After carrying the economy on its shoulders for most of the year, American shoppers hit the brakes in December, the most important month on the retail calendar. The official count showed retail sales unchanged from November, after a solid rise the month before. Markets were expecting a rise of 0.4%, but instead, households chose caution. Strip out a volatile like category cars, and the
Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran has defended the Trump administration’s trade tariff policy, arguing the economic impact has been less severe than widely feared and that foreign firms, rather than American consumers, are bearing much of the cost. Speaking on Monday at the Boston University Questrom School of Business, Miran said concerns that the surge in import taxes at the start of Pre
BP has suspended its share buybacks as it pursues cost-cutting measures, while profits last quarter were in line with estimates. Its underlying replacement cost profit was US$1.54 billion, falling from $2.21 billion in the previous quarter but up from $1.17 billion one year ago. This matched LSEG estimates. “2025 was a year of strong underlying financial results, strong operational performan
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has reported a 5% increase in net profit after tax (NPAT) to $5.412 billion for the first half of the 2026 financial year (H1 FY26), with shares rallying 7.9% by 12:15 pm AEDT (1:15 am GMT). Australia’s largest company said cash NPAT grew 6% to A$5.445 billion (US$3.85 billion) and cash earnings per share (EPS) rose 6.1% to 19 cents on revenue, which rose 6%
Ford Motors fell short of quarterly earnings estimates but still forecasts 2026 to be a rebound year for the automaker. Earnings per share was 32% lower than analysts' expectations of 19 cents per share, coming in at 13 cents per share. This was the company’s first quarterly miss since 2024 and its worst since a 42% difference when reporting its 2021 fourth-quarter earnings. The earnings
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House prices in the mega-popular Hamptons area of New York have hit an all-time high. A new report Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel found that in the fourth quarter, the median house sale price for the Hamptons reached US$2.34 million, an increase of 34% year-on-year. Sales above $5 million were also the highest on record. The Hamptons, a coastal area past Long Island, is a hotspot for t
Marriott International missed profit estimates last quarter, but shares surged 8.5% after the company issued strong guidance. Earnings per share were US$2.58, up 5% but below Zacks estimates of $2.64. Revenue was up 4.1% to $6.69 billion, passing estimates of $6.68 billion. “Marriott delivered excellent results in 2025, reflecting the strength of our brands, delivery of great experiences to
Paramount Skydance Corp has sweetened its rejected takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) without raising its offer price. Paramount said it had added a ‘ticking fee’ in the form of extra cash for each quarter the deal failed to close and agreed to cover the breakup fee that WBD would owe if rival bidder Netflix walked away. But Paramount stopped short of raising its offer of US$30 ca
CEO of Workday, Carl Eschenbach, has stepped down from the top job, after just three years in the role. Co-founder Aneel Bhusri had stepped into the role effective immediately, his second tenure as CEO, having preceded Eschenbach prior to 2024. Workday, which offers financial software and management, student information services for universities and HR services, announced at the start of las
Data analytics company Databricks announced that it raised US$5 billion (A$7.09 billion) in funding and $2 billion in new debt capacity at a $134 billion valuation. The private company also revealed that its revenue run-rate rose 65%, exceeding $5.4 billion for the January quarter and delivering free cash flow over the past year. Databricks also said AI products now generate $1.4 billion in
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