The holiday shopping season may be over, but Wal-Mart is not done innovating. The superstore is headed into 2018 with big technology goals including personal shopping via text message and cashier-less stores. Ted Rubin gives his take on these big retail moves.
Rubin argues Wal-Mart's move to offer personalized shopping via text message is misguided. The store is looking to capture the top 1%'s shopping habits, and he does not think that is possible. Instead, Rubin argues that Walmart should be focusing on their existing footprint and leveraging that to scale up delivery and shopping options.
Rubin also believes that Wal-Mart's acquisition of Jet.com was a multi-million dollar mistake. He argues the superstore should have built out their delivery options.
Tesla has been under mounting regulatory scrutiny by the NHTSA, and has issued numerous recalls, including four within the past two weeks. While the company has issued recalls over the years, the number seems to be increasing in recent months as the company issues fixes for seat belt chimes, pedestrian alerts, its self-driving software, and more. What's behind this uptick in recalls — and how might this impact brand loyalty? Al Root, Senior Writer at Barron's, joins Closing Bell to discuss.
Under Armour released a successful Q4 earnings report amid supply chain issues. The apparel company said it invested in analytics to decipher what drives consumers to its brand. However, the company warned of potential supply problems going forward due to COVID.
Hyperice is a technology company that specializes in physical recovery for athletes, and it's now partnering with the NFL. Christian McCaffrey, Carolina Panthers running back and Hyperice athlete-investor, and Jim Huether, Hyperice CEO, joined Cheddar News to discuss the partnership. "It's definitely for both for performance and for recovery, as somebody who plays a brutal sport and have to go through some of the unfortunate realities of injury," McCaffery said of the products. "You're always fighting for that 0.1 percent difference between winning and losing and and the little things and every second matters."
Aurora Cannabis showed a beat on sales for its quarterly earnings report, a positive sign despite a loss of $59 million. CEO Miguel Martin, joined Cheddar Movers to discuss its latest earnings and prospects for future growth. "If you look at our core businesses, they've all had a great quarter, so steady as we go. Our transformation plan is absolutely on track and we feel really good about where the company's going," he said. "Our balance sheet has never been stronger." Martin also discussed entering the U.S. market and the prospects for the medical marijuana market.
Elon Musk announced that he expects Starship to reach orbit in 2022. The SpaceX CEO delivered updates about the largest space vehicle to be constructed from its Texas facility. Jim Cantrell, CEO and co-founder at Phantom Space, joined Cheddar News to talk about the future of Starship. "I've always done wrong by betting against Elon," he said. "The one thing that I find very curious is it launches 100 metric tons into space, and last year, in the entire year, we launched 750. So, you know, with about seven launches, he could launch every satellite on Earth."
Shares of Astra fell after the aerospace company announced a failure to deliver its NASA satellite payload mid-launch, resulting in its stock price plummeting to the point where trading had to be halted twice.
Amid a string of recalls for their electric cars, Tesla is also facing a lawsuit over workplace discrimination. The electric automaker is being accused by California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing of a pattern of racial discrimination against Black workers. Caleb Silver, Editor-in-Chief at Investopedia, joined Cheddar News to discuss the numerous technical and safety issues that led to the recalls and the allegations of systemic racist abuse at its Fremont plant. "Tesla disputes these claims, but still you can’t avoid the pattern," he said.
