Starbucks’ interim chief executive cashed in more than $341,000 in company stock on news that the java giant tapped Chipotle’s CEO Brian Niccol to replace its embattled boss Laxman Narasimhan, security filings show.Rachel Ruggeri — the Seattle-based coffee chain’s chief financial officer who will be its interim CEO until Niccol officially takes the reins on Sept. 9 — sold 3,750 shares to bag a windfall of $341,850, according to a Securities Exchange Commission filing. 4 Rachel Ruggeri, who is Starbucks’ C ...

Home Depot warned that consumer sentiment on the economy is souring as it slashed its sales forecast for the second half of the year.The big box home improvement chain on Tuesday blamed high interest rates and fears of a possible downturn in the economy for disappointing second-quarter earnings.Richard McPhail, Home Depot’s chief financial officer, told CNBC on Tuesday that consumers have adopted a “deferral mindset” since the middle of last year, resulting in lower spending on home-improvement projects. 3 ...

Starbucks announced Tuesday it will be replacing current CEO Laxman Narasimhan with Chipotle leader Brian Niccol after months of slowing sales, according to reports. The company said Niccol — who has been widely praised for a turnaround at Chipotle that has boosted the burrito chain’s stock by more than 50% over the past year — will assume the executive position on Sept. 9, according to The Wall Street Journal. The sudden change in leadership follows a 20% stock drop for Starbucks since Narasimhan took the ...

Cisco will cut thousands of jobs in a second round of layoffs this year as the networking equipment maker shifts focus to higher-growth areas, including cybersecurity and AI, people familiar with the matter said.The number of people affected could be similar to or slightly higher than the 4,000 employees Cisco laid off in February, and will likely be announced as early as Wednesday with the company’s fourth-quarter results, said the sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly.Reuters exclusively repo ...

Apple’s new AI features may not come cheap.The Cupertino, Calif.-based company could charge up to a $20 subscription fee for access to some of its advanced artificial intelligence features when they are finally made available this fall, analysts told CNBC. “Software and services makes it more lucrative for Apple to pass it on with the Apple One subscription model,” Neil Shah, partner at Counterpoint Research, said. 3 Apple CEO Tim Cook introduced Apple Intelligence in June. Getty ImagesApple already charg ...

Google and Meta reportedly struck a secret deal to target underage YouTube users with advertisements that promoted rival service Instagram – breaking the online search giant’s own ad rules, according to a bombshell report Thursday. The Instagram ad campaign was aimed at YouTube users who were classified as “unknown” in Google’s ad system and designed to appeal to users aged 13 to 17, the Financial Times reported, citing internal documents and people familiar with the matter. 4 The Instagram ads ran on You ...

Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said the Federal Reserve won’t make emergency rate cuts before the central bankers meet in September, despite Monday’s Wall Street meltdown over heightened risks of a recession.“I don’t expect that you’ll see anything before September,” Solomon said in an interview for Bloomberg’s “The David Rubenstein Show: Peer to Peer Conversations.”  3 Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said he believes interest rate cuts in September are likely. REUTERS“The economy will chug along and we ...

Walt Disney reported a decline in operating profit at its theme parks and predicted a ‘moderation in demand’ in coming quarters, overshadowing the success of the animated Pixar film “Inside Out 2” and the company’s streaming services.The company’s stock was down 1.3% Wednesday as Disney warned operating income at the parks would be down ‘mid single-digits’ in the fiscal fourth quarter. 3 The Walt Disney Company’s latest earnings report beat estimates from Wall Street analysts. AP“We expect to see a flatti ...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is investigating major US banks for their handling of customer funds on the peer-to-peer payments platform Zelle Network, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.The probe focuses on JPMorgan, Bank of America and Wells Fargo among other large banks, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.The probe focuses on JPMorgan, Bank of America and Wells Fargo among other large banks, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. AFP/Getty ImagesJ ...

KFC and Pizza Hut parent Yum Brands reported a bigger-than-expected fall in same-store sales for the second quarter as sticky inflation discouraged lower-income Americans from spending on dining out.Same-store sales at the company’s KFC division fell 5% in the United States in the second quarter, compared with a 7% decline in the prior quarter, while Pizza Hut reported a decline of 1%, Yum said Tuesday.Like its peers in the fast-food industry, Yum, which also owns Taco Bell, has been investing in loyalty pr ...