Corporate catch-up
The last 48 hours have been abuzz with business news — here are 4 of the biggest stories of the day:
Adidas: The German sportswear giant answered calls to drop Kanye West (now known as Ye), joining the list of brands that have distanced themselves from the rapper-turned-fashion-magnate after he made a number of anti-Semitic remarks on podcasts and social media. Adidas’s move was well received by the public and will come with a substantial financial cost. Some estimate that terminating the partnership will roughly halve the company’s profits for 2022 — a year that’s already seen the company plagued by slowing sales and a share price that’s fallen more than 60%.
Tech: It's been a tough week in big tech. Google’s parent company, Alphabet, reported its slowest growth since the pandemic, with users and brands skipping ads on YouTube. The video platform's ad revenue actually shrunk 2% year-on-year, spooking investors. Microsoft didn’t fare much better, as the company’s cloud division, Azure, missed expectations.
Economy-proof: Coca-Cola earnings were a rare bright spot in the busy earnings calendar yesterday, with a refreshingly positive set of numbers. The drinks conglomerate, which owns Sprite, Fanta and a number of other brands, raised prices to contend with commodity costs and shipping expenses and still saw their year-on-year revenue rise 10% last quarter. Not many products can claim to be recession-proof; Coca-Cola might be one of the few.
