Core Points - A potential strike involving 18,000 Costco workers was averted with a tentative agreement reached by the Teamsters union just before the deadline [1] - The Teamsters union had previously voted overwhelmingly to authorize a walkout due to stalled contract negotiations, citing Costco's significant profits of $7.4 billion last year [2][3] - The union has demanded substantial wage increases and better benefits, emphasizing that workers would not continue past January 31 without a favorable agreement [2][3] Company Actions - Costco announced pay increases for most store employees, with top scale employees receiving a $1 hourly increase to $30.20, and a commitment to annual $1 increases over the next two years [6] - Employees at the bottom of the wage scale will see a $0.50 increase to $20 an hour [6] - The company's CEO, Rich Vachris, received over $12 million in total compensation in 2024, which has drawn criticism from the union [4] Union Activities - The Teamsters union held practice pickets and rallies outside Costco's headquarters during the company's annual shareholder meeting, where their questions went unanswered [3][4] - Union representatives have accused Costco's negotiators of undercutting workers while corporate executives receive high salaries [4][5] Industry Context - Amidst a trend of large corporations rescinding diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, Costco has maintained its DEI policies despite threats from Republican state attorney generals [7]

Earnings and Revenue - Apple is set to report Q1 FY2025 earnings with estimated revenue of $124 39bn, a 4% YoY growth, and EPS of $2 35 [1] AI Developments and Challenges - Apple's AI initiatives, including Apple Intelligence, have faced criticism for inaccuracies and hallucinations, despite high anticipation [2] - Apple Intelligence has experienced glitches, such as generating fake news summaries, leading to complaints from the BBC [5][6] - The company suspended its news summary feature and introduced italicized AI notifications in the latest iOS update [7] Market and Stock Performance - Apple's stock fell roughly 8% at the start of 2025, driven by concerns over declining phone sales in China and competition from domestic rivals like Huawei [5] - Despite a broader tech sector downturn, Apple's stock remained relatively stable earlier in the week, partly due to its cost-effective AI integration strategy [4] Industry Context - The US tech sector faced significant losses, with over $1tn wiped from the leading tech index, including a record-breaking $600bn single-day loss for Nvidia [3] - Microsoft and Meta helped the tech sector recover after beating Wall Street earnings expectations [3] - DeepSeek's low-cost AI development contrasts with US AI companies' high spending, despite China's chip export controls [4]

Meta has agreed to pay $25m to settle a lawsuit with Donald Trump. The suit originated in 2021 when Trump sued the social media company for suspending his accounts after the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. The settlement was first reported by the Wall Street Journal and has been confirmed by a Meta spokesperson.The majority of the settlement, $22m, will go toward a fund to pay for Trump’s presidential library, according to the Wall Street Journal. The remainder will pay for legal fees and go to other pl ...

Core Viewpoint - Microsoft is set to report its second-quarter earnings for fiscal year 2025, with expectations of $3.11 in earnings per share and revenue of $68.9 billion, reflecting significant growth compared to the previous year [1] Group 1: Financial Performance - Wall Street anticipates earnings per share of $3.11 and revenue of $68.9 billion for Microsoft, compared to $2.93 per share and $62 billion in revenue for the same period last year [1] - The company's shares are valued at a total of $3.28 trillion, having increased approximately 8% over the past 12 months [2] Group 2: AI Investment and Competition - Microsoft plans to invest $80 billion in AI this year, continuing its trend of significant capital investment in AI technologies [2] - The company aims to build AI-enabled datacenters to train AI models and deploy AI and cloud-based applications globally [2] Group 3: Market Context and Challenges - The earnings report comes amid a sell-off in AI-exposed companies, triggered by DeepSeek's claims of achieving similar AI results at a lower cost, which impacted Nvidia's market capitalization by approximately $600 billion [3] - DeepSeek's cost-effective AI model raises concerns about the $5 trillion increase in market value of major tech companies over the past year, which has contributed to a 70% advance in the S&P 500 [4] Group 4: Intellectual Property Concerns - Microsoft and OpenAI are investigating potential unauthorized access to OpenAI's data by a group associated with DeepSeek [5] - There are allegations that DeepSeek may have stolen intellectual property from the U.S., with evidence suggesting they distilled knowledge from OpenAI's models [6] Group 5: Partnership Dynamics - Despite recent challenges, the partnership between Microsoft and OpenAI appears strong, with both parties expressing optimism about future developments [7]

Tesla will report earnings for the fourth quarter of 2024 on Wednesday after US stock markets close, capping a bruising year for the company’s sales but a stellar one for its stock price.Wall Street analysts predict the company’s earnings-per-share will come in at $0.62 and revenue will be $27.22bn.Elon Musk’s electric carmaker has struggled in recent years to compete with cheaper alternatives to its electric vehicles from competitors such as China’s BYD, which overtook Tesla in the last quarter of 2023 to ...

Starbucks reassured Wall Street with a smaller-than-expected drop in comparable sales, an early sign that its efforts to revive sluggish demand could be bearing fruit.The world’s largest coffee chain, which earlier this month announced that people using its cafes cross North America need to buy something, is in the midst of a turnaround bid to win back customers.Brian Niccol, who joined the firm as chief executive in September, has said Starbucks needs to “fundamentally change” its strategy. Changes have in ...

Core Insights - Boeing reported an annual loss of $11.83 billion, the largest since 2020, due to challenges in its commercial and defense units and the impact of a strike by US west coast factory workers [1] - The company is facing increased competition from Airbus and scrutiny from regulators and customers following a series of operational missteps [1] - Boeing's shares rose 0.5% in pre-market trading despite the reported losses [1] Financial Performance - The company experienced a quarterly cash burn of $4.1 billion, which was slightly better than analysts' expectations of $4.26 billion [2] - In the fourth quarter, Boeing reported a loss of $3.86 billion, attributed to disappointing charges in fixed-price defense programs, with revenue falling 31% to $15.24 billion, missing expectations of $16.21 billion [3] - The quarterly adjusted loss per share was $5.90, significantly higher than the expected loss of $3 per share [4] - Cash burn for 2024 was reported at $14.3 billion, compared to a cash flow of $4.43 billion in 2023 [4] Operational Challenges - Boeing has incurred over $30 billion in losses since 2019, primarily due to two fatal crashes of the 737 Max, which raised production quality and safety concerns [5] - The defense, space & security business reported a loss of $5.41 billion in 2024, impacted by overruns on fixed-price programs [6] - The company is working on improving its supply chain and has returned to an output rate of five 787 jets per month by the end of 2024, despite facing delays in certain areas [6] Strategic Initiatives - CEO Kelly Ortberg emphasized a four-part plan to turn the business around, which includes a multi-year effort to address Boeing's corporate culture [4] - Ortberg stated that the company is now more proactive in identifying risks associated with its defense programs [3]

Donald Trump has suggested that Microsoft is in talks to acquire TikTok and that he would like to see a bidding war over the app.When asked if Microsoft was in talks to buy the app, the US president said “I would say yes”, adding “A lot of interest in TikTok. There’s great interest in TikTok.”Microsoft, TikTok and ByteDance did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for a comment outside regular business hours, after the US president’s comments to reporters aboard Air Force One on Monday.The reported ...

Tesla has filed a complaint against the European Commission after the imposition of tariffs by the bloc on its Chinese-made electric vehicles.The EU announced its decision to impose tariffs on all imports of Chinese electric cars in June, alleging that the Chinese government had provided unfair state subsidies to manufacturers in order to win a dominant position in the emerging industry. EU leaders approved the tariffs in October.Records at the website of the European court of justice showed that Tesla (Sha ...

Core Viewpoint - The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has initiated investigations into the influence of Apple and Google’s mobile platforms on consumers and businesses, following criticism of the government's appointment of a former tech executive as the CMA chair [1][2]. Group 1: Investigation Details - The CMA will assess the impact of Apple and Google's mobile operating systems, app stores, and browsers on consumers and businesses, including app developers [2][3]. - The investigation aims to determine if Apple and Google should be classified as having "strategic market status" under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (DMCC), which would allow the CMA to impose conduct requirements [4][5]. - The CMA plans to complete its investigation by October 22, and it has already opened a separate investigation into Google’s search and advertising practices [5]. Group 2: Government and Regulatory Context - The investigation follows the government's denial of being influenced by big tech after appointing Doug Gurr, a former Amazon UK manager, as CMA chair [2][6]. - The business minister emphasized the importance of competition for investment and growth, asserting the CMA's operational independence [7]. Group 3: Industry Reactions - The GMB union criticized the appointment of Gurr, while Ethical Consumer expressed concerns about the implications of the hire [9]. - Google defended Android as a successful open-source mobile operating system, advocating for a balanced approach that does not hinder consumer choice or growth [9][10]. - Apple stated that its app store supports hundreds of thousands of jobs in the UK and expressed willingness to engage constructively with the CMA [10].