TheChek News Flow

Here is what some of the world’s corporate leaders said in their quarterly earnings reports last week about inflation, the supply chain, travel and dining, and the future of the internet.

To see what business leaders have said in past weeks, click here, here and here.

“During periods of inflation like this, middle-income families, lower-middle-income families, even wealthier families become more price-sensitive. And that’s to our advantage.” (Feb. 17)

“When we saw container rates at this, I think, maybe highest cost ever in October, at least from my recollection over my 30 years...we didn’t think it could go up from there. And they went up from there, and they went up from there like almost 50% in December, January...Where I might have felt like, as a business leader, how could it possibly get any worse than this? And then it gets worse than that. It’s just difficult to pin that down.” (Feb. 14)

“I would describe our supply chain shortages as two steps forward and one step backward. We don’t like the one step backward, but between the Omicron virus, the labor shortages, the logistics and the component shortages, we’re certainly experiencing another wave of uncertainty in Q1 over here...We’ll keep improving every quarter, but Q1 isn’t the great indicator of supply chain improving.” (Feb. 14)

“During the quarter, supply chain didn’t get materially worse and didn’t really get materially better. It was pretty consistent. There were gives and takes throughout the quarter...I wouldn’t say we have a great timeline for you as to when things begin to improve. All we know now is we expect this to be with us through the second half of our year.” (Feb. 16)

“It’s worth noting that our supply base will likely remain challenged throughout fiscal year 2022. Issues continue to arise, and our guidance contemplates successful resolution of these issues without significant disruptions. Components with heavy labor content remain in tight supply, and of course, semiconductor availability will continue to be limited throughout the year.” (Feb. 18)

“While we have seen some component costs decrease relative to peak prices in 2021, overall component and logistics costs remain significantly elevated, and availability issues persist. Thus, we believe these disruptions will continue to negatively affect the size of the TV market and our player margins in the short term.” (Feb. 17)

“Our Q4 inflation were higher than we expected in our October call. We ended up with low double-digit. But for 2022, we are likely to see, or are expecting today, a year of inflation of low teens for the full year. … And we expect this inflation to be higher in the first half than in the second half.” (Feb. 16)

“While we believe that the Covid-triggered acceleration of e-commerce that spilled into the first half of 2021 in the form of lockdowns and government stimulus will be absent from 2022 and there is caution around inflation and consumer spend near term, for the full year, we see economic growth supporting the continued penetration of retail by e-commerce.” (Feb. 16)

“We took price in 2021 at each of our brands and given the level of commodity cost and labor inflation we’re seeing, we expect additional price increases in 2022.” (Feb. 15)

“Frankly, for any small or midsize operator, and we talk to many of them still, there’s no urgency to getting back into the game when you see labor and commodities like this. So, the restaurants that closed next to us two years ago are still closed. So, I think that just bares the opportunity.” (Feb. 16)

“We’ve put to rest, I think, this question of what happens to demand as diners go back and eat inside restaurants. Well, I think clearly, takeout and delivery, as shown by our performance, not just in the fourth quarter but also in 2021, just in an aggregate, is that they’re complementary.” (Feb. 16)

Airbnb Inc. Chief Executive Brian Chesky

“Nearly two years into the pandemic, it’s clear that we are undergoing the biggest change to travel since the advent of commercial flying. Remote work has untethered many people from the need to be in an office, and as a result, people are spreading out to thousands of towns and cities, staying for weeks, months or even entire seasons at a time. For the first time ever, millions of people can now live anywhere.” (Feb. 15)

“We continue to be really optimistic that there’s still a significant tailwind for leisure demand. And I think part of that is because of the evolution of the way folks work. The incremental flexibility that you’re seeing in working from home, working from anywhere, has been an accelerant for leisure demand. And if anything, we expect further acceleration in that regard.” (Feb. 15)

“Today’s internet is 2D, and AI is in the cloud. The next phase of internet will be 3D, and AI will be connected to the physical world. We created Omniverse to enable the next wave of AI, where AI and robotics touches our world. Omniverse can sound like science fiction, but there are real-world use cases today.” (Feb. 16)

“Some may refer to this as Industry 4.0 or, in some instances, Web 3.0 or even powering the emerging metaverse. We are buzzword agnostic on this. You can call it whatever you like. It all involves distributed, fast, scalable and secure experiences, and we know it’s in increasingly higher demand from our customers.” (Feb. 16)