Media

6 Most Important Things in Business Today

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: April 26, 2018 5:07 am

Last Updated: March 13, 2020 3:38 pm

Deutsche Bank was hit by low profits and will chop expenses. According to Reuters:

Deutsche Bank announced cutbacks to its bond and equities trading on Thursday in a major overhaul of its troubled investment bank, after posting a 79 percent drop in net profit in the first quarter.

The cuts will result in job losses and include a scaling-back of its business with hedge funds. The bulk of the cuts will focus on the United States and Asia.

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) financial results rocketed higher. According to The Wall Street Journal:

Facebook Inc., in its first earnings report after touching off widespread data-privacy concerns, posted soaring revenue and profit that highlighted the company’s central place in the digital economy.

The social-media giant has weathered one crisis after another in the 17 months since the 2016 presidential election, but its business—at least for now—is still thriving.

Facebook reported quarterly per share profit of $1.69, up from $1.04 a year earlier, while revenue rose nearly 50% to $11.97 billion. Net income rose 63% to nearly $5 billion, compared with $3.06 billion a year ago.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) will lower the number of car nameplates it sells in the United States. According to Bloomberg:

Ford Motor Co. is sharpening its knives to cleave another $11.5 billion from spending plans and cut several sedans, including the Fusion and Taurus, from its lineup to more quickly reach an elusive profit target.

The automaker expects to save $25.5 billion by 2022, Chief Financial Officer Bob Shanks told reporters Wednesday as Ford reported first-quarter earnings per share and revenue that beat estimates. The company now anticipates reaching an 8 percent profit margin by 2020, two years ahead of schedule.

Poor financial results from an Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) supplier added to anxiety that iPhone sales are poor. According to CNBC:

Samsung Electronics posted record first-quarter profits on Thursday, but warned about a slowdown in its display panel segment.

That could be bad news for Apple’s iPhone X.

“Generating overall earnings growth across the company will be a challenge due to weakness in the display panel segment and a decline in profitability in the mobile business amid rising competition in the high-end segment,” Samsung said in a statement.

Subway will close about 500 stores in the United States. According to Bloomberg:

Subway Restaurants, the world’s most ubiquitous dining chain, will continue closing U.S. stores as it expands internationally.

After peppering the nation with thousands of locations, closely held Subway is retrenching. This year, the sandwich purveyor is planning to shut about 500 more of its U.S. shops. Last year, more than 800 stores went dark, with the total U.S. count dropping to 25,908. It also closed restaurants in 2016.

The head of Tesla Inc.’s (NASDAQ: TSLA) autopilot operation has left. According to The Wall Street Journal:

The head of Tesla Inc.’s Autopilot semiautonomous-driving system departed for Intel Corp., adding new turmoil to a key program for the auto maker that is already beset by executive departures and safety questions.

Jim Keller left the company for a job focused on microprocessor engineering, Tesla said late Wednesday. People familiar with the situation said Mr. Keller is joining Intel, which declined to comment.