The luxury goods market appears not to be affected by recession fears as brands report better-than-expected earnings. French luxury goods maker Hermès International reported a 24% increase in sales to €3.14B ($3.07B) for the July to September quarter. Hermes also announced plans to increase its prices by 5% to 10%. More: - Kering SA, which owns Gucci, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, and Alexander McQueen, posted €5.14B ($5B) in sales, up 14% YoY.
- Kering raised prices twice at Gucci and some of its other brands in 2020 and 2021.
- Last week, Louis Vuitton’s parent, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, reported €56.6B ($55.8B) in revenue for the first nine months of 2022, up 28% YoY.
- Organic revenue growth was 20%.
- Hermès, Kering, and LVMH do not report profits for the third quarter.
- Hermès CFO Eric du Halgouët told reporters that the company doesn’t see any sign of a slowdown in the luxury goods market.
| |
Specialist law firm Hausfeld plans to file a $1B class action lawsuit against Amazon for allegedly causing customers to pay more for products on its e-commerce platform. The firm accuses Amazon of using a secretive algorithm that directs customers to its featured products, which hides cheaper products and better deals from customers. More: - The firm said Amazon exploits its “Buy Box” to steer users to its own products and products from third-party retailers who use Amazon’s order fulfillment and delivery services.
- Amazon’s Buy Box features products that allow customers to use the one-click feature to “Buy Now” or “Add to Basket.”
- Hausfeld claims Amazon uses a secretive and self-favoring algorithm to ensure that the Buy Box area nearly always features goods sold directly by Amazon or by third-party retailers who pay massive storage and delivery fees to Amazon.
- According to Hausfeld, about 80% to 92% of Amazon purchases are made on its Buy Box tool.
- U.K. residents who made purchases on Amazon from October 2016 to date fall under the claimant class.
| |
Verizon released its Q3 earnings on Friday, reporting a 23% drop in profits. The telecommunications giant said it lost 189,000 monthly bill-paying phone subscribers in its consumer business in Q3 following a price increase in June. More: - CFO Matt Ellis warned that the decline in subscribers could continue into Q4.
- The company added only 8,000 new monthly bill-paying mobile phone subscribers in the quarter; analysts expected around 35,000.
- Verizon earned $34.2B in revenue, up 4% YoY.
- Net income came in at $5B, or $1.17 per share, down 23.3% YoY.
- Verizon shares fell more than 5% during morning trading on Friday. It closed at $35.35, down ~4.5% for the day.
| |
The PGA Tour filed a lawsuit against LIV Golf’s main investor, the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF), to force evidence discovery as both professional golf organizations file lawsuits against each other. The PGA has asked a U.S. federal judge to compel PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan to be deposed. More: - The PGA filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeking documents related to LIV’s formation and operations.
- According to sources, LIV had initially agreed to cooperate with the discovery; however, the league later refused, claiming it isn’t required to comply with the requests because it’s not a U.S. citizen.
- LIV has sued the PGA Tour accusing the organization of anti-competitive practices for banning its players from participating in LIV’s tournament.
- The PGA and LIV have made recent trips to Washington, D.C., to lobby against each other.
| |
The IRS has increased the employee contribution limit for 401(k) plans from $20,500 to $22,500 starting in 2023. The agency released several inflation adjustments for 2023, including higher income tax brackets, increased standard deductions, larger estate tax exclusions, and larger income brackets for capital gains. More: - The IRS also increased the catch-up contributions for individuals aged 50 years and above from $6,500 to $7,500.
- The increases also apply to 403 (b) plans, most 457 plans, and Thrift Savings Plans.
- According to benefits provider Milliman, this is the largest cap increase in terms of dollars and percentage.
- The IRS hasn’t changed the limit since 2019.
- The IRS increased the limit for special after-tax contributions and for self-employed individuals who have individual 401(k)s or SEP retirement plans, bringing the total plan contribution limit to $66,000, a $5,000 increase.
| |
San Francisco-based startup Terawatt Infrastructure announced it is building the first network of EV charging stations for heavy-duty and medium-duty semi-trucks. The charging stations will be along Interstate 10 from California to Texas. The facilities will be spread about 150 miles apart. More: - The facilities will be located less than one mile from the nearest highway exits across California, Arizona, and New Mexico.
- Terawatt said the first locations will be available starting in 2023 and will include dozens of direct-current fast chargers, pull-through charging stalls, and on-site driver amenities for long-haul and local electric-trucking operations.
- The move comes months after the Biden Administration rolled out a plan to allocate $5B to states to help fund EV chargers along interstate highways as part of the bipartisan infrastructure package.
- Last month, the Transportation Department approved EV-charging station plans for all 50 states plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.
- The Biden Administration hopes for roughly half of all new vehicle sales to be EVs by 2030.
| |
Quick Hits - You might have an amazing product and team, but you'll struggle with your next funding round if you're weak on this one metric.*
- The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol has issued a subpoena to former President Donald Trump. The committee voted unanimously on the move. The subpoena requires Trump to turn over documents by Nov. 4 and appear for a deposition on Nov. 14.
- Pfizer plans to quadruple the price of its COVID-19 vaccine to $110-$130 per dose after the U.S. government's current purchase program expires. The U.S. government currently pays about $30 per dose for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
- The U.S. Treasury reported its fiscal 2022 budget deficit dropped by 50%, or $1.4T, compared to last year thanks to the reduction in COVID-19 relief spending and record revenues driven by a growing economy.
- Apple's vice president of industrial design, Evans Hankey, is leaving the company. Hankey succeeded former Apple design chief Jony Ive three years ago when he left the iPhone maker to start his own independent firm.
- Unlock profitable growth. See how Northbeam is helping marketers discover the true impact of their marketing spend.*
*This is a sponsored post.
| |
Upcoming Events - October 25 - Learn how leaders from Slack, Shopify, and Stripe are improving developer productivity, workflow, and collaboration in their engineering orgs. (Register Here) *
- October 25 - Meet Our Fund 4, an Inside.com Summit (Register Here)
- November 02 - AMA with Bill Glenn (Executive Chairman at Crenshaw Associates) (Register Here)
- November 09 - Synthetic data for more efficient, robust and ethical model development - Live AMA with Yashar Behzadi (CEO and Founder of Synthesis AI)* (Register Here)
- December 07 - Live AMA with Deividi Silva ( Head of Developer Relations at Gun.io) (Register Here)
*This is a sponsored listing.
| |
 |  | Vanessa Omeokachie is a writer for Inside.com; she writes the daily Inside Business newsletter. Her interests include finance, technology, and entrepreneurship. In her free time, she enjoys reading, hiking, attending concerts and music festivals, traveling, and exploring. Connect with her on Twitter @VanessaOmeo or on LinkedIn. |   | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 and 1972 Fords. | |
