Twitter Rebuffs Elon Musk Layoff Plans Report, Toyota Cuts 2023's Production Target, Vaccine Makers Expect 3x Price Increase In COVID-19 Shot: Top Stories Friday, Oct. 21

Bloomberg

Elon Musk's Companies, Twitter Deal May Come Under Scrutiny As Biden Administration Mulls Security Reviews

• The U.S. is reportedly discussing the possibility of subjecting Elon Musk's companies to national security reviews.
• U.S. government and intelligence officials are weighing in on the possibility of using tools to review Musk's multiple ventures, and the talks are still at an early stage.
• Among the options considered is using the law governing the Committee on Foreign Investment to see whether Musk's deals and operations pose national security risks.

Twitter Rubbished Mass Layoff Reports Following Elon Musk Takeover

• Twitter Inc confronted reports suggesting Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk aimed to gut its workforce as part of his takeover.
• Musk's plan for Twitter reportedly involved downsizing its staff by 75%, reducing Twitter's staff to just over 2,000 people, compared with the 7,500 its current strength.
• Twitter General Counsel Sean Edgett said discussions about cost savings and planning occurred earlier in the year. "Those discussions stopped once the merger agreement was signed," he said.

Washington Post

Elon Musk Plans To Gut Twitter Workforce

• With an Oct. 28 deadline for Elon Musk to close a $44-billion buyout of Twitter Inc (NASDAQ:TWTR) approaching, a new report says he plans to layoff almost 75% of the social media platform's staff once he takes over the C-suite.
• The world's richest man has told prospective investors in the deal that he would take Twitter's staffing from 7,000 to 2,000 employees.
• Even if Musk does not purchase Twitter, the company still plans about $800 million in payroll cuts by the end of 2023, or about one-quarter of its workforce.

Reuters

Ralph Lauren Accused Of Plagiarizing Indigenous Designs

• The wife of Mexico's president accused luxury brand Ralph Lauren Corp (NYSE: RL) of plagiarizing indigenous designs.
• In an Instagram post, Beatriz Gutierrez said the fashion label had appropriated the work of Mexico's pre-Hispanic cultures.
• "Hey Ralph (Lauren): we already realized that you really like Mexican designs," she said.

Vaccine Makers Mull Price Increase For COVID-19 Boosters Amid Falling Demand

• With the dwindling demand for COVID-19 shots, vaccine makers such as Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE), BioNTech SE (NASDAQ: BNTX), Moderna Inc (NASDAQ: MRNA), and Novavax Inc (NASDAQ: NVAX) could possibly raise prices to meet Wall Street forecasts.
• The hike could be as much as three times current levels.
• Analysts expect the U.S. market to be as low as one-third the size of the flu.

Walmart Coughs Up $215M To Resolve Opioid Lawsuits In Florida

• Walmart Inc (NYSE: WMT) will pay $215 million to resolve its opioid-related in Florida. As part of the deal, Walmart has also agreed to dispense 672,000 treatment kits with the anti-overdose drug naloxone to first responders.
• "This partnership is the latest chapter in Walmart's commitment to fight the opioid crisis," Walmart spokesperson Randy Hargrove said in a statement.
• The retailer did not admit any wrongdoing.

Walmart Looks To Intensify Strategy In Africa Despite A Series Of Missteps

• Walmart Inc (NYSE: WMT) is doubling down on its Africa foray despite the problems compounded by economic uncertainty and the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The retail giant purchased a majority stake in South African retailer Massmart in 2011.

Wall Street Journal

American Airlines Plans To Do Away With First-Class Seats On International Flights

• In its Q3 earnings conference call, American Airlines Group Inc (NASDAQ: AAL) Chief Commercial Officer Vasu Raja provided some detail about replacing its first-class international flight seats with new business-class suites, announced last month.
• "And frankly, by removing [first-class seats], we can provide more business-class seats, which is what our customers most want or are most willing to pay for."

Benzinga

Amazon Takes Legal Action Against Fake Review Brokers

• Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) filed legal complaints in Italy and Spain in its global bid to shut down fake review brokers.
• These two legal proceedings, plus ten new U.S. lawsuits, target bad actors that operate more than 11,000 websites and social media groups attempting to orchestrate fake reviews on Amazon in exchange for money or freebies.
• Amazon's first criminal complaint in Europe targets a high-profile broker in Italy selling fake reviews.
• Amazon also filed its first civil complaint in Spain against the fake review broker Agencia Reviews.

Toyota Lowers FY23 Production Target As Chip Supply Woes Continue

• Toyota Motor Corp (NYSE: TM) said its full-year production forecast for FY23 is expected to be lower than the previous forecast of 9.7 million units.
• November's planned global production volume is expected to be approximately 800,000 units (about 250,000 units in Japan and 550,000 units overseas).
• This is 50,000 units short of the average monthly production plan for October through December.

Apple, Amazon Employee Profiles See Massive Purge On LinkedIn — It's Not What You Think

• Several LinkedIn accounts claimed to be employees at Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL), and Amazon.com Inc were drastically culled overnight, reportedly due to an initiative to ban bots from the platform.
• On Oct. 10, there were 576,562 LinkedIn "users" who listed Apple as their current employer. Half of those profiles disappeared the following day.
• Something similar happened with LinkedIn profiles linked to Amazon, as they decreased by 33% to 838,601.

Instagram-TikTok Battle Intensifies As New Rivals Emerge Like Mushrooms

• TikTok's popularity with teens in the U.S. is rising but Meta Platforms Inc.'s (NASDAQ: META) Instagram is still a dominant force in social media.
• Piper Sandler's Fall 2022 Survey revealed that ByteDance-owned TikTok is widening the lead as U.S. teens' most favorite social media platform. Of those surveyed, 38% voted in favor of TikTok, compared to 33% in Spring 2022. It was followed by Snapchat Inc.'s (NYSE: SNAP) Snapchat (30%) and Instagram (20%).
• Instagram, though, continued to reign supreme when it came to higher social media engagement at 87%, followed by Snapchat and TikTok at 83%.

Munster Not Concerned About Meta And Google Despite Snap's Disappointing Q3: 'Long-Term Will Be Intact'

• Snap Inc shares tumbled about 27% following the release of its third-quarter results.
• Four headwinds — ad market softness, monetization method Apple Inc privacy changes, and competition from TikTok — have worked in unison, weighing down the Snapchat parent's topline growth, Gene Munster, managing partner at Loup Funds, said.
• The analyst noted that Snap's revenue growth has slowed from 38% in the March quarter to 13% in the June quarter and 7% in the September quarter. He added that the stock has priced in negative revenue growth for the March quarter.

Google Faces Hefty Penalty Over User Privacy Violation In Texas From This Big Tech Critic

• The Texas attorney general prosecuted Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) Google for allegedly collecting Texans' facial and voice recognition information without their explicit consent.
• In yet another violation of Texans' privacy, Ken Paxton alleged that Google had collected millions of biometric identifiers, including voiceprints and records of face geometry, from Texans through its products and services like Google Photos, Google Assistant, and Nest Hub Max.

Barclays Slapped With £50M Penalty Related Qatari Fundraising In 2008

• The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will fine Barclays £50 million regarding its failure to disclose certain arrangements agreed with Qatari entities as part of its capital raisings announced in June 2008 and October 2008.
• The regulator described the bank's conduct as "reckless" and lacking integrity.
• The Upper Tribunal will determine whether to uphold the FCA's decisions against Barclays or not and whether there are any other actions that the FCA should take.