Bite-sized business news from Australia and around the world
Australia’s biggest airports earned $402M from parking in 2025, highlighting the lucrative power of airport monopolies.
Audible launches a cheaper streaming-style audiobook plan as Spotify expands into audiobooks with its bundled Premium offering.
ARN Media shares jumped after Jackie Henderson quit The Kyle and Jackie O Show, raising hopes the company could reset its costly talent deal.
OpenAI raises $110B at a $730B valuation as Amazon, Nvidia and SoftBank fund the AI boom—while also supplying its infrastructure.
Lyka raises $67M after hitting $200M ARR, expanding its premium fresh dog food business as pet owners spend more on human-grade meals.
News Corp cuts costs, sells Foxtel and signs a $250M deal with OpenAI to reposition its media archives as vital data inputs for the AI economy.
ASIC alleges Budget Direct removed discounts after minor policy changes, impacting 39,000 customers and triggering $3.3m in repayments.
Woolworths’ chatbot Olive glitched with odd replies, but the retailer is doubling down on AI with a major Google upgrade.
CBA flagged $1B in AI-linked home loan fraud via brokers, exposing oversight risks despite loans still being repaid.
WiseTech will cut 2,000 jobs in an AI overhaul, betting automation can reset costs despite a 36% profit slump.
Sigma lifted earnings 18.7% after its Chemist Warehouse merger, as strong domestic sales fund patient global expansion.
Qantas lifted profit to $1.46b as Loyalty jumped 12%, while tweaking Frequent Flyer rules to strengthen customer retention.
After the Supreme Court struck down his tariffs, Trump proposed a blanket 15% rate — erasing Australia’s trade edge.
Adore Beauty’s sales rose 8.7%, but heavy Black Friday discounting sent profit down 70%, as it pushes into physical stores.
Southern Cross Media’s first result post-Seven merger saw profit fall 16.5%, as weak ads and a sudden CEO exit rattled investors.
eBay buys Depop for $1.2b, boosting shares 7% and accelerating its push into Gen Z and sustainable fashion.
GyG’s US losses and store cap rattle investors, sending shares below IPO levels as short sellers ramp up bets.
Eucalyptus sells for $1.6b to Hims & Hers, fast-tracking its global push in regulated digital healthcare.
Telstra profit climbs 8% to $1.2b as job cuts trim costs and higher mobile prices stick without losing customers.
Zip shares plunge 33% after results miss forecasts and bad debts rise, despite strong year-on-year growth.
Wesfarmers lifts profit 9% to $1.6b as Bunnings and lithium offset a sharp 21% earnings drop at Officeworks.
Sushi Sushi sells for $160m to Japan’s Genki, shifting from private equity ownership to global expansion mode.
SEEK plans to sell its remaining Employment Hero stake, closing a nine year investment after a courtroom clash.
Coles faces court after the ACCC alleged it inflated prices before promoting “discounts” that weren’t real savings.
Kraft Heinz has shelved its breakup plan and will spend $600m to revive struggling grocery brands before reconsidering a split.
Breville’s revenue jumped to $1.1b on strong coffee sales, but US tariffs capped profit growth and forced a supply chain rethink.
Barbeques Galore has entered receivership after liquidity struggles, as years of ownership changes failed to restore profitability.
Hasbro and Mattel both flagged softer toy growth, but Hasbro’s booming digital games arm sent its shares up while Mattel sank.
Temple & Webster’s profit slid 36% as heavy discounting hit margins, but management is doubling down to win long-term market share.
ANZ’s new CEO slashes jobs and costs, lifting profit 6% to $1.94b as investors cheer the bank’s aggressive clean-up strategy.
PEP looks to exit The Man Shake as GLP-1 weight-loss drugs reshape the market and dent demand for meal replacements.
Stellantis takes a US$26b EV write-down after overestimating the energy transition, sending shares down 30%.
Seek has slashed $365m off Zhaopin’s value, with repeated write-downs exposing deeper cracks in China’s sluggish jobs market.
After a sharp fall in government consulting revenue, KPMG is cutting costs by offshoring hundreds of roles to the Philippines.
Atlassian posted strong revenue growth, but AI fears sent shares lower, leaving employees with equity that’s deep out of the money.
The government is reviewing the CGT discount, spooking investors and reigniting debate over tax reform versus housing affordability.
Anthropic’s new legal AI tool spooked investors, wiping billions off legal publishers as AI threatens traditional research models.
LIV Golf has burned billions backing its PGA disruption, with profitability still years away despite selling team stakes.
AustralianSuper records its first net outflows as easier switching and weaker performance push members to shop around.
Franchise-heavy films are underperforming, raising fears the US box office may miss its US$10bn target as audiences grow pickier.
Ahead of a potential IPO, SpaceX is absorbing xAI and X, unifying Elon Musk’s AI, data and space ambitions under one roof.
The RBA lifted rates to 3.85% after inflation spiked, as rising household spending continues to defy cost-of-living pressure.
Paramount+ plans a TikTok-style short-form feed to boost daily engagement as streaming platforms blur with social apps.
Australian music now makes up under 10% of streams as algorithm-driven platforms favour global artists over local acts.
Nine is selling radio and regional TV while buying QMS Media, reshaping its portfolio toward faster-growing ad formats.
Tesla’s revenue fell for the first time, but investors are backing its pivot toward AI, robots and autonomous vehicles over car sales.
Meta posted record earnings and is doubling down on AI, committing over $100bn a year to stay competitive in the race for superintelligence.
An activist investor is pressuring CoStar to retreat from residential property — a move that could quietly weaken Domain and benefit REA.
Gold and silver have hit record highs as investors flee fiat currencies and pile into hard assets amid debt and inflation fears.
ByteDance has sold TikTok’s US business to American investors at a steep discount to avoid a shutdown and keep the app alive.
Kayo has lifted prices 15% as new owner DAZN shifts from subscriber growth to squeezing more revenue from locked-in sports fans.
Saks Global filed for bankruptcy after rising debt and falling sales, leaving luxury brands unpaid and spotlighting the decline of department stores.
Ryanair turned a public spat with Elon Musk into a viral “idiot sale,” using outrage-driven attention to boost bookings and sales.
Australia’s Big Four are pocketing billions from $320bn of zero-interest “lazy deposits,” quietly boosting profits even as loan growth slows.
Porsche’s global sales fell 10% in 2025 as China demand slumped and EV delays wiped €1.8bn from earnings.
OpenAI is testing ads inside ChatGPT’s free and Go tiers, marking a major shift in how the $500B AI giant plans to make money.
ACSI’s new guidelines signal a shift in how $1.9 trillion of super money engages with ASX companies, refocusing on value over virtue.
ACSI’s new guidelines signal a shift in how $1.9 trillion of super money engages with ASX companies, refocusing on value over virtue.
Rio Tinto and Glencore are in early merger talks, eyeing scale and copper growth, but investors aren’t fully sold.
Wikipedia is getting paid by Big Tech for AI training data, as rising scraping costs force a rethink of “free” content.
Bonds’ owner is selling its Australian brands after a profit slump, as new parent Gildan reshapes the global business.
ChatGPT just became the most-downloaded free iPhone app of the year, signalling that AI assistants are shifting from novelty to everyday habit.
ASIC fines 12 major private companies for failing to lodge audited accounts, after finding more than 70% of large proprietary firms non-compliant.
Australia’s under-16 social media ban is now live, forcing platforms to verify ages or face $50m fines as teens flock to alternative apps.
Airwallex doubled revenue to $1B in a year and raised $330M at an $8B valuation, using momentum to boost optionality... not because it needed cash.
Paramount has gatecrashed Netflix’s $72B deal for WBD with a massive $108B hostile bid, leaving shareholders to choose the final winner.
The RBA held the cash rate at 3.60% despite stubborn inflation, giving homeowners relief but keeping all future moves firmly on the table.
Lululemon’s founder is calling out its CEO for losing the brand’s soul as competitors rise and shares plunge 52% this year.
Spotify Wrapped 2025 hit 200M users in 24 hours, proving that user-driven sharing beats paid ads every December.
Premier’s profits tumble as Smiggle loses its shine and leadership—proof that weak demand and a missing CEO can rattle investors.
Unilever is spinning off its ice cream empire into the new Magnum Ice Cream Company, which will debut as a standalone global giant.
Real-world testing shows top EVs falling short of their advertised range, renewing worries about reliability as adoption continues to grow.
H&M faces falling sales, a wage underpayment probe, and a shrinking store network as it reassesses its place in the Australian retail market.
Shopify suffered a major Cyber Monday outage, locking merchants out during peak sales and sparking a 5% drop in its share price.
Collins Foods boosts profit and upgrades forecasts as KFC same-store sales climb, proving demand is growing beyond just new store openings.
Metcash’s food sales grew, but a plunge in legal tobacco purchases slashed profits as smokers shifted to the illicit market.
Harvey Norman defies the retail slowdown with a 9% sales lift, driven by booming growth in Slovenia, Croatia and the UK.
Meta is in talks to buy Google’s TPUs starting 2027, a surprise move that could chip away at Nvidia’s dominance and shift power in the AI hardware race.
El Jannah has been bought by General Atlantic for nearly $1B, with major expansion ahead and the founders keeping a stake to ride the next growth wave.
SkinKandy is chasing a $400m IPO to fuel its US expansion, but past beauty listings show how tough it is to win long-term investor confidence.
Industry super funds are spending tens of millions on marketing, prompting regulators to question whether the costs truly benefit members.
Temple & Webster posted solid growth but missed revenue expectations, triggering a 30 percent share price plunge as investors punished the gap.
A failed US bid opens the door for DMGT to buy The Telegraph, highlighting how legacy media turns to consolidation to survive the digital giants.
Aussie-founded Chronosphere is sold to Palo Alto Networks for $3.3B as real-time monitoring becomes essential after major cloud outages.
TikTok grabs naming rights to a major Sydney venue, taking its influence offline as Gen Z cuts screen time and digital brands go IRL.
Monash IVF cuts earnings again after its embryo mix-ups, shares slump—then suddenly surge 37% after rejecting a $300M takeover bid.
Entain is cutting 120 jobs and winding back perks as rising costs and tighter regulations hit the gambling industry, signalling a shift in employer power.
Reece cops a second strike as frustrated shareholders hit back at falling earnings and a rough US acquisition, triggering a board spill vote.
Adobe is buying Semrush for $1.9B to strengthen its creative ecosystem and give users built-in marketing, SEO and data tools without leaving Adobe.
Nvidia beats sky-high expectations with a $57B quarter, but its massive influence cuts both ways as markets swing sharply on its every move.
Qantas is extending its Frequent Flyer perks to Jetstar for $199 a year, strengthening its dual-brand hold on the market and boxing in Virgin Australia.
AI-generated country artists are now topping Billboard charts, signalling a major shake-up for a music industry built on human emotion and storytelling.
ChatGPT rolls out “Groups,” letting up to 20 users collaborate in one chat—another clear step in OpenAI’s move toward becoming a social platform.
Airtasker raises $17M through cash and media-for-equity with iHeartMedia to supercharge its US/UK expansion... though investors weren’t thrilled.
Visa is testing stablecoin payouts, letting businesses send instant digital-dollar payments as it gears up for the future of global money movement.
Google unveils new AI shopping tools that track prices, auto-buy items, and call stores for stock info, aiming to reinvent how people shop online.
Xero posted strong profit and revenue growth, but worries over its Melio acquisition and weak US performance sent its share price down 9%.
Skims secures $225M at a $5B valuation, fueling its push into apparel, activewear, and global retail as celebrity-led brands continue to dominate.
