Logi loses gains
Logitech International, the $5Bn+ personal tech accessories maker reported large sales and profits falls from lower tech demand in large corporate enterprises, reversing huge gains during WFH/Covid highs. However, ceo Bracken Darrell was confident about video collaboration prospects through 2023.
Wayfair stock up
Wayfair, $12Bn sales US/UK WFH furnishings etailer, has attracted a growing chorus of WallSt bulls, boosting the stock +25% today. Market cap a year ago was $12Bn, fell to $4Bn, now up +$1Bn today! Is majority co-owner/ceo Niraj Shah considering a takeover bid and from whom? We wonder who?
'One Newell' writes
Newell Brands, a leading house of business & consumer brands, is suffering plummeting demand for home appliances, BTS and writing products. Now ex-Office Max ceo Ravi Saligram with typically euphemistic titles: Projects OVID & Phoenix, is “unlocking additional efficiencies” by laying off 13% of office staff?
Envoy's enfolds
The hygiene & packaging market resumed its rapid roll up in 2023. Advent's Imperial Dade & FEMSA's Envoy Solutions lead the way in acquiring US regional jansan and packaging dealers. Envoy ceo Mark Fisher just announced the acquisition of a large California based jansan reseller with national distribution (Its 2nd in 2023).
Wayfair waylay
Wayfair, the $13Bn US/UK home & office furnishings etailer, just announced the layoff of 1000 workers, added to the 870 jobs cut in Aug'22. Covid proved a huge sales boost to WFH business customers, but now in reverse. Perspective means a -10% workforce cut with sales still running +40% ahead of norm 2019
Fastenal's growth
Fastenal, the $7Bn in sales, US reseller of MRO & vending supplies, powered ahead in Q4'22 with strong fastener and safety sales in recovery aided by higher prices boosting profitability. New digital devices FastBin and FastVend boosted volume growth
P&G: Pricier &
Procter & Gamble (PG), the leading personal, home & business care brandmaker, reported slower Q2'23 results, with lower volume. offset by inflation. Powerful marketing campaigns continued in towels, tissues & detergents eg Charmin, Bounty, Tide but growth rates slowed from high rates during Covid.
AMZN & Microsoft's
Wall Strret's obsession with recession rhetoric particularly highlighted by CNBC, Bloomberg knows no bounds. Perspective please! Amazon increased employees by a net 700k over the past 2 years to 1.5M. Meanwhile, Microsoft increased employees by +50% to 221k. The recent sad 28k cuts (AMZN 18k + MS 10k) were a minor adjustment for 2 strongly growing giants....
What Horrible Svc
Messy international stationery and news retailer WHSmith finally recovered some lost volume in its travel stores last Christmas after years of depressed sales during Covid. CEO Carl Cowling said "revenue was up +41% in 20wks to 14Jan'23 compared with the same period in 2022
Tech spending cuts
IT market researcher Gartner has halved global IT spending forecast "as inflation 'throttles' budgets" The analyst also blames a tight labour market for the straitened spending conditions. This chimes with outlooks provided by Microsoft, IBM, HP, but not distributors Synnex, Softcat & Compucenter?
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