#strategy

Hi Folks its that time again, need more excuses for the Analysts, what if say we are expanding AI offices in Venezuela, Greenland, Eye rack, and Canada, or were now run by the blue flag office headquarters. I could reduce the pay raises budget so only the chosen ones get the pay and then use it for more buybacks. Help help this Qtr will be another $5 million in the bank for me amigos.

I know the small format store that last opened was in Miami. Are there plans for any more of these (if known), and are the small format stores doing well?

CHRO: Set the Foundation?

What does success look like?? What is different than today??

Where are we deliberately going—and why does it matter???

Citi feels like a company moving without a clear direction. Decisions seem reactive and disconnected from what teams are dealing with day to day. I keep waiting to see a real long term strategy show up. Open to being proven wrong, but I am not seeing it yet.

https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/cisco-csco-unlikely-pursue-axonius-231333205.html?guccounter=1

TD Cowen also noted that names like SentinelOne, Varonis, and Tenable could attract interest from strategic and financial sponsors.

What's the latest on location strategy? They forced hundreds of people to uproot their lives and move to a hub in 2025. Has anyone heard of anyone being let go after they moved? I'm still seeing many people shown as being in non hub locations in workday. Are they scheduled to relocate this year or somehow they got an exception to stay where they are?

Anyone know if BPX assets are in discussion for divestment? Which basins?
I understand layoffs took place last year, but new CEO wants discipline more CAPEX discipline. I think BPX just needs new leadership

Surprised nobody is talking about that here.

For the right price I think we should do exactly that. We need to focus efforts on turning around our core brands: Nike and Jordan. Converse is generating strategic as well as financial drag.

In another distant time it must have been quite a triumph to buy them but that era is long gone. Let’s attach our mask first.

This is published information- these layoffs have been planned for several years. All of the “ we are a people first company “ we care about your career, growth, development” spiel is garbage.

C-Levels and their directs are all full of BS. Stop drinking the kool aid they are serving up, stop cheering for them as the spew this BS. They do not care about you! You are a commodity, “a human tax” that will eventually do away with while lining their pockets.

Details: do your own research

T-Mobile projects that AI initiatives will drive approximately $10 billion in additional Core Adjusted EBITDA by 2027.

At its September 2024 Capital Markets Day, T-Mobile outlined a growth strategy heavily leveraging artificial intelligence and expected financial targets for 2027.

Key points regarding T-Mobile and AI by 2027:
Financial Impact: AI and digital leadership are expected to increase Core Adjusted EBITDA to between $38 billion and $39 billion by 2027, an increase of roughly $10 billion from 2023 levels.

Customer Experience: T-Mobile is collaborating with OpenAI to create an AI-powered customer service platform, called IntentCX, aimed at providing faster and more personalized customer support experiences.
Network Performance: The company has partnered with Nvidia, Ericsson, and Nokia to establish an AI-RAN Innovation Center in Bellevue, Washington, which will use AI to optimize the radio access network for faster speeds and reduced latency.

Revenue & Efficiency: AI is seen as a key driver of significant operating efficiencies and a projected service revenue compound annual growth rate of about 5% through 2027, reaching up to $76 billion.

While AI is central to T-Mobile's growth strategy and financial outlook for 2027, it remains one component of a broader plan that includes network leadership, customer growth, and strategic acquisitions.

So US companies will be "rebuilding" the Venezuela oilfields. Are we going to "Drill baby drill?" Will this save HAL?

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1571996/000157199625000111/dell-20250930.htm

The U.S. Government invested in CPU manufacturing in the US and at CES Intel's only advantage was GPU for gaming and promises of handheld gaming chips, All still relying on TSMC for yield with Intel 18A as a backup.

Wot ?!?
All it took to bounce the stock higher was divest the space companies and programs ? Those fat cash-immobile programs.

Why didn’t they do this sooner ? So much bloodshed with folks we lost since April 2024.

Expect more moves like this every few years as LHX responds to the market and challenges of nimble defense startups and China Dual Use adversaries.

Can we rebrand also as:
“The Trusted Transforming Disruptor”

Many pieces moving in the business channel, but what do you think the next steps will be?

R2B dissolved and absorbed by B2B
B2B dissolved and absorbed by V2B, R2B, I2B
B2B and R2B dissolved and absorbed by V2B and I2B
Something else

I've told you all. They are doing just fine. Read the article. They don't even care to mention retail as part of their core 5 businesses. So stop crying about their lack of brick and mortar locations. They aren't a retail business anymore.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251222584547/en/Transformco-Fidem-Financial-and-Funds-Managed-by-Blue-Owl-Launch-Aress-a-Next-Generation-Co-Brand-Credit-Card-Servicing-Platform

What are everyone’s guesses as to what happens within Oxy for 2026?

On Face the Nation, Marco Rubio stated that Ryan Lance and Wirth from Chevron will visit Venezuela this week to determine what’s needed to increase production

So does Shell get any upside from the US seizure of Venezuela? We know the area and assets well. Maybe Shell, along with other majors, got a silent under-table tip from an Administration bent on a takeover of the Americas. But good for business?

It looks like Chevron will be the largest benefactor of the change in Venezuela. The only company that stayed after Chavez kicked out all the other companies. Will those companies lay claim to their stolen assets? Thoughts?

In 2007 Chavez nationalized all heavy oil. Two of which were Petrozuata and Corocoro that were ConocoPhillips. Venezuela was ordered to pay CP, call it $9 billion for damages. Do you think with the recent US will run Venezuela, CP will be looking to get back in? Then they can hire me again?

I, along with roughly 140 other employees, was laid off yesterday. This came just two weeks after being told by my department lead that while R&D was over budget, my role was safe.

Many of those impacted were considered high performers and had strong year-end reviews. This makes the decision feel less about performance and more like a short-sighted attempt to offset missed earnings targets.

A significant number of those let go were among the highest-paid employees on their teams, often with stronger stock and benefits packages. At the same time, the company continues to publicly boast about plans to hire 700 additional employees this year.

Cutting experienced, higher-cost employees to replace them with cheaper labor appears to be the new strategy at Axon.

I came across this article this morning that leads with, "Why Is CDW Not Exciting?
Despite the more favorable entry price, we don't have much confidence in CDW."

They cite three reasons: 1) Sales growth over the last 3 years; 2) Sales growth projections are slim; and 3) EPS growth has stalled.

Over the last two years, the stock price is down over $85 per share, with $48 of that over the last 6 months.

While certainly the market is tough, but CDW was always able outperform the market. That ended in early '23 when our run of 8-10 declining quarters started.

We've laid off about 1,500 people over the last 2+ years and the decline in coworker count has had no positive impact on our trajectory.

There has to be a new plan implemented and soon, because what we are doing is clearly not working.

If you were asked, what would be your recommendation to get things back on track?

https://stockstory.org/us/stocks/nasdaq/cdw/news/buy-or-sell/3-reasons-to-sell-cdw-and-1-stock-to-buy-instead-2

Everything here is dictated by how leadership thinks analysts will react. We’re always responding, never setting a direction of our own, and it shows in every rushed decision. Instead of building something solid long term, we just keep sprinting after the next headline to keep Wall Street happy.

https://share.google/Kc6FpT81a0YcOUM8l

When layoffs become the sole tool for every problem, it shows management has no real plan. It's a clear sign of failure and desperation. I've started my job search, and you should too. There's no future here.

Anybody remember thi
As of today, GM’s market cap is 150% of Ford’s $52 billion.
Why is Farley still employed?

That's why everything we do fails spectacularly. It's that simple.

Salesforce, one of the world’s most influential enterprise software companies, is quietly but significantly rethinking its aggressive push toward artificial intelligence. After laying off nearly 4,000 employees and replacing many support roles with AI-powered agents, senior executives at the company have admitted that their confidence in large language models (LLMs) has declined. This shift marks a notable moment in the broader tech industry’s relationship with generative AI, exposing the gap between promise and practical performance.

https://hostalup.substack.com/p/salesforce-reconsiders-its-ai-first

In my opinion here is what is happening with Belk. I believe they have saw what is actually work for Macy’s and Belk is going to give it a shot. Macy’s is opening up smaller format stores that seem to be doing quite well for the brand, but at the same time they are closing their stores that are simply not profitable anymore and putting more focus into their “go-forward” stores. This strategy is all too similar to what Belk is doing. I do believe we will see several more store closures with Belk in the new year but honestly if this can help the company I believe it should be done. I mean it is working for Macy’s as they saw their first sales increase and positive outlook for the first time in several years.

Big internal programs like this almost always arrive wrapped in promise and land in phases, pilots, exceptions, “next wave.” Especially at Dell Technologies scale. Even when the intent is real, gravity is real too.

What tends to happen in practice:

Year 1: decks, roadmaps, leadership optimism

Year 2: partial tools, parallel systems, extra clicks

Year 3: the thing quietly becomes “how we’ve always done it,” just renamed

What else T does and should do to survive the next 20 years?

About time. Business has been awful, strategy is non-existent, and products in the toilet. Sounds about right for someone to scoop up for $2B (overpriced)

Let's see if Dario's new role can pay dividends for Big Blew or if this initiative just dies on the vine.

https://www.hpcwire.com/off-the-wire/doe-announces-genesis-mission-collaboration-agreements-with-24-organizations/

these mo--ns have no clue what they're doing :D

If you worked at IBM (or were a customer or business partner) you may have visited this IBM Palisades Conference Center which was amazing. This 33 minute aerial drone video made me cry as it shows the inside and outside. Like a science fiction movie (Aliens) where the humans just disappear. SO SAD!!!!! Like far too many former great IBM sites and buildings as IBM leaves the USA and declines into oblivion. DID NOT HAVE TO HAPPEN! Read about King Louie (Lou Gerstner The G Man) "having a treadmill reserved" just for him. SO ARROGANT!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXwgHWfR_b8

The C-Suite has no clothes.

That’s not news to anyone. That’s an acknowledgment of what we all know. The 10s of Billions lost (not to mention the opportunity cost which may well be more expensive) is a direct result of the awful strategic decisions made by Ford’s pathetic executive team.

What’s the purpose of saying this? So that those leaders who want to play pretend and have successfully seeded this “the entire industry sc--wed up” narrative with their media lackeys get this message: you are to blame. You failed us. You failed our customers. And we all know you know it.

It has been obvious since the beginning of the EV cycle that the demand wasn’t there. The value proposition has never had widespread appeal. The working class - remember them? - isn’t lining up to pay more for a less capable, less convenient solution with less resale value, a shorter lifespan and horrible supporting infrastructure. If you didn’t know this, you should resign immediately.

Did you need to flush ~40B dollars down the drain (who got rich from this fiasco - that begs for some investigation) in order to figure out that your core customer base didn’t want to pay more for far less? Or did you think the government was going to ram them down all of our throats and that you would sit back and be the benefactors of a command economy?

Oh, and don’t think we all didn’t notice that you inflated the pricing of all your ICE vehicles to subsidize your abominable strategy.

How about we focus on improving the products people want to buy? You know, the ones that actually sell. Or, will it be some more outside hires from Silicon Valley to come and show us all how to execute the next scam? My money is on the latter.

“So, I literally came up with a plan to become a CISO, and I executed on it.”
https://fortune.com/2025/12/19/at-t-executive-manifested-his-chief-information-security-officer-job/

A post making the rounds has similarities to a certain company…..

Starbucks did not lose $30 billion because of bad coffee. It lost it because the company
mispriced what actually created its value. When Starbucks appointed a McKinsey-trained executive as CEO, the mandate was operational discipline. Costs were scrutinized. Processes were standardized. Stores were pushed to behave like efficiency machines rather than community spaces.

On paper, the logic made sense. Consultants optimize margins by removing friction. But
Starbucks was never a pure efficiency business. Its premium pricing depended on brand emotion, store experience, and cultural loyalty. Those are intangible assets, but they carry real monetary value.

As efficiency initiatives rolled out, customers noticed. Service quality declined. Stores felt
transactional. The brand lost its emotional moat. Foot traffic softened. Growth expectations reset.

Markets reacted quickly. Over 17 months, Starbucks shed roughly $30 billion in market
capitalization. Not from insolvency risk, but from a reassessment of future cash flows tied to brand strength.

The board reversed course. The CEO exited. Strategy changed.

The wealth lesson is structural. Consulting frameworks work best where value is mechanical and repeatable. Consumer brands compound wealth through trust, identity, and habit, not just margins.

When leadership optimizes the wrong variable, scale turns small misjudgments into massive losses.

Starbucks did not fail at execution. It failed at understanding what it was actually selling.

Sounds familiar?

Starbucks did not lose $30 billion because of bad coffee. It lost it because the company
mispriced what actually created its value.

When Starbucks appointed a McKinsey-trained executive as CEO, the mandate was operational discipline. Costs were scrutinized. Processes were standardized. Stores were pushed to behave like efficiency machines rather than community spaces.

On paper, the logic made sense.

Consultants optimize margins by removing friction. But Starbucks was never a pure efficiency business. Its premium pricing depended on brand emotion, store experience, and cultural loyalty. Those are intangible assets, but they carry real monetary value.

As efficiency initiatives rolled out, customers noticed. Service quality declined. Stores felt
transactional. The brand lost its emotional moat. Foot traffic softened. Growth expectations reset. Markets reacted quickly. Over 17 months, Starbucks shed roughly $30 billion in market capitalization. Not from insolvency risk, but from a reassessment of future cash flows tied to brand strength.

The board reversed course. The CEO exited. Strategy changed.

The wealth lesson is structural. Consulting frameworks work best where value is mechanical and repeatable. Consumer brands compound wealth through trust, identity, and habit, not just margins.

When leadership optimizes the wrong variable, scale turns small misjudgments into massive losses.

Starbucks did not fail at execution. It failed at understanding what it was actually selling.