#financialresults

Want to know what bold financial bets underpin this target? The narrative hinges on a game-changing revenue outlook and projected margin jumps over the next few years. See what specific assumptions drive the calculation and why consensus thinks a rerating might be ahead.

However, persistent losses in the Wind division and heavier exposure to volatile, large-scale projects could quickly reverse optimism around GE Vernova’s margin outlook.

Not looking Good Enough anymore is it?

The new CEO is working out well lol. No telling what we gave up to keep Chipotle as a customer so we could announce that on Earnings today to try and salvage a horrendous quarter.

For anyone who hasn’t seen “The Truman Show”: it’s a story about a man who lives inside a perfect illusion. His entire life is a TV set. The town, the neighbors, even his wife and coworkers… all actors. They know it’s fake. They get paid to keep the illusion running so Truman never realizes the truth.

The employees in Truman’s world were enablers.

They smiled on cue, stuck to the script, and did whatever it took to keep the show believable. Not because they believed in it, but because it was their job. Because it paid the bills.

Sound familiar?

For years, that’s what we, Xerox employees, have done here.

We’ve watched the numbers collapse, the debt balloon, the rhetoric pile up… and we’ve kept performing.

We’ve called decline “transformation,” losses “investments,” and chaos “reinvention”.

We’ve applauded speeches that we knew were hollow, because the alternative was uncomfortable truth.

We weren’t fooled. We were complicit.

Now the walls of the set are falling down.

Let’s stop pretending we didn’t know. We all knew.

We saw the numbers slide quarter after quarter.

We sat through the town halls, clapped like it mattered, then went back to our desks to whisper the obvious: this company’s been dead for years; we’re just managing the c0rpse.

Why?

Because the salary was decent.

Because it was easier to play d-mb than to stand up and say the emperor had no clothes.

Because survival inside a dying machine feels safer than the uncertainty outside it.

Every spreadsheet, every “adjusted” margin, every fake pep talk… we saw it all.

And instead of calling it out, we became the extras in the show.

We smiled, nodded, and sold the illusion that Xerox was turning a corner.

But the truth is brutal: we helped build the illusion.

We traded everything for comfort, and comfort is what leads companies to de4th.

We knew the business model was obsolete, that “Reinvention” was just branding without any substance.

We heard the excuses: tariffs, macroeconomy, delayed orders, COVID (in 2025?)… and pretended those were answers.

Now the curtain’s down.

No plot twist, no surprise ending… just the arithmetic of brutal financials that don’t lie.

The problem isn’t that management lied: the real problem is that we let them.

We built a culture where truth was optional and optimism mandatory.

We rewarded obedience over thinking.

Every time we clapped at jargon, every time we stayed silent while the company hollowed out, we helped build the lie.

Now there’s nothing left to hide behind.

The show’s over.

Stop clapping.

What do you think? I can’t tell anymore…

https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/IBM/ibm/goodwill-intangible-assets-total

When will the company share sales performance and financials for the new brand?

https://investors.xerox.com/news-releases/news-release-details/xerox-releases-third-quarter-results-1

It's a question, not a statement.

We know they skipped the Goodwill testing and put it off until Q4. We also know they are required to do it once a year, and they absolutely have to in Q4.

If I'm reading this thing right, the Goodwill far exceeds the Total Equity. I know a lot of the one time losses will be gone on the Q4 call, but still, the EV could go to 0 or negative.

Our stock has been on a steady decline for the last 6 months and shows no sign of any rebound. We now stand at more than an 11% decrease in stock price during this time period. On Market capitalization of $323 Billion, we ( our shareholders) have lost an amazing $32 Billion in this amount of time. How long will the patience last? How long will SAP go before it must drastically cut costs to stop the losses since we are not able to close the gap with increased revenue?

Do not think that our Board does not see that major layoffs are accelerating across sectors, with Amazon cutting 14,000 jobs, UPS slashing 48,000 positions and Microsoft (our partner) on track to cut at least 16,000 so far this year (with perhaps more to come).

The reality is that some of the factors driving these layoffs are beyond SAP's control and were cited by our CFO in the Q3 review, such as: Trump’s tariffs, rising operational costs and massive AI investments as primary drivers of the widespread job cuts. At the same time SAP will increase it's proposed buyout of $4.5 Billion of BlackLine, which offer they rejected. The message is clear, SAP's only hope of survival is to attempt to "buy" our way into profitability and market survival.

But will it work? I think not by itself. Let us all be prepared, our Board is fighting for their own survival. Shareholders will not close out the year on such poor stock performance without some pull back. The "quick" fix will be to do with so many other companies are doing which is to employ widespread layoffs to hopefully reduce the damage the stock has been suffering from for the last half of this year. Q4/25 and Q1/26 are likely not to be good for us - stay alert and prepare yourselves for what may be coming in the months ahead.

Why Do We Steer Clear of TDC?

Offerings couldn’t generate interest over the last year as its billings have averaged 6.2% declines

Projected sales decline of 2.5% over the next 12 months indicates demand will continue deteriorating

Sky-high servicing costs result in an inferior gross margin of 59.3% that must be offset through increased usage

November 4 will be interesting.

They have to do it once a year, by SEC regulation, and 3 quarters are gone now, so it will be December. As bad as it was, the next call will be a lot worse.

Merchant Solutions grew 5% for the quarter, with small business organic revenue growth at 6% and Clover revenue up 26%. SaaS penetration in Clover reached 26%.

• Gutted the clover like anything still performing better than actual $FI.

Clover keeping alive FI if not for clover, This stock would plunge to be a penny stock.

For what it’s worth, based on the 10-Q of $1.6B the approximate 10000 layoffs that have occurred, an approximated cost of termination from historical digging of similar layoffs, the very rough range for number of layoffs left is between 1000 and 5000 (unless the 10-Q) is updated.

couldn’t hold 220 and we gap down again.
Anybody notice the debt numbers Honeywell is reporting?
2020 : $23B
2021: $20.6B
2022: $20.5B
2023: $21.5B
2024: $31.1B

Wait .. $31B. ?

Can a stock owner or employee present or past question the validity of 3rd Quarter results?

What options are there to discover if these results are legitimate?

one year returns:

Delek 141%
HF Sinclair 36%
Valero 35%
Marathon 31%
S&P 500 17%
PSX 10%

The hole gets deeper.

The current total XRX Goodwill is only $1.91 BN, but.... Lexmark has goodwill as well. With a total market cap of less than 1/3 of the Goodwill, you have to wonder if they have ANY Goodwill value left. They wrote down 1BN a yer ago when the stock was at $9, now it's $3. I was thinking before the Q3 loss would be 1BN, but now I'm thinking closer to $2 BN.

what whispers are all y'alls hearing about revenue and profit in Q3 and ytd ? How are the next outflows ? Heard group sales was still very weak with these tiny cr-ppy plans being onboarded. Firm need outside investors big time to raise capital to modernize.

GM hits an electric speed bump
General Motors just announced a $1.6 billion charge tied to its electric vehicle plans. The company said it is adjusting production after the $7,500 federal EV tax credit ended on September 30, 2025.

This move marks a significant turning point for GM, which had previously promised to go all-electric by 2035. Instead of racing ahead, the automaker is easing off the accelerator to better match market realities and protect profits amid changing policies and shifting consumer demand.

The end of a powerful incentive
For years, the $7,500 federal EV tax credit has helped convince thousands of drivers to switch from gasoline to electric vehicles. GM and other automakers said the abrupt end of the credit sharply reduced incentives for many buyers.

Without the discount, electric cars suddenly became harder to afford, especially since prices remain higher than those of gas-powered vehicles. GM and other automakers are now feeling the pressure as demand slows, illustrating how significantly government policy can influence consumer choices.

Breaking down GM’s $1.6B hit
The $1.6 billion charge includes a $1.2 billion non-cash impairment linked to factory adjustments and $400 million for contract cancellations and commercial settlements.

GM says this financial hit reflects lower EV production plans and revised capacity expectations. GM stated that the charge will not impact vehicles currently in production, while also noting that further charges may be imposed as it reassesses capacity and investments.

A tough message to investors
In its filing, GM admitted it now expects EV adoption to slow due to weaker incentives and new government rules. That’s a big shift from earlier optimism.

While some investors were surprised, GM’s transparency reassured Wall Street that it was facing the problem early. By managing expectations now, the company hopes to stabilize its future and maintain confidence in its overall direction.

Policy shake-up changes the game
Recent U.S. policy moves, including the expiration of EV purchase and lease credits and easing of tailpipe rules, have altered automakers’ planning assumptions. Many had invested heavily in electric technology, expecting strong policy support.

For GM, those investments no longer align with current conditions. The company must now balance its electric ambitions with the financial reality of a market that’s temporarily shifting back toward hybrids and fuel-efficient gas cars.

Industry feels the slowdown ripple
GM isn’t alone in its EV troubles. Analysts expect Q4 EV demand to soften after the credit expired; early October commentary cites elevated dealer inventories and a likely pullback from September’s surge.

In the U.S. and other markets, buyers rushed to claim incentives in September, resulting in a sharp, short-term spike in EV purchases before the credits expired. However, by October, the sales surge had faded, leaving factories and dealerships to adjust to a more cautious consumer base and softer demand.

Adjusting production plans again
GM said its Board’s Audit Committee approved $1.6 billion in charges tied to an EV capacity realignment. The company is scaling back EV capacity at some plants.

Instead of building new factories dedicated only to electric vehicles, GM plans to create flexible facilities that can produce both gas and electric models. It’s a more cautious approach to avoid overproduction during uncertain times.

From big wet dreams to tough decisions
Just a few years ago, GM promised to invest $35 billion in electric and self-driving technology. That plan included dozens of new models and converted plants.

Now, those dreams are meeting a harsh reality. The company is pausing certain projects, reworking schedules, and focusing on what sells today, not just what might sell a decade from now. It’s a pragmatic shift toward sustainability over speed.

Dealers face slower EV sales
GM and Ford initially explored lease structures to preserve a $7,500 benefit, but both reversed course after the credit expired.

Now, dealers are facing slower traffic and an increasing number of unsold electric vehicles on their lots. Many are shifting back to promoting gas and hybrid models, which are moving faster and require less investment in new equipment or training.

Analysts see more to come
Experts believe GM’s charge might be just the start of a broader trend across the industry. Automakers that invested heavily in EVs are now reevaluating their books.

Analysts broadly expect more write-downs and delayed EV projects as companies reassess demand and incentives. As the market recalibrates, expect more financial write-downs and slower rollouts of high-cost EV projects in the coming quarters.

Automakers brace for tough years
Industry analysts expect more billion-dollar write-downs in the near future as companies recalibrate their electric ambitions. It’s a difficult adjustment after years of rapid EV investment.

Automakers are now focusing on improving efficiency, strengthening hybrid offerings, and managing production costs. These are survival moves designed to weather policy shifts and prepare for the next big push in clean transportation.

Want to get the best fuel economy from your hybrid?

GM’s electric road isn’t ending
Despite the setback, GM remains committed to an electric future. The company says it’s only adjusting speed, not direction, to stay aligned with real market demand.

The next few years will be characterized by smarter investments, better timing, and more affordable technology. GM’s long-term goal of going fully electric remains, but for now, the road there just got a little bumpier.

IBM's "whisper number" for Q3 2025, or the consensus estimate, is approximately $16.09 billion in revenue and $2.43 per share in earnings. Some analysts anticipate earnings could be slightly higher, at around $2.45 per share, driven by AI and hybrid cloud demand, though others are watching software growth closely following a miss in the previous quarter. The company is scheduled to report its official Q3 results on October 22, 2025.

After much fanfare, the colossal flop Landmark Life/Truspire has been sold to fly by nighters Malibu Life ? :) wowers. After all of that fanfare that Mutual was going to make hundreds of millions of revene selling annuities, it didn't & flopped & made $5-$10m on the sale before tax. Now, watch Malibu figure out how to make the $$$$ mutual couldn't. Its Simpa Baye's swan song. Time for him to say Baiye Bye !!!!

HP Upgraded on Robust Valuation and Positive Business Momentum.
https://tonernews.com/forums/topic/hp-upgraded-on-robust-valuation-and-positive-business-momentum/

It's coming -

PROJECT: FLEET AUTOMATION 2025
Strategic Labor Cost Reduction Through Autonomous Vehicle Implementation
DOCUMENT: ATT-FLEET-OPT-2025-CONF
SCOPE: 20,000 VEHICLES | 20,000 TECHNICIANS
VERSION: 3.0

💰 PROJECTED ANNUAL SAVINGS: $176M - $264M through transit wage reclassification

Current Hourly Rate
$45 - $60
per hour during transit
Proposed Hourly Rate
$7.25 - $15*
minimum wage during transit
Hourly Savings
$37.75 - $52.75
per technician hour
Daily Savings per Tech
$75 - $158
(2-3 hours transit daily)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This initiative targets the reclassification of 2-3 daily transit hours from premium technician rates ($45-$60/hr) to minimum wage ($7.25-$15/hr), generating massive labor cost savings while maintaining current service levels through autonomous vehicle deployment.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This initiative targets the reclassification of 2-3 daily transit hours from premium technician rates ($45-$60/hr) to minimum wage ($7.25-$15/hr), generating massive labor cost savings while maintaining current service levels through autonomous vehicle deployment.
CORE FINANCIAL STRATEGY

Current Cost: $45-$60/hr × 2.5 hours × 20,000 technicians = $2.25M-$3M DAILY transit cost
Optimized Cost: $7.25-$15/hr × 2.5 hours × 20,000 technicians = $362K-$750K DAILY transit cost
Daily Savings: $1.5M - $2.5M per day
Annual Impact: $176M - $264M (250 working days)

ANNUAL SAVINGS CALCULATION

20,000 technicians × 2.5 hours transit/day × 250 days/year = 12,500,000 transit hours annually

Current Cost: 12,500,000 hours × $52.50/hr (avg) = $656,250,000

Proposed Cost: 12,500,000 hours × $11.13/hr (avg min wage) = $139,125,000

ANNUAL SAVINGS: $517,125,000
COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS
Implementation Costs:

Autonomous Vehicle Fleet: $400M (20,000 vehicles @ $20,000 each)
Technology Infrastructure: $50M
Training & Transition: $25M
Legal & Compliance: $15M
Total Implementation: $490M

Financial Returns:

Year 1 Savings: $517M (after 6-month ramp)
Year 2+ Savings: $620M+ (full implementation)
ROI Period: 10.5 months
5-Year Net Savings: $2.6B+

WAGE RECLASSIFICATION STRATEGY
TRANSIT TIME = MINIMUM WAGE TIME
Autonomous vehicle operation redefines transit as "non-productive time," enabling legal wage reduction to minimum levels while technicians are between job sites.
JOB SITE TIME = PREMIUM WAGE TIME
Technicians continue receiving $45-$60/hr only when physically at customer locations performing skilled work.
UNION IMPACT MITIGATION
Removing "driving" as a skilled trade function eliminates union jurisdiction over 20-30% of current compensated hours.

RISK MANAGEMENT & MITIGATION

Legal Challenges: $15M legal fund, precedent research, state-by-state compliance
Union Response: Phased implementation, "modernization" messaging, individual agreements
Employee Morale: Retention bonuses for high performers, career path emphasis
Public Relations: "Innovation leadership" narrative, environmental benefits focus

COMMUNICATION STRATEGY

External: "Industry-leading technology adoption," "Sustainable fleet management," "Work-life balance enhancement"

Internal: "Modernized work models," "Competitive positioning," "Efficiency optimization," "Career development focus"
KEY MESSAGE: "We're investing $490M in cutting-edge technology to improve our operations and remain industry leaders."
🎯 FINANCIAL IMPACT: $517M ANNUAL SAVINGS | 10.5 MONTH ROI | $2.6B 5-YEAR VALUE

We need the Vintage engineer! STAT!

Summary

Teradata Corporation continues to face persistent declines in revenue, earnings, and FCF, reinforcing the value-trap case for the stock despite trading at just 10x forward P/E.

Total revenue is expected to decline for the seventh straight quarter in 3Q on a YoY basis (excluding the nearly flat growth in 3Q FY2024), driven by deals that.

Low-end cloud migrations are largely complete, but the company is struggling to win over large cloud customers, as shown by the declines in recurring revenue.

Cloud ARR is expected to grow 14% to 18% YoY for FY2025, showing no growth acceleration in 2H FY2025.

Large deal delays and slow customer adoption highlight execution issues, with TDC losing market share to cloud competitors such as MSFT, GOOGL, SNOW, and Databricks.

Q3 2025 and its gotten worse. Net income down v 71.88% Free cash flow down v 43.48% EPS down v 75.31% and companies like Zacks issues Strong sell after Q3 results...and Teradata goes from Cloud strategies to AI to ??? VantageCloud and AIfactory - what happened to 4 D Clearscape analytics and Vantage cloud lake house that dynamically scales without a data redistribution? Those of you still tethered to a pay check the end is near.

less than 2 billion for the multiple year in a row??

don’t be scared !

I’m trying to understand what’s driving the stock price down.

I wonder what word salad SteveB is going to come out with on the results release - will we have new words to add to our Lingo Bingo, or just the usual ones.

Let’s see.

In my opinion we are DOA…. Catastrophic results month after month… the new leaders took a company with a chance and a heartbeat only to ki-l it and pretend it’s alive and kicking. Anyone who was worth keeping have long since gone and more going. But hey… the ceo and his new team have found ways to pay themselves well so good for them.

It’s really ridiculous reading these bragging about Q1 financial success and people excited below in the comments with peans. This results cost hundreds suddenly laid off employees, not raises, not focal for every singular worker. That’s exactly the politics - you are important, you bulid our success.

Gap continues to show signs of being on firmer footing.

On Thursday, the San Francisco-based specialty retailer reported that net sales for the second quarter ended Aug. 2 reached $3.7 billion, which were flat compared to last year, though comparable sales, a better barometer of the business, rose 1 percent year-over-year.

Operating income was essentially flat at $292 million from $293 million a year ago. Net income rose to $216 million, up from $206 million in the year-ago period.

“When we roll up all of the components of our business and we look at our quarter results, it’s really showing our strategy is working,” Richard Di-kson, president and chief executive officer of Gap Inc., told WWD. “We had another solid quarter. We overdelivered on our profit expectations, and we achieved our top-line goals. Comps were up 1 percent in total. That’s the sixth consecutive quarter of positive comps, and our three largest brands all posted positive comps for the second quarter,” Di-kson said, referring to Old Navy, Gap and Banana Republic. Gap Inc.’s portfolio also includes Athleta.

“We’ve been building a strong balance sheet. We’ve got cash balances right now of $2.4 billion, which is up 13 percent year-over-year. So this is a real story about doing what we say we’re going to do, delivering with consistency, and it’s giving us great confidence as we head into the second half.”

Despite the stronger results, the retailer’s shares fell 2.8 percent to close at $21.68.

Gap Inc. expects $150 million to $175 million in tariff impact on its fiscal 2025 operating income, which translates to 100 to 110 basis point impact on operating margin.

“What’s really important is that while there’s an impact in 2025 we do not expect the annualization of tariffs in 2026,” Katrina O’Connell, Gap Inc.’s chief financial officer, told WWD. “As we look to address tariffs this year, we’re utilizing a lot of the levers. We’ve discussed thoughtful adjustments to our sourcing. We’re looking at manufacturing, we’re looking at assortments, we are doing some targeted pricing. But we’re really focused on sustaining the momentum and market share gains that our reinvigoration playbook is driving as we pursue our tariff mitigation plans.”

Asked what’s been selling best, Di-kson said, “It’s been an exciting denim season for the industry, but I think in particular, Gap brand has been leading the way.” He cited the launch last week of the “Better in Denim” campaign featuring the Katseye girl group, and said the campaign has become the number-one search on TikTok, with 400 million total views. “It’s proving Gap is a powerful pop culture brand, but the denim category for Gap and Old Navy has been outstanding for us. Going into the back half, we will continue that momentum.”

Di-kson also cited the active category as a strong performer, particularly at Old Navy, fueled by a recent campaign with Lindsay Lohan and product innovation, and strategic partnerships. “Our Disney partnership this past quarter was very successful combination of what we call family appeal and trend-right products.”

Di-kson continues to search for a new head of Banana Republic. The position has been vacant for over a year, though Di-kson has been very involved in rejuvenating the brand.

“Banana Republic does over $2 billion worth of business. There are very few $2 billion brands in the industry so you need somebody who really understands how to operate a brand at scale. Over the last year we’ve been working very hard to reestablish the brand, the positioning, the vision, the codification, if you will, and now that we’ve evolved as a brand we’re looking for somebody who can accelerate and execute against a strategy and vision versus reshaping the brand. The brand is in very good condition now.”

Banana Republic’s second-quarter net sales of $475 million were down 1 percent compared to last year, but comparable sales rose 4 percent.

Old Navy, the largest volume brand in the Gap Inc. portfolio, generated second-quarter sales of $2.2 billion, up 1 percent compared to last year. Comparable sales rose 2 percent. “Old Navy continues to demonstrate consistency in execution with reinvigoration efforts continuing to progress,” the company indicated in a statement issued Thursday.

Gap brand’s second-quarter net sales of $772 million were up 1 percent compared to last year. Comparable sales were up 4 percent, achieving positive comparable sales for the seventh consecutive quarter.

Athleta’s second-quarter net sales of $300 million were down 11 percent compared to last year, while comparable sales were down 9 percent. “The brand continues to focus on resetting for the long term and improving its product and marketing, which will take time,” the company noted.

In other statistics, Gap Inc.’s store sales decreased 1 percent compared to last year, but online sales increased 3 percent and represented 34 percent of total sales. The company ended the quarter with about 3,500 store locations in over 35 countries, of which 2,486 were company-operated.

Asked why store sales were down slightly, Di-kson replied, “We believe in our stores. Stores are a really important way for our customers to experience our brand. We’re also at a pivotal point with our fleet, which is positioned much more optimally. We’ve been doing a lot of coming back over the last several years. We’re also testing some new formats and experience like Gap in Flatiron and Banana Republic in SoHo,” Di-kson said, referring to the two Manhattan neighborhoods

“We believe we’ve got great opportunity to drive more business out of our stores,” Di-kson said. “But on balance, we really look at our omnichannel approach as a way to gauge our business and our consumer reaction.” Some of the decline in store sales is due to closures, particularly at Banana Republic, but traffic overall at the stores was up last quarter.

Gross margin in the second quarter came to 41.2 percent and decreased 140 basis points versus last year. Merchandise margin decreased 150 basis points versus last year, primarily driven by lapping the benefit of incremental sales in the second quarter of fiscal 2024 relating to the company’s revenue-sharing agreement with its credit card partners.

“Gap Inc. overdelivered on profit expectations and achieved our top-line goals. With positive comps for the sixth consecutive quarter, fueled by our three largest brands Old Navy, Gap and Banana Republic, it’s clear our strategy is working,” Di-kson said in his prepared statement. “Two years ago, I shared my vision for leading Gap Inc. into an exciting new chapter. Since then, we’ve built a stronger foundation with more relevant brands, a sharper operating platform, and a more unified culture while consistently demonstrating agility and resilience in dynamic environments. We are advancing our transformation with discipline, clarity, and momentum and remain committed to building a high-performing company that delivers sustainable, long-term value for our shareholders.”

The company ended the second quarter with cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $2.4 billion, an increase of 13 percent from the prior year.

This was done solely for profit. In a time of a weak job market, aggressive inflation, and the dawn of AI, they just crushed people’s lives for money. At a recent summer regional, Penny stated a few times, “over my dead body will this place be sold”. When you have to be that declarative, then you know the field and home office no longer trust you. She is the female version of Andy Sieg. She also stated she is rewriting the Partnership. To change the required age of MP retirement? Perhaps we have a dictator on our hands. Perhaps to change the by-laws to make it easier to sell? She has hired inexperienced EJ leaders for her ELT…external hires, in a sense creating a board of directors. And when she sells, guess what? The GPs get the premium or excess paid for the equity…you as a LP will only get your capital back. Reminds me of 2008 with another proud St. Louis institution - Anheuser Busch. August the 4th was incompetent Iike Penny and he too “invited the barbarians in the gate” meaning the executives from InBev which allowed them to plan the takeover.

So thank you heir dictator you truly are a “penny stock” - you bring little to no value and come with many disclaimers.

Nothing says ‘financial recovery plan’ quite like betting the company’s future on a boy-band side quest. At this rate, the only thing timeless about Fossil will be the bankruptcy papers.

Our Journey these past 6 years…

For those who started in 2019 and after, the firm was not this way. It ranked highly on Best Places to Work, JD Power for both client and associate satisfaction, etc. It was a place where qualifications, education, experience, and success mattered. Not your makeup at birth. It was a place where our MP didn’t get lost in creating grandiose corporate speak or buzzwords where she thinks eloquence means leadership - it doesn’t. You may not be responsible for this situation, you are not to blame but without you knowing it - you helped create it. It was a firm who took pride in the strong workforce it created.

A timeline of a cultural crisis:

2019:
January 1 - Penny becomes the 6 managing partner.
T1 - Ambitious goal setting starts on corporate and field representation on various societal, political, and cultural ideology important to her agenda. The word smithing goes into hyperdrive. The field become disenchanted with her verbiage on “our clients”. This becomes a lightening rod of contention with those who create the revenue versus those who decide to split it.
T2 - Same as above
T3 - Same as above
Penny earned $11.5 million in 2018. Her first year in 2019 as MD she received a modest increase in pay to $11.67 million.

2020: COVID

March 14th - home office associates are sent home.
March 20th - STL Business Journal publishes an article on Penny’s pick as Chief of Human Resources, Kristin Johnson. Titled “Life in Balance: Kristin Johnson runs hard at work and play”. This article lauds her zero experience in HR and how Kristin feels being an entry level c-suite executive to a new role adds confidence with those she leads and builds trust around the policy of the firm. This is a watershed mark in Penny placing mandates on hiring quotas for people unqualified for roles. Across the firm hiring requisitions are left open longer than 365 days to hit certain quotas.
March/April - Penny takes a page from 2009 and freezes wages. Only to repeal her decision a few weeks later as her public pay increase is published. Her pay raise is 25.7% to $14.7 million.
April - we have 473 general partners.
T3 - Penny, sensing continued dissatisfaction with field leadership and in line with her belief that a merit based decision process is cumbersome, invites all RLs into the GP population ballooning the number to over 700.
October an associate sends the following to Penny’s Page:
“Never have I felt so disconnected from the firm and where it seems to be headed. It's not COVID and working remotely. That part doesn't help to be sure, but it's more a divergence in mindset and philosophy. I've grown up feeling extremely aligned with the firm. The business was relatively simple, leadership was transparent, trustworthy and directional. It's not any one thing that's changed. It's all of it. And I think it's as you have described it - slowly and then suddenly. I would guess that as someone reads this, they will probably take it as affirmation that the firm is making the needed changes and that losing someone like me along the way is a necessary by-product. Might be true. But it's also precisely what I mean by what is changing at the firm. The firm I knew would have cared and truly wanted to bring everyone along. I feel like now, this might merely be an afterthought and the unfortunate but necessary exhaust fumes of a firm accelerating away from who it was.”

2021:
March - field attrition is spiking. Divisive rhetoric and policies are challenging the FA ethos “We’ll leave you alone as long as you run a sound, profitable, and ethical office”
March - industry news shares her pay is now $22.6 million and that Penny will start the $1.5 billion tech spend and buy a RIA.
Mid Year - her plans to buy an industrial bank starts to unravel.
Mid Year - yearly home office local events like Six Flags and Grants Farm are cancelled since HBAs are unable to attend.
T3- in addition to increased field attrition, home office veteran departures start to increase. Trimester bonuses start to decrease across the home office. A trend that is present today.

2022:
Billions in assets are hemorrhaging. FAs dissatisfied at the slowness of adoption is preventing them from evolving leave for other firms.
The uptick in GP departures increases. The political and DEI measures creates the liability and discrimination lawsuits that snowballs into 2025.
July 2 - Jennifer Marcontell leaves for Ameriprise
Penny makes certain FAs a partner to prevent their exodus.
Since 2022 to present the outflow of level 10s has never been this high.
Former partners go into competition with Edward Jones in creating their own firm.
2022 is the year that Penny decides internal talent are not suitable to her agenda. She hires David Chubak and others from outside of the industry and a few BDs.
The amount of capital balloons which, in turn, su-ks profit and preventing further investment back into the business.

2023:
The home office hiring spree with bloated salaries and sign on bonuses creates an overspend of the hiring budget by $20 million.

November 29 - An email is sent to all home office associates titled, “The Home Office Colleague Experience”. A 9 minute video where Penny wanted to give “timely updates around our work to improve the home office’s colleague experience”. A Mea Culpa was issued regarding the past few years and that Jennifer Kingston will prioritize both Total Rewards and morale while combating the dark cloud that became the climate. An extra vacation day was provided to all associates as the first step. Penny states that since July 2020, the firm had hired 2,700 new associates due to the past few years of attrition and new leaders trying to restructure their teams and departments because they did not understand the model they inherited. The loss of years of a culture and the brain trust of experience has created a vacuum especially with new leaders and associates trying to understand the Edward Jones ecosystem.

2024:
T1 - Penny says her husband is “afraid we’re going to run out of money during retirement”. Her 2024 total earnings get a 15.7% bump to $29 million.
T2 - The SFA feedback on the ELT is the lowest ever recorded. Weather then address it, and realizing the need to build out the UHNW area and over capitalized with GP capital. The plan for Enterprise Reimagined is hatched.
T3 - Offsourcing increases rapidly to India. Roughly 400 associates in service and operations are let go with the first set of severance packages. This marks the first time for EJ to offer severances other than to GPs.

2025:
T1 - Enterprise Reimagined is formally announced.
Attrition in the field increased to 6.4 from 5.3 one year prior.
New households drop 55% when compared to a year prior.
New assets slipped by 10% year over year.
Retirement plans and aging clients to blame. The collapse of various training departments among other areas of the firm has led to a decrease in coaching on business outcomes. Asset flows to competitors increases not due to aging but increase in fees, subpar FA service, lack of cross generational planning, and FA losses.
T2 - Enterprise Reimagine is formally launched. The next timeline begins for 2026 in sourcing and shoring and 2027 will wrap up ER with AI and automation. In 2028 the next MP will not be a MP but a CEO.

Penny’s Yearly Earnings Recap:
2019 = $11.7 million.
2020 = $14.7 million.
2021 = $22.6 million.
2022 = $21.4 million.
2023 = $25 million.
2024 = $29 million.
Total = $124,400,000.

Every time quarterly results disappoint in any way, I start worrying about cuts. It doesn’t take much for leadership to decide and pull the trigger if it helps them get out of the hot seat faster. I might be paranoid, but something tells me I’m not far from the truth.

Not that there is any direct correlation, but the last time Canon Global pulled this cr-p was the end of Q2, 2024. 8 days before the mass layoffs in Canon USA.

"On August 22, Canon announced the completion of a significant share repurchase: approximately 9.8 million shares were bought back for 42.95 billion yen through the Tokyo Stock Exchange's off-auction system (ToSTNeT-3) 1. While share buybacks are generally seen as a positive move to return value to shareholders, they can also raise concerns if investors interpret them as a signal that the company lacks better growth opportunities or if the buyback is perceived as poorly timed.

Additionally, sentiment analysis from MarketBeat shows that news coverage around Canon has been slightly negative over the past week, with a sentiment score of -0.35, below the average for manufacturing companies 2. This could be contributing to the downward pressure on the stock."

Kodak Dumps Pension Plan to Pay Off Massive $500 Million Debt.
https://tonernews.com/forums/topic/kodak-dumps-pension-plan-to-pay-off-500-million-massive-debt/

Source below. The Economist, Aug 21st 2025 - 5 min read

Donald Trump’s fantasy of home-grown chipmaking

• To remain the world’s foremost technological power, America needs its friends

How low mighty Intel has fallen. Half a century ago the American chipmaker was a byword for the cutting edge; it went on to dominate the market for personal-computer chips and in 2000 briefly became the world’s second-most-valuable company. Yet these days Intel, with a market capitalisation of $100bn, is not even the 15th-most-valuable chip firm, and supplies practically none of the advanced chips used for artificial intelligence (AI). Once an icon of America’s technological and commercial prowess, it has lately been a target for subsidies and protection. As we published this, President Donald Trump was even mulling quasi-nationalisation.

More than ever, semiconductors hold the key to the 21st century. They are increasingly critical for defence; in the ai race between America and China, they could spell the difference between victory and defeat. Even free-traders acknowledge their strategic importance, and worry about the world’s reliance for cutting-edge chips on tsmc and its home of Taiwan, which faces the threat of Chinese invasion. Yet chips also pose a fiendish test for proponents of industrial policy. Their manufacture is a marvel of specialisation, complexity and globalisation. Under those conditions, intervening in markets is prone to fail—as Intel so vividly illustrates.

To see how much can go wrong, consider its woes. Hubris caused the firm to miss both the smartphone and the ai waves, losing out to firms such as Arm, Nvidia and tsmc. Joe Biden’s CHIPS Act, which aimed to spur domestic chipmaking, promised Intel $8bn in grants and up to $12bn in loans. But the company is floundering. A fab in Ohio meant to open this year is now expected to begin operations in the early 2030s. Intel is heavily indebted and generates barely enough cash to keep itself afloat.

A factory worker in a red baseball cap holding up a shining silicon wafer
Illustration: Deena So'Oteh
The sums needed to rescue it keep growing. By one estimate Intel will need to invest more than $50bn in the next few years if it is to succeed at making leading-edge chips. Even if the government were to sink that much into the firm, it would have no guarantee of success. The company is said to be struggling with its latest manufacturing process. Its sales are falling and its plight risks becoming even more desperate.

The Biden administration failed with Intel, but Mr Trump could make things worse. He has threatened tariffs on chip imports, and may try to browbeat firms such as Nvidia into using Intel to make semiconductors for them. These measures might buy Intel time but they would be self-defeating for America. Chipmaking is not an end in itself but a critical input America’s tech sector requires to be world-beating. Forcing firms to settle for anything less than the best would blunt their edge.

What should America do? One lesson is not to pin the nation’s hopes on keeping Intel intact. It could sell its fab business to a deep-pocketed investor, such as SoftBank, which has reportedly expressed interest in buying it and this week announced a $2bn investment in Intel. Or it could sell its design arm and pour the proceeds into manufacturing. Intel may fail to catch up with TSMC even then. Either way, the federal government should not throw good money after bad. Taking a stake in Intel would only complicate matters.

That leads to a second lesson: to look beyond Intel and solve other chipmakers’ problems. tsmc is seeking to spread its wings. It is running out of land for giant fabs in Taiwan and its workforce is ageing. It has already pledged to invest $165bn to bring chipmaking to America. A first fab is producing four-nanometre (nm) chips and a second is scheduled to begin making more advanced chips by 2028. Samsung, a South Korean chipmaker that is having more success than Intel, is setting up a fab in Texas. But progress has been slow: Samsung and TSMC have both struggled with a lack of skilled workers and delays in receiving permits.

The last lesson is that, even if domestic chipmaking does make America more resilient, the country cannot shut itself off from the rest of the world. One reason is that the supply chain is highly specialised, with key inputs coming from across the globe, including extreme-ultraviolet lithography machines from the Netherlands and chipmaking tools from Japan. The other is that Taiwan and its security will remain critical. Even by the end of this decade, when tsmc’s third fab in America is due to begin producing 2nm chips, two-thirds of such semiconductors are likely to be made on the island. TSMC’s model is based on innovating at home first, before spreading its advances around the world.

To keep America’s chip supply chains resilient, Mr Trump needs a coherent, thought-through strategy—a tall order for a man who governs by impulse. No wonder he is going in the wrong direction. On Taiwan he has been cavalier, confident that China will not invade on his watch, while failing to offer the island consistent support. His tariffs on all manner of inputs will raise the costs of manufacturing in America; promised duties on chip imports will hurt American customers. He thrives on uncertainty, but chipmakers require stability.

A sensible chip policy would make it attractive to build fabs in America by easing rules over permits and creating programmes to train engineers. Instead of using tariffs as leverage, the government should welcome the imports of machinery and people that support chipmaking. Given the bipartisan consensus on the importance of semiconductors, the administration should seek a policy that has Democratic support—with the promise of continuity from one president to the next.

Economic nationalists should also see the progress of chipmakers in allied countries as a contribution to America’s security. Samsung is aiming to start producing 2nm chips in South Korea later this year. Rapidus, a well-funded chipmaking startup in Japan, is making impressive progress. Both countries have a tradition of manufacturing excellence, and may have a better shot at emulating Taiwan.

The chipmaking industry took decades to evolve. It is built for an age of globalisation. When economic nationalists build their policies on autarky, they are setting themselves a needlessly hard task—if not an impossible one.

https://www.economist.com/leaders/2025/08/21/donald-trumps-fantasy-of-home-grown-chipmaking

Does Intel need $ ?
Is this true? How does Jim Cramer see what others can't?

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/jim-cramer-says-intel-needs-033717705.html