Trading Day – New wave of resignations hits Twitter

A new wave of resignations hit Twitter after Elon Musk asked Twitter employees to commit to a “hardcore” culture.

Musk said as part of the new culture, employees would be expected to work “long hours at high intensity” or resign. Many decided to resign.

BHP has submitted a revised acquisition proposal to the board of OZ Minerals for A$28.25 per share in cash. The board intends to recommend the offer to shareholders.

US markets were down as the S&P 500 closed 0.3% lower, and the Nasdaq declined 0.4%.

The Nikkei 225 is down 0.1% in early morning trade, while the Hang Seng index dropped 0.7%.

Alibaba shares climbed 8% after beating earnings expectations with earnings per share (EPS) of $1.82.

Here is the biggest news of the day.

• A new wave of resignations hit Twitter after Elon Musk asked Twitter employees to commit to a “hardcore” culture, where they are expected to work “long hours at high intensity” or resign. Employees had until the end of yesterday to click yes on the declaration, or they’ll receive an “offer of severance in exchange for a separation agreement.” Internal Slack messages showed engineers and other employees posting goodbye messages to a “watercooler” chat group.

• OZ Minerals board intends to recommend BHP Group’s acquisition proposal. BHP has submitted a revised proposal to the board of OZ Minerals (OZL) to acquire 100% of OZL for a cash offer of A$28.25 per share. The OZL Board has confirmed to BHP that it intends to unanimously recommend the Revised Proposal to OZL shareholders.

• Alibaba shares climbed 8% after beating earnings expectations. The e-commerce giant showed earnings per share (EPS) growing 15% to $1.82 for the quarter, beating analyst estimates of $1.70. However, revenue missed expectations of $29.6 billion, coming in at $29.1 billion, but still grew by 3%. The company also announced a $15 billion increase in share buy-backs.

• Impala Platinum received approval from JSE and Competition Tribunal for its offer to Royal Bafokeng Platinum. The only condition precedent still outstanding for its mandatory offer to Royal Bafokeng Platinum is a compliance certificate from the Takeover Regulation Panel.

• Visa named Ryan McInerney as new CEO. He will be replacing Alfred Kelly who will step down from the role on 1 February 2023. The 47-year-old McInerney previously worked as CEO for consumer banking at JPMorgan Chase.

• Gap beat on third-quarter revenue but tempered expectations for the holiday season. Earnings per share came in at $0.71. Revenue of $4.0 billion beat analyst expectations of $3.8 billion. The retailer said it anticipates its overall net sales could be down mid-single digits year-over-year in the fourth quarter. The share price jumped nearly 8% in reaction to the results.