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Never Ending Revenge Spending—‘What Is the New Norm?’

By Walden Siew

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Shoppers are stretched, but discretionary spending isn’t abating as quickly as some finance chiefs and economists expected. PHOTO: MARIO TAMA/GETTY IMAGES

Good morning. Americans are continuing to spend, despite anxiety over the economy, making companies question their expectations of consumer spending habits during slower economic growth.

Shoppers are stretched, but discretionary spending isn’t abating as quickly as some finance chiefs and economists expected—a phenomenon economists and finance chiefs have coined “revenge” and even “doom” spending. And it has CFOs across industries—from travel to clothing, restaurants and consumer packaged goods—working to figure out what the impact is on balance sheets.

Americans—for now—remain resilient and are holding on to some nice-to-have experiences and habits, and are willing to even spend on small and large extravagances, even while grocery prices soar, pandemic-era savings dwindle and credit is more expensive.

“This long-anticipated slowdown that economists and business leaders have been anticipating just isn’t materializing yet.”

—James Knightley, chief international economist at financial services provider ING
 
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Generative AI Applied to Sourcing and Procurement: 3 Use Cases

Consider how future generative AI-based tools may benefit contract reviews, category management, and guided buying, as well as steps for enterprise implementation.  Keep Reading ›

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The Day Ahead

📆 Earnings

  • Carnival
  • Cintas
  • Jefferies Financial Group
  • Paychex
 
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Latest From CFO Journal

UPS Plans for More Capex as Labor Contract Costs Start to Pass

United Parcel Service plans to devote a larger chunk of its revenue to capital spending through 2026 as margin pressures from the costs of its labor contract begin to subside, CFO Brian Newman said.

The delivery giant expects capital spending between 2024 and 2026 to comprise about 5.5% of total revenue, up from 4.9% the prior comparable period. Last summer, UPS and union leaders agreed to a new five-year pact, the costs of which were particularly substantial in the first year. The company is continuing to cut costs and boost efficiencies, for example, by shedding 12,000 jobs and expanding use of radio-frequency identification technology, Newman said.

“The certainty of the labor contract will enable us to manage cost effectively, allow us to invest in the business and will continue to be disciplined on revenue, which will expand margin and drive cash,” he said.

—Mark Maurer

 

What Else Matters to CFOs

Airline executives and government officials say they welcomed the shake-up at Boeing. PHOTO: SCOTT BRAUER/ZUMA PRESS

Federal probes, sloppy factories, angry airlines, tense union negotiations and supply-chain snarls. Boeing’s crisis won’t end when David Calhoun exits as chief executive.

The next leader of the American manufacturing icon will have to address some of the same issues that Calhoun, a longtime Boeing director, was brought on to clean up four years ago when the board he led ousted his predecessor.

 ‏‏‎ ‎
  • Visa, Mastercard and the largest U.S. credit-card issuing banks have agreed to a settlement with merchants that have been suing them for nearly two decades over the fees they charge for swiping credit cards.
  • Shares of Donald Trump’s social-media company surged 16% on their first day of trading, boosting the presidential candidate’s fortune.
  • The containership crash that downed a Baltimore bridge Tuesday stands to snarl shipping along the East Coast for months. Here are the areas most likely to be affected.

📰 Other headlines

  • Johnson & Johnson Considers Deal for Shockwave Medical
  • Larry Fink Says World Leaders Must Address Growing Retirement Crisis
  • Krispy Kreme Stock Jumps After Expanding McDonald’s Partnership
  • Apple Turns to Steve Jobs Disciple to Defend ‘Walled Garden’
  • The Crypto Reboot That Wasn’t: Why ‘FTX 2.0’ Floundered
  • The Fight for AI Talent: Million-Dollar Packages and Buy Whole Teams
 

CFO Moves

MannKind, the Danbury, Conn.-based biopharma company, appointed Christopher Prentiss as chief financial officer, effective April 22, after Steven Binder announced that he planned to retire. Since September 2022, Prentiss was CFO of clinical-stage biotechnology company ADARx Pharmaceuticals. Between April 2015 and November 2021, he held a series of finance positions including CFO at Adamas Pharmaceuticals. Binder will remain at MannKind through the end of the year as executive vice president of special projects.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals, the Cranbury, N.J.-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, shuffled its executive team and hired a finance chief as it transforms its business model toward a commercial-stage gene therapy company. The company named Aaron Ondrey as CFO and Kinnari Patel as president, head of research of development and chief operating officer. Ondrey most recently served as CFO of Mirati Therapeutics through the launch of Krazati and the company's acquisition by Bristol Myers Squibb in January.

—Emon Reiser and Sabela Ojea contributed to this newsletter.

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Content From Our Sponsor: DELOITTE
Economic News and Analysis from Ira Kalish
Deloitte Chief Global Economist Ira Kalish provides an in-depth view of the week’s most important economic reports from the U.S. and around the world, on the issues that matter to CFOs. Read more.
 

About Us

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.

 
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