Good morning, CFOs. Fossil gives up less profitable sales; UPS is accused of underpaying seasonal workers; Ford will take a $19.5 billion hit; and Ben & Jerry’s plans to set limits on board terms.

One watchmaker is losing sales on purpose.

Why? Around this time last year, Fossil Group’s new leadership looked at the company and saw some problems. Fossil sold too many watches at a discount, which was eating into profits, so executives reduced the price cuts expecting that the move would diminish sales. Walking away from discounted online sales is part of the executives’ turnaround plan, which has also included closing stores and cutting jobs, Jennifer Williams reports.

“Our discount rate on e-commerce has been reduced more than 50% in the last year,” said Fossil Chief Financial Officer Randy Greben. This means that if items on sale were previously marked down 20%, the discount would now be 10%. “We knew it would shrink our e-commerce business and it absolutely has. And that’s been OK,” he said.

Greben joined Fossil in March, roughly six months after the board appointed its first outsider chief executive in four decades and around the time that the turnaround plan was announced.

What's Fossil's financial position? Fossil, once a multibillion-dollar business, has seen its market cap dwindle to around $213 million with sales down for at least the past two years. Part of the attempt to recalibrate the company includes simplifying: Fossil exited its smartwatch business and now focuses on its five core brands out of 14 total.

📆 Earnings

• Lennar

📈 Economic Indicators

The BLS releases the jobs report for November, along with partial October data that was delayed by the record-long government shutdown.

The Census Bureau reports retail sales statistics for October.

S&P Global releases both its Manufacturing and Services Purchasing Managers’ Indexes for December.

Ford said it expects to take about $19.5 billion in charges, mainly tied to its electric-vehicle business, a massive hit as the automaker retrenches in the face of sinking EV demand.

The sum is among the largest impairments taken by a company and marks the U.S. auto industry’s biggest reckoning to date that it can’t realize its electric-vehicle ambitions anytime soon. 

📰 Other headlines

• Ben & Jerry’s Plans to Set Limits on Board Terms, Removing Three Directors
• CEOs Are Learning to Cope With Trump’s Turn to State Capitalism
• NY Attorney General Sues UPS for Allegedly Underpaying Seasonal Workers
• Uber Faces Amended Lawsuit from FTC, Several U.S. States Alleging Deceptive Billing, Cancellation Practices
• PayPal Applies to Establish Bank
• The Holidays Came Early This Year, at Least for Advertisers
• After Backlash, Jared Kushner Drops Plan to Build a Trump Hotel in Serbia
• He Built a Brokerage Giant With Sandy Weill and Then Started the NY Observer
• Stellantis Hits Milestone of 1,000 Hires for Windsor, Ontario Plant

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Booz Allen Hamilton, the McLean, Va.-based consulting firm, said CFO Matthew Calderone plans to resign, effective Feb. 1, for an opportunity in another industry. The firm has begun a search for a new CFO. Kristine Martin Anderson, the firm’s chief operating officer, will assume Calderone’s duties on an interim basis.

Talen Energy, the Houston-based power producer, said Terry Nutt, who joined as CFO in July 2023, will now serve as president, responsible for the daily operations of its business. Cole Muller, previously executive vice president of strategic ventures, succeeds Nutt as finance chief. Mac McFarland, who is ceding the president post to Nutt, remains chief executive. 

—Colin Kellaher 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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