#business

HCSC is now being managed by Manika and others with some ideology that they are bent on. It is not business. It is ideology. Maurice was an incrediblely smart business person back in the day, but he too has succumbed to this cr-p. Hcsc used to be the best of the Blues. No longer.

Can anyone in the know (VBG I guess?) comment on what Dan said about data centers and selling fiber today? Is this a viable business?

Dominik Asam discussed the company’s enterprise AI strategy, explaining why businesses are becoming more focused on AI cost:

There is now a recognition that AI tokens are not free. Every enterprise we talk to is grappling with the fact that token spending is going through the roof.

There is now a recognition that throwing tokens, in a probabilistic way, at every problem might not be the most efficient approach.

There is also a fear of vendor lock-in, as certain models are starting to increase their prices.

That is why SAP has chosen a completely different architecture. I checked this morning, and we now have 58 large language models integrated into our AI platform.

This allows us to take advantage of competition across models, both in terms of performance and cost. We can also route each task to the most appropriate model.

Sometimes you do not need the most expensive model.

Even more importantly, sometimes you do not need a model at all. You can solve the problem in a deterministic, algorithmic, and easily auditable way by simply crunching the numbers.

At SAP, we have the ability to leverage all of these approaches.

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZN8JPBNvs/

The strategy is: survive the quarter. Repeat.

As per WSJ, revenue is down and profit falls

Positive that we added new subscribers. I think they are not very profitable subscribers.

https://www.wsj.com/business/earnings/verizon-revenue-ticks-down-profit-falls-on-joint-venture-costs-01726dbf

Bob is quoted as saying "I'll buy that for a dollar"!

we can build products, but can execs manage the business?

Chevron keeps average players. To compare Chevron to a real company almost made me fall off my chair. You are a minor league company at best ....comparing the business practices of blue chip companies. You are fortunate that Chevron has no spine to do what is necessary to right the ship. Management mistakes will catch up. You will wish you were somewhere else....

Look at Nike’s stock price over the past 50 years. There have been ups and downs, but nothing compares to the decline since 2020. The five-year downward trend is crazy.

It’s hard not to see this as the point where Nike went off the rails. Leadership, business strategy, and company culture all changed for the worse. I wonder how business analysts will explain what happened years from now.

A layoff is when good epmployees are let go due to bad business decisions. The employees were forced to support and try to make those decisions work, and are then fired. The executives who made those decisions stick around, say they hated to do it, and then do it again. Oh, but they also thank you for your efforts in supporting their cr-p ideas. No apologies, no accountability, just business. And repeat.

Pat Gelsinger says the chipmaker went off the rails ‘when it started to be run by business people’. (See: https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/articles/former-intel-ceo-says-chipmaker-185823655.html)

Same rule applies to EDA? A software maker derails the moment it is led by a CAE.

Talk about some spin. If AK and his cronies in the C-Suite forgo their bonuses for the rest of their undoubtedly extremely short tenures and take a significant pay cut, then that'll show accountability.
And doesn't AK attend the WEF in Davos every year? What advice did he receive from all those geniuses?
Somewhere out there one can hear the echoes of Ginni's hysterical laughter.

https://www.businessinsider.com/ibm-ceo-arvind-krishna-facing-leadership-test-accountability-2026-7

By: Sarah E. Needleman | Jul 15, 2026, 4:56 AM CT

When IBM delivered bad news on Tuesday, CEO Arvind Krishna didn't look for someone else to blame. He owned it.

Krishna, who is widely credited with turning IBM around since becoming CEO in 2020, said in a letter to investors that clients had redirected quarterly capital spending toward scarce infrastructure. Management underestimated the scale of that shift, contributing to the company's second-quarter shortfall.

"These conditions require our teams to execute perfectly, and this quarter we faltered," Krishna wrote. "We did not adapt and move quickly enough, and numerous large deals failed to close on the timelines we expected."

Though IBM's shares tanked in response, current and former tech executives told Business Insider that other leaders ought to emulate Krishna's candor. Owning a setback can strengthen a CEO's credibility longterm, they said, by showing that management understands the problem and is prepared to address it.

"He will develop more trust among his shareholders and employees and customers by being transparent," said former Cisco CEO John Chambers.

Leaders can gain more credibility from how they handle setbacks than from their successes, he added, though they need to move quickly. They should explain what happened, acknowledge what did not go as planned, and outline how they intend to get the business back on track.

"Rule 101 on setbacks: speed and be very visible," Chambers said.

Openness carries risks, though. Leaders facing a setback may not yet have complete answers, and acknowledging uncertainty can leave them vulnerable.

"You have to have the courage to say, 'Here's what I know. Here's what I don't know,' " Chambers said. "And that sometimes exposes you to critics."

Accepting responsibility

Gilad Bechar, CEO of Moburst, a digital marketing agency, described Krishna's remarks as "refreshing." He said CEOs often attribute disappointing results to outside forces such as tariffs or other macroeconomic headwinds.

"Usually you don't see Fortune 100 companies that are owning their situation like that," said Bechar. "They are very afraid of being this candid."

Krishna may have helped contain the damage by characterizing the shortfall as a forecasting error rather than as evidence that demand for the company's products and services had deteriorated, added Bechar. Showing that management understood what went wrong gives investors reason to believe the problem can be corrected, he said.

"If you're in control of the situation, you fully understand everything, and you just misjudge one specific element, it sounds like you're in a much better place," Bechar said.

Public-company leaders may be obligated to disclose material setbacks promptly, but accepting responsibility is a choice, said Jeffrey Puritt, the retired CEO of Telus International, a technology services provider now known as Telus Digital.

Krishna could have satisfied investors' need for information without explicitly owning up to management's mistake. By doing both, Puritt said, he demonstrated the accountability expected of someone in the top job.

"If you're the CEO, you get paid to take responsibility for the business's performance, win, lose, or draw," he said. Blaming others, Puritt added, would have been "a bit of a cop out."

'What you need to hear'

Krishna has spent more than three decades at IBM. He helped orchestrate the company's $34 billion acquisition of Red Hat, which closed in 2019, and became CEO the following year. Since then, he's led an overhaul centered on hybrid cloud, software, and artificial intelligence.

Rod Adkins, a former IBM executive who also spent more than three decades at the company, said transparency is consistent with Krishna's leadership style.

"He has always been what I would call an above-the-board executive," Adkins said. "He will deliver what you need to hear versus what you want to hear."

That approach is especially important at a company like IBM, whose technology supports mission-critical operations, such as banking transactions and systems used by healthcare providers, airlines, retailers, and government agencies.

"Part of the trusted brand is being authentic with your communications," Adkins said. "Transparency, especially today, is a very important leadership attribute."

When are the first contractual payments due?

I’m hearing Q2 will be the turnaround quarter, word is the numbers coming through look fantastic, maybe that $8 target for the Warrants is in sight

Is business being affected at all?

UnitedHealth reported Q2 earnings this morning, and it’s worth looking beyond the headline. Digging in we see:

Highlights:

• Revenue: $111.6B (+14%)
• Adjusted EPS: $6.38, well above expectations
• Medical Loss Ratio: 86.7%, better than expected
• Raised full-year guidance
• Continued emphasis on improving the quality and profitability of the book of business, even if it means fewer members.

Official results:
https://www.unitedhealthgroup.com/newsroom/2026/2026-07-16-uhg-reports-second-quarter-2026-results.html

The contrast with Centene couldn’t be much clearer. Both companies are dealing with membership pressure. The difference is that UnitedHealth is framing fewer members as a strategic choice in pursuit of a stronger operating model. Pricing, product decisions, analytics, AI, clinical execution, and disciplined growth all appear to be moving in the same direction.

Centene has spent the last year talking about Mission Simplify, reorganizations, buyouts, cost discipline, and a smaller organization. The stock has rebounded sharply from last year’s selloff, but that’s regained investor confidence… not necessarily proof the operating model has materially improved. It’s easy to look at the stock price this year vs. same time last year when it was in the dumpster.

The key takeaway and where the focus should be: Healthcare is no longer a game of who has the most members. It’s become who can generate the best outcomes with the members they have. With me so far?

Both companies will definitely end up serving fewer people. The difference is whether that’s the result of a stronger operating model… or simply a smaller organization. Both companies are getting smaller. UnitedHealth is treating it as a strategy. Centene is trying to convince investors it’s an opportunity.

And then there’s AI. UnitedHealth isn’t starting from scratch. While they’ve been embedding analytics and AI deeper into the operating model, Centene was very slow out of the blocks… and it has spent much of the last year restructuring, reducing costs, and trying to regain its footing. That’s a lot of ground to make up as AI becomes the next competitive battleground. Maybe they have the core competency internally, but I’ve never seen it, and you definitely can’t outsource it.

One of Centene’s guiding principles the past couple of years, “We do what’s right, not what’s easy.” The easy part was making the company smaller. The hard part is proving it became better.

The stage gets much bigger on the 27th. That’s where leadership has to show investors that Mission Simplify wasn’t just about reducing costs, but it’s resulted in a fundamentally stronger company. That’s what the market will be listening for. I’m not very optimistic they’ll pull it off.

"The company continues to evaluate the strategic positioning of its Medicaid portfolio, and recently reached an agreement with officials in DC to exit its Medicaid market. Boudreaux said to expect additional exits over the next 12 to 18 months...

Why BofA is hiring contractors in such huge numbers? Is it just usual business or something big is going to happen.

1. Startup: Bringing your business idea to life.

2. Growth: Consumers know about you and your revenue is increasing.

3. Maturity: More brand awareness and a strong presence in your target market.

4. Renewal or Decline: While every business wants to avoid a decline, it’s bound to happen to almost everyone. Reinvesting in your company can result in its renewal -- or decline can happen for a variety of reasons:
    

• Not pursuing opportunities to expand during the maturity stage
• Changes to the industry that require a change in strategy
• Competing businesses having better products or services
• Not reacting to technology updates or advances


https://www.thehartford.com/business-insurance/strategy/managing-growth/4-stages-business-growth

Sike! It’s absolutely personal with this MC. You can genuinely tell these are horrible human beings even outside of the workplace and get off on the cruelty they are inflicting on their workforce.

What do you think about those dashboards that will be launched soon and how do you think they will be utilised by the business?

Will they induce layoffs based on attendance?

Layoffs will continue to target citizens. Offshoring will continue to happen to India. Then those same people will be brought back in L1b in 4-5 years back to USA. Make tough choices once you open your own business and hire locally. Change needs to start at a grassroots level, vote for policies which are towards tougher immigration policies. 20 years down, US cities will be worse than Toronto. It is in our hands now.

In the US, we cannot see where we stand on SCORE so we have no idea how we are progressing towards our quota. We cannot see all of our backlog. Is this the same globally?

is there anymore US based technology at TransUnion. Nothing gets done. GCC doesn't do anything. We used to have support and now nothing. How is this business going to survive if nothing is moving.

Samsung Electronics America is relocating its U.S. headquarters from New Jersey to Texas. This move will impact approximately 1,000 employees, who must either move or face job loss. Lawmakers and business leaders express concern that the state's business climate is driving companies away. They cite high corporate taxes and regulatory burdens as contributing factors. This departure follows a trend of other major corporations leaving the state.

Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey

https://www.nj.com/business/2026/07/nj-just-lost-another-fortune-500-giant-lawmaker-warns-the-state-is-driving-business-away.html

Who else is enjoying this revamped Bp process as much as I am? It’s so clear and efficient and instills confidence in the direction this company is headed.

So, anyone think Oxy’s Oman business is at risk because Oman is getting closer to Iran.

Shell has first mover advantage by selling non operated Nakika asset. This simplifies the company significantly and creates capital and capacity where it’s needed. Now BP will have Talos as a partner. Talos going to learn the hard way how slow and complex BP really operates.
Why didn’t BP sale when they had a chance?

https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/big-us-banks-explore-fiserv-network-deal-wsj-reports-2026-07-06/

I was hired during pandemic and never been to office. Whats the dress code here? Business Casual or Strictly business formal??

Do we have any other operations in Canada now?

$1.5 billion is a lot of money, they'll have to compensate somehow.

Pennsylvania House Bill 2189 aims to increase the state's minimum wage. The bill passed the House but remains stalled in the State Senate. Pennsylvania's minimum wage has been $7.25 per hour since 2006. The proposed legislation would raise it to $11 in 2027, $13 in 2028, and $15 in 2029. Opponents fear the increase would cause layoffs and harm small businesses.

https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/pennsylvania-minimum-wage-increase-house-bill-2189/

Most CEOs are starting to become aware of this and are trying to figure out solutions. Not us, though. SAP is doubling down. Wait until we start getting charged non-subsidized rates.

Here’s to hoping BP moves HQ to the U.S.A. Make British Petroleum, American Petroleum. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

Hertz sells facility near Mitchell International for $4.5 million

PitchBook provides a worldwide list of unicorn businesses. These are privately held enterprises worth over one billion dollars. The tracker covers firms founded from 2016 onward. On February 2, 2026, 1,590 active unicorns were identified globally. The United States holds the majority with 853 companies.

https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/unicorn-startups-list-trends

Has anyone who was not a leader (band 5 or higher), actually been let go? I only know of leaders getting cut today - seems like the 16th will be for everyone else.

WF had several major waves in July of recent years (considering the 60-day notice leading up to the 9/30 bonus eligibility date). Any inside scoop on the upcoming 7/7 and 7/21 layoffs? Anything different this year or it's just business as usual?

Giant Eagle officially was bought by Krogers for $1.65 billion dollars. I knew back then 10-15 years ago and I had tried warning folks. I think I made a post about it on here back then and was accused of making it up and one person even said it looks like a toddler posted it. When I began seeing Giant Eagle doing a lot of cuts and penny pinching trying to make their books look good, I knew then they were either going out of business or trying to get bought out. Then there was a lot of turnover at their corporate offices and it seemed like corporate didn’t care what went on at their stores anymore too. I knew something was going on.