Wall Street Lunch: Uber To Eliminate Up To 3,300 Jobs

Uber Technologies, Inc. (UBER) is cutting its workforce by as much as 10%, or up to 3,300 jobs, streamlining its management structure, and dramatically reducing the number of employees working remotely in a push to focus its resources on its core businesses. In a letter to employees, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the cuts are in an effort to make the company “simpler and faster” and eliminate redundant management layers. “We are removing layers, simplifying team structures, refining our global location strategy, and focusing our people and investments against the biggest opportunities ahead of us,” Khosrowshahi said in his letter, adding that while the company’s sales have tripled, that growth has brought more complexity. The restructuring comes as Uber doubles down on its autonomous ambitions, a capital-intensive initiative that will require significant investment. Among other active stocks, Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd. (CRDO) is slumping post-earnings as some investors expressed concern about margins. Jefferies analyst Blayne Curtis said there may have been some high expectations, but the growth story is still intact “and should accelerate into next year.” Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW) is seeing a sell-the-news reaction despite its stronger-than-expected results and guidance. Jefferies analyst Joseph Gallo called Palo Alto's results a "blockbuster" and said he sees more upside to the company's "impressive" guidance for fiscal 2027, driven by artificial intelligence. SiriusXM Holdings Inc. (SIRI) is higher after Deutsche Bank upgraded the satellite radio company to Buy from Hold, citing a stronger outlook for digital audio advertising and stability in its subscription radio segment. Looking at the economy, ahead of Friday’s jobs report, ADP's August private payrolls rose by 38K, its slowest pace of job growth since January and lagging the 48K consensus. Pantheon Macro says the number “represents only a trivial downside risk, if any, to the consensus forecast for a 50K increase in the official measure.” Pantheon itself sees a rise in Friday’s payrolls of 125K, with a sharp rebound in government education jobs. But odds of a negative official payrolls number for August have crept up above one in four, with some Wall Street banks laying out the case for a negative print. Bespoke Investment Group points out that since the Fed began announcing real-time rate decisions in 1994, it has never hiked interest rates within six months of a decline in payrolls. And in another news of note, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.A, BRK.B) sees an opportunity to provide energy for AI data center hyperscalers if the terms are right, CEO Greg Abel said in an interview on CNBC. He noted on CNBC that in Iowa last year about 8% of Berkshire Hathaway Energy's load came from data centers. “We're interested in serving these hyperscalers—one, if there was no impact to the rates of our other customers," Abel said. "In fact, we've pretty much taken the approach that there has to be a net benefit to our other customers.” Second, the communities have to understand the impact on water, and that has become more manageable through the use of new tec...