Russia? What About Russia? Facebook Earnings Seem to Be So Much Bigger Than Russia; Major Chink in Under Armour; All Night Long: It’s Party Time at Walmart

It’s good to be Facebook…

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It’s another quarter of rainbows and unicorns for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The social media mega-monster blew expectations out of the water with its daily active users growing to almost 1.4 billion, an increase of 50 million users. Revenue increased 47% and came in at over $10 billion. I won’t even bother boring you with what analysts expected. In the meantime, shares picked up an additional $1.59, which was a swift kick in the rear to predictions of $1.28 per share and a majorly impressive 77% increase over last year at this time. Apparently, all this talk about Russia using propaganda on Facebook to influence the presidential election seems to be having a nominal effect on the company.  Amid all this glorious earnings news, Facebook’s general counsel was hanging out in our nation’s capital, taking a beating because some folks in Congress just aren’t down with the way Facebook has this uncanny knack for effectively targeting digital ads to users simply based on their likes. I guess politicians are worried that those targeted ads might be – and have been – too effective in getting their opponents elected.  But Wall Street just laughed away sending shares all the way up to almost $183 per share.

Over Armour?

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Under Armour released its quarterly profits and it seemed like there was carnage all around.  The big bad ugly issue, aside from the actual numbers, is that the company is slashing forecasts for 2017. If that’s not a fiscal kiss of death, I don’t know what is. As for revenue, it fell. A lot. To about $1.4 billion, an almost 5% drop year over year. However, if we’re just looking at what happened just in the U.S., Under Armour revenue fell a whopping 12%. That’s a huge problem because it was the first time that ever happened since the company made its super-hyped Wall Street debut. Of course, you can’t have bad news on Wall Street without shares of the company in question going south. Which is precisely what happened as shares of Under Armour tanked 24% today. Add that to the fact that since September of 2015, shares have fallen around 85%. The carnage, unfortunately, doesn’t end there. Profit was down to just over $54 million and 12 cents per share, which was about half of what it was last year at this time. To add insult to injury, expectations were for $75 million. Of course, some would say those dismal figures are partly the result of the company’s $85 million restructuring charge. But I guess that’s the kind of money you have to spend when you are trying to keep a multi-billion dollar company like Under Armour from hemorrhaging more money. And true to CEO fashion, Under Armour’s own Kevin Plank made sure to blame, among other factors, businesses that went bankrupt since those other businesses, like sporting good stores, sold Under Armour merchandise. The bad news seemed to be contagious as shares of both Nike and Adidas took a nasty dip as well.

Par-tay!!!!!

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Walmart wants to win the holidays. And it’s training hardcore for the finish. Sure, that means sales. And promos. And all the rest of the gimmicks and sales. But Walmart’s also throwing in some partying. I’m totes serious here.  Starting this Saturday, Walmart will hold 20,000 parties in its Super Centers with the first one being called, “Toys that Rock.” Not to be outdone by toys, the retailer will also have parties called “Gifts that Rock” and “Parties that Rock.” Are you sensing a theme here? Of course, no party is complete without a decent goody bag or giveaway, so for you, the shopper, that means a curated gift guide and catalog. See how nicely that works out for Walmart. And you, maybe. Sort of. Walmart is also adding lots more “holiday helpers” to help guide shoppers to cashiers, open more registers and grab things from all over the store…and beyond. And demos, We mustn’t forget the demos. Apparently, there will be 165,000 of them spread all through Walmart’s gazillion stores. Laugh all you want, but Wall Street’s digging Walmart’s latest initiatives and overall drive, sending shares of the company up today by almost 1%.

Swooshed Out: Nike Losing Ground?; Starbucks Perks Up Hiring Goals; Is the End Near for Sears?

Just not doing it…

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Looks like consumers aren’t doing it for Nike as the athletic apparel company posted some pretty unimpressive numbers for its third quarter. To be clear, Nike didn’t lose money. It just didn’t make as much money as analysts wanted it to. For instance, even though Nike took in $8.43 billion in revenue, a 5% increase over last year, analysts were expecting $8.47 billion this time around. The collective disappointment on Wall Street sent shares down because investors are apparently wondering if the company behind the iconic swoosh can withstand some fierce competition from Under Armour and Adidas. But that wasn’t the only bad news sending shares down today. Nike also said that it expects future orders to be down 4%. Nike did score a profit of over $1.1 billion with 68 cents added to shares, a figure that easily beat analysts’ expectations of 53 cents per share. Last year at this time, Nike took in $950 million with 55 cents added per share, illustrating a very respectable increase. Unfortunately, the bit about the decline on future orders didn’t stop from putting a damper on the fiscal mood on Wall Street.

Well done…

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Starbucks is making headlines today after announcing that it not only hit its goal of hiring 10,000 army veterans and military spouses, but now plans to hire another 15,000. Starbucks had hoped it would achieve that milestone by 2018, but lo and behold, it hit its mark well ahead of schedule and the glowing news was announced during its annual shareholders meeting, much to the delight of…everyone. If you recall, back in February, CEO Howard Schultz – who is stepping down at the beginning of April – managed to annoy more than a few of his coffee drinkers when he announced plans to hire 10,000 refugees globally.  Apparently some folks thought those refugee hirings were in place of hiring veterans and thus began a social media campaign urging people to #BoycottStarbucks.  But alas, that was not exactly accurate and the coffee chain found itself explaining that it intended to hire employees from both groups. And that’s not all. The purveyor of premium coffee also plans on creating another 240,000 jobs worldwide by 2021. Because if you were worried that there weren’t enough Starbucks, the company is planning to open 3,400 new stores, just in the United States. So yeah, it’ll definitely need a few extra baristas.

Throwing in the towel?

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It might just be the end of an era as the 130 year old Sears announced in an SEC filing that “substantial doubts” exist with regard to its future. In other words, the department store is staring at the prospect of bankruptcy, and will end up bringing Kmart with it. What’s a little weird about that news though, is that the company’s fourth quarter results were actually better than expected, albeit, dismal. “Better than expected” here basically means that the retailer didn’t lose as much money in its fourth quarter as it was expected to, at least compared to last year’s fourth quarter. The fact remains, however, that according to eMarketer, of the top 250 retailers, Sears is dead last in terms of performance, as it just can’t compete with the offerings of online retailers. In fact, Sears ate over $5 billion in losses just in the last three years and has already been closing plenty of stores, selling off some of its brands and taken other measures just to stay afloat. Besides that, Sears is having too much trouble with its pension plan obligations which has been also eating up a lot of its cash – $4 billion just in the last twelve years. Add to that its more than $13 billion in liabilities and Sears’ future is looking positively grim.

Trump Tweet-Targets Nordstrom; Under Armour CEO Says It All Wrong; Wells Fargo Continues to Anger

Oh no you didn’t…

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Just one week after pulling Ivanka Trump’s fashion line from its stores, Nordstrom has managed to incur some serious Presidential social-media wrath, via Twitter of course. The Tweeter-In-Chief wrote that his daughter was “treated so unfairly” by the department store and “She is a great person — always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!” Nordstrom argued that the merchandise’s performance wasn’t up to snuff, and that it regularly evaluates the thousands of brands that it carries to decide which ones get the boot and which ones don’t. And Ivanka’s line got it, though the chain had been carrying the line since 2009. Back in November, Nordstrom co-president Pete Nordstrom sent out a company memo explaining that the turmoil surrounding the election is putting the retailer in a “tight spot.” It risks offending Trump-haters for keeping the line, but also risks alienating shoppers who support him. Nordstrom tried to explain that it makes a “sincere effort not to make business decisions based on politics but on performance and results,” but found itself “in a very difficult position.”  That difficult position probably had to do with calls for boycotts of the merchandise, and even the store.  And it’s not like Nordstrom was the only one who took this sort of action. Neiman Marcus Group also stopped selling her jewelry online and in one of its stores in the northeast. Shares of Nordstrom had dropped a smudge 1% following Trump’s tweet. But they quickly bounced back. So maybe the effect of Trump’s fury only goes so far.

That’s gonna come back to haunt you…

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Speaking of which…Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank played nice with Trump so of course, it’s now going to cost him. Literally. During an interview on CNBC’s “Fast Money Halftime Report,” host Scott Wapner asked the athletic apparel chief executive about his involvement in Trump’s initiative to create manufacturing jobs in the United States. Some of the pearls that escaped Plank’s mouth included, “To have such a pro-business president is something that is a real asset for the country…People can really grab that opportunity.” [cue crickets chirping]. Naturally, Under Armour had to issue a statement to clarify Kevin Plank’s remarks – lest anyone think that he really meant what he said, which would lead to a boycott. Except that sort of already happened as “Boycott Under Armour” hashtag made its way into the Twitter-sphere in no time. In the meantime, UA insisted that it engages in “policy, not politics” and Plank’s statements had to do with job creation.  I shall spare you the details of official company statement – you’re welcome! – but rest assured it included all the usual themes about the beauty of unity, diversity, welcoming immigrants etc. The fact is, UA can’t afford any boycotts, whether Plank meant what he said or not. Its shares have been falling lately and in its most recent earnings report, the company missed expectations and forecasted slower growth for 2017.

And here’s one more reason to hate Wells Fargo…

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In case you weren’t incensed enough by Wells Fargo’s fraudulent account scandal, CEO Tim Sloan said that the bank is committed to helping the Dakota Pipeline project. While it would be nice to focus all rage on Wells Fargo, who loaned $120 million toward this project, the fact is the bank is just one of 17 that gave loans to help fund the $3.8 billion project. Obama had initially halted the project, but President Trump swiftly reversed that action and is looking forward to its completion. Come June, the pipeline is expected to ship half a million barrels of crude every day from North Dakota to Illinois. Unfortunately the 1,200 mile pipeline cuts through an Indian reservation with deep cultural significance, and it’s likely the pipeline will incur damage on the site. The pipeline also poses major environmental hazards where it crosses the Missouri River. The Standing Rock Sioux reservation is downstream from the crossing and the pipeline could end up polluting the Tribe’s drinking water. The Seattle Council is doing its part to combat Wells Fargo’s involvement by pulling about $3 billion in city funds.  Seattle has a contract with the bank that expires in 2018, and it most definitely will not be renewed. In the meantime, the council is on the hunt for a more “socially responsible bank.” Good luck with that one.

Under Armour’s Underwhelming Earnings; Trump Tackles Big Pharma Prices; No Easy Riding for Harley These Days

Chink in the armor…

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Under Armour released its quarterly earnings and they were pretty disappointing. Besides the company’s poor performance, it also bummed out Wall Street with a dimmer outlook. Growth for the company had regularly surpassed a 20% rate. But alas, that rate has come to a screeching halt and Under Armor warned us that a more modest growth rate of maybe 12%, with revenues of $5.4 billion, should be expected for 2017. Analysts had been holding their collective breath for a $6.8 billion revenue figure. Oh well. Maybe in 2018. Shares of the athletic apparel company had already taken a 39% beating in the last year. But after unveiling its latest figures, they dropped even more.  CEO Kevin Plank blamed the ever growing nuisance – for him, anyway – of competition. He also admitted that maybe the company should have focused on offering more high-fashion apparel – which seems to be all the rage at the moment – instead of relying on its basics which didn’t perform as hoped. Plank also blamed the slew of retail bankruptcies of brick-and-mortar stores that carried Under Armour merchandise. Unlike Nike and Adidas, who have a lot of their own stores, Under Armour does not and the inability to get merchandise onto shelves definitely took a nasty bite out of the company’s earnings, especially since 85% of Under Armour’s revenue comes from North America. So those closures really hurt. Last but not least, major promotions that took place too early in the holiday season put a crimp in Under Armour’s numbers as well. Profit dipped to $105 million, adding 23 cents per share, when last year it pulled down almost $106 million taking in 25 cents per share. Revenue may have been up 12% to $1.31 billion, but estimates were pegged for $1.41 billion. By the way, in case you weren’t aware, Plank was among the group of business leaders who met with Trump earlier in the month and pledged to bring more jobs to the U.S.

Pill-tastic news…

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Trump held a special meeting today in the Oval Office with eight lucky guests hailing from the big pharmaceutical companies and pharmaceutical industry lobbying firms.  Among the eight attendees were representatives from Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co. and Eli Lilly & Co, which happens to be based out of Vice President Mike Pence’s home state of Indiana.  Trump urged them to move manufacturing stateside and promised to ease regulations for them if they do. Just like with the auto industry, Trump wants to redo trade policies for this industry as well so that foreign countries pony up their fair share of drugs manufactured in the U.S. In true Trump fashion, the President remarked how foreign countries are “freeloading” on the U.S. because they put price limits on what their citizens can be charged for drugs. He also wants to streamline the approval process, boost production and get prices drastically lowered on drugs.  Shares of most of the companies represented at the meeting rallied today. In the meantime, we’re still waiting on Trump’s announcement for his FDA pick. But he promises that it’s someone “fantastic.” Of course it is.

Fast lane to nowhere…

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If you’ve ever thought about purchasing a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, but haven’t quite got around to buying one, now might just be the time. A surplus of 2016 models has got the iconic bike maker placing big discounts on its inventory, hoping to sell them off in order to bring in the new and improved 2017 models. Profit for Harley-Davidson came in at $47.2 million, which was actually 12% higher than last year’s $42.2 million. Too bad it all goes down from there. Sales in the U.S. were down almost 4%, but at least the rest of the world helped offset a bigger loss with a 2.3% increase in international sales. As for 2017, the company is expecting things will stay the same, as in flat. In fact, the company plans on shipping about 20% less than bikes than last year. The motorcycle industry, as a whole, has been experiencing a decline since May. Part of that has to with the fact that Harley’s dedicated fans are getting older and younger riders aren’t cropping up to fill that void. Hence, Harley-Davidson has a plan intended to draw in more potential bikers, or as Harley-Davidson CEO Matt Levatich calls it, “building riders.” With this initiative, he hopes he can attract a new, and highly diverse generation of Hog enthusiasts.

Nike’s Sales Bruised By Yeezy; McDonald’s Gets Busted for Over-Valuing Value-Meal; Lookout! There’s A Lot More Walgreens/RiteAid Coming Your Way

Yeezy breezy…

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Nike’s quarterly profit might be up 7% thanks to strong demand in China and the United States, but that doesn’t mean everything is coming up roses at the athletic apparel company. Fierce competition from Under Armour and Adidas have been hammering away at Nike’s sales, partly because Adidas knocked it out of the park this year, thanks to Kanye West (it’s okay, I cringed too) and his Yeezy line, which saw sales go up 62%. Under Armour’s Stephan Curry’s shoe and apparel line definitely stole plenty of Nike’s mojo too. So Nike has been in quest mode to find all sort of ways to boost sales from, improving online sales features to cutting prices on some of its more popular offerings. One of Nike’s divisions that took a beating this quarter and fell short of expectations was its ever-important basketball division.  Apparently, consumers weren’t feeling the love for LeBron James and Kevin Durant sneakers when they were sporting a $200 price tag. Nike is banking that a $150 price tag will have people biting a little more. The company is also working on a faster supply chain dubbed “express lane” to bring products to market within weeks instead of months. In an effort to set itself apart from the competition, Nike’s come out with self-tying lace-up shoes. If you’re that lazy, they might actually be worth the $720 price tag. Profit from Nike came in at $842 million, with revenue of $8.18 billion and 50 cents added per share. That’s especially good since Nike’s stock has fallen 17% in the last year and Wall Street only expected $8.1 billion and 43 cents per share. Last year at this time the company posted $785 million  in profit and added 45 cents per share.

Un-happy meal…

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McDonald’s is staring at the wrong end of a lawsuit for 41 cents. 41 cents. Turns out the value meal is anything but since it would be 41 cents cheaper to buy the items individually than to buy the bundled package for $5.90 in certain locations. Enter plaintiff James Gertie who discovered this mathematical irregularity at two McDonald’s restaurants in the Chicago area.  The restaurants in question are operated by Karis Management and Gertie wants the suit to get class-action status for consumer fraud and deceptive practices. He says the lawsuit is about principle and is seeking a refund for any customer who purchased the meal at a McDonald’s restaurant operated by Karis. Those 41 cent refunds could add up to a lot of cash as Karis operates ten restaurants in and around Chicago. In the meantime, Karis has yet to comment on the case or the price discrepancy.  As for other McDonald’s all over the world, well, you’re just going to have to do your due diligence to see if their numbers add up or not.

Urge to merge…

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Walgreens Boots Alliance and RiteAid will finally get their way now that they sold off some 865 RiteAid stores to retail chain Fred’s. That’s what the two companies had to in order to appease the Federal Trade Commission so that it could go ahead with its $9.4 billion merger. Together, the new entity will still have over 12,000 locations from which to choose and will effectively become the largest drug store chain in the United States, effectively taking up 46% of the market. Fred’s currently has almost 650 discounted general merchandise stores and is looking to become the third largest drug store chain in the United States.  It’s also trying to reinvent itself by ditching its former name of Fred’s Super Dollar.  Fred’s had to borrow a whopping $1.65 billion in order to get those 865 stores, but it also had to pledge, as collateral, just about everything it has in the form of assets, and maybe even throw in a few bodily organs as well, to secure that loan.  The stores actually cost $950 million but other expenses, operating and otherwise, necessitated the full $1.65 billion. It should prove to be well worth it, however, as the deal will more than double Fred’s size.  Plus, the deal sent shares of Fred’s surging a mind-blowing 85% to $20.75. And who doesn’t like an 85% surge in shares, right?

UnderArmour Gets a Chink; McDonald’s Deserves a Break Today; Rate a Minute! No Hike in Sight

Fit to be bit…

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Under Armour seems to have suffered a chink in its earnings as its profits took a particularly brutal 57% dive. The primary culprit is Sports Authority, a company that is thisclose to becoming retail history, but was also one of Under Armour’s biggest retailers carrying tons of its merchandise. Hence, Under Armour took what’s called an impairment charge, and impairing it was, to the tune of $23 million. Last year at this time, the Maryland-based company hauled in an impressive $14.8 million profit. This year, however, that profit was a very disappointing $6.3 million. On the bright side, Under Armour is headed to Kohl’s 1,100 department stores next year. Apparently, it’s a way to connect with female consumers. Who knew. Under Armour brass think this new foray into Kohl’s will make women’s sales hit the $1 billion mark. Besides, since Nike, Under Armour’s biggest competitor, also happens to have a strong – very strong – presence in Kohl’s,  Under Armour hopes its new endeavor will take a big chunk out of the competition’s sales. But if Under Armour’s numbers still fail to impress next quarter, it might have to do with the exorbitant real estate it just leased in New York City – the renowned FAO Schwarz toy store. The rent on that baby ought to set the company back. But the athletic apparel company is banking heavily that the location location location will more than compensate by bringing in some boffo sales.

Mac-attacks need not apply…

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The Golden Arches seemed to have lost their luster this quarter with worse than expected earnings and profit falling over 9% to $1.1 billion. But how could that be if you and everyone you know was there all the time dining on its delectable all-day breakfast selections? And herein lies the problem. Well, part of it anyway. You see, McDonald’s breakfast offerings skew cheaper than the rest of its menu items. Apparently consumers really like having the option to eat breakfast for lunch…and dinner. And they did. A lot. Instead of the pricier items. Incidentally, Dunkin Brands Group Inc, Starbucks Corp and Wendy’s, to name a few, also reported unsavory earnings and shares of McDonald’s took a nasty tumble, bringing along the rest of the industry with it. It seems McDonald’s menu prices also had a negative impact on earnings. The cost of food went down in grocery stores and because of it, more would-be diners chose to eat at home. The curious thing is that the cost of food also went for McDonald’s, which ought to mean that its selections should have been cheaper, or at any rate, stayed the same price. Except that they didn’t because McDonald’s had to increase menu prices to compensate for increased labor costs.

Fed-up…

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In case you were holding your breath to see if the Fed is going to raise rates, you can let it out now. It won’t. At least not before September. Or maybe even December. Apparently the money experts want hard-core evidence of a pick-up in inflation before the Fed decides to make any changes. The Fed wants to see a 2% inflation rate, which might seem like an incredibly minuscule number, yet it’s one that carries incredible weight.  Then there’s the not-so-slight issue of the relatively healthy U.S. economy in the face of the not-as-healthy global economy. Even as the markets here reached new highs, with a labor market that saw an impressive 287,000 jobs added in June, experts – me not being one, mind you –  expect maybe one rate hike this year. From the Brexit to China and other assorted EU drama coming down the pike, the Fed’s not too eager to put in for any hikes until the rest of world cooperates they way it ought to, fiscally speaking anyway. After tomorrow, the Fed’s got three more meetings this year to decide its next move, so sit tight. Or don’t.

Jeff Bezos Hearts India; Lululemon’s Zen-tastic Earnings; Is Your CEO Listed? You Better Hope So

Next. Big. Thing…

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India is looking very flush these days as Amazon’s Jeff Bezos decided to throw $3 billion at it. That’s in addition to the $2 billion he gave the southeast Asian country back in 2014. He made this announcement at a meeting of business leaders in Washington DC that included Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The reason why Bezos is showing India a lot of fiscal love is that it is Amazon’s fastest growing region, boasting 21 fulfillment centers and 45,000 employees. In other words, the e-commerce giant is banking on the “huge potential in the Indian economy.” Interestingly enough, Amazon can only sell its wares from its website through a third party, as mandated by Indian law. But that hasn’t been much of a problem for the e-tailer, who ironically, never seemed to adapt as easily to the local Chinese marketplace, and continues to struggle there and against the giant we call Alibaba. It’s worth noting that Amazon is not the only game in town, facing fierce competition from local e-commerce businesses, Flipkart and Snapdeal. But Amazon’s not sweating it since according to Morgan Stanley, it is estimated that consumers in India bought $16 billion worth of goods last year, more than $10.3 billion from the previous year. So clearly, there’s plenty of room on the Indian e-commerce playing field.

Lemonade mouth…

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Lululemon beat estimates and even raised its 2016 revenue forecast. So why is its founder and largest shareholder, Chip Wilson, in a snit? He’s probably still licking his executive wounds after being booted from his post for making stupid comments, among other short-comings. In a letter to shareholders last week, the 14.2% stakeholder ripped into the current directors because he feels that they can’t keep up the pace against other athletic apparel companies like Nike and Under Armour, to name a few. Wilson would like it very much if there was an annual election that would make the board of directors accountable for earnings results and, presumably, get him reinstated as CEO. As it stands, the current leadership, helmed by Laurent Potdevin, would probably be delighted to be held accountable for Lululemon’s latest earnings considering how well it performed. Sure, the retailer missed profits by just a penny, falling 5% to $45.3 million, yet still earning 30 cents a share. But shares are still up 27% for the year and the company had strong sales this quarter. It also found a way to control its inventory levels and, in the process, saw its revenue rise 17% to $495.5 million when analysts only thought it would pull down $487.7. So perhaps it’s time for Wilson to keep his thoughts to himself and just enjoy his burgeoning majority stake.

In case you were wondering…

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Glassdoor came out with its latest annual list, this time regaling us with the highest rated CEO’s. Bain & Company’s Bob Becheck tops the list with a 99% approval rating. Employees seemed to appreciate the support they receive from their boss, not to mention the company’s focus on professional development. And who doesn’t mind professional encouragement? But while Becheck scored the number one spot, two other CEO’s also received 99% approval ratings. So congrats to Ultimate Software’s Scott Scherr and McKinsey and Company’s Dominic Barton. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg kept his number 4 ranking from last year, while LinkedIn’s Jeff Weiner took fifth. Larry Page’s replacement at Google, Sundar Pichai, earned a 96% approval rating and the number seven spot, while Apple’s Tim Cook came in 8th, also with a 96% approval rating. Four women paved the way on this list, including Staffmark’s Lesa J. Francis, who took the 28th spot with a 94% approve rating, and Enterprise Holdings’ Pamela M. Nicholson, who graces the list at the number 31 spot, also with a 94% approval rating.

Tesla Execs Make a “Break” For It; Aeropostale is Down and Out, Almost; Two Executives Are So Over Under Armour

Awkward…

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Two major executives at Tesla are making a break for it just as the car company is about to (finally) unveil its Model 3. Today’s departure announcements particularly unnerved Wall Street, sending Tesla’s stock down 4% on the news. One of the departing execs is Greg Reichow, the global VP of productions, who was also one of the highest paid executives in the company, taking home a package reportedly valued at $6.4 million. Reichow, who arrived at Tesla in 2011, will graciously stay on until his replacement is properly ensconced in his or her ergonomically designed executive desk chair. But what’s weird is that Reichow’s departure is being called a leave of absence, a classification that doesn’t typically necessitate successors. Also making a not-so-fond farewell is VP of manufacturing, John Ensign. Apparently the executive exits have to do with delays and other assorted hiccups that have been plaguing Tesla. But that’s not the official word coming out of the company. What is official is that a whopping five vice presidents have left Tesla just this year and mind you, it’s only May. In the meantime, Tesla’s Elon Musk is calling these exits a “well earned break.” Hmmm. Not the way I would have phrased it.

Market slap…

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Malls all over the United States and Canada are about to lose a neighbor. Aeropostale, purveyor of apparel that appealed primarily to teenagers, is closing over 100 of its stores for being not profitable. In fact, those stores were so not profitable that the company lost $17 million from them just in 2015. But at least the company expects to make $21 million in revenue from liquidation, which should last from six to eight weeks. No worries if you miss your Aeropostale location as there will still be over 600 left from which to shop. Just don’t bother shopping in Alaska, or Hawaii, or Times Square in New York, or…well, you might want to check before you head out to see if your preferred Aeropostale location is still standing. It may be hard to believe now, but once upon a time, Aeropostale’s market cap was worth $2.6 billion, with shares above $30. Those days, however, are long gone as its market cap might be scratching at $2 million and the stock has been delisted from the New York Stock Exchange after trading under 3 cents this week.

A chink in the armor…

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Under Armour has its own share of departures, bidding a (fond?) farewell to Chief Merchandising Officer, Henry Stafford, and Chief Digital Officer Robin Thurston. The company, who has endorsement deals with NBA’s Stephen Curry and golfer Jordan Spieth, generated $4 billion in sales last year, yet news of these departures spooked investors enough to send the stock down 6%. After all, a Chief Merchandising Officer’s role is integral to a brand that sells footwear and apparel considering their vision sets the look and feel. No minor details. Apparel, by the way, is Under Armour’s largest category. Just saying. Thurston had been with the company since 2013, when the company he co-founded, MapMyFitness, was acquired by Under Armour to the tune of $150 million. The company says that it’s just a coincidence that the two executives are making a break for it at the same time, at least that’s what a company memo said. But it’s a good thing that those two executives also have non-compete clauses in their contracts because it would be kind of awkward if they found themselves working for the competition. Well, awkward for Under Armour, I suppose.

How to Own a Piece of Ferrari; Unemployment’s Groovy Historic Lows; Under Armour Wants to Score with Basketball

Bellisimo…

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If you’re among the millions who fantasize about owning an Italian automotive masterpiece, you might just get your chance. Sort of. Ferrari just filed the paperwork for an IPO to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Even though 90% of the luxury car company has been owned by FiatChrysler (FCA) since 1988, the company plans to spin off Ferrari into its very own company, in an effort to raise about $5 billion and cut some debt. No actual figures were given as to how many shares are going to be offered, however 10% will be up for grabs by the public, with another 10% going to the Ferrari family and the rest of the 80% to be given to FCA shareholders.  You might have to wait a bit for the big Wall Street debut as it isn’t expected to happen until later in the year or even 2016. The spin-off, while making the business domicile in the Netherlands, will still remain headquartered in its home country of Italy. The company, which is currently valued at about $11 billion, pulled in $3 billion for 2014 on 7,255 cars. Go ahead and do the math on that one. Ferrari takes great pride in employing a “low volume production strategy” meaning the company doesn’t make too many machines because it likes that there’s a certain exclusivity to the automobile. That pretty much explains why people typically drool when they see one on the streets. Just maybe not so much in the Middle East, Europe and Africa from where 50% of Ferrari’s sales come.

How low can you go?

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The economy has been giving us a lot of interesting numbers in the last few months but this one takes the fiscal cake. It turns out that the number of American filing first-time unemployment claims has hit a 42 year low. Indeed, the rate of first-time applicants hasn’t been this low 1973, falling 26,000 to 255,000, when bell-bottoms were trending, and the word “trending” was decades off from even being coined. FYI, economists didn’t see this one coming. I mean, sure they forecasted a dip, but this would constitute more of a drop…off a cliff.  To put things in perspective, at the height of our most recent fiscal crisis, 600,000 people a week were filing jobless claims each week. Unemployment is also hovering at a seven year low of 5.3% and the economy added 3 million jobs in the last twelve months. And while we had a bit of an ugly unemployment claim number last week, that was primarily because of some auto plant shutdowns and therefore not accurate data. Now, I hate to be a downer but, part of the reason why that unemployment number is so darn low has to do with the fact that plenty of unemployed Americans have thrown up their hands in defeat and given up their job search.

A-Game?

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Fitness clothing brand Under Armour is looking to score on the basketball court and hoping to unseat Nike in the process.  Analysts are totally digging the idea too. They figure if Under Armour can gain some major traction in that arena, it’ll give them a real sense of how far the brand can go. It certainly helps that NBA superstar Stephen Curry wore Under Armour kicks en route to the championships and now graces the Under Armour campaign together with his sneaks – the Curry One. But the challenge is great, seeing as how Nike’s got about 90% of the basketball shoe market. As for the athletic apparel makers earnings, Under Armour’s revenue jumped 29% to $783.6 million. Interestingly enough, profits took a 16% to just under $15 million all because of its purchases of some fitness apps earlier in the year.

Gap Tries to Bridge Its Sales Gap; Under Armour CEO Lofty Leadership Plans; Fitbit Not So Bitty Ticker Plans

Big Gap-ing hole…

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Gap Inc. finally realized that its brand just isn’t what it used to be and has decided to shutter about 175 of its 675 specialty stores. What once might have been considered the Generation X go to wardrobe supplier, has now become passé to the millennials, many of whom, ironically, are employed by the Gap. Millennials have been opting to shop at “fast” brands like Zara, H&M and Forever 21, leaving the Gap holding the empty shopping bag of fiscal anguish. And not to be a downer, but when I browsed through a Gap last week, I wasn’t exactly swooning over the merchandise which the store was practically giving away. Shoppers are doing a lot more of their shopping online so there was no great pay-off in having so many stores open anyways. About 250 employees over at Gap headquarters in San Francisco are also set to lose their jobs and all these cuts are expected to cost between $140 – $160 million.

So classy…

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Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank has big plans to lead the company he founded for many many years. Good thing he figured out way to do just that – by offering up more shares to investors. Of course, these aren’t your regular average shares. These shares do carry all the rights and privileges that come with owning a company stock – but with one itty bitty difference: the shares carry no voting power.  The company already has class A shares and class B shares. With class A shares, a shareholder gets one vote per share, while class B shares get ten votes per share owned. In case you haven’t figured it out, Kevin Plank holds most of those shares giving him lots of control. But, the board of directors had no problem with Kevin Plank’s class-y plan, unanimously passing it through. And why should the board take issue with it? Under Plank’s guidance, he led the company to a $17 billion valuation. The problem, however, that everybody seems to be wondering about, is what happens if Kevin Plank begins to under-perform?

Speaking of class-y shares…

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Fitbit is getting pumped up to make its big ticker debut on Thursday and gearing up to offer 34.5 million class A shares which are set to go for between $17 – $19 a pop. That’s a bit higher than the $14 – $16 range it was going for a few weeks back.  That means the company, famous for its wearable fitness tracker,  could end up with a potential valuation of almost $4 billion.  And while you may bemoan the thought of exercise, there are a lot you out there who are eager to get fit, as evidenced by the $745 million in revenue Fitbit pulled down last year, earning a $100 million profit with that. Of course there’s still a lot of competition out there when it comes to wearable fitness trackers which has investors pondering just how Fitbit is going to set itself apart from the pack. Then there’s that other slight problem where users decide to ditch their trackers after just a few months. But hey, it’s only money, right?