COMPLIANCE

The regs are coming

Now that artificial intelligence (AI) is fully and completely the hottest technology among businesses, it’s the regulators’ turn to catch up. Their mission (as they probably see it): Regulate AI before it assumes direct control of society.

“We’re at the infancy stage in terms of AI regulation, but we are seeing a number of proposed regulations coming out, and they’re really impacting [the] state level, federal level, and international level,” John Farley, managing director of insurance broker Gallagher’s cyber liability practice, told CFO Brew.

Farley pointed out a somewhat awkward dichotomy: Widespread AI adoption may not be far off, but regulation of the technology is just getting started. This brings up uncertainty in enforcement, penalties, and ultimately, damages.

“It doesn’t matter,” Farley continued, “if [the organization is] in healthcare, financial services, or a certain industry sector, I think ultimately if there are concerns around the accuracy of an algorithm…it’s going to affect that organization.”

Click here for more on preparing for new AI regs.—AZ

PRESENTED BY ORACLE NETSUITE

Say hi to KPIs

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ECONOMY

Affordable luxury

Move over, quiet luxury. When DoorDash, the delivery giant and Wall Street darling, reports earnings, it offers a telling glimpse into the state of “affordable luxury,” the technically unnecessary spending that indicates a robust economy.

Right now, spending looks solid-ish. In its Q4 2023 report, DoorDash said total order value on its app climbed 22% to $17.6 billion. That’s because more orders were coming in: Total orders on the app jumped 23% to 574 million. Order frequency, the amount of times people ordered on its app, jumped to an all-time high of more than 37 million.

On the back of those solid stats, revenue jumped to $2.3 billion, marking a 27% year over year increase and beating Wall Street expectations.

Not everything was sunny on the delivery front, though. DoorDash’s net losses didn’t narrow as much as Wall Street expected. It lowered its net loss to $156 million, compared to $642 million in the same quarter of 2022. Analysts expected the company to narrow its loss much further, to $61 million.

To dash to the rest of this story, click here.—NP

EARNINGS

Yeti stumbles

Yeti posted muted fourth-quarter and full-year 2023 earnings, as it continues to recover from a product recall that cost the company more than $170 million over 2022 and 2023.

Its EPS and revenue results for Q4 2023 missed expectations. For the full year, its adjusted net sales were up 3% over 2022. Its drinkware category sales rose 8% for the year, topping $1 billion. But its cooler and equipment sales were down 2%, partly because it stopped selling the recalled products.

Yeti did show some signs of rebounding from the recalls: Its gross margin reached an “all-time high” of more than 60% in Q4, president and CEO Matt Reintjes said, stating the company ended 2023 with its “strongest balance sheet to-date.”

The cup that must not be named: Stanley has dethroned Yeti as the It cup, and Yeti may still be bitter about it. No one uttered the “S” word during the most recent earnings call, and even an analyst asking a question only made reference to “the competitor.”

Click here to continue reading.—CV

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MARKET FORCES