Here is a rundown of Cheddar News' top market stories of the day.
TECH LAYOFFS
Multiple outlets are reporting that Microsoft will begin a series of planned layoffs on Wednesday that could cut around 5 percent of its workforce, or 10,000 employees. CEO Satya Nadella warned the cuts were coming, and said the next couple of years were likely to be challenging, as the tech sector contracts after a decade plus of rapid growth. Amazon is also set to move ahead with plans to cut 6 percent of its 350,000 corporate employees.
ADOBE'S DATA DEBACLE
Adobe is facing backlash from customers who are concerned the software company is using personal images and video to train artificial intelligence models such as OpenAI’s Dall-E. Chief Product Officer Scott Belsky denied the accusations in an interview with Bloomberg, saying: "We have never, ever used anything in our storage to train a generative AI model."
UNITED AIRLINES EARNINGS
United Airlines' fourth quarter earnings beat Wall Street estimates on the heels of a rebound in travel demand. The company reported a 31 percent increase from the same period before the pandemic. The gains were made despite the airline flying 9 percent fewer trips and a litany of other challenges, from winter storms to labor shortages to supply chain disruptions.
UNIVERSITY BANS TIKTOK
The University of Texas at Austin is blocking access to TikTok on its Wi-Fi and wired networks. The move is a response to Gov. Greg Abbott's requirement that all state agencies delete the app from government-issued devices. The administration said it is also seeking to eliminate risks to information on the university's networks. University of Texas at Dallas and Texas A&M University System have since implemented similar restrictions.
The CEO at Activision Blizzard Bobby Kotick apologized to employees after the company had been rocked by the public airing of sexual harassment claims that went unchecked. Kotick also asked that his compensation of more than $150 million be slashed to just over $62,000.
Cheddar's Ken Buffa took the Pixel 6 Pro for a test drive, highlighting some of the new features. The latest Google smartphone comes with an upgraded camera visor that holds three cameras in place as well as Gorilla Glass Victus covering the front and back protecting against drops and scratches. The device also contains Google's first homemade processor chip called Tensor and retails for about $899.
Overstock CEO Jonathan Johnson joined Cheddar's "Opening Bell" to talk about the company's Q3 earnings beat. While supply chain issues have plagued businesses across industries, Johnson noted that the company largely avoided constraints by not pressuring suppliers to fill Overstock's own distribution centers, encouraging them to use their own. "We have a higher in-stock percentage today than we did a year ago. Not quite as high as we did pre-pandemic but better than it was last year at this time," he said.
Google notified a number of small and medium-sized customers that potential antitrust bills could have negative impacts on their own businesses. The warning appears to be an effort to drum up enough opposition to give pause to lawmakers before enacting any such legislation.
Anthony Bartolacci, VP of financials of data Sensor Tower, joined Cheddar to talk about Robinhood's massive earnings miss. He attributed part of it to the platform's exposure to cryptocurrency and its lackluster performance in Q3 following volatility. Bartolacci also noted some headwinds from a drop in engagement on the platform due to people returning to work and having less time to day trade contributing to the miss.
