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| Here’s your daily business briefing. - 🛠️ Home Depot posts profit gain, but sales slip
- 🔌 Deep Dive: EV makers offer deals to boost sales
- 👔 CEOs and CMOs at odds, study finds
Make sure to continue reading the Quarterly Earnings Report and the Quick Hits. Thank you!! Shriram
p/Shriram | |
| 1 | | Home Depot outperformed expectations in its fiscal Q3, with earnings per share at $3.81, exceeding the anticipated $3.76, and revenue reaching $37.7B, slightly surpassing the expected $37.6B. Despite a 3% decline in quarterly sales from the previous year, which still exceeded Wall Street expectations, the company adjusted its full-year outlook, projecting a 3% to 4% decline in sales and an expected 9% to 11% decrease in earnings per share. More: - Richard McPhail, the chief financial officer, noted a period of restraint in home improvement, with consumers choosing smaller projects and maintenance.
- The third quarter's net income decreased from $4.34B, or $4.24 per share, a year earlier to $3.81B, or $3.81 per share.
- For the fourth quarter in a row, comparable sales decreased 3.1% YoY.
- Home Depot, valued at over $288B, saw its stock close at $288.07, marking a nearly 9% decrease from its opening price this year; however, the stock gained about 6% following the news.
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| 2 | | 
What the numbers say: EV sales in the U.S. have decelerated, prompting car manufacturers and dealers to offer substantial discounts to clear unsold inventory. Some automakers, including Tesla, are providing cash rebates as high as $7,500, resulting in EV shoppers paying an average of $2,000 less than the sticker price in September 2023, contributing to an extended sales duration compared to traditional vehicles. Relevance: The deceleration in EV sales suggests a maturing market, prompting consumers to become more price-sensitive. Automakers, under pressure to stay competitive, are expected to continue discounting EV prices, mainly through lease offers. More data: While EV sales in the U.S. continue to grow, the pace has slowed compared to recent years. Although EVs are still pricier than gasoline-powered vehicles, the narrowing price gap, ongoing technological improvements, and decreasing battery costs suggest a promising future, making EVs more affordable and famous in the coming years. | | | |
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| 3 | | A McKinsey survey highlights a widening gap between CEOs and CMOs in their perspectives on the understanding and effectiveness of marketing roles. While 90% of CEOs believe the marketing role is clearly defined in their companies, only 22% of CMOs share the same perspective, with communication challenges playing a role in the divergence. More: - According to the Forrester survey in May, 75% of CMOs and 97% of CEOs believe their organizations satisfy their clients' needs.
- Of CMOs, only 58% concur that their companies' strategies are customer-driven, despite 90% of CEOs saying as much.
- The connection between CEOs and CMOs has become more complex due to the proliferation of titles closely related to marketing, such as chief growth officer and chief digital officer.
- Of CEOs surveyed by McKinsey, just 50% could correctly identify the primary duties of their marketing departments.
- Furthermore, the study found that CEOs who have never worked in marketing can find it challenging to comprehend the significance of content marketing, TikTok, and data-driven strategies.
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| 4 | | Retailers like Booths, Walmart, Costco, and Wegmans are reconsidering their approach to self-checkout. Booths, a British supermarket chain, is eliminating self-checkout stations in 26 of its 28 stores due to customer dissatisfaction, while Walmart has removed such machines in some New Mexico stores, and Costco plans to address the increased shrink linked to self-checkout by adding more staff. More: - According to a survey, businesses that used apps and self-checkout lanes saw a loss rate of roughly 4%, more than twice the industry average.
- Shops that use self-checkout rather than human cashiers report more significant merchandise losses due to customer error and deliberate stealing.
- Obstacles include consumers taking advantage of inadequate supervision for theft, misidentifying produce, and barcode problems.
- A few retailers are trying to solve these issues and enhance the shopping experience for their customers by staffing their cash registers with more employees.
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| 6 | | Richemont, the owner of Cartier, cites economic concerns and global tensions as factors impacting consumer spending, leading to a 6% decline in its shares as first-half profits fall short of forecasts. The luxury group also notes a slowdown in constant currency sales growth, easing to a 5% rate from July to September, down from a 19% increase from April to June. More: - Rival French company LVMH also revealed a decline in the market for luxury products in Europe and the U.S.
- The chairman of Richemont, Johann Rupert, attributes the gloom to geopolitical concerns, inflation, and slower economic development.
- A real estate crisis and historically high youth unemployment rates have made Chinese consumers, who account for 30% of Richemont's sales, more circumspect.
- With a profit of $1.64B, less than the projected $2.35B, sales for the six months ended in September came in at $11.11B, less than the predicted $11.24B.
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- General Atlantic is set to take control of Joe & the Juice, a trendy high-street chain known for its smoothies and sandwiches, in a deal that could value the cafe brand at approximately $600M.
- Alibaba Group, China's leading e-commerce company, reported YoY growth during this year's Singles Day sales period, which concluded at midnight on Saturday, while competitor JD.com recorded record-high sales volumes.
- Shoprite, South Africa's largest supermarket group, reported a 13.2% increase in first-quarter sales, driven by the opening of 81 new stores and ongoing market share expansion.
- Nepal has opted to prohibit TikTok, citing concerns that the widely used short video platform is causing disruptions to social structures in the South Asian nation, according to government officials.
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Term of the Day Keyword stuffing: Keyword stuffing involves the inclusion of keywords into a website’s content unnaturally or repetitively to manipulate search engine algorithms. Question of the Week What perks would convince you to return to the office? Join the conversation |
 | Freelance Writer | | Shriram is pursuing Master’s in Business with Marketing at Warwick Business School. He worked as a Senior Consultant in Tech and Political Consultancies before his Masters. He is passionate about Tech, Marketing, Strategy, Anthropology and Politics. He is also the Postgraduate Ambassador for Warwick Business School. | | This newsletter was edited by Aaron Crutchfield | |
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