COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Walmart, Target to see sales boost

US big box retailers Walmart and Target are expected to see higher sales when they report quarterly results this week as parents buy clothes and backpacks for kids heading back to classrooms after Covid-19 restrictions.

Industry estimates expect total back-to-school spending to cross US$100 billion and rise 6.4% from a year ago when schools, colleges and office meetings were largely confined to computer screens.

"Consumers are flush with cash, savings rates have been elevated throughout the pandemic, and there is meaningful pent-up demand for back-to-school products ranging from school supplies to sneakers to laptops," said Ken Perkins, founder of research firm Retail Metrics.

Stimulus checks and advance child tax credits from US President Joe Biden's administration are also touted to bump up sales in what analysts characterize as one of the best of back-to-school seasons in retail even as the Delta variant threatens to dampen economic recovery.

And while industry-wide supply chain disruptions, increased costs and labour shortages in the United States are likely to weigh on margins this quarter, analysts add that market share gains made by Target and Walmart during the pandemic is expected to offset some of those pressures. -Nampa/Reuters

Blue Origin sues US government

Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin sued the US government over NASA's decision to award a US$2.9 billion lunar lander contract to Elon Musk's SpaceX.

Blue Origin said its lawsuit filed in the US Court of Federal Claims on Friday is "an attempt to remedy the flaws in the acquisition process found in NASA’s Human Landing System."

It added it believes "the issues identified in this procurement and its outcomes must be addressed to restore fairness, create competition, and ensure a safe return to the Moon for America."

Last month, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) sided with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration over its decision to pick a single lunar lander provider, rejecting Blue Origin's protest.

Blue Origin and defense contractor Dynetics have argued that NASA was required to make multiple awards. The GAO said it "denied the protest arguments that NASA acted improperly in making a single award to SpaceX."-Nampa/Reuters

Pearson to pay US$1 million

London-based Pearson PLC will pay US$1 million to settle charges it misled investors about a 2018 cyber intrusion involving the theft of millions of student records, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said on Monday.

The educational-publishing firm did not admit nor deny the regulator's charges, the SEC said, but in 2019 the firm disclosed in its annual report that the data breach may have included birth dates and email addresses, when, in fact, it knew that such records were stolen.

Pearson also said at the time that it had "strict protections" in place, but failed to patch the critical vulnerability for six months after it was notified, the SEC found.

"Pearson opted not to disclose this breach to investors until it was contacted by the media, and even then, Pearson understated the nature and scope of the incident, and overstated the company's data protections," said Kristina Littman, chief of the SEC enforcement division's cyber unit.

Pearson spokesman Tom Steiner said the company's data breach involved a web-based software tool that was retired in July 2019, and that the firm "continues to enhance its cyber security efforts."-Nampa/Reuters

Aldi to hire more than 20 000 workers

Grocery chain Aldi said on Monday it is hiring more than 20 000 new workers and raising its wages in the United States as it gets ready for the busy holiday season at a time when retailers and restaurants are scrambling to find workers.

The US arm of the German discount supermarket group said it has increased its average national starting wages for store and warehouse workers to US$15 and US$19 per hour, respectively.

Aldi will host a hiring week in September to fill an array of positions, including cashiers, stockers and associates, at its more than 2 100 stores and 25 warehouses across the country.

The company is one of the first retailers to announce hiring for the holiday season, which could account for up to 40% of annual sales for certain retailers.

Several restaurant operators have been forced to cut their operating hours and limit operations to drive-thru only due to labour shortages, while retailers have had to increase wages and offer US$1 000 sign-on bonuses to lure workers. -Nampa/Reuters

US opens probe into Tesla’s Autopilot

US auto safety regulators said Monday they had opened a formal safety probe into Tesla Inc's driver assistance system Autopilot in 765 000 US vehicles built since 2014 after a series of crashes involving emergency vehicles.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that since January 2018 it had identified 11 crashes in which Tesla models "have encountered first responder scenes and subsequently struck one or more vehicles involved with those scenes."

Any restrictions could narrow the competitive gap between Tesla’s system and similar advanced driver assistance systems offered by established automakers.

The auto safety agency said it had reports of 17 injuries and one death in those crashes, including the December 2019 crash of a Tesla Model 3 that left a passenger dead after the vehicle collided with a parked fire truck in Indiana.

Chief Executive Elon Musk has repeatedly defended Autopilot and in April tweeted that "Tesla with Autopilot engaged now approaching 10 times lower chance of accident than average vehicle."-Nampa/Reuters