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Miscellaneous

Is it ‘goodnight’ for Mattress Firm?!

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We don’t test products… we let other people buy them, and then we read their reviews on the internet. This makes online reviews one reason why Mattress Firm is filing for bankruptcy – because no one wants to drive to the store to lie down on a mattress. However, the company isn’t going anywhere – not yet, anyway.

 

Here’s the plan… the company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy that will get them out of about 700 bad leases. Mattress Firm will close 200 of those stores and is debating on what to do with the other 500. Still, that figure represents only a fraction of the company’s 3,300 locations in the United States.

 

Too many stores… because Mattress Firm acquired Sleepy’s in 2016 and Mattress Giant in 2012. Now, there’s a freakin’ mattress store on every corner (which we don’t need). Having so many locations is not a great look, especially considering Casper and Amazon are killing it online (where all the action is at) and looking to expand a little into brick-and-mortar. But we will see in the coming months if the one-time mattress behemoth can wake up and smell the coffee!

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Miscellaneous

Here’s where we separate the BULLS from the BEARS

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Despite the booming economy… three long-running companies are getting left behind. Those companies are General Motors, General Mills, and General Electric. General Motors has lost $1.5B in market value since 2010. General Mills isn’t selling much of anything. And General Electric hasn’t had a smaller market cap since the Great Recession.

 

General Mills has been getting killed… by changes in American preferences for healthy breakfast alternatives. General Motors profit has been going nowhere since its IPO in 2010, and now the company is facing rising costs for steel and aluminum.

 

And as for GE… the company is having difficulty recovering from years of bad deals and a mountain of debt. The company has lost nearly $500B in market share over the last 18 years. It just goes to show that even the most iconic companies are fair game for disruption and hardship in the markets they once dominated. It’s time for a change or to suffer the consequences!

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Blue Chip

Apple and Samsung are bitter rivals, right?

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Believe it or not… Apple and Samsung are ‘frenemies,’ so to speak, in the never-ending smartphone battle. However, such a relationship has proved to be a profitable one as far as both parties are concerned. And now, the South Korean electronics maker is expecting to make as much as $15.6B in operating profit from June to September from its business with Apple.

 

Here’s how Samsung help Apple… Samsung provides the flexible screens that Apple is using in its new iPhones. In fact, Apple is one of Samsung’s largest customers in this space, accounting for 25-30% of display division sales. The display division itself accounts for about 10% of Samsung’s total sales.

 

Despite these sales… analysts are expecting Samsung to report disappointing smartphone sales. Competition from companies like Apple is putting pressure on the world’s largest smartphone maker to remain competitive in the high-end market. Hm, maybe this relationship is more one-sided than we thought?

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Blue Chip

Ford is cutting back

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Ford is cutting jobs… and the company is planning to overhaul its entire business. In fact, the automaker plans to reorganize its global salaried workforce. The big picture of these job cuts, unsurprisingly, is to cut costs and restructure for the future.

 

Where Ford is cutting… depends on the team and location. The second largest automaker in the US declined to comment on which jobs are going or when they will be going. However, the company currently employs around 200,000 people around the globe, and 70,000 of those are salaried workers (so take your best guess).

 

Tough times ahead… because in July, the company lowered its earnings guidance for the rest of the year. Ford cited slow sales in Europe and Asia for the lowered guidance but maintained that sales in North America are doing well. Shares of the company are down 26% on the year and were down slightly upon the announcement.

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