Latest news with #PwC
BusinessToday
2 hours ago
- Business
- BusinessToday
PwC To Cut UK Audit Jobs, Scale Back Pay Raises
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is planning to lay off approximately 175 junior auditors in the UK and reduce salary increases across its workforce as the professional services sector grapples with a cooling market, Bloomberg reported quoting The Financial Times (FT) . According to the report, employees were informed they would receive a 2.5% salary hike starting in July, down from last year's 3%, as the firm responds to waning demand for some services and a notable drop in staff turnover. The unexpectedly low attrition has added pressure on firms to rebalance staffing levels. Sources told the FT that non-UK nationals on company-sponsored visas, who typically incur higher employment costs, were disproportionately affected by the cuts. The move signals heightened caution within the professional services industry, as firms adapt to a slowdown in client spending and broader economic headwinds. PwC has yet to issue a public statement on the reported changes. Related
Malaysian Reserve
9 hours ago
- Business
- Malaysian Reserve
PwC plans cuts, lower pay rises on tougher market conditions: FT
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP is planning layoffs in the UK and lower salary increases amid a broader market slowdown, the Financial Times reports. PwC intends to cut around 175 junior auditors by August and told its UK staff they would receive a 2.5% pay rise from July, less than the 3% last year, according to the FT, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. The move comes as the sector contends with weaker demand for some professional services and a 'sharp decline' in voluntary staff departures that has surprised firms, the FT said. Non-British nationals on visas sponsored by PwC, who are more expensive to keep on the payroll than their UK counterparts, were among those made redundant, according to the FT. –BLOOMBERG
Bloomberg
10 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
PwC Plans Cuts, Lower Pay Rises on Tougher Market Conditions: FT
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP is planning layoffs in the UK and lower salary increases amid a broader market slowdown, the Financial Times reports. PwC intends to cut around 175 junior auditors by August and told its UK staff they would receive a 2.5% pay rise from July, less than the 3% last year, according to the FT, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.
Global News
19 hours ago
- Business
- Global News
As Canada Day nears, consumers want Canadian goods — but costs are a concern
Canada Day is one of the most patriotic times of the year for Canadians. As July 1 approaches, this year may see the most consumer-driven sense of patriotism in recent memory, based on the findings in several recent studies, with one showing the vast majority of Canadians prefer premium or locally produced food products four months into the U.S. trade war. A PwC Canada report released this week showed that 75 per cent of Canadian consumers said they would pay more for premium or locally produced food products. 'What we heard was that Canadians value local products and they want to support homegrown businesses — that is important to Canadians,' says Elisa Swern, national retail and consumer leader at PwC Canada. However, cost remains a concern that still weighs on consumers, that report noted, saying the efforts from retailers to stock and make domestic products more easily available can help producers scale and ultimately lower costs to close that gap between what Canadians want to buy and what they can afford. Story continues below advertisement That PwC report found 76 per cent of respondents said they were concerned about the overall cost of food, and another TD study shows that amid the trade war and tariff uncertainty Canadians are spending less on just about everything. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy However, consumers may feel inclined to open their wallets more if 'they feel pride in supporting Canadian goods and Canadian companies,' says Swern. 'Consumers told us they want to buy more local, buy more Canadian, buy more sustainable goods…anything from climate change, food waste, things like that.' The study also showed that 63 per cent of consumers would also pay more for a product if they were better able to understand its origin, and 58 per cent said they were actively seeking sustainability transparency. This means retailers will want to make it easier for consumers to get a sense of where products are sourced, and in many cases highlighting ones that are considered Canadian. 'Understanding where that product comes from, I think consumers want to see that story — they want to know and maybe if they are paying a little bit more for peaches that are locally grown,' says Swern. 'Canadian retailers have done a really good job of highlighting in store and online products that are Canadian or products that are made in Canada.' Story continues below advertisement 1:55 Trade war helping Alberta tourism industry That same sentiment appears likely to extend to travel this summer, as well. According to a tourism outlook report by TD Bank Group, 64 per cent of respondents said they plan to travel within Canada this year, with the summer being the peak season. Although the report also outlines how lower U.S. tourism spending will be a bit of a negative impact, that will be somewhat offset by an increase in Canadians travelling domestically. The Canada Day period could see more domestic travel after the recent launch of the Canada Strong Pass, which allows many Canadians to receive free or discounted admission and other perks at national parks, museums, galleries and more. The pass was touted as a way to support tourism within Canada as U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff policies prompt many Canadians to avoid travel to the United States and purchasing products with a U.S. origin.
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Titan Nvidia Has Scored a $4 Billion "Profit" in an Unexpected Way
Artificial intelligence (AI) is Wall Street's hottest trend, with graphics processing unit (GPU) colossus Nvidia at the heart of this revolution. However, Nvidia is also an investor, with a portfolio of six stocks worth more than $1.1 billion at the end of March. Nvidia's largest investment holding has rapidly climbed in value, but may already be in a bubble. 10 stocks we like better than Nvidia › For more than two years, no trend has been held in higher regard on Wall Street than the evolution of artificial intelligence (AI). With AI, software and systems are capable of making split-second decisions, overseeing generative AI solutions, and training large language models (LLMs), all without the need for human oversight. The long-term potential for this game-changing technology is truly jaw-dropping. If the analysts at PwC are correct, a combination of consumption-side effects and productivity improvements from AI will add $15.7 trillion to the global economy by the turn of the decade. Although a long list of hardware and software/system application companies have benefited immensely from the AI revolution, none stands out more than tech titan Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA). But what you might be surprised to learn is that this highly influential AI company has scored a $4 billion "profit" in an uncharacteristic manner. It took less than two years for Nvidia to catapult from a $360 billion market cap to (briefly) the world's largest public company, with a valuation that handily surpassed $3.5 trillion. A $3 trillion-plus increase in valuation in such a short time frame had never been witnessed before. Nvidia's claim to fame is its Hopper (H100) and next-generation Blackwell graphics processing units (GPUs), which are the undisputed top options deployed in AI-accelerated data centers. Orders for both chips have been extensively backlogged, despite the efforts of world-leading chip fabrication company Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing to boost its chip-on-wafer-on-substrate monthly wafer capacity. When demand for a good or service outstrips its supply, the law of supply and-demand states that prices will climb until demand tapers. Whereas direct rival Advanced Micro Devices was netting anywhere from $10,000 to $15,000 for its Instinct MI300X AI-accelerating chip early last year, Nvidia's Hopper chips were commanding a price point that topped $40,000. The ability to charge a premium for its AI hardware, due to a combination of strong demand and persistent AI-GPU scarcity, helped push Nvidia's gross margin into the 70% range. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is also intent on keeping his company at the forefront of the innovative curve. He's aiming to bring a new advanced chip to market each year, with Blackwell Ultra (2025), Vera Rubin (2026), and Vera Rubin Ultra (2027) set to follow in the path of Hopper and Blackwell. In other words, it doesn't appear as if Nvidia will cede its compute advantages anytime soon. The final piece of the puzzle for Nvidia has been its CUDA software platform. This is what assists developers in maximizing the compute abilities of their Nvidia GPUs, as well as aids with building/training LLMs. CUDA has played a pivotal role in keeping clients loyal to Nvidia's ecosystem of products and services. Collectively, Nvidia's data center segment has helped catapult sales by 383% between fiscal 2023 (ended in late January 2023) and fiscal 2025, and sent adjusted net income skyrocketing from $8.4 billion to $74.3 billion over the same timeline. As you can imagine, most of Nvidia's more than $74 billion in adjusted net income last year was derived from its operating activities -- and this is how it should be for a market-leading growth stock. But it's not the only way Wall Street's AI darling can put dollars in the profit column. What's often overlooked about Nvidia is that it's also an investor. Just as institutional money managers with more than $100 million in assets under management (AUM) are required to file Form 13F no later than 45 days following the end to a quarter -- a 13F lays out which stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and select options were purchased and sold -- businesses with north of $100 million in AUM must do the same. This includes Nvidia. At the end of March, Nvidia had more than $1.1 billion invested across a half-dozen publicly traded companies. Accounting rules require Nvidia to recognize unrealized gains and losses each quarter, based on the change in value of the securities in its investment portfolio. Nvidia's largest investment holding is AI-data center infrastructure goliath CoreWeave (NASDAQ: CRWV), which went public in late March. Nvidia made an initial investment in CoreWeave of $100 million in April 2023, and upped its stake by another $250 million in March 2025, prior to its initial public offering (IPO). On a combined basis, Nvidia has put $350 million of its capital to work in Wall Street's hottest IPO. As of the closing bell on Friday, June 20, the 24,182,460 shares of CoreWeave that Nvidia held, as of March 31, were worth (drumroll) close to $4.44 billion. On an unrealized basis, Wall Street's AI titan is sitting on a $4 billion-plus "profit" from its investment. If you're wondering why "profit" is in quotations, it's because Nvidia may have reduced its stake in CoreWeave since the second quarter began. We won't know for sure until 13Fs detailing second-quarter trading activity are filed in mid-August. Further, this $4 billion unrealized gain can fluctuate, depending on where CoreWeave stock closes out the June quarter. Nevertheless, it's been one heck of a windfall for Nvidia. While Nvidia has a solid track record of making smart investments in up-and-coming tech companies -- many of which it's partnered with -- there's also the real possibility it's playing with fire when it comes to CoreWeave. Don't get me wrong, CoreWeave has been a fantastic client for Nvidia. It purchased 250,000 Hopper GPUs for its AI-data centers, which it leases out to businesses looking for compute capacity. It's in Nvidia's best interest that CoreWeave succeed and upgrade its AI chips roughly twice per decade. But there are a number of red flags with CoreWeave that suggest its $88 billion valuation isn't sustainable. One of the biggest concerns with Wall Street's hottest IPO is that Nvidia's aggressive innovation cycles could hinder, not help, its business. Bringing an advanced AI chip to market annually has the potential to quickly depreciate CoreWeave's Hopper GPUs, and might send customers to rival data centers that have newer chips. When CoreWeave looks to upgrade its infrastructure in the coming years, there's a very good chance it'll recoup far less from its assets than it expects. CoreWeave has also leaned on leverage to build out its AI-data center. Relying on debt to acquire GPUs can lead to burdensome debt-servicing costs. For the moment, these servicing costs are adding to the company's steep operating losses. Valuation is another clear concern with CoreWeave. Investors are paying roughly 8 times forecast sales in 2026 for a company that's not time-tested and hasn't generated a profit. While Nvidia, undoubtedly, wants to see CoreWeave succeed, locking in its gains at these levels would make a lot of sense. Before you buy stock in Nvidia, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Nvidia wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $689,813!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $906,556!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 809% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 175% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 23, 2025 Sean Williams has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Nvidia, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Titan Nvidia Has Scored a $4 Billion "Profit" in an Unexpected Way was originally published by The Motley Fool
