Amazon removed more than 530,000 “offers” from its online store for “coronavirus-based price gouging,” Vice President-Public Policy Brian Huseman wrote Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass. It also “suspended” more than 2,500 third-party “seller accounts” in the U.S. “for violating our price gouging policies,” said Huseman Friday. “We have issued proactive reminders of our fair pricing policy to all of our selling partners. We are actively working with state attorneys general to prosecute bad actors.” Amazon won’t “tolerate attempts by bad actors to artificially raise prices on basic need products during a global health crisis,” said Huseman. “It is unconscionable.” Markey wrote Amazon Wednesday insisting that it thwart third-party price gouging on hand sanitizer and facial masks during the coronavirus crisis (see 2003040053).
Capacity utilization at Chinese factories trying to recover from coronavirus shutdowns that peaked in early February is up to 60%-80%, said Costco Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti on a fiscal Q2 call Thursday. It’s “improving each week” but “still has a little ways to go,” he said. Supply chain transportation problems “are also abating, with port capacity in China improving each day as well,” he said. “It's hard to quantify what the financial impact will be to our future results,” said Galanti. “The last week and a half has been quite good,” he said, “but we'll see what tomorrow brings.” Q2 ended Feb. 16
Marvell Technology entered its fiscal 2021 in early February “trying to assess the near-term impact from the coronavirus,” said CEO Matthew Murphy on a Q4 call Wednesday. Before the outbreak gained intensity in January, “our bookings and backlog were getting stronger,” he said. But as the spread broadened, “we started to see supply chain-related impacts to our business,” he said. It’s impossible to “fully quantify” what drag COVID-19 will have because the situation “remains fluid,” he said. “However, our revenue guidance for the first quarter includes a 5% reduction based on what we know so far.” Marvell’s fiscal Q1 ends in early May. The “ultimate impact” of the coronavirus “is still unknown, and assessing the full magnitude at this point is not feasible,” said Chief Financial Officer Jean Hu. Two types of supply-chain “disruptions” are at play, said Murphy. Marvell’s suppliers are having trouble sourcing components from heavily impacted regions inside China, plus its customers’ factories are not at “full capacity,” he said. “We have really no way to know” if COVID-19 will cause any long-term “demand destruction,” he said. Murphy reads the same reports as everyone else that “factories are gradually coming back online,” and people in China “are actually going back to work,” he said. “But we don't really know what the ripple effect is to the global economy, candidly, from this disruption.” Shares closed 10.4% higher Thursday at $24.93.
The FCC is suspending “noncritical” domestic and international travel for employees (see 2003040060) and its involvement in “non-critical large gatherings that involve participants from across the country and/or around the world.” That's until further notice as a preventive measure related to the coronavirus, said a public notice Wednesday. Chairman Ajit Pai, Commissioner Brendan Carr, and Media Bureau staff were all slated to participate in the NAB Show April 18-22 in Las Vegas. The commission and NAB didn’t comment. The agency is also barring visitors to headquarters and facilities who in the past 14 days “have been in any country that is the subject of a COVID-19- related CDC Level 3 Travel Warning.” Those countries are currently China, Iran, Italy and South Korea, the PN said. “Similarly, employees and contractors who, during the most recent 14 days, have been in any of these countries are being asked not to enter FCC facilities.” An aide to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said a planned hearing on artificial intelligence co-hosted by the commissioner will still take place in Detroit March 16. “The Chairman’s Office, in consultation with the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, the Office of Managing Director, and Office of General Counsel, will continue to monitor developments and will implement additional precautions (or relax current precautions) should circumstances warrant,” the PN said.
Amazon needs to thwart price-gouging on hand sanitizer and facial masks on its platform during the coronavirus crisis, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., wrote the e-commerce giant Wednesday. He wants to know how Amazon determines price-gouging, how many warnings it gives third-party sellers before removing them and what “additional resources” it’s devoting to the problem. Amazon has a “particular responsibility” to fight unfair pricing in “current circumstances” because consumers are finding empty shelves and “may wish to avoid venturing into crowded stores and shopping malls,” he said. There's "no place for price gouging on Amazon," emailed a spokesperson. "We are disappointed that bad actors are attempting to artificially raise prices on basic need products during a global health crisis and, in line with our long-standing policy, have recently blocked or removed tens of thousands of offers. We continue to actively monitor our store and remove offers that violate our policies."
The coronavirus outbreak's “too many unknowns” prevent Hewlett Packard Enterprise from publishing financial guidance for its fiscal Q2 ending April 30, said CEO Antonio Neri on a Q1 call Tuesday. “Macro uncertainty,” including from coronavirus-induced components shortages, sent revenue down 7% in Q1 ended Jan. 31, he said. The virus “is causing disruption to both supply and demand,” said Chief Financial Officer Tarek Robbiati. “While we cannot quantify the real impact at this time, we're monitoring the situation closely and are working with our suppliers to minimize potential impacts.” HP Enterprise decided to cancel or postpone most of its sales conferences and other “sponsored events” through April “out of abundance of caution” for employees, customers and partners, said Robbiati. “This is also causing supply and demand disruptions and affecting our revenue profile.” Shares closed 2.6% lower Wednesday at $12.26.
Organizers of the 2020 New York International Auto Show said Tuesday they're moving forward with plans to open next month’s event as scheduled with “no plans to cancel any shows at the facility due to coronavirus.” The show and the venue “are taking precautionary measures inside the convention center while the state and local agencies are taking steps to limit the spread of respiratory viruses,” they said. In recent weeks, Javits Center installed 70 hand-sanitizing stations; increased cleaning of high-volume, high-touch areas such as paper towel dispensers, countertops and door handles; had specially trained paramedics during event hours; engaged with city, state and federal health departments; distributed information to key staff and business partners to help prevent communicable diseases in the venue; and implemented new standards for vehicle detailing companies, including the use of disinfectant cleaning agents, they said. Eighteen OEM news conferences are scheduled for the show that runs April 8-19; more than 50 new vehicles are scheduled to debut in New York.
Coronavirus could hurt NBCUniversal Q1 revenue 7%-9% due largely to closure of its Osaka, Japan, theme park, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said at a Morgan Stanley investor conference Tuesday. Earlier that day, America's Communications Association said it's going ahead with its summit in Washington, D.C., next week, working with the Grand Hyatt venue to ensure "a clean environment with the best on hand in prevention and immediate care." Fox said Tuesday it won't attend the Morgan Stanley conference Wednesday due to "an abundance of caution" about coronavirus health concerns. Verizon Chief Financial Officer Matt Ellis, also at Morgan Stanley, said coronavirus currently is having a "not significant, not material" impact on the business. Comcast's Roberts said the Olympics are "full steam ahead," and if there's a disruption of the games, insurance would cover lost costs. He said construction of Universal's theme park in Beijing was down for several weeks but has since resumed and the park should open on time. Ellis said Verizon doesn't expect New T-Mobile and the emergence of Dish Network in the wireless space to affect his carrier's market share.
Logitech scaled back its profit outlook for fiscal 2020 ending March 31 to $365 million-$375 million due to “short-term coronavirus impacts,” said the company Tuesday. Previous guidance was $375 million-$385 million. The company reaffirmed its outlook of mid-high single-digit percentage sales growth in constant currency but expects a $30 million hit to revenue for the year. The impact on operating income from the coronavirus plus Section 301 tariffs on goods produced in China is expected to be about $60 million, it said. Though the company sees “continued strong demand” for products, “we are slightly adjusting our operating income outlook to account for supply chain uncertainties related to the trajectory of the coronavirus,” said CEO Bracken Darrell.
Though there have been no show cancellations at the Las Vegas Convention Center since the coronavirus outbreak (see 2003020039), the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and its “resort partners” continue to “coordinate with health officials" in monitoring developments, emailed authority spokesperson Erica Johnson Monday. “We remain committed to following the protocols and guidance” of the Centers for Disease Control and Protection and the Southern Nevada Health District, she said. “The safety and health of our employees and guests remains of utmost priority.” NAB Show organizers "are moving forward responsibly" with the April 18-22 event at LVCC, they blogged Tuesday. "We continue to take our direction from global, federal, and local health officials," which don't have "restrictions on public gatherings for the continental US," they said. "We understand there are exhibitors and participants that may decide not to attend this year’s show and respect everyone’s desire to do what they believe is best. As of today, we are hearing that the overwhelming majority of our exhibitors are looking forward to attending the show and our attendee registrations continue on pace with the normal patterns we see year-over-year."