Good morning, CFOs. Kura Sushi CFO talks about its pricing strategy; Kroger plans to name ex-Walmart exec as CEO; rating Trump's economy.

Jeff Uttz, chief financial officer of Kura Sushi, is among the leadership team at Kura Sushi USA, which recently raised prices at the revolving sushi bar chain. The company anticipated a potential blow to customers’ willingness to dine. Instead, traffic improved, Uttz told WSJ Leadership Institute reporter Jennifer Williams.

Key quote: “Anytime you take a menu price increase, there’s going to be some degradation to your mix, there will be some people who just order less,” said Uttz. “But this menu price increase was taken very well.”

Listening to the customers is a well-worn adage in business—as is the willingness to pivot. And Kura Sushi did just that in other respects, including the toys and prizes it offers customers.

On changing the threshold for the chain’s second Bikurra Pon toy:

The revolving sushi bar chain lifted prices after receiving survey feedback from diners on Kura Sushi’s value compared with competitors. To attract diners, the sushi chain also offers small toys, and around a year ago, Uttz recommended changing the threshold for a second prize to diners to 25 plates, down from 30.

The reason is this: The average Kura Sushi guest eats roughly six plates in a visit. The CFO figured that if, for instance, a family of four with two kids comes in and one child gets a toy with 15 plates, it might be a stretch to add another 15 dishes for the second prize. But with the lower plate count for a second prize, the family of four might add a couple of plates to their order to get there.

“And so we changed it,” Uttz said.

For the full details of the story, read on here.

Monday

Earnings: Apollo Global Management, Arch Capital Group, Becton Dickinson, Cincinnati Financial, Loews, ON Semiconductor, Principal Financial Group

Tuesday

Earnings: American International Group, Assurant, AstraZeneca, BP, Cloudflare, Coca-Cola, CVS Health, Datadog, Duke Energy, Dupont, Ecolab, Edwards Lifesciences, Ferrari, Fiserv, Ford Motor, Gilead Sciences, Hasbro, Incyte, Marriott International, Masco, Quest Diagnostics, Robinhood Markets, S&P Global, Spotify Technology

The National Federation of Independent Business releases its Small Business Optimism Index for January.

The Census Bureau reports retail and food services sales for December.

Wednesday

Earnings: Albemarle, Ameren, AppLovin, Cisco Systems, Equinix, Generac Holdings, Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Humana, Kraft Heinz, Martin Marietta Materials, McDonald’s, Motorola Solutions, NiSource, Paycom Software, Rollins, Shopify, T-Mobile US, Vertiv Holdings, Waste Connections and Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies

The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the jobs report for January.

Thursday

Earnings: Airbnb, American Electric Power, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Applied Materials, Arista Networks, Baxter International, British American Tobacco, CBRE Group, Coinbase Global, DexCom, Entergy, Eversource Energy, Exelon, Expedia Group, Howmet Aerospace, Ingersoll Rand, Iron Mountain, Kimco Realty, PG&E, Public Storage, Tyler Technologies, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, West Pharmaceutical Services, Wynn Resorts, Zebra Technologies and Zoetis

The National Association of Realtors reports existing-home sales for January.

Friday

Earnings: Cameco, Enbridge and Moderna

The BLS releases the consumer price index for January.

Exclusive: Grocery giant Kroger plans to hire Greg Foran, a former executive at top rival Walmart, as its next chief executive, according to people familiar with the matter.

The company is expected to announce the choice as soon as Monday, some of the people said. Kroger, the biggest grocer in the U.S. by sales after Walmart, has been searching for a permanent leader for almost a year after the departure of longtime CEO Rodney McMullen for an undisclosed ethics violation.

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• 🏈 Podcast: How AI Is Reshaping the Advertising Industry

Podcast: Outgoing Walmart chief Doug McMillon reflects on a 12-year transformation under his watch that turned the world's largest retailer into a tech giant and fueled a historic rally to a $1 trillion market cap. Listen here.

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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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