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KPMG launches radical overhaul, cuts 200 senior jobs

Author

Maren Ishak
June 17, 2024

Good Morning,

US markets rose with S&P 500 and Nasdaq hitting new highs, but gains were narrow. European and Chinese stocks fell on political uncertainty and deflation worries respectively. On the earnings front, Adobe surged 14% on AI optimism. Interesting articles to look out for include the merger of Swiss units of UBS and Credit Suisse, and the $4 billion valuation of market-research startup AlphaSense

Let’s jump in!

Before The Bell

Markets

  • Major US stock indexes rose for the week with S&P 500 and Nasdaq hitting new highs, but gains were narrow with equal-weight S&P 500 lagging by 2.15%. (TRP)

  • European stocks fell on political uncertainty. STOXX Europe 600 down 2.39%. Major bourses in Italy, Germany, France fell more than 5% (TRP)

  • Chinese stocks fell in a shortened week due to deflation worries. Shanghai Composite down 0.61%, CSI 300 down 0.91%, Hang Seng down 2.31% (TRP)

Earnings & Data

  • ANGLE Full Year 2023 Earnings: EPS Exceeds Loss Expectations. (Yahoo)

  • German wholesale prices fall 0.7% in May (RT)

  • Steel & Tube’s forecasts are falling short of analysts' expectations, with their projected EBITDA expected to be approximately $6.6 million less than the market forecast (NBR)

  • Adobe surges 14% as AI optimism fuels annual revenue forecast (RT)

News Summary

Tuesday

  • A donations page has been set up for a Napier family with one-year-old quadruplets whose stay-at-home dad died on Sunday. (Herald)

  • Australia’s population is growing at an “eye-watering” pace of 13,148 people per week, with immigration accounting for more than 80 per cent of the record increase. (NCA)

  • Apple is to boost its Siri voice assistant and operating systems with OpenAI's ChatGPT as it seeks to catch up in the AI race. (BBC)

Wednesday

  • The top of the North Island is in for 20 hours of rain and thunderstorms as tropically-fuelled disturbance sparks days of unsettled weather. (Herald)

  • Almost eight out of every 10 Australians surveyed are hoping to change jobs in the next year in a bid to increase their salary and alleviate cost-of-living pressures. (9 News)

  • Elon Musk has unexpectedly asked a California court to withdraw a legal case against OpenAI and its boss Sam Altman, which accused them of abandoning the firm's founding mission of developing artificial intelligence (AI) for humanity's benefit. (BBC)

Thursday

  • Big business’ Voice advocacy backfired: new Qantas chairman (AFR)

  • ASX investors spooked by rising technology costs (AFR)

  • ChatGPT can make human-like judgments, pick good stocks, researchers say (AFR)

Friday

  • MrBeast reportedly spotted in Hamilton Woolworths supermarket (Herald)

  • Tesla shareholders approve US$44.9 billion pay package for Elon Musk (RNZ)

  • Apple accused in lawsuit of underpaying female workers in California (RT)

Weekend

  • Missing Auckland woman Monica Reid found dead (Stuff)

  • KPMG launches radical overhaul, cuts 200 senior jobs (AFR)

  • OpenAI CEO says company could become for-profit corporation, The Information reports (RT)

Deal Flow

Investments / M&A

Australia & New Zealand

  • Private capital kicks tyres at Envirosuite; watching brief on Potentia. (AFR)

Key Global

  • The merger of the Swiss units of UBS and Credit Suisse could be completed as early as July 1, a senior executive at UBS was quoted as saying on Tuesday. (Reuters)

  • National Bank of Canada agreed to buy Canadian Western Bank for about C$5 billion ($3.6 billion) in stock in a tie-up of two of the country’s regional lenders. (BBG)

Other Global

  • Buyout firm Apollo Global and Kyndryl Holdings, the information technology services provider that was spun out of IBM, are in talks about a joint bid for DXC Technology, people familiar with the matter said on Monday. (Reuters)

VC & Fundraising

  • The market-research startup AlphaSense was valued at $4 billion as part of a recent fundraising round that will help it pay for a $930 million takeover of the data provider Tegus. (BBG)

  • France's Mistral AI has raised 600 million euros ($643.7 million) in a funding round led by existing investor General Catalyst, it said on Tuesday, as AI continues to draw the bulk of technology-focused venture capital funds. (RT)

Equity Raises

Australia & New Zealand

  • The owner of South Australian wine brands Nepenthe and Barossa Valley Wine Company will raise substantial capital to stay afloat amid a challenging wine market. (IN)

  • Market turns bearish on Guzman y Gomez as blockbuster IPO looms. (AFR)

Key Global

  • Microsoft plans to invest 6.69 billion euros (US$7.16 billion) to develop new data centres in Spain's northeastern region of Aragon, which is becoming a major cloud computing hub within Europe (RT)

Other Global

  • Canva’s IPO pitch lands just as markets are warming up. (AFR)

  • Sony Pictures is buying Alamo Drafthouse theater chain (CNBC)

  • Amazon adds US$230 million in cloud credits to AI startups (RT)

Debt, Restructuring & Bankruptcy

  • There is an $85 million shortfall between what partner banks of fintech middleman Synapse are holding and what depositors are owed, according to the court-appointed trustee in the Synapse bankruptcy. (CNBC)

The Daily Deck is sponsored by Industrial Equity, LLC

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