Top Stories Thursday, June 22: Intel Voices Plans To Restructure Manufacturing Business, Bumble's BFF App, Spirit AeroSystems To Stop Work At Kansas Plant Amid Workers Strike - Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Accenture (NYSE:ACN)

Reuters

Intel Corp INTC has had an eventful week so far, enlightening investors with significant turnaround updates.
On Wednesday, the company voiced plans to restructure its manufacturing business, likely to work like a separate unit and begin to generate a margin.
The chipmaker neither disclosed any timeline for the restructuring nor named a new external customer for the business as part of its foundry services.

Airbus SE EADSY reportedly plans to control the costs of its loss-making A220 jet while supporting its supply chain.
The company is trying to reduce the production costs of its smallest jet but is grappling with pricing pressure from suppliers in the broader industry.
The latest news follows Boeing Co BA CEO Dave Calhoun's recent statement at the Bernstein conference, where he reportedly said that the company's progress on resolving supply chain problems has been "frustratingly slow."

The EU's drugs watchdog, the European Medicines Agency, recently raised a thyroid cancer safety signal for Novo Nordisk A/S NVO drugs, including the much talked semaglutide used in Ozempic and Wegovy for weight loss.
The safety signal indicates the EMA's monitoring of potential adverse events related to approved drugs but does not establish causation between the medicine and reported adverse events.

Benzinga

In response to the strike decision by Spirit AeroSystems employees represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace (IAM) Workers, factory production will be suspended before the contract expires.
Spirit AeroSystems Inc is a subsidiary of Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc SPR.
The plant produces 70% of Boeing Co's BA narrow-body aircraft and defense and business jet structures.

Accenture Plc ACN shares are trading lower Thursday after it reported third-quarter results.
The company reported third-quarter FY23 revenue growth of 3% year-over-year to $16.57 billion, marginally beating the consensus of $16.56 billion.
New bookings increased by 2% Y/Y to $17.2 billion. Consulting revenues decreased by 4% Y/Y to $8.69 billion, and Managed Services revenues increased by 10% Y/Y to $7.87 billion.
Adjusted EPS of $3.19 beat the consensus of $3.04. Adjusted operating margin was 16.3%, an expansion of 20 bps. The gross margin expanded by 50 bps to 33.4%.

Lordstown Motors Corp RIDE shares are trading higher after founder Steve Burns relinquished his remaining stake in the company.
The former CEO offloaded 581,000 shares on May 23 for an average price of 27 cents apiece, just before the startup executed a reverse stock split.
He sold another 200,000 shares for $3.74 each on May 24 and his remaining 591,752 shares for $4.99 on June 16.
Burns, who resigned as CEO in 2021 after the board found proof of inaccurate preorder statements, has sold about $66 million of stock through mid-June.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted in favor of recommending the use of RSV vaccines from Pfizer Inc PFE and GSK plc GSK for older adults.
The panel didn't go so far as to recommend it for everyone in the age group, citing that patients should first talk to their doctor, partly because the studies didn't enroll many people at the highest risk for severe disease.

Wall Street Journal

Activist Investor Pressures NRG Energy To Change CEO

NRG Energy Inc NRG is facing pressure from the activist investor Elliott Investment Management for expelling its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mauricio Gutierrez.
Elliott is reportedly talking to potential candidates for replacing NRG CEO and other top executives.
Last month, Elliott acquired a 13% economic interest (around $1 billion) in the company and stated its motive to restructure the board and initiate cost-saving measures and a strategic review of Vivint, the home services unit of the company.

SCMP

A day after its major management overhaul, Alibaba Group Holding Limited BABA President Chen Long emphasized the growing importance of small businesses and merchants.
He advocated a strategic business pivot formed by its founder Jack Ma.
Long reminded Alibaba's continued focus on small business as the backbone of its platform amid China's consumption slowdown on the sidelines of the Luohan Academy digital economy conference.

Bloomberg

Amazon.Com Inc AMZN and several other techs "heavyweights" weighed a bid worth 800p per share for Ocado Group PLC OCDDY OCDGF.
Ocado builds robots and software that help deliver groceries online.
"A deeper consideration of the strategic logic and the actual likelihood of an official takeover approach will have to wait for more details," Bloomberg cites Jefferies analyst Giles Thorne.
Jefferies has had a hold recommendation on Ocado since at least December 2021.

JP Morgan Chase & Co JPM anointed Teresa Heitsenrether as head of a new data and analytics unit under its critical artificial intelligence push.
The appointment is effective immediately, Bloomberg cites an internal memo Wednesday from CEO Jamie Dimon and President Daniel Pinto.
Heitsenrether, who has been at JPMorgan for over 30 years, will continue to report to Pinto.

Washinton Post

On Wednesday, Apple Inc AAPL said it had fixed two new security faults in its iPhones and iPads that helped compromise thousands of devices in Russia.
Apple credited researchers from Russian security software maker Kaspersky Lab for discovering the glitches.
Apple said the fixes would protect iPhones running iOS 15.7 or earlier versions, which became outdated in September. More recent operating system versions had other improvements that made them impervious to the attacks.

TechCrunch

Dating app Bumble Inc BMBL said it is testing a separate BFF app in select markets aimed at people "looking for friend finding without being on a dating app."
It plans to release this app in the U.S. in 2023.
Separate reports suggested Bumble trialing a new app in select geographies.
The free app has premium subscriptions for a week, three months, six months, and a lifetime.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons

Overview Rating:

Good

0100