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21 Mar 23

Updated: 21 Mar 23

Steelcase stuck

w lower demand?

Collab specialists pivot to
furnish hybrid workspaces

Steelcase, the ex-leader in collaborative office furnishings, recovery stalled in Q4'23 to 28Feb'23. Disappointingly, CEO Sara Armbruster 
reported a softer order book related to macroeconomic concerns, despite investments in the hybrid work future. What has happened to the former innovative industry leader? Results analysis 1600ET tomorrow

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21 Mar 23

Updated: 21 Mar 23

MillerKnoll's hybrid

work growth stalls

WFH concepts offset soft,
'return to office' demand

MillerKnoll the enlarged #1 furnituremaker maintained its focus on strong WFH demand, with the contract market softly recovering with slowing orders. Retail designs stalled after recent growth. Upbeat ceo Andi Owen is focused on mobile systems innovation and integration of Knoll. Results analysis 1600ET tomorrow

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21 Mar 23

Updated: 21 Mar 23

Do AMZN analysts
discount assets?

'BuywPrime' success tests
signify biz resellers growth

All the press talk recently about Amazon has been negative: -27000 job cuts? Slower AWS growth? Slowing ecommerce, competitors catching up? Stalled Fulfilment Centre plans? Wishful thinking maybe? It's still winning market share across the board and perhaps readjusting itself for another big growth push? New developments are a Prime example!

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21 Mar 23

Updated: 21 Mar 23

FlexTech takeover;
joins MTS leaders 

Maryland MPS dealer acq.
drives national expansion

Flex Technology Group (FTG), the US #3 managed technology services provider has made a major MPS acquisition in the Mid-Atlantic region moving it closer to market leaders Marco & Pacific. CEO Frank Gaspari claims group revenues over "$400m with a strong pipeline of dealers looking to join FTG"

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20 Mar 23

Updated: 20 Mar 23

Amazon+Microsoft
jobcuts overhyped

37k layoffs pale in comp/w
770k additions since 2019!

WallStreet's obsession with recession rhetoric particularly highlighted by CNBC knows no bounds. Perspective please! Amazon increased employees by +700k over the past 2yrs to 1.5M. Meanwhile, Microsoft increased employees +50% to 221k. The recent sad 37k cuts (AMZN 27k + MS 10k) were a minor adjustment for 2 strongly growing giants....

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20 Mar 23

Updated: 20 Mar 23

HPE Greenlake
grabs integrator

Enterprising move boosts

MSP cloud client services

HP Enterprise just gave its GreenLake on-premises pay-per-use cloud service an AI-based boost with its acquisition of a specialist integrator. “Customers manage different cloud environments that dramatically increase the cost of digital operations management,” said Fidelma Russo. 
This could be a game changer....

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20 Mar 23

Updated: 20 Mar 23

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17 Mar 23

Updated: 17 Mar 23

Old OP Emperors

have no clothes!

Trad product sellers outed
by productivity srvcs shift

There's been much recession talk recently: macro economic headwinds, high inflation, depressing optimism. How much is real given the huge prices boost on lower volumes? Whilst ex-leaders eg. Acco, HP, Newell, 3M & VOW decline despite complacent commentary, progressive players reinvented to meet the 'personalized productivity service' needs of users. We highlight losers and the big winners..Complete

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16 Mar 23

Updated: 17 Mar 23

FedEx fails from 

faulty leadership 

Losing market share. Cuts
costs and customer service

FedEx ceo Raj Subramaniam opaquely reported again on disappointing & inflated Q3'23 results. Huge price hikes boosted sales, but disguised serious market share losses to UPS & Amazon.The 'market cap gap' between similar sized UPS widened to $109Bn. The future is bleak for arrogant, cost cutting  'new boss, same as the old boss'; who blames the (strong) economy, not incompetent execution. Updated

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16 Mar 23

Updated: 16 Mar 23

Mighty 3M mired in 
mounting mgt mess

Earplug/PFAS legal issues;
& Health Care div. spinoff
distract from core focus

 
3M's cfo Monish Patolawala spoke with JPMorgan's Steve Tusa at its Industrials Conference yesterday. 3M's market cap is down -30% over past year, reflecting legal issues with defective miltary earplugs and PFAS chemicals. Meanwhile, it's spinning off the Health Care (25% mix) division and struggling with volume decline in its main businesses. Analysis here...

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