Stripe plans to go public or make a deal that would allow its employees to sell their shares in a private-market transaction within the next year. The company has scheduled an all-hands meeting for Friday to discuss the options and has hired Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan to advise it on both options. More: - According to sources, the move is because some of Stripe’s early employees hold RSUs that are set to expire soon, meaning they could lose a large part of their compensation if the company doesn’t act.
- Stripe was last valued at $95B in March 2021 following a Series H $600M funding round.
- The company cut its valuation by a third as the tech market took a turn last year, implying a $63B valuation.
- In November, Stripe laid off 14% of its workforce, or about 1,120 people, saying it overhired during the pandemic-driven surge in e-commerce.
- According to Crunchbase, the 13-year-old payments company has raised about $2.2B; investors include Sequoia, Founders Fund, Andreessen Horowitz, and General Catalyst.
- Stripe is expected to raise new capital privately versus pushing for an IPO.
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Tesla released its Q4 and full-year 2022 earnings after market close on Wednesday, posting its largest revenue and profit to date. The EV maker beat expectations across the board, reporting Q4 total revenue of $24.32B, up 37% YoY. Automotive revenue was $21.31B, up 33% YoY, of which $467M were regulatory credits, up 49% YoY. Automotive gross margin was 25.9%. More: - Full-year total revenue came in at $81.46B, up 51% YoY.
- Full-year automotive revenue was $71.46B, up 51% YoY.
- Tesla reported Q4 GAAP net income of $3.69B, or $1.07 per share, up 59% YoY.
- Full-year GAAP net income was $12.56B, or $3.62 per share, up 128% YoY.
- During the company’s earnings call on Wednesday, CEO Elon Musk said the company could produce up to 2 million cars this year, barring any unforeseen major events or supply chain issues.
- Musk reiterated that Tesla could become the most valuable company in the world, noting the company’s “exciting product road map.”
- In December, the company discounted the price of its Model 3 and Model Y vehicles by about $7,500 and offered 10,000 miles worth of free charging at Tesla Supercharger stations.
- When asked about demand for Tesla vehicles, Musk said the company is currently seeing orders almost twice the rate of production.
- On Tuesday, Tesla said it would invest more than $3.6B to expand its plant near Reno. Nevada.
- Tesla shares jumped more than 5% in extended trading on Wednesday; it closed at $160.27 on Thursday, up nearly 11%.
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U.S. GDP grew 2.9% in Q4 2022 compared to the prior year but slowed down from the 3.2% growth reported in Q3. Consumer spending, which makes up a significant part of the U.S. GDP, slowed but remained positive, rising 2.1%, down from 2.3% reported in the previous quarter. More: - Federal spending rose 6.2%, and state and local spending rose 2.3%.
- Government spending makes up about 0.64% of GDP.
- Business investment rose 0.7% as companies cut back on spending.
- Residential fixed investment fell 26.7%, and exports fell 1.3%.
- Despite growing concerns about the U.S. economy going into recession, it has remained resilient, though it is showing signs of slowed growth.
- The Fed is expected to announce a lower rate increase at their scheduled meeting next week.
- U.S. inflation fell to 6.5% in December from 7.1% reported in November.
- Jobless claims fell 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 186,000 for the week ended Jan. 21.
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Southwest Airlines reported a $220M loss, or 37 cents a share, for its Q4 earnings following the collapse of its systems over the holidays. The airline posted a profit of $514M in Q4 2021. Southwest generated record revenue of $6.2B in Q4, up 22% from last year and ~8% from 2019. More: - Full-year 2022 revenue was $23.8B, another record, up 6.2% from 2019.
- Full-year net income came in at $539M or 87 cents per share.
- The airline canceled more than 17,000 flights from late December into early January and took an $800M hit from the mass cancellations.
- Southwest canceled about 16,700 from Dec. 21 through Dec. 31.
- The U.S. Department of Transportation is investigating Southwest over the system's failure.
- Southwest said it has seen an increase in flight cancellations and slowed bookings for January and February travel, for which it faults the disruptions in December.
- The airline noted that bookings trends for March look positive.
- The airline expects Q1 2023 revenue to increase by 20% to 24% compared to Q1 2022, with a 10% increase in capacity.
- Southwest shares were down nearly 4% during afternoon trading on Thursday.
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India’s Adani Group has denied fraud allegations levied against it by short-seller Hindenburg Research, calling the report baseless and threatening legal action against the investment research firm. On Tuesday, Hindenburg Research published a 106-page report claiming Adani Group, led by Gautam Adani, India’s richest man, is pulling the largest con in corporate history. More: - Following the report, Adani Group’s seven listed companies lost more than $10B in market value.
- The prices of U.S. dollar bonds issued by some of the companies also declined.
- The report accuses the Indian conglomerate of various acts of fraud, including stock manipulation and accounting fraud, that spans decades.
- Adani Group has dismissed the report, calling it maliciously mischievous and unresearched, and said it is exploring legal action.
- Hindenburg Research, in a post on Twitter, said it would welcome legal action from Adani.
- The research firm claims it spent two years investigating the company and has asked Adani 88 questions regarding its business, but the company has not answered any.
- Gautam Adani’s business empire spans several business sectors in India, including energy, real estate, agribusiness, and defense.
- He has a net worth of about $113.4B.
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Bed Bath & Beyond shares dropped more than 22% on Thursday after the retailer said it didn't have enough cash to pay down its debts and has defaulted on its credit lines. BB&B said it received a notice from JPMorgan on Wednesday asking for immediate repayment of all its outstanding loans owned to the bank. More: - Earlier this month, BB&B warned it was running out of cash and was exploring various strategic options, including filing for bankruptcy.
- As of November, the company had $154M in cash and cash equivalents.
- BB&B has $550M in loans outstanding from banks led by JPMorgan and $375M from a facility provided by Sixth Street Partners.
- BB&B suffered multiple losses as sales dropped from a failed turnaround strategy where it swapped out name brands like KitchenAid and Calphalon for private-label goods.
- The company also had trouble stocking its shelves after falling behind on suppliers' payments.
- BB&B posted a net loss of $1.12B for the nine months that ended Nov. 26.
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Quick Hits - We know that talent development is a major challenge. So we made a planner to lend a helping hand!*
- Tyson Foods CFO John Randal Tyson pleaded guilty to public intoxication and trespassing charges and agreed to pay the $150 fine for each. Tyson was arrested in November when he wandered into another person's home and fell asleep.
- Meta plans to reinstate Donald Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts. Trump's accounts were suspended two years ago after his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol.
- Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda is stepping down from the role and transitioning to the position of chairman in April. The company's chief branding officer, Koji Sato, will succeed Toyoda as CEO.
- E-cigarette maker Juul Labs is in talks with Philip Morris, Japan Tobacco, and Altria about a potential sale, investment, or partnership.
- Chipotle plans to hire 15,000 restaurant workers ahead of its busiest season, March to May, to support its "aggressive growth plans."
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- January 29 - Inside Interview with Lacework - 4 Common Attack Paths in Cloud Security (Register Here)
- January 30 - Inside Coffee Break (Register Here)
- January 31 - Inside Startups Coffee Break (Register Here)
- April 18 - Human Resources Summit'23 (Register Here)
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 |  | 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. | |
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