Good morning, CFOs. Shopify’s Cyber Monday outage; job cuts at Newell Brands and Algoma Steel; plus, Starbucks reaches a nearly $39 million settlement on worker protection violations.

The unofficial start of the crucial holiday shopping period kicked off last week with Black Friday, the beginning of a season that many CFOs and retail executives look to for a significant portion of their annual sales and profits.

Shopify, which provides tools such as payment processing and inventory management for merchants to sell products online, knows the importance of the holidays. “This moment has evolved,” Shopify President Harley Finkelstein told analysts last month, referring to the holiday season. “It used to be a few peak sales days, but now it stretches across the whole quarter. And it's more global than ever. ...And we are ready for it,” he said. 

Cyber Monday has already presented a test.

What happened?: Shopify experienced an outage on Monday that interrupted transactions for some merchants on its e-commerce platform during one of the busiest shopping days of the year, Suzanne Kapner reports. Shopify started as a way for small businesses to have an e-commerce storefront but has also attracted larger retailers.

Bad timing: E-commerce is increasingly crucial for retailers, especially on busy shopping days like Cyber Monday. Adobe expects consumers to spend as much as $14.2 billion online Monday, a 6.3% increase over last year.

Online sales accounted for 16.1% of total retail sales in 2024, up from 15.3% in 2023, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. The penetration is far larger for categories that rank high on holiday gift lists such as consumer electronics and toys. As people become more reliant on the internet, any glitches can cause major disruptions, as was the case earlier this year when technical problems at Amazon disrupted web services for millions of Americans.

📆 Earnings

• American Eagle Outfitters
• CrowdStrike Holdings
• Okta
• Signet Jewelers

Newell Brands will lay off about 10% of its professional and clerical employees, or over 900 workers, as part of its ongoing cost-savings plan.

The maker of Yankee Candle and Sharpie on Monday said the cuts will have a limited effect on its manufacturing and supply chain operations. Layoffs in the U.S. are expected to largely occur this month, with international layoffs continuing into next year.

Newell Brands employed approximately 23,700 people worldwide as of the end of last year, according to its most recent annual filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

• Algoma Steel to Cut 1,000 Workers Due to Tariffs

📰 Other headlines

• Estee Lauder Restructuring Has Cost $1.14 Billion
• How Estée Lauder and Google Taught AI to Sell Fragrances
• Buy Now, Pay Later Companies Asked to Share Lending Practices
• Goldman Makes a $2 Billion Bet on ‘Boomer Candy’
• Why HSBC Has Struggled to Fill One of the Biggest Jobs in Global Finance
• Bitcoin Rout Picks Up Steam as Investors Fret Over a New ‘Crypto Winter’
• Strategy, the Bitcoin-Buying Company, Raises $1.44 Billion to Weather Crypto Downturn
• Airbus Suffers New Quality Issue Days After Software Glitch
• Disney’s Succession Race Enters Final Stage as Iger’s Reign Draws to End
• Millions of Coders Love This AI Startup. Can It Last?

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Texas Roadhouse, the Louisville, Ky.-based restaurant company, appointed Mike Lenihan to be its next chief financial officer, effective Dec. 3. Lenihan was most recently CFO of CKE Restaurants and has 22 years of finance experience in the restaurant industry, Texas Roadhouse said. Lenihan succeeds interim CFO Keith Humpich, who was appointed chief accounting and financial services officer. Texas Roadhouse named Humpich to its top finance role on an interim basis in June after terminating D. Christopher Monroe, who had been CFO since 2023. The company said at the time it had hired an executive search firm to assist in finding a successor.

PPG Industries, the Pittsburgh-based paint-and-coatings company, is searching for a new finance chief, as Vince Morales expects to retire from the role on July 1. Morales joined the company in 1985 as a corporate controller and has since held numerous roles of increasing responsibility. He has served as CFO since 2017, the company said.

—Kelly Cloonan and Connor Hart contributed to today’s Ledger.

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.

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