Top Stories Friday, Jan. 13

Reuters

A Manhattan jury ruled that Adidas AG ADDDF ADDYY failed to prove luxury brand Thom Browne Inc's use of stripes on its clothing violated the sportswear giant's signature three-stripe trademark.
The jury found the fashion house's parallel stripe designs were not likely to cause consumer confusion with Adidas' products, ending a trial that began on January 3.
Adidas prosecuted New York designer Thom Browne's brand in 2021, claiming Thom Browne's four-bar and "Grosgrain" stripe patterns on its shoes and high-end activewear violated its three-stripe trademark rights.

Volkswagen AG VWAGY has made changes in its Mexico and Canada supervisory boards.
Volkswagen of America President and CEO Pablo Di Si has been appointed as the chairman of Volkswagen's Mexican supervisory board.
Sales & Marketing Officer at Volkswagen of America, Andrew Savvas, will become the chairman of the company's Canadian supervisory board.

Chinese authorities prepared to bring back DiDi Global Inc's DIDIY ride-hailing and other apps on domestic app stores by next week, signaling the country's easing down on its two-year regulatory crackdown on the technology sector.
China has prohibited new user registrations and downloads of its 25 banned apps in China.
DiDi's relaxations could take place before the Lunar New Year holiday period, which would help Didi start to win new clients for the business.

Wall Street Journal

Southwest Airlines Hires Consultant To Ward Off Future Holiday Anomalies

After the holiday crisis, Southwest Airlines Co LUV contacted consulting firm Oliver Wyman to boost a crew scheduling system.
The airline had to cancel over 16,700 flights from December 21 - December 31 as it struggled to recover from a severe winter storm versus its rivals.
Oliver Wyman will help the airline to analyze the anomaly and reset priorities.
Southwest realized the lack of enough engine covers in some locations like Denver. The airline is also looking at its deicing equipment and procedures.

Trian Partners founder and CEO Nelson Peltz said that the Walt Disney Co's DIS board change would shift the company's direction, saying the new chairman is little more than a rubber stamp for newly returned CEO Bob Iger.
On Thursday, Mr. Peltz and his hedge fund Trian Fund Management turned up the heat in their proxy battle to counter his push.
Peltz thinks Mr. Parker and the newly-returned Mr. Iger are too friendly for Mr. Parker to be truly objective.

After abandoning Venezuela's assets in 2007 due to nationalization, ConocoPhillips COP is now open to a deal to sell the country's oil in the U.S. to recover around $10 billion the country owes it.
In preliminary talks, national oil company Petróleos de Venezuela SA could allow ConocoPhillips to load, transport, and sell Venezuela's oil in the U.S. on behalf of PdVSA, giving the US-based company chance to recover the money it lost.

Bloomberg

Alphabet Inc's Google and Nvidia Corp NVDA shared concerns over Microsoft Corp's MSFT acquisition of Activision Blizzard Inc ATVI to the Federal Trade Commission, fueling regulatory worries over the deal.
Google and Nvidia joined Sony Group Corp SONY in raising issues with the $69 billion deal, which the FTC opposed in December.

Vodafone Group Plc VOD braced for a round of job cuts to slash costs by €1 billion ($1.1 billion) by 2026.
The downsizing will likely number in the hundreds and also affect offices in London.
Vodafone promised to elaborate more on the restructuring while sharing its third-quarter results on February 1.

CNBC

Meta Platforms, Inc META prosecuted Voyager Labs for allegedly faking accounts to scrape user data for business purposes.
Meta alleged improper data gathered from Facebook, Instagram, and other sites like Twitter, Alphabet Inc GOOGGOOGL, YouTube, and Telegram, powered Voyager Labs' software.

Benzinga

Crypto exchange Crypto.com is cutting its global workforce by 20% as it navigates ongoing economic headwinds and "unforeseeable" industry events.
According to various social media profiles, Crypto.com has around 3500-4500 employees. This would make the current layoffs impact around 700-900 employees.
Kris Marszalek, the firm's chief executive officer, said in a statement Friday that the "difficult" decision was made amid a focus on "prudent financial management" and "to position the company for long-term success."

UnitedHealth Group Inc UNH has reported Q4 FY22 sales of $82.78 billion, up 12% Y/Y, beating the consensus of $82.59 billion.
Adjusted EPS of $5.34 increased 19.2% Y/Y, surpassing the consensus of $5.17.
The company generated an operating cash flow of $26.2 billion or 1.3x net income for FY22.

Delta Air Lines Inc DAL reported a fourth-quarter FY22 adjusted operating revenue growth of 8% from Q4 FY19 to $12.3 billion, beating the consensus estimate of $12.23. Operating revenue on a GAAP basis was $13.4 billion.
Adjusted EPS was $1.48 above the consensus of $1.33.
Total passenger revenue was $10.9 billion, a 6% increase from 4Q19. Cargo revenue increased by 33% to $248 million compared to 4Q19.
Delta recorded an adjusted operating income of $1.4 billion, flat with 4Q19, and the adjusted operating margin was 11.6%, down by 90 bps.
Delta Air Lines generated an operating cash flow of $1.2 billion. Adjusted net debt at quarter-end was $22.3 billion.