Amazon will eliminate 16,000 corporate roles in its second major round of job cuts in less than six months, bringing total layoffs to 30,000 since October as it unwinds pandemic-era overhiring and restructures its business. Senior executive Beth Galetti said in a company blog post that the reductions are aimed at cutting organizational layers, boosting employee ownership, and reducing bureaucracy, while adding that Amazon does not intend to make large, rolling cuts every few months. A Reuters report indicated that some workers in the AWS division learned of the impending layoffs early after an internal email was inadvertently sent ahead of the announcement. Amazon, which had about 350,000 corporate employees as of Sept. 30, is repositioning itself as CEO Andy Jassy pushes the company to “operate like the world’s largest startup” and has ordered corporate staff back to the office five days a week.​

The latest job cuts follow Amazon’s decision to close its Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go physical grocery stores and concentrate on delivery services and expanding its Whole Foods Market chain, acquired in 2017. The company said that while its branded grocery stores have shown “encouraging signals,” they have yet to deliver a distinctive customer experience with a sustainable economic model for large-scale rollout, and it will review individual Fresh and Go locations for potential conversion into Whole Foods outlets. The restructuring has had immediate visible effects in communities such as Fullerton, California, where customers arrived to find local Amazon Fresh stores shuttered this week. Wedbush analyst Scott Devitt called the grocery strategy shift an “important step forward” that could help Amazon gain share in perishable categories, as investors await the company’s fourth-quarter earnings report due Feb. 5.

Tesla reported a 61% drop in net income to $840 million in the fourth quarter, as slowing electric vehicle sales and rising costs eroded its profitability. Revenue slipped 3% to $24.9 billion, while operating expenses jumped 39% to $3.6 billion, pushing operating margins down to 5.7% from 6.2% a year earlier. Despite the weak quarter, investors sent Tesla shares up more than 3% in after-hours trading, reflecting continued focus on the company’s long-term technology ambitions. Tesla also disclosed a $2 billion investment in preferred shares of xAI, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, underscoring its push to become a major AI player.

The company said vehicle deliveries fell 8.6% in 2025 to 1.64 million, amid a consumer backlash early in the year over Musk’s involvement with the Trump administration and his brief leadership role at the Department of Government Efficiency. Tesla later benefited from a rush of buyers seeking to take advantage of a federal EV tax credit before it expired at the end of September. Musk told the World Economic Forum in Davos that Tesla plans to begin selling Optimus humanoid robots by the end of 2027, declaring, “I think everyone on earth is going to have one and want one.” The automaker is also expanding self-driving car services in Austin, Texas, and said it will ramp up six new production lines in 2026 to support its Cybercab driverless vehicles, Optimus robots, energy storage, and battery manufacturing.

Crude oil prices rose more than 2% on Thursday as President Donald Trump considered targeted military strikes on Iran, raising concerns about potential disruptions to supplies from the key OPEC producer. U.S. crude gained $1.56, or 2.5%, to trade at $64.77 per barrel, while Brent increased $1.59, or 2.3%, to $69.99. Multiple sources told Reuters that Trump is weighing strikes on Iranian security forces and leaders with the aim of emboldening anti-government protesters and creating conditions for regime change. The market is closely watching whether unrest in Iran and possible U.S. intervention could trigger a broader regional shock to crude flows.

Iran’s Islamic Republic has launched a sweeping security crackdown this month to quell protests, with reports of thousands killed in the unrest. Trump has deployed the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group to the Middle East and warned Tehran that time is running out to reach a deal on its nuclear program. He threatened larger attacks than a U.S. strike last June that targeted Iran’s nuclear facilities, writing on Truth Social, “The next attack will be far worse! Don’t make that happen again.” The escalating rhetoric and military moves have heightened geopolitical risk in oil markets, adding a fresh layer of uncertainty for traders already sensitive to Middle East tensions.

Starbucks is rolling out a major overhaul of its Starbucks Rewards loyalty program on March 10, introducing three new membership tiers—Green, Gold and Reserve—as U.S. store visits rise for the first time in nearly two years. The company announced the changes at its Investor Day event in New York City, framing the redesign as part of CEO Brian Niccol’s “Back to Starbucks” strategy to rebuild loyalty and traffic without leaning heavily on discounts. The new structure moves away from rewards primarily tied to payment methods and instead accelerates earnings based on overall engagement, such as purchases, reloads, promotions, games and Double Star Days. Starbucks is also implementing a long-requested upgrade to its popular birthday freebie, expanding how long some members have to redeem the reward.

Global chief brand officer Tressie Lieberman said Starbucks now has more than 35 million active rewards members, who account for nearly 60% of U.S. company-operated revenue, and noted that even one extra visit per year from half of those members could generate about $150 million. Under the new tiers, Green members earn 1 star per dollar plus benefits like personalized offers, early access to select items and a “Free Mod Mondays” perk, though their stars expire after six months unless extended with activity. Gold status, earned after 500 stars in a year, brings faster star accrual (about 1.2 per dollar), non-expiring stars and at least four additional Double Star Days annually. Reserve members, who reach 2,500 stars in a year, earn stars fastest (about 1.7 per dollar) and gain premium perks and experiences, including extended birthday reward windows of up to 30 days, compared with single-day access for Green and a seven-day window for Gold.

The Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.5% to 3.75% at its first meeting of 2026, a widely expected move that drew two dissents from governors Stephen Miran and Chris Waller, who favored a 0.25 percentage point cut. Chair Jerome Powell described the U.S. economy as having “expanded at a solid pace” in 2025 and said it is entering 2026 “on a firm footing,” even as inflation remains somewhat above the Fed’s 2% target. Powell reiterated that policymakers are “well positioned” to proceed meeting by meeting after three cuts late last year and signaled it is not “anybody’s base case” that the next move will be a hike. Financial markets took the decision in stride, with major stock indexes and Treasury yields little changed following the announcement.​

Powell used his press conference to strongly affirm the central bank’s independence amid political pressure and an ongoing Department of Justice probe into his 2025 congressional testimony, declining to elaborate beyond a sharply worded Jan. 11 statement calling the investigation “unprecedented.” He also highlighted the Supreme Court case over President Trump’s attempt to remove Fed governor Lisa Cook, calling it “perhaps the most important legal case in the Fed’s 113-year history” and saying his attendance at the hearing was “appropriate.” Powell offered advice for his eventual successor — including staying out of electoral politics and maintaining close accountability to Congress — as Trump prepares to name a new Fed chair, with contenders including Kevin Hassett, Chris Waller, Kevin Warsh and Rick Rieder. Strategists noted that with policy now viewed as roughly neutral and the labor market stabilizing, further cuts may not come until midyear at the earliest, barring a sharper downturn in economic conditions.​

Financial Trends: Amazon's FY 2025 revenue is projected at ~$715 billion (+12% YoY) with annual EPS estimates of $7.14–$7.17 (+29% YoY), driven by AWS reacceleration to 20% growth, advertising hitting record $17.7 billion quarterly revenue, and operating margin expansion to an estimated 11.3% for the full year.

Strategic Initiatives: Amazon is deploying $125 billion in 2025 capex toward AWS AI infrastructure—including Trainium3 chips (now GA), Project Rainier (up to 1 million Trainium2 processors for Anthropic), and the Amazon Leo satellite constellation targeting service in five countries by H1 2026—positioning the company as the cornerstone AI infrastructure provider.

Key Metrics: Investors will scrutinize AWS revenue growth and backlog trends, advertising segment momentum, capex/free cash flow dynamics, North America and International operating margins, and any commentary on 2026 spending trajectory relative to the $150 billion+ expected.

Progress: AWS backlog hit $200 billion with October deal volume exceeding total Q3, 129 Project Kuiper satellites are now in orbit, Trainium3 achieved general availability in December 2025, and Thursday Night Football averaged a record 15.3 million viewers for the season—up 15% YoY.

Focus Areas: Management commentary on 2026 capex guidance (expected to exceed 2025's $125 billion), AWS AI monetization and Bedrock inference economics, free cash flow recovery timeline, and holiday quarter retail performance against the $206–$213 billion revenue guide will dominate analyst focus.

Risks Potential: Free cash flow collapsed 69% to $14.8 billion TTM due to massive capex, regulatory headwinds persist following the $2.5 billion FTC Prime settlement, cross-border competition from Temu (now at 24% market share parity) and Shein threatens retail margins, and Nvidia GPU allocation constraints could limit AWS capacity expansion.

Concerns: The $15 billion bond offering in November 2025—Amazon's first USD debt issuance in three years—signals reliance on debt markets to finance AI ambitions, while FY 2026 capex expected above $150 billion may delay meaningful free cash flow recovery and pressure ROI scrutiny if AI monetization lags.

Market Trends: Hyperscaler AI infrastructure spending is projected to reach $600+ billion in 2026 (+36% YoY) with 75% directed to AI, creating intense competition among AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud for enterprise AI workloads, while Amazon's Prime Video sports and retail media advertising provide diversified growth vectors amid uncertain consumer discretionary spending.

Financial Trends: Take-Two raised its FY2026 Net Bookings guidance to $6.4–$6.5 billion (+14% YoY) following a record Q2 with 33% revenue growth, while consensus projects FY2027 EPS of $9.27 (+216% YoY) as GTA VI drives the inflection from persistent GAAP losses to profitability.

Strategic Initiatives: The company is positioning for its most transformative product cycle ever with GTA VI confirmed for November 19, 2026, alongside Mafia: The Old Country, Civilization VII, and 37 total titles planned through March 2027, though Borderlands 4's "softer than expected" launch (~5 million units) underscores execution risk.

Key Metrics: Investors will focus on Net Bookings vs. the $1.55–$1.60 billion Q3 guide, recurrent consumer spending growth (73% of bookings in Q2), NBA 2K engagement metrics, and any updates on GTA VI development milestones or marketing timeline.

Progress: Q2 FY2026 delivered record Net Bookings of $1.96 billion, NBA 2K continues to outperform with record playtime and 20%+ RCS growth, the Borderlands franchise approaches 100 million lifetime units, and management has raised FY2026 guidance twice this fiscal year.

Focus Areas: Watch for commentary on GTA VI development status and marketing spend trajectory, Borderlands 4 catalog sales recovery post-PC fixes, mobile portfolio performance (which has lagged expectations), and any shift in the $6.4–$6.5 billion FY2026 bookings range.

Risks Potential: Execution risk around GTA VI's already twice-delayed launch looms large, while rising AAA development costs, Google's Project Genie AI platform announcement rattling gaming stocks, and competition from UGC platforms like Fortnite and Roblox threaten the traditional premium game model.

​Concerns: The stock trades ~14% above DCF-derived intrinsic value of $213 per share, persistent GAAP losses ($414–$349 million projected for FY2026) and share dilution (185 million shares outstanding) raise earnings quality concerns, and FY2027's massive EPS growth depends almost entirely on GTA VI executing flawlessly.

Market Trends: The AAA gaming sector faces a crossroads as $80+ billion market growth (+4.1% CAGR) is offset by ballooning budgets, pricing pressure (GTA VI's price point will be closely watched), and AI-driven disruption, though Take-Two's unmatched franchise IP and GTA VI's status as "the most important game release in history" position it as the sector's defining catalyst.

Financial Trends: Eli Lilly's FY2025 revenue is guided at $63.0–$63.5 billion (+42% YoY) with non-GAAP EPS of $23.00–$23.70 (+56% YoY), driven by Q3 2025's 54% revenue surge to $17.6 billion on record incretin sales of $10.1 billion combined from Mounjaro ($6.5B, +109%) and Zepbound ($3.6B, +184%).

Strategic Initiatives: Lilly submitted the NDA for orforglipron—a once-daily oral GLP-1 pill with 12.4% weight loss efficacy—under the FDA's national priority voucher program, with approval expected in Q2 2026, while simultaneously expanding manufacturing capacity through new facilities in Texas, Virginia, Alabama, and Puerto Rico to support its $101 billion peak-sales incretin ambition.

Key Metrics: Investors will focus on Q4 Mounjaro/Zepbound prescription trends and pricing dynamics, gross margin trajectory (82.9% in Q3), manufacturing capacity commentary, any early orforglipron launch timing signals, and 2026 guidance relative to the $77 billion consensus revenue estimate.

Progress: Zepbound commands 71% of new U.S. obesity prescriptions, ~35% of Zepbound volume now flows through cash-pay channels (LillyDirect/Walmart at $349/month), orforglipron completed four successful Phase III trials enabling global submissions, and the company achieved $1 trillion market cap status—validating its leadership in the GLP-1 era.

Focus Areas: Watch for updates on orforglipron launch timing versus Novo's oral Wegovy (already approved December 2025), head-to-head tirzepatide vs. CagriSema Phase III readout expected in Q1, 2026 capex and manufacturing scale-up trajectory, and any commentary on TrumpRx pricing deal implications.

Risks Potential: Manufacturing bottlenecks remain a constraint despite $43 billion in capacity investment, semaglutide patent expiry in 2026 opens international generic competition for Mounjaro, emerging competitors (Structure's enigron, AstraZeneca) could erode oral GLP-1 share by 2028, and ~60% revenue concentration in tirzepatide creates franchise dependency risk.

Concerns: Consensus Q4 EPS estimates have been revised down 8.6% over the past month to $7.02, Novo Nordisk's 2–3 month head start with oral Wegovy creates near-term competitive pressure, and at 32× forward earnings with $43 billion debt load, any manufacturing or trial setback would compress multiples sharply.

Market Trends: The GLP-1 market is projected to exceed $100 billion by 2030 with oral formulations capturing ~24% ($22 billion) of weight-loss segment by 2030, positioning 2026 as the inflection year where pill-based treatments expand the addressable patient population beyond injection-tolerant cohorts—with Lilly and Novo Nordisk entrenched as duopoly incumbents while emerging biotechs await clearer regulatory pathways.

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