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Walmart has announced that chief executive Doug McMillon is retiring and will be replaced by John Furner, the head of the group’s U.S. division, on February 1st. Mr. McMillon will continue to serve as a director on the board until the June 2026 annual meeting and would continue to be employed as an associate of the group until January 31st 2027. Mr. Furner has served as president and CEO of Walmart U.S. since 2019, overseeing the company’s largest operating segment and more than 4,600 stores. He began his Walmart career as an hourly associate in 1993 and has held leadership roles across merchandising, operations and sourcing.

 

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The Wall Street Journal reports that EY has nominated Dante D'Egidio, currently vice chair for assurance for EY Americas, as U.S. managing partner, with partners expected to vote to approve his appointment in the coming weeks. He has held his current role since 2023, leading the Big Four firm's efforts to reduce its auditing deficiencies. EY expects to achieve its lowest U.S. auditing shortfall rate in 16 years, at or below 9% this year, as the PCAOB wraps up its inspections process for the Big Four accounting firms. If approved by the partners, D’Egidio in July would succeed Julie Boland, who led the U.S. operation since 2022 but is set to retire from the firm, as she would reach the mandatory age 60 retirement and the end of her four-year term.

 

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U.S. corporate bankruptcies are on track to hit a 15-year peak, with 655 filings through October, up from 687 in all of 2024, according to S&P Global. October alone saw 68 filings, driven by inflation, high input costs, and labor market weakness. The industrials sector leads with 98 bankruptcies, followed by consumer discretionary with 80. Tariff uncertainty under President Trump and credit market instability are compounding pressures. Notable cases include First Brands, with over $10 billion in liabilities, and Tricolor, which triggered a $170m charge-off for JPMorgan, which CEO Jamie Dimon admitted was “not our finest moment.”

 

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Walt Disney Co. has said it will boost its dividend and double its share buyback program next year, although it also missed Wall Street's fourth-quarter revenue expectations, sending its shares down 7.8% at the close of trading on Thursday. Sales were little changed at $22.5bn, below the $22.8bn average of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Adjusted earnings per share of $1.11 were down 3% from a year earlier but six cents above the average LSEG estimate. Disney’s experiences business, which includes theme parks and cruise lines, reported a 13% rise in operating income to $1.9bn. It added 3.8m Disney+ streaming subscribers in the quarter. 

 

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The U.S. government has announced that October’s jobs report will be incomplete, as it will exclude the unemployment rate due to the household survey not being conducted during the government shutdown. Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, confirmed that only the payrolls data from the business survey will be published, with the missing household survey affecting just this month’s report. The shutdown halted data collection as workers were furloughed, though September’s delayed report may be released soon as its data was gathered before the shutdown began. Government departments, including the Bureau of Labor Statistics, are now resuming operations, with an updated release schedule expected shortly.

 

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The United States has announced the removal of tariffs on certain food imports from Argentina, Ecuador, Guatemala, and El Salvador, aiming to enhance market access for U.S. firms. A senior Trump administration official said that these agreements are expected to lower prices for items like coffee and bananas, with U.S. retailers likely to pass on the savings to consumers. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated that "substantial" announcements would follow to further reduce living costs. The framework agreements will maintain some tariffs while eliminating others on products not produced in the U.S. Argentine Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno expressed optimism, saying the deal would "create the conditions" for increased U.S. investment in Argentina. Leaders from the involved countries welcomed the agreements, highlighting their potential economic benefits.

 

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The U.S. retail sector has seen a 16% year-on-year decline in job postings for October, according to a new report from the Indeed Hiring Lab, with major retailers like Walmart and Target yet to announce 2025 seasonal hiring plans, in contrast to previous years. Amazon and Catalyst Brands have confirmed seasonal hires of 250,000 and 13,000 respectively, but overall hiring levels are expected to fall below 2024’s 442,000, with the National Retail Federation forecasting between 265,000 and 365,000. Weak consumer sentiment, tariff pressures and reduced job turnover are cited as contributing factors. NRF chief economist Mark Mathews said: "What we've seen is a lot fewer retailers go public and state that they're going to hire 'X' amount of people." He observed that those companies may decide to add staffing later in the season after taking "a bit of a 'wait and see' approach."

 

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Verizon plans to cut approximately 15,000 jobs, representing about 15% of its workforce, as part of a restructuring initiative. The decision follows the appointment of Dan Schulman as the wireless carrier's new CEO. The layoffs will primarily affect non-union management, with over 20% of that group impacted. Additionally, Verizon intends to convert around 180 corporate-owned retail stores to franchised operations. Schulman said: "We will be a simpler, leaner and scrappier business," as he emphasized the need for cost transformation and a shift away from relying on price increases for financial growth.

 

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Toyota Motors is to invest an additional $10bn in the U.S. over the next five years. The announcement coincided with Toyota’s opening of a battery plant in North Carolina, which the company said would create up to 5,100 new jobs. "Over the next five years, we are planning an additional investment of $10bn in the U.S. to further grow our manufacturing capabilities, bringing our total investment in this country to over $60bn," said Toyota Motor North America President Ted Ogawa.

 

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A federal judge has allowed Elon Musk’s X Corp and xAI to move forward with their antitrust lawsuit against Apple and OpenAI. The suit claims Apple’s exclusive integration of ChatGPT into Apple Intelligence features unlawfully blocks rivals, violating antitrust laws. X also alleges bias in App Store promotion, citing ChatGPT’s inclusion on Apple’s “Must-Have Apps” list. Judge Mark Pittman emphasized the ruling isn't a judgment on the merits. Apple argued its OpenAI partnership isn’t exclusive and rival chatbots remain accessible. OpenAI dismissed the lawsuit as part of Musk’s “ongoing pattern of harassment” and said it’s ready to fight the claims in court.

 

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Amazon is facing a proposed class action lawsuit alleging that its absence policy discriminates against warehouse employees with disabilities. The complaint, led by Cayla Lyster, claims that Amazon docks unpaid time off for employees seeking accommodations and threatens termination for excessive absences. Lyster, who has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, described what she said was a "punitive absence control system," which she claims intimidates employees into not requesting necessary accommodations. The lawsuit seeks damages for hourly warehouse workers in New York who have sought or intended to seek accommodations over the past three years. Inimai Chettiar, president of A Better Balance, a workplace advocacy organization, said that "workers shouldn't ever need to choose between their safety and their paycheck." The lawsuit follows a similar case filed by New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin against Amazon for denying reasonable accommodation requests.

 

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The Federal Reserve has announced plans to operationalize a new tiered system of streamlined "payment accounts" by the fourth quarter of 2026, aimed at enabling risk-based access to its payment services. Gov. Christopher Waller said the Fed is working at “startup speed” and will soon issue a request for information before a formal rule proposal.

 

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BDO USA and RSM US are supporting the FASB's draft plan aimed at clarifying how companies report certain dividends to shareholders. The initiative seeks to enhance comparability in financial reporting while minimizing costs and compliance burdens. Christine Klimek, a spokesperson for the FASB, mentioned that the board will review the feedback at an upcoming meeting. CliftonLarsonAllen LLP noted that FASB's proposed guidance is “straightforward, relying on information readily available.” The proposal aims to provide a consistent accounting method for companies regarding dividend payments.

 

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The High Court in London has ruled that BHP, the world’s biggest mining company, is legally liable for one of the worst environmental disasters in the history of Brazil. Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians, around 2,000 businesses, and dozens of local governments had sued BHP over the collapse of the Fundao dam in Mariana, in the southeast of the country, which was owned and operated by BHP and Vale's Samarco joint venture. The event unleashed a wave of toxic sludge that killed 19 people and polluted the length of the Doce River.  Judge Finola O'Farrell said in a summary of her ruling that BHP should not have continued to raise the height of the dam before its collapse, which was "a direct and immediate cause of collapse of the dam giving rise to fault-based liability on the part of BHP."

 

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Richemont chair Johann Rupert said he expected the U.S. to swiftly reduce punishing tariffs on Swiss exports, after joining a business delegation to the White House that helped break months of deadlock between Bern and Washington, D.C. “The signs are that the misunderstanding has been cleared up. I think it will be resolved [as soon as] this week", he commented this morning, alongside a trading update. Organic sales in the three months to the end of September rose 14% to €5.2bn, beating expectations of a 7% increase. First-half revenues rose 5% in China, 18% in the Americas, and 11% in Europe.

 

Financial Times