by the Ellison family, with Larry Ellison being a significant financial figure due to his co-founding of Oracle [2]. Competitive Landscape - WBD is currently in negotiations to sell its streaming and studio assets to Netflix for $27.75 per share, which does not include its cable channels [2]. - Netflix has positioned itself as a favorable option for WBD shareholders, claiming that a merger would "create and protect jobs," and has been actively engaging in discussions regarding the regulatory process [8]. Regulatory Considerations - Ellison's offer aims to demonstrate confidence in the regulatory approval process, with the expectation that the deal will close smoothly [6]. - Former President Trump has stated he will not involve himself in the regulatory decisions regarding the Netflix-WBD deal, leaving it to the Department of Justice [7]. Market Reactions - There is speculation of a potential bidding war between Paramount and Netflix, which could increase the acquisition cost of WBD by $5 billion to $10 billion, although such a bidding war has not yet materialized [11]. - Ellison has argued that Paramount's bid is superior to Netflix's, despite not increasing the overall purchase price since the Netflix deal was announced [9][10].

Group 1 - Salesforce has made cuts to its workforce, involving fewer than 1,000 roles, with affected positions in marketing, product management, data analytics, and the Agentforce AI product [1] - The layoffs coincide with an executive shake-up, where six new leaders have been appointed to replace five high-profile leaders who have departed since December [2] - CEO Marc Benioff mentioned that the company utilized AI agents to reduce its support staff from 9,000 to 5,000 [2]

Leadership Changes - Salesforce has hired or promoted six new leaders, replacing five high-profile executives who have departed since December [1] - Iain Mulholland is the new chief security officer, previously deputy chief information security officer at Google Cloud [5] - Patrick Stokes has been appointed as the new chief marketing officer, replacing Ariel Kelman who joined AMD [5] - Dave Ward is the new chief architect, coming from Lumen Technologies [5] - Joe Inzerillo has transitioned to president of enterprise and AI technology, overseeing Slack and Agentforce [5] Executive Departures - Recent departures include Ryan Aytay, CEO of Tableau, and Denise Dresser, CEO of Slack, who left to join OpenAI [4] - Adam Evans, former head of Agentforce, announced his departure to focus on building startups [3] - Brad Arkin left Salesforce at the end of January after serving for over two years [5] Company Strategy and Outlook - Salesforce emphasizes its proactive succession planning and institutionalized strategy, expressing confidence in the new leaders [2] - The new fiscal year for Salesforce began on February 1, with some leadership changes yet to be announced internally [2] - CEO Marc Benioff has indicated the potential renaming of the company after Agentforce, highlighting its importance in the AI sector [5] Market Context - Salesforce's stock has faced challenges amid investor concerns regarding competition from AI companies [4]

Raj Jegannathan, who was once tasked with managing Tesla's sales and service team in North America, announced his departure from the company on Monday. Jegannathan, Tesla's vice president of IT, took over the sales organization shortly after Troy Jones, the former vice president of North America sales and service, left the company in July. During his time on the team, Jegannathan worked to incorporate more AI tools in sales and service team workflows, five people with knowledge of the issue told Business I ...