Good morning, CFOs. Royal Caribbean looks to close its price gap without losing customers; Qualcomm's CFO lays out plans for AI in finance; the end of de minimis alarms companies; and Pfizer raises its profit outlook despite tariff uncertainty.

Taking a cruise has long been a cheaper way to vacation, with prices as much as 40% lower across the industry than land-based alternatives with similar amenities. Royal Caribbean Group is looking to close its price gap without losing travelers seeking value.

The plan is to upgrade its offerings with private islands and new ships and destinations as it raises ticket prices, aiming to keep the value appeal in play.

“If you deliver what people want, they’re willing to pay for it,” Royal Caribbean Finance Chief Naftali Holtz said. “We elevate the experience, and with that comes the price.”

The CFO expects to close the pricing gap over the next couple of years. “But even if you just narrow it by 5, 10 [percentage] points, it’s pretty significant,” he said.

📆 Earnings

• Airbnb
• Bloomin’ Brands
• Bumble
• DoorDash
• e.l.f. Beauty
• McDonald’s
• MetLife
• Novo Nordisk
• Planet Fitness
• Shopify
• Thomson Reuters
• Uber Technologies
• Walt Disney

More companies are implementing artificial intelligence in their finance operations. Akash Palkhiwala, CFO and COO at software chip maker Qualcomm, talked to me recently about the latest advances the company is making with the technology in that part of the business. Edited excerpts follow.

WSJ: What’s an example of an AI use case you’re still experimenting with in your finance function, but is close to official application?

Palkhiwala: When we update a financial forecast for a period, one of the first things we end up doing once we've locked the numbers in is review changes that have happened. Revenue forecasts year-over-year or quarter-over-quarter. Previous forecast versus new forecast. You want to be able to review what are the things that drove the changes that happened. If the revenue forecast went up, where did the changes happen? What customer, what product, what revenue segment? In the past, it would be research that is done by an analyst to get to a view like that. What we're now seeing is deploying an LLM to be able to look through that same research that an analyst would look at and then publish on that metric.

Rather than a bunch of analysts working on it for a week to do that, we hit a button and we have the first draft done across the board and then analysts are reviewing it to make changes to it and finalize it, versus creating it in the first place. Very, very easy, simple use case that will get deployed at scale in my mind.

WSJ: What’s the potential cost savings of that?

Palkhiwala: There's a time-saving metric that goes with it. We haven't necessarily quantified it directly. Rather than think of it as a cost savings, I'll think of it as productivity improvements, and that allows us to really deploy those resources to a lot of the diversification strategies that we're deploying and allow us to scale the business without additional investment.

WSJ: Is there an AI use case in finance that excites you?

Palkhiwala: Generally, when you think about accounts payables, accounts receivables and manual journal entries, those are all areas that are ripe for disruption with AI. It's something that we are at the front end of investigating, but eventually I think you'll see everyone deploy some form of AI for each of those use cases.

The looming end of a tariff exemption for low-cost goods is distressing e-commerce merchants and U.S. shoppers who fear prices will rise.

The White House last week said it was suspending the de minimis provision, which allows shipments worth $800 or less to enter the U.S. tariff-free, as of Aug. 29. This is much sooner than a July 2027 deadline mentioned in President Trump’s recent budget bill.

• The Tariff Effect: Billions in Revenue but No Economic Earthquake
• Swiss President Dashes to Washington to Avert Crippling Trump Tariffs

📈 Earnings wrapup

• Pfizer Raises Profit Outlook Despite Uncertainty Over Tariffs, Drug Prices
• Fox Profit Jumps on Higher Ad Revenue
• Marriott International Narrows Guidance After Gains
• Caterpillar Earnings Miss Targets Amid Tariffs, Price Declines
• Yum Brands Posts Higher Profit, Sales on KFC, Taco Bell Growth
• Super Micro Computer Tempers Sales Outlook as Results Disappoint

📰 Other headlines

• Trump Says Banks Discriminate Against Conservatives—Including Him
• Blackstone Begins ‘Climb Back to Normalcy,’ Returns to Office After Shooting
• Help Wanted: A $195,000 Economist With More Than a Ph.D. to Run the BLS
• Linda Yaccarino Lands at Health Company eMed Weeks After Leaving Musk’s X
• How Palantir Won Over Washington—and Pushed Its Stock Up 600%
• Detroit Rediscovers Its Love for Giant Gas Guzzlers
• Trump Just Got a Fresh Shot at Bending the Fed to His Will

RingCentral, the Belmont, Calif.-based cloud-based communications solutions provider, said it appointed Vaibhav Agarwal as CFO, effective immediately. Agarwal will succeed Abhey Lamba, who will continue to serve as an executive adviser through the end of the year. Agarwal previously served as chief accounting officer, chief transformation officer and deputy CFO at the company.

The Wall Street Journal's CFO Journal offers corporate leaders and professionals CFO analysis, advice and commentary to make informed decisions. We cover topics including corporate tax, accounting, regulation, capital markets, management and strategy.

Follow us on X @WSJCFO. The WSJ CFO Journal Team comprises reporters Kristin Broughton, Mark Maurer and Jennifer Williams, and Bureau Chief Walden Siew.

You can reach us by replying to any newsletter, or email Walden at walden.siew@wsj.com.