Google reshuffle; Pepsi on tap; Tesla deadline
1. Google is losing its ad boss: A rare leadership reshuffle at Google has put its massive advertising business under the control of a new executive.
Sridhar Ramaswamy is leaving Google to join Greylock Partners, the venture capital firm announced Monday. Prabhakar Raghavan will replace him at the top of the search company’s advertising business, according to multiple media reports.
A veteran of IBM (IBM) and Yahoo, Raghavan will now lead a business that generates tens of billions in sales each quarter.
Google(GOOGL) and Facebook (FB) gobbled up more than 60% of digital ad spending in the United States last year, according to research firm eMarketer. That figure is expected to grow.
2. Pepsi turns the page: Pepsi’s final earnings report under longtime CEO Indra Nooyi will be released before the open. Nooyi will step down on Wednesday, but remain as chairwoman of the board of directors until early 2019.
The India-born executive will be succeeded by the company’s global operations chief, Ramon Laguarta.
Sales grew 80% during Nooyi’s 12-year tenure, and she spearheaded Pepsi’s transition to a greener, more environmentally aware company. But the stock could use a caffeine boost: It’s down 7% this year.
Laguarta has served as president of Pepsi (PEP) since September 2017, overseeing global operations, corporate strategy, public policy and government affairs. He is also an immigrant, having been born in Spain.
3. Tesla production deadline: Can Tesla navigate through its many controversies and still meet its sales targets? We’re about to find out.
Tesla is expected to report as soon as Tuesday how many cars it made in the third quarter and how many it was actually able to deliver to customers.
Three months ago, investors and Tesla fans waited to see if the company could hit its target of building 5,000 Model 3 cars in a week. It just made that goal, building 5,031 in the last week of June.
Experts say the third quarter report is much more important to the company and its future. Consistently hitting the production target is key to Tesla’s ability to turn a profit and repay its debts.
4. Oil price surge: The price of Brent crude briefly ticked above $ 85 to its highest level in nearly four years, sparking speculation that it could top $ 100 for the first time since 2014.
Recent price hikes have been driven by the November 4 deadline set by the Trump administration for countries to halt purchases of Iranian crude.
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5. Global market overview: US stock futures were lower.
European markets were off by less than 1% in early trading. Asian markets ended mixed, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropping 2.5% as traders returned from a holiday.
The Dow Jones industrial average added 0.7% on Monday, while the S&P 500 gained 0.4% and the Nasdaq shed 0.1%.
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6. Coming this week:
Tuesday — PepsiCo earnings; US auto sales for September Wednesday — Lennar and Pier 1 earnings; ADP employment report Thursday — Costco earnings; CNN Business launches Friday — US jobs report
