1. Cineworld is expecting bankruptcy 

Cineworld is planning to file for bankruptcy. Cineworld is struggling with $5 billion worth of debt. Cineworld hoped that films like Topgun: Maverick would rekindle consumer interest after a significant drop during lockdown, but its business has been affected by decreasing audiences. The weak film lineup this summer also didn’t help the business. It also competes with online streaming services which have only grown to be more popular since the pandemic. Cineworld’s rival, AMC has managed to stay afloat in part due to the fundraising efforts of a rabid group of individual traders. 

2. Retail sales in the UK have increased, but what is the full picture? 

Retail sales in the UK increased unexpectedly last month. Amazon Prime had 4.8% more online sales in July than in June, with customers taking advantage of sales opportunities. This increase helped boost retail sales by 0.3% over the same period, despite economists expecting them to fall. However, this covers up the other facts: clothing and household goods sales are declining. Aside from online retail, retail sales were 3.4% lower than this time last year. In addition, the value of those sales increased by 7.8%, indicating that people are buying far less for far more. 

3. In this quarter, Walmart outperformed expectations. 

This month, Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, delivered better-than-expected quarterly results. At the end of last month, Walmart issued its second profit warning in ten weeks. By contrary, Walmart was able to expand beyond its lower income customers to higher income customers. In fact, customers with annual household incomes of $100,000 or more accounted for three quarter percent of Walmart’s increase in food market share. Despite shoppers cutting back on clothing and electronics due to inflation, Walmart’s sales and profit both exceeded expectations. 

4. Zoom’s quarterly results were disappointing. 

Zoom’s quarterly results were disappointing this month. Individual and small business sales to the teleconferencing service are declining faster than expected. Zoom has only added 3% more enterprise clients from the previous quarter, bringing the total to just over 200,000. While overall revenue was 8% higher than this time last year, it was the company’s slowest growth rate on record. Zoom tried to win over big businesses with the June launch of “Zoom One,” but analysts are still concerned Zoom won’t be able to compete with Microsoft and their popularised package, Teams into Office 365. 

5. Every business wants Signify Health. 

The stock of Signify Health has risen 40% as a large number of investors consider buying the home-care provider. CVS was reported to be interested in acquiring Signify at the beginning of the month, which provided in-home healthcare evaluations to approximately 2 million patients last year. There are now more interested parties, including insurer UnitedHealth, Option Care, and Amazon, which recently acquired One Medical. The push for Signify shows how eager businesses are to enter the healthcare industry, especially given that healthcare is something Americans avoid cutting back on even during a downturn. This deal is bound to draw the attention of regulators, who will be concerned that reduced competition will harm consumers. 

By Fizah Jathol