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| 1 | | Goldman Sachs is looking to save up to $600M by laying off more employees in the upcoming weeks and months. The investment bank says rising interest rates have dampened merger activity, causing the company to reassess in the current marketplace. More: - President John Waldron said at an investment conference on Thursday that the company is "preparing for a tougher environment" and that the company is "running the firm tighter."
- "Activity levels are definitely more muted. That's kind of what we expected. We are now embarking upon additional targeted actions with our headcount," said Waldron.
- Goldman reported it is weighing job cuts of under 250, primarily at the managing director level.
- Goldman's investment banking business saw its revenue fall in the first quarter of 2023 by 26%.
- The bank's earnings from equities and fixed-income trading are tracking down near 25%, according to Waldron.
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What the numbers say: Macy's has seen its stock price drop over the past two years. Against a tougher landscape for retail chains, Macy's stock price has dropped to under $14 for the first time since early 2021. It is hard to imagine that it will rebound and reach pre-pandemic levels that it previously held. Relevance: Macy's cut its full-year forecast on sales and profits as slowing demand for apparel and accessories has hit the department store hard. The Chief Executive, Jeff Gennette, said that sales trends began to weaken in March. The chain will begin to up its promotional sales to clear out spring inventory before it adjusts its merchandising plans moving forward. Other trends: Inflation has affected consumer spending, with shoppers prioritizing bargains and food over apparel and accessories. Walmart and BJ's saw strong gains from a year ago. Companies like Dollar General were similar to Macy's and lowered financial targets. | | | |
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| 3 | | In helping Ukraine with its war against Russia, the Pentagon announced that it would purchase satellite internet terminals from SpaceX so it could use Starlink in the region. No contract details were given, but Starlink terminals have been in Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict. More: - The terminals will likely be purchased under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which was announced in December.
- SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, has had terminals in place since early on, and U.S. officials have praised Starlink for helping keep civilians connected with crucial communications during the war.
- In October, Musk tweeted that SpaceX wouldn't be able to keep Starlink up and running on its own in Ukraine for much longer.
- "We continue to work with a range of global partners to ensure Ukraine has the resilient satellite and communication capabilities they need," the Pentagon said in a statement Thursday. "Satellite communications constitute a vital layer in Ukraine's overall communications network, and the department contracts with Starlink for services of this type."
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| 4 | | GetYourGuide, a German online travel startup that rivals TripAdvisor, raised $194M from investors to capitalize on summer travel plans and further expand in the U.S. The company announced Thursday it had raised the money through equity and debt, with Blue Pool Capital leading $85M of the equity investment. More: - The investment values the company at $2B, up from the last publicly-disclosed valuation of $1.4B.
- Existing investors KKR and Temasek upped their investments for this round.
- Total investment in GetYourGuide, including equity and debt, stands at slightly over $1B.
- GetYourGuide highlights experiences for users and activities for them to enjoy in a particular area rather than selling hotel rooms, flights, and transportation.
- The company has bounced back since the COVID-19 pandemic, where it saw its revenues flatline.
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| 5 | | Amazon is paying a civil penalty of $25M to settle federal charges of collecting sensitive information from children. The tech conglomerate has stored information such as precise locations and children's voice recordings, violating a children's online privacy law. More: - The recordings have been saved for years, with no signs of deleting them.
- The case was brought by the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department and focused on Amazon's handling of personal information it collected from children with Alexa, the voice-activated assistant.
- Regulators, in a complaint filed in Washington, claimed Amazon was using children's information for training its algorithm to understand them, which violates the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.
- The law requires online services to obtain parental consent before collecting information from a child younger than the age of 13.
- Under the settlement, Amazon would be required to delete children's voice recordings and precise location data while deleting inactive Alexa accounts belonging to children.
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| 6 | | Media stocks saw sharp declines in May, as poor earnings reports and the ongoing writers' strike is hurting the industry. More challenges may lie ahead, especially the longer the writers' strike goes on. More: - Paramount, Disney, and Warner Bros. Discovery all saw double-digit declines in stocks over the past month. They fell roughly 32%, 14%, and 17%, respectively.
- Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal, saw its stock price fall 6% over May.
- Netflix, thanks to its crackdown on password sharing, saw a 20% gain, as revenue will be driven by people having to sign up for their own accounts.
- Netflix also released positive data surrounding its ad-supported tier, which is another money maker for the streamer.
- Disney saw its biggest decline in the past six months but will aim to bundle Hulu and Disney+ together in the near future, simplifying the app experience.
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- The Supreme Court ruled that lawsuits claiming Safeway and Supervalu defrauded the government by claiming Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements for more than they charged patients could continue.
- Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said he will keep the chamber in session until the debt ceiling bill is approved.
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 | Freelance Editor | | Christopher Hachey is a freelance writer and editor based in the New York City area. He has spent most of the past 15 years in newsrooms covering all kinds of topics like sports, tech, business, finance, and commerce. He's now returning to his broadcast journalism roots by diving into podcasting news. Reach out to him at chris@inside.com | | This newsletter was edited by Aaron Crutchfield | |
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