STRATEGY

Trade in value

A few weeks ago, a seemingly innocuous email arrived in my inbox with an offer I couldn’t refuse: For the low cost of literally nothing, I could ship in any unwanted clothing item, which an eco-conscious clothing company would recycle, and then I’d receive $5 in store credit for every recycled item.

The consumer in me saw dollar signs: This was free money, with a presumed environmental benefit. The CFO Brew reporter in me was perplexed, though: How were the numbers possibly working out for this company? Was its CFO asleep at the wheel?

Resale and trade-in programs are big money. The secondhand market in the US could reach $70 billion by 2027, according to a 2023 report from resale platform ThredUp. By that same time, the global resale market could reach $350 billion. Increasingly, companies, like the one that emailed me a too-good-to-be-true offer, are looking to grab their own piece of the pie.

Managed poorly, though, a trade-in program can become an expensive “financial disaster,” Tony Sciarrotta, executive director of the Reverse Logistics Association, told CFO Brew. But we have ample evidence for the benefits of a trade-in program gone right.

Click for more on the economics of trade in programs.—NP

PRESENTED BY ORACLE NETSUITE

Say hi to KPIs

Crushing the CFO game revolves around one big question: How can I boost my numbers to the moon? Well, you gotta know your KPIs like the back of your hand—and how to put them into practice. Harder than it sounds? Correct.

Fortunately, Oracle NetSuite is here to help. They published a guide by business owner + coach Bernie Smith to discover the essential KPIs that all-star finance teams use to fuel growth—all delivered with case studies, formulas, and definitions.

Want the full scoop? This game changer has info like:

• formulas to get you started with your KPIs
• clear definitions of key finance KPIs
• applicable case studies detailing each KPI

Master the metrics.

AI

Sky’s the limit

If you’re tired of hearing about AI, we’ve got bad news for you.

Nvidia’s Q4 and full-year 2023 earnings smashed records, all but ensuring AI hype will continue for the foreseeable future. The chipmaker reported Q4 revenue of $22.1 billion, up 265% from Q4 2022, and a diluted EPS of $4.93, up 33% from last quarter and a whopping 765% from this time last year. (And, no, Lyft, those aren’t typos.)

“Accelerated computing and generative AI have hit the tipping point,” Nvidia’s founder and CEO Jensen Huang crowed in a press release. “Demand is surging worldwide across companies, industries, and nations.”

Nvidia’s made itself inescapable merely by virtue of being so big. Last week, it became the nation’s third-largest company, reaching a market cap of $1.83 trillion. It’s driven about a third of the Nasdaq 100’s gains this past year, according to Fast Company. That being the case, Nvidia’s performance can serve as a litmus test for the stock market itself.

Click here for more on Nvidia’s super, amazing, really good earnings report.—CV

EARNINGS

Big box bet

There are more than 90 discounts on energy drinks at Walmart.com right now. We mention this because the retailer has been on such a tear that we’ve wondered whether the C-suite has been pounding the discounted caffeine before meetings.

It was just a few weeks ago, after all, that it announced back-to-back plans for a stock split and opening 150 new stores. Then on Tuesday, as it reported strong 2023 holiday sales, the world’s largest retailer said it was growing its advertising business with the $2.3 billion purchase of smart TV maker Vizio.

In its year-end earnings report, the behemoth from Bentonville outperformed the consensus forecast for quarterly earnings per share ($1.80 vs. $1.65) and revenue ($173.4 billion vs $170.7 billion), according to an analyst survey by LSEG, CNBC reported. Its quarterly revenue grew 5.7%, and 6% for all of 2023, as shoppers—seeing ever-higher prices and the kind of interest rates that make it even more painful to carry a credit card balance—turned increasingly toward budget-friendly retailers, Business Insider reported.

To watch, er, read more about Walmart’s earnings, click here.—GD

MARKET FORCES

JOBS