New York Times (February 24)
“Investors often see Berkshire as a bellwether of the American economy, given the breadth of its business.” Marking a sharp reversal from a $22 billion loss in 2022, the conglomerate recorded net earnings of $97.1 billion in 2023, “its highest-ever annual profit last year.” Moreover, “Berkshire also reported $37.4 billion in operating earnings, the financial metric that Mr. Buffett prefers because it excludes paper investment gains and losses, for the year, up 21 percent from 2022.”
Tags: 2022, 2023, Bellwether, Berkshire, Conglomerate, Economy, Investment gains, Investors, Loss, Net earnings, Operating earnings, Profit, Reversal, U.S.
CNN (November 21)
“Given the life-altering potential of AI – that even if it doesn’t kill us all, it will almost certainly change human existence in unprecedented ways at unprecedented speed – we all have a stake in how it’s being developed…. And we all have a stake in whose interests AI will serve – and right now, its development is being funded with billions of dollars by people expecting to make a huge profit.”
Tags: AI, Development, Funded, Human existence, Interests, Life-altering, Potential, Profit, Stake, Unprecedented
Bloomberg (July 12)
Itochu’s unconventional “tough love worked.” A decade after banning overtime after 8:00 PM, profit per employee has increased fivefold. “What also changed, to the surprise of Itochu’s management, is that more female employees took maternity leave, had kids and came back to work.” This raises the question, “could similar changes help East Asia’s flagging birthrate?”
Tags: 8:00 PM, Banning, Birthrate, East Asia, Employees, Female, Itochu, Kids, Management, Maternity leave, Overtime, Profit, Unconventional
Reuters (January 29)
“Equity analysts are still counting on a speedy reopening. They expect the 1,585 companies included in the Global MSCI Index to report 6% higher net profit this year than they did in 2019, and 21% higher earnings in 2022.” Constituents are “still valued on an average multiple of 21 times this year’s forecast earnings, far above a long-term average of 16 times. With the path out of lockdowns looking uncertain, such exuberance is likely to end in disappointment.”
Tags: 2019, 2022, Analysts, Disappointment, Equity, Exuberance, Forecast earnings, Global MSCI, Lockdowns, Multiples, Profit, Reopening, Uncertain
Financial Times (July 2)
“Some of the biggest investment banks and fund managers have advised their clients to take profit from the dizzying rally on Wall Street that followed the mid-March crash. Instead, they say, look to Europe.”
Tags: Advised, Clients, Crash, Dizzying, Europe, Fund managers, Investment banks, Profit, Rally, U.S., Wall Street
Institutional Investor (June 1)
Nearly a decade after the financial crisis, financial institutions still face challenges. However, the “savvy” ones are simplifying their structures and realizing efficiency gains. “For the past nine years, investments have poured into regulatory compliance and reporting initiatives. The rapid development of disruptive technologies such as robotics and artificial intelligence is helping firms automate many of those processes and redirect their energy toward growth activities. Big data, analytics and digital technology shed light on what they do best—and most profitably—and enhance the customer experience.”
Tags: AI, Analytics, Big Data, Challenges, Customers, Digital technology, Disruptive technologies, Efficiency, Energy, Financial Crisis, Growth, Investments, Profit, Regulatory compliance, Reporting, Robotics, Savvy
The Economist (April 23)
With a dominant European market share, Google has come under fire from the European Commission. Google deserves to profit from its acumen, but this “has to be balanced against the need to inspire innovations that might complement Android or Google Search—or even displace them. It is now up to Google to demonstrate that its mobile strategy does not harm competition, and thus consumers.”
Tags: Android, Competition, Consumers, Dominant, Europe, European Commission, Google, Innovation, Market share, Mobile strategy, Profit, Search
Institutional Investor (February Issue)
“In this era of globalization 50,000 ships carry 90 percent of the $18.5 trillion in annual world trade” and this is causing investors to take note. One firm named CargoMetrics now seeks to “map historically and in real time what’s really going on in economic supply and demand across the planet” with the goal of being “able to automatically profit from spotting any publicly traded security that is mispriced.” To do this, they are utilizing historical cargo data and the global automatic identification system that vessels of 300 gross tons or more are required to use for collision prevention.
Tags: Cargo, CargoMetrics, Collision prevention, Data, Globalization, Identification, Investors, Mispriced, Profit, Ships, Supply and demand, World trade
Washington Post (November 23)
“No matter how much more money flows into the top tier of college athletics, few big-time athletics departments turn a profit.” Of the over 50 public schools in the Power Five conferences (The NCAA’s SEC, PAC12, Big 10, Big 12 and ACC), only about 15 to 25 have been profitable over the past decade. The majority operate at a loss, despite a more than doubling of revenue in the past decade.
The Economist (June 7)
“Japan’s premium motor brands are still far behind their German rivals. The giant carmakers that own them are missing out on pots of potential profit.”