#business

Layoffs start next week with SEC business, WFH email sent this afternoon. SEC Tech will be done at a later date.

A former high-flying teammate recently moved into a commercial leader role for Proxxima. I'm not very familiar with the product or its business case - from what I can tell it's meant to be a polymeric replacement for rebar?
What kind of impact can a HiPo make in that business?

Does anyone know what is happening in Small Business/Business Underwriting? Loans are taking days upon weeks for approvals with all stipulations satisfied and members on my team have had their loans tossed to different underwriters constantly. When I have been messaging and emailing the underwriters on my loans there also no response. What is going on?

Ship all tech to ITC that’s fine but don’t leave me at PHK.
ITC is not comfortable talking to the biz or leaders so unless you put it all in their hands, they will defer to those left at PHK.
Has to be all or nothing or you have a few at PHK doing all the legwork with wasted money in ITC.

Did anyone get it yet ?

Anyone count this project for growth?

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.fastcompany.com/91501853/nike-acg-latest-innovation-is-a-fully-portable-soccer-field&ved=2ahUKEwiU28rglIyTAxW6IjQIHe54AGgQxfQBKAB6BAgLEAE&usg=AOvVaw36Xbab9srd1gqONP7UnDce

I know EQIX is doing very well but wondering if the rumored business reorgs will brings layoffs along with it.

Good luck Friday, hope you don't get the 'business update' invite for Monday am. They're coming.

Despite the online gushing about a Verizon turnaround since CEO Dan Schulman took over, the completion of its break up by delayering, which started more than 10 years ago, seems a far more likely outcome for what was once the top wireless provider in the US.

Verizon has been delayering for a decade
Delayering is when a telco splits itself into separate ServCo, NetCo, and InfraCo layers and sells off its assets to address its debts. (For a deeper understanding, check out this TM Forum research report on it). Verizon has been at this awhile.

Sold its towers

Verizon began delayering in about 2015 when it sold most of its cell towers to American Tower and the rest to Vertical Bridge just last year. Now largely a ServCo-Netco, Verizon leases towers from American Tower, Vertical Bridge, Crown Castle, and SBA Communications. The company still owns its base stations and other network gear, which move toward obsolescence every day.

Sold its data centers

Verizon left the data center business in 2017 through a deal with Equinix and now partners with hyperscalers like AWS and Microsoft for data center capacity. So, Verizon does not own much of the physical plant where it runs its IT and network systems.

Verizon’s IT landscape remains on its books, but much or most of that is outsourced and licensed, some is obsolete, and all of it is aging fast. As the pace of change increases across IT markets worldwide, especially with the AI invasion, its legacy BSS and OSS systems become costlier and less relevant to future value.

Spinning off its stores

Most recently, Verizon announced it would convert its company-owned stores to franchised Authorized Retailers. Most likely these physical assets will go to big partners like Victra and Wireless Zone, which already operate thousands of Verizon stores. This also relates to the company’s announced layoffs of thousand of customer-facing employees to shed expense.

Fiber miles next?

Verizon still owns significant installed fiber optic assets. Just as AT&T and T‑Mobile US lease most of their fiber, we should probably expect to see Verizon sell off this physical plant to raise more cash.

Becoming customer-focused? Not really
Schulman’s turnaround spiel insists the company “must shift to a customer-first focus.” This is a tacit admission that Verizon isn’t customer-focused now.

Lip service ripped from T‑Mobile

Spinning out thousands of stores to partners who charge added service fees doesn’t sound like a customer-centric move. The messaging sounds disingenuous and is cut-and-pasted from T‑Mobile’s playbook. T‑Mobile’s “customer obsession” has helped it take the lead in US wireless and it took a few years to kick in.

Cut rate holiday offers

Verizon launched a “bring your bill” holiday campaign to undercut AT&T and T‑Mobile pricing. This isn’t customer-centric, it’s prospect-centric. And it’s a race to the bottom price gimmick Sprint failed with before being acquired by T‑Mobile US.

This desperation rate cut coupled with the 13,000 non-union layoffs looks more like a short-term ploy to bump Verizon’s stock by doing two things Wall Street likes: cutting costs and adding subscribers.

These moves might benefit Schulman’s cadre of executives and remaining shareholding employees. Keep an eye on insider sales the minute the stock price moves north, if it does.

Cannibalizing its own MVNOs
Part of Schulman’s justification for price cutting is to fend off its aggressive competitors and turn the tide on customer churn. Wireless offerings from cable MSOs are major drivers of the churn he wants to stop. Two of the biggest players in cable MVNOs are Comcast and Charter, which use Verizon’s network. Verizon might win some customers away from AT&T and T‑Mobile with its holiday sale, but they will also undercut these wholesale customers.

Back in May, Verizon Consumer CEO Sowmyanarayan Sampath was telling the street that cable MSOs are “a very important strategic partner of ours” adding that because they only focus on certain segments and play in markets where Verizon “may not have a presence… it’s actually a gain for us.”

Here’s your mixed metaphor of the day: Verizon is a snake eating its tail while rearranging deck chairs on a sinking ship. This is BS on top of BS from Verizon leadership.

A mountain of debt to conquer
One thing Verizon does own is a $147 billion mountain of debt. This stands against less than $8 billion in cash on hand. Some of this debt is a leftover from the company’s debt financed, $130 billion purchase of Vodafone’s stake in Verizon Wireless back in 2014. Selling off assets to American Tower for $5 billion hardly made a dent. Some debt also ties back to its C‑band spectrum auction “win” in 2021, which cost the company more than $45 billion. Spectrum remains Verizon’s prized asset, but it’s not enough to overcome its debts.

This makes Verizon dependent on its rich cash flows. The company reported about $135 billion in operating revenue for 2024, with about $37 billion in cash flow and $19.8 billion in free cash flow. Verizon’s annual interest expense alone is around $7 billion. This doesn’t set a great stage for a turnaround and is a big part of the reason for the company’s mass layoffs just before the US Thanksgiving holiday. Classy move.

There’s not much left for Verizon to sell out of its cupboard and only so many heads it can cut to deal with its ugly debt problem.

If you’re a Verizon IT vendor, get ready to feel the squeeze. You can bet a round of contract cancellations are on the way. It would not be the first-time new management in a US telco booted out as many IT players as it could to cut costs.

Private bankers happy, public shareholders not
What’s left of Verizon will be a low-cost wireless brand that offers less value to consumers than its own MVNOs.

This reduced company isn’t suddenly going to care better for its customers. It won’t cater to businesses better as it trims back the IT and employees it needs to do so. And it doesn’t offer a better network than its rivals.

Schulman may have a great track record making investors happy, but which investors is he trying to make happy now? I don’t think it’s the public market.

Private banking interests will benefit most from the finalization of Verizon’s break up. Public shareholders will be left with the brand, debts, spectrum — if that isn’t also sold off — IT expense, and probably a reduced dividend in the not-too-distant future.

Verizon turn-around? It seems doubtful that’s even the plan. The completion of its de-layering and devouring by private money interests looks like a far more likely outcome. Then it’s a question of who buys whatever is left.

A Foods Co. grocery store in south Sacramento will close. This permanent closure will lay off 58 employees. The store on Gerber Road is set to close March 14. The company cited business and economic reasons for this action. Another Foods Co. location in Fresno will also close on the same day.

https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article314909051.html

https://nypost.com/2026/03/02/business/hbo-max-paramount-set-to-be-combined-into-one-streaming-service-after-hollywood-merger/

6 billion in cost cuts

How will the global supply situation affect our business? With refining already facing tough margins, will this have a trickle down effect for jobs?

From his linkedin post

"AI has sparked a new round of conversation about COBOL, with tools emerging that claim to translate legacy code and, with it, solve the modernization challenge. It is worth being precise about what that means and what it does not."

This framing understates the reality. The modernization challenge was never about translating COBOL syntax—it’s about risk, economics, institutional knowledge, and business logic embedded over decades. AI didn’t suddenly “spark” this conversation; enterprises have been trying automated translation, wrappers, and re-platforming since the 1990s, with mixed results at best.

It says all you need to know that, according to the release, the only Atleos exec or offficer being retained is one independent director.

At least Atleos had an option — because that is more than can be said for Voyix, which managed to transition to a software company right when the market gave up on software. Jim Kelly had no doubt been aiming to sell to Global Payments, but that company’s in the toilet too. (The market has given up on any payment companies that isn’t visa or Mastercard.)

The best option for Voyix is probably to go private, because there is no buyer at this point.

NCR should’ve been broken up 15 years ago, when there were buyers for its businesses.

Now we aren't paying photographers and more. Of course we blame the court. The large brands made a deal...so billions not going to be paid and it's only started
Meanwhile Bloomingdale's alone featuring 35 new brands on 3 floors in. NYC and it's only the start.. Nordstrom also featuring thousands of new items unlike before.

There is no low that is low enough for these snakes

Interesting that adidas is getting out of outdoor when Nike seems to be tripling down on ACG.. anyone know why?

The transaction involved the acquisition of the West End Center office complex, which consists of two buildings.

https://traded.co/deals/north-carolina/office/sale/809-west-4-1-2-st-winston-sale/

Sony Group Corp. announced the closure of Bluepoint Games. The Austin-based studio was a PlayStation Studios subsidiary. Approximately 70 workers will lose their jobs next month. This decision followed a business review and new business strategies. Bluepoint Games was known for remaking classic video games.

https://www.technetbooks.com/2026/02/bluepoint-games-sony-closure-leads-to.html

I don't see any value add for Business analyst, scrum masters in tech groups. Specially in AI era, these positions are redundant and can be completely eliminated.

So did we pay ichan out first so he got a great price so we could then effectively dismantle 2 business down to bits they could sell off.

Has anyone in the O'Fallon location been impacted? If so, what business areas?

This is a genuine question, I am not trolling.
Nothing I've heard so far makes any business sense.

He has done such a great job at Ford, he has been anointed into the BoD at McDonalds.

The guy is a "1" performer.

BILLIONS and BILLIONS of losses in the last few years with this EV bullsh-t and what? Here at Ford, its nothing but applause.

That’s according to the release. It feels like a never ending losing streak.

Does anyone else find the Business and Distribution teams keep losses to themselves and only announce client wins… however small, if at all.

Another large loss in my country… I found out from around the industry and not from anyone in the company.

"Some leaders and pioneers in AI say that artificial intelligence will advance far enough to replace entire workforces."

https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-ai-ceo-mustafa-suleyman-white-collar-tasks-automation-prediction-2026-2

No wonder things aren’t looking up for us. Numerous customer complaints about how difficult we are to work with = lost accounts!

I’m curious about these numbers that are shared during the analyst meetings etc. Is there any breakbown of the number or percentages,of existing clients moving to the cloud, and net new clients signing contracts? That would really provide a health check. Is SAP merely cannibalizing the client base, or is there a reasonable amount of net new clients coming in?

Baker McKenzie announced plans to cut approximately 700 business services staff. The firm cited artificial intelligence as a reason for these reductions. The article questions if AI is truly the cause or an excuse. AI is not directly replacing Biglaw lawyers internally. Client use of AI and smaller firms leveraging it may reduce Biglaw's need for lawyers.

https://abovethelaw.com/2026/02/baker-mckenzie-blamed-ai-for-massive-layoff-but-the-problem-is-much-more-complicated/

You got your PEP+, you got your DNA, you got your Clover, bo-m, you got a payments company.

Phillips 66 increasingly feels like four different companies trying to share one identity.

Refining behaves like a cyclical market business.

Midstream behaves like long-cycle infrastructure.

Chemicals operates on global petrochemical timelines.

Commercial trading introduces short-term risk and volatility.

Each of these businesses has its own logic. The problem is that they do not share the same operating tempo, capital profile, or investor base.

And yet management continues to insist that integration creates advantage.

The evidence suggests the opposite.

Refining volatility still dominates results. Chemicals absorbs capital just as margins weaken. Midstream demands steady reinvestment as assets age. Trading amplifies swings rather than smoothing them. Instead of offsetting one another, the segments often pull the company in conflicting directions.

This is not an execution issue alone — it is a structural one.

When leadership attention is divided across fundamentally different business models, accountability blurs. Each segment can point to another when performance falls short:
• Refining blames markets.
• Trading points to volatility.
• Midstream cites long-cycle economics.
• Chemicals asks for patience.

The result is a company where no single leader owns the full economic outcome, and shareholders are left holding a portfolio they didn’t explicitly choose.

Investors don’t need Phillips 66 to assemble this mix for them. They can buy refiners, midstream operators, or chemical producers directly. Portfolio theory says diversification only creates value when it reduces risk or increases returns. At Phillips 66, it increasingly looks like diversification is doing neither.

That is why the breakup conversation keeps resurfacing — not as an activist slogan, but as a rational response to structural tension.

Separating refining from infrastructure.

Allowing chemicals to find a more natural owner.

Letting midstream operate without being anchored to refining cycles.

These are not radical ideas. They are acknowledgments that different businesses require different leadership focus and different shareholder bases.

Right now, Phillips 66 feels less like an integrated platform and more like a collection of assets waiting for clarity.

The company doesn’t suffer from a lack of strategy.

It suffers from too many strategies competing at once.

Until leadership chooses focus over breadth, the conglomerate discount will remain — not because investors misunderstand the story, but because they understand it all too well.

Enjoy.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/massive-layoffs-if-paramount-buys-warner-bros-says-netflix-1236500848/

PE will cash out and sell all real estate and rake in as much profit as they can.

Snake oil salesmen got caught!

https://apple.news/AB3GL7V95R7qXMGPLPTdnqw

https://www.freep.com/story/money/business/michigan/2026/02/02/fifth-third-finalizes-purchase-of-comerica/88474021007/

Fifth Third Bancorp finalized its purchase of Comerica Bank. The deal officially closed on Monday, February 2.

Rebranding of Comerica branches to Fifth Third will begin in September.

This all-stock deal was valued at $12.3 billion.

The Federal Reserve and shareholders approved the deal last month.

https://about.att.com/aboutus/pressrelease/2026/att-lumen-deal-close.html