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.
Ice Cube's 3-on-3 basketball league, the Big3, is introducing decentralized team ownership to fans with the chance to own a minority stake in the 12 teams through blockchain technology, a first for professional sports. The rapper, actor, and filmmaker joined Cheddar News to talk about the new ownership model using NFTs. "This is a perfect time to offer it to fans and not just wait for fat cats to come and want to buy the teams but for fans to be able to be a part of it,” he said.
John Petrides, portfolio manager at Tocqueville Asset Management, breaks down the factors that led to narrowing margins for the banking giant JP Morgan Chase and the concerns for an overall economic slowdown. "The miss was really driven by an accounting feature called CECIL, current expected credit losses, which is something that was rolled out a couple of years ago and is now in full play," he said. "Basically what that means is every loan a bank makes, now they have to assign some probability of a loss to the loan at the moment that they issued a loan."
This March 19, 2018, file photo shows the Yelp app on an iPad in Baltimore. Yelp reports financial results Thursday, Nov. 7, 2019. The online review service will cover the travel expenses of employees who have to travel out of state for abortions, joining the ranks of major employers trying to help workers affected by restrictions being placed on the procedure in Texas and other states. The benefit announced Tuesday, April 12, 2022 covers Yelp's entire workforce of 4,000 employees, but seems most likely to have its biggest immediate impact on its 200 workers in Texas, which has passed a law banning abortions within the state after six weeks of pregnancy. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
Lululemon is rolling out a trade-in and resale program for its shoppers to sell gently-used items in exchange for a Lululemon gift card. The company states the aim is to help ease the burden of inflation.
Lululemon is rolling out a trade-in and resale program for its shoppers to sell gently-used items in exchange for a Lululemon gift card. The company states the aim is to help ease the burden of inflation.
Catching you up on what you need to know on April 13, 2022, with President Biden referring to the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a genocide, a suspect has been identified in the Brooklyn subway shooting that injured 23 people, New York’s lieutenant governor has resigned due to bribery allegations, and more.
Elon Musk’s huge Twitter investment took a new twist Tuesday with the filing of a lawsuit alleging that the colorful billionaire illegally delayed disclosing his big stake in the social media company so he could buy more shares at lower prices.