Sentiment among the nation’s single-family homebuilders dropped to the lowest level in five months in February, largely due to concern over tariffs, which would raise their costs significantly.

The National Association of Home Builders’ Housing Market Index (HMI) dropped a sharp 5 points from January to a reading of 42. Anything below 50 is considered negative sentiment. Last February, the index stood at 48.

“While builders hold out hope for pro-development policies, particularly for regulatory reform, policy uncertainty and cost factors created a reset for 2025 expectations in the most recent HMI,” said NAHB Chairman Carl Harris, a home builder from Wichita, Kansas.

Of the index’s three components, current sales conditions fell 4 points to 46, buyer traffic fell 3 points to 29 and sales expectations in the next six months plunged 13 points to 46. That last component hit its lowest level since December 2023.

Builders are already facing elevated mortgage rates. The average rate on the 30-year fixed was over 7% for January and February after earlier being in the 6% range. Home prices are also higher than they were a year ago, weakening affordability further.

While President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada and Mexico, originally proposed to take effect in early February, were delayed roughly a month, builders are still expecting higher costs.

“With 32% of appliances and 30% of softwood lumber coming from international trade, uncertainty over the scale and scope of tariffs has builders further concerned about costs,” said NAHB chief economist Robert Dietz.

Homebuilder sentiment had been gaining steadily since August on the expectation of lower mortgage rates and, as the builders noted, potential pro-development policies. Single-family housing starts are trending lower than they were a year ago, despite a lean supply of existing homes for sale.

The drop in builder sentiment, coming right before the all-important spring market, signals potentially even less supply in the market. Several homebuilders have noted the pullback in buyer demand in recent earnings reports.

“Despite Federal Reserve actions to lower short-term interest rates, mortgage interest rates remained elevated in the fourth quarter, which impacted buyer demand as homebuyers continue to face affordability challenges,” said Ryan Marshall, CEO of PulteGroup, in its fourth-quarter earnings release.

The share of builders lowering prices dropped to 26% in February, down from 30% in January and the lowest share since May 2024. Other sales incentives also fell.

This may be because incentives are becoming less effective at attracting buyers, since high prices and high rates have reduced the pool of buyers for whom these benefits move the needle, according to the NAHB.

When a buyer is solidly priced out, no incentive helps, and with rates remaining higher, the pool of marginal buyers may be shrinking. Offering incentives to buyers who would buy regardless of price or rates is of diminishing value for builders.

KFC is leaving Kentucky.

The fried chicken chain’s U.S. headquarters will move from Louisville, Kentucky, to Plano, Texas, owner Yum Brands said Tuesday.

About 100 KFC U.S. employees will be required to relocate over the next six months.

The relocation is part of Yum’s broader plan to have two corporate headquarters: one in Plano, the other in Irvine, California. KFC and Pizza Hut’s global teams are already based in Plano, while Taco Bell and the Habit Burger & Grill’s teams are located in Irvine.

Additionally, Yum’s U.S. remote workforce, roughly 90 workers, will also be asked to move to the campus where their work is based.

But Yum isn’t entirely abandoning Kentucky. The company and the KFC Foundation plan to maintain corporate offices in Louisville. Plus, KFC still plans to build a new flagship restaurant in its former hometown.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, many employers have been rethinking the location of their corporate headquarters, often spurred to move because of lower taxes and changes to office space needs due to the hybrid or remote workforce. With its business-friendly policies, Texas has been the most popular relocation choice, according to a 2023 report from CBRE.

In 2020, Yum rival Papa Johns moved its headquarters from Louisville to Atlanta. It later canceled plans to sell its old headquarters, instead opting to hold on to the building for the corporate workers who stayed in Louisville.

Argentine President Javier Milei is facing withering criticism, including some calls for impeachment, after promoting a new cryptocurrency on his social media account.

In a since-deleted post from his personal account on X on Feb. 14, Milei shared a link to a site where users could purchase a cryptocurrency called $LIBRA, a coin attached to a new initiative called Project Libertad, whose website indicates funds from the coin launch were designed to support Argentine businesses. 

In his post, Milei indicated the coin and the project would help the country’s economy and small businesses. 

Soon after launching, the coin’s price rose from about $0.22 to more than $5. Yet within an hour of the launch, buyers began to notice sales from early purchasers, and the price tanked some 70%.  

According to crypto analytics firm LookOnChain, eight digital wallets linked to early trading of the coin cashed out a total of $107 million, while data reported by crypto news site ICOBench showed some 60 individual traders each lost more than $500,000, while 24 traders lost at least $1 million.     

Today, LIBRA coin is worth about $0.30 according to CoinMarketCap.com.

The timeline of events has led to accusations on social media that the coin’s developers, or those with early awareness of the project, executed a “rug pull” on later buyers, to whom they knew they could sell at a higher price. 

Representatives for the project did not respond to a request for comment.

The situation has drawn some parallels with President Donald Trump’s promotion of a cryptocurrency just prior to taking office; that coin, TRUMP, has fallen in value by some 80% to about $16 from its immediate post-launch high of nearly $78. 

However, while early backers of TRUMP coin also saw large windfalls, the project was more transparent about its ownership structure.   

In a post on X, Hayden Davis, an American, denied accusations of wrongdoing in launching LIBRA and accused Milei himself of reneging on the project. 

“It is crucial to recognize that memecoin investments are driven by trust and endorsement,” Davis wrote. “When Milei and his team deleted their posts, investors who had purchased the token based on their trust in his endorsement felt betrayed. This led to a wave of panic selling, further exacerbating the situation. The sudden loss of confidence had a catastrophic impact on the token’s market stability.”

Davis did not respond to a request for additional comment. 

On Saturday, Milei’s official account posted a lengthy description of what had occurred, stating that Milei himself has since invoked Argentina’s anti-corruption investigator to look into the matter, including the president’s own involvement.

In a television interview Monday, Milei admitted he had likely erred in promoting the coin.

“I’m a techno-optimist . . . and this was proposed to me as an instrument to help fund Argentine projects,” he said according to the Financial Times. “It’s true that in trying to help out those Argentines, I took a slap in the face.”  

His office said that while he had met twice with representatives of the project, he was never involved in its development.

“The most interesting lesson is that . . . I need to put up more filters, it can’t be so easy for people to reach me,” Milei said in the interview. 

While some analysts say getting enough votes to pass impeachment articles may be unlikely, Milei’s opposition is already pouncing on the incident, with one coalition calling it “a scandal without precedent” and another group for the creation of an independent commission, according to The New York Times.

Milei was the first foreign leader to meet Trump after the November election, and has developed what some have called a “bromance” with Elon Musk. Milei pioneered a new government agency, the Ministry of Deregulation and State Transformation, last year that has parallels with the Department of Government Efficiency Musk has spearheaded.   

Milei took office in December 2023 promising to tackle his country’s longtime inflation woes. Although some progress has been made, the country’s poverty rate has also increased.

Coca-Cola is launching a prebiotic soda brand called Simply Pop, taking on upstarts Olipop and Poppi.

Starting in late February, consumers on the West Coast and in the Southeast will be able to try Coke’s iteration of the trendy drink.

Soda consumption has broadly fallen in the U.S. over the last two decades, hurt by health concerns and an increase in alternatives on the market, from cold brew to energy drinks to water. But in the last five years, sodas containing prebiotics have taken off, thanks to industry newcomers Olipop and Poppi.

Olipop recently raised $50 million at a valuation of $1.85 billion, the company announced Wednesday. And Poppi made its second straight Super Bowl appearance in this year’s game, shelling out up to $8 million to reach the game’s record audience.

Digestive health soft drinks have grown from a $197 million category in the U.S. in 2020 to one of roughly $440 million in 2024, according to Euromonitor International data. Still, it’s a fraction of the overall soda market, which is worth billions of dollars.

Simply Pop’s first product lineup leans fruity, in a nod to Coke’s Simply juice brand. Flavors include pineapple mango, lime, strawberry, fruit punch and citrus punch.

“We went out and really listened to consumers. They love this space, they’re really looking for stuff that tastes good, and that’s something we know how to deliver on at Simply and at Coke,” said Becca Kerr, CEO of Coke’s North American nutrition unit, which includes its Simply and Fairlife brands.

Simply Pop drinks have no added sugar and contain 25% to 30% real fruit juice, the company said. They also contain vitamin C and zinc, which can boost the immune system.

They also have six grams of prebiotic fiber — triple Poppi’s fiber content but less than Olipop’s nine grams.

Prebiotics have taken off thanks to claims that they can boost “gut health” by helping beneficial bacteria grow in the gut. Their health benefits haven’t been conclusively proven.

“We do see that there tends to be an appetite for these type of products with younger consumers, like millennial and Gen Z,” Kerr said. “We see an interest in these types of products from multicultural consumers.”

But health claims can prompt pushback. Poppi is in settlement talks over a lawsuit filed in late May that challenges the company’s marketing, arguing that Poppi’s products are not as healthy for the gut as advertised.

Coke has had the prebiotic soda category on its radar for several years, according to Kerr. Olipop CEO and co-founder Ben Goodwin told CNBC in 2023 that both Coke and PepsiCo had already approached the company about a potential sale. Pepsi is reported to be planning its own prebiotic soda launch in 2025.

While it’s a newcomer to the segment, Coke has some obvious advantages: more than 100 years dominating the soda category, marketing and distribution muscle, and $47 billion in revenue in 2024 — compared with the more than $400 million in sales that Olipop netted in 2024.

Still, Coke has failed before when trying to chase a drink trend. It pulled its Coke Spiced flavor off the shelves in 2024 just months after declaring it a permanent addition. And in 2023, it slashed distribution of its Aha sparkling water brand after the product failed to take off with consumers.

A law firm that represents Tesla and Elon Musk has written proposed legislation that would alter Delaware corporate law, according to a person directly familiar with the drafting of the bill.

The proposed legislation, drafted by Richards, Layton & Finger, or RLF, would amend Delaware General Corporation Law, and if adopted, could pave the way for the reinstatement of Musk’s 2018 CEO pay package at Tesla, worth tens of billions of dollars in options.

RLF confirmed their involvement to CNBC.

“Statutory changes are necessary to restore the core principles that have been the hallmark of Delaware for over a century and ensure that Delaware remains the preeminent jurisdiction for incorporation,” Lisa Schmidt, president of RLF, said in a statement.

The bill was introduced in the Delaware General Assembly on Monday and would require approval by the state’s two chambers as well as Gov. Matt Meyer before it could become law.

The pay package Tesla granted to Musk in 2018 was the largest CEO compensation plan in public corporate history, but the Delaware Court of Chancery in early 2024 ordered it to be rescinded.

In her ruling, Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick wrote that the pay plan was inappropriately set by Tesla’s board, which was controlled by Musk, and that it was approved by shareholders who were misled by Tesla’s proxy materials before they were asked to vote on it.

Under the proposed legislation, Musk might no longer be considered a “controller” of Tesla, said Brian JM Quinn, a Boston College Law professor. Transactions that involve self-dealing with controllers or directors would be subject to less review than they are now, Quinn said. Those transactions range from going-private deals, to mergers and acquisitions, to board and executive compensation decisions.

“The real role of corporate law is to protect minority investors,” Quinn said. “With this bill, the legislature is saying, ‘Now, you know what? Protect them less.’”

The proposed legislation would also limit the kinds of documents that minority stakeholders are able to obtain through “books and records” inspection requests, Quinn said. Those stakeholders would be limited to formal items such as a certificate of incorporation or minutes of stockholder meetings but they’d lose access to informal communications such as emails or other messages between board members and executives, Quinn said. 

After the Court of Chancery’s ruling last year, Musk started a campaign to persuade companies not to incorporate in Delaware and moved the site of incorporation for his businesses out of the state. He has aimed his ire at McCormick with repeated and disparaging posts about her on X, his social network.

Other prominent executives, including Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and Bill Ackman of Pershing Square, have also criticized the Delaware judiciary. 

“Delaware has taken some heat for supposedly being too hard on controller transactions,” said Renee Zaytsev, partner at Boies Schiller and co-chair of the firm’s securities and shareholder dispute practice. 

“These amendments seem to be a course correction that would make it significantly easier for boards and controllers to avoid judicial scrutiny of their transactions,” she said.

Tesla and Musk did not respond to requests for comment.

During Mettler-Toledo’s earnings call earlier this month, executives found themselves fielding a barrage of questions about one key topic: tariffs.

The Ohio-based maker of industrial scales and laboratory equipment had already opened the call by breaking down the expected impact from President Donald Trump’s still-evolving trade policy. But when the event transitioned to the question-and-answer portion, the inquiries from analysts seeking further detail about potential tariffs were constant.

“Uncertainty remains across many of our core markets and the global economy,” Finance Chief Shawn Vadala said on the Feb. 7 call. “Geopolitical tensions remain elevated, and include the potential for new tariffs that we have not factored into our guidance.”

Mettler-Toledo’s experience wasn’t unique. America’s largest companies are getting inundated with queries about how or if Trump’s salvo of promises on issues ranging from international trade to immigration and diversity will alter businesses.

A CNBC analysis shows multiple core themes tied to Trump’s policies are popping up on the earnings calls of S&P 500-listed companies at an increasing clip. Take “tariff.” Just weeks into the new year, the frequency of the word and its variations on earnings calls hit its highest level since 2020 — the last full year of Trump’s first term.

On top of that, new acronyms and phrases, like the “Gulf of America” or “DOGE,” have found their way into these meetings as the business community assesses what Trump’s return to power means for them.

Curiously, Trump himself wasn’t racking up mentions on these calls. Many uses of the word “trump” in transcripts reviewed by CNBC referred to the verb, rather than the president.

Still, a review of call transcripts shows how key words tied to Trump’s policies have quickly become commonplace. With the first earnings season of 2025 more than 75% complete, the comments offer an early glimpse into how these companies view the new administration.

One of the most talked about policies has been Trump’s tariff plans. The president briefly implemented — and then postponed — 25% taxes on imports to the U.S. from Mexico and Canada. He also separately slapped China with a 10% levy and imposed aluminum and steel tariffs. Then, on Thursday, he discussed a plan to impose retaliatory tariffs on other trading partners on a country-by-country basis.

Given the uncertainty, it’s no surprise tariffs are a hot topic. The topic has come up on more than 190 calls held by S&P 500 companies in 2025, putting it on track to see the highest share in half of a decade.

The frequency picked up late last year as Trump’s return to the White House became clear. About half of calls in 2024 that mentioned forms of the word took place in the fourth quarter, according to a CNBC analysis of data from FactSet, a market research service.

“Studying tariffs has been at the top of the list of things that we’ve been doing,” said Marathon Petroleum CEO Maryann Mannen on the energy company’s Feb. 4 earnings call.

Several companies said they were not factoring potential impacts from these levies into their guidance, citing uncertainty about what orders will actually go into place. Others just aren’t sure: At Martin Marietta Materials, CFO James Nickolas said the supplier’s profits could either benefit or take a hit from tariffs depending on what form ultimately takes effect.

While Generac didn’t calculate how these import taxes could affect future performance, CEO Aaron Jagdfeld said the generator maker is ready to mitigate the financial hit by reducing costs elsewhere and raising its prices. Camden Property Trust CEO Richard Campo said a company analysis shows proposed tariffs would push up costs for materials from Canada and Mexico like lumber and electrical boxes. These comments offer support to the idea that Trump’s tariffs may drive up consumer prices and fan inflation.

Zebra Technologies CFO Nathan Winters said price increases could help mitigate profit pressure. Auto parts maker BorgWarner, meanwhile, anticipates another year of declining demand in certain markets, which CFO Craig Aaron attributed in part to potential headwinds from these levies.

Cisco’s R. Scott Herren agreed with other executives on the lack of clarity, describing the tariff situation as “dynamic” on the networking equipment maker’s earnings call last week. Still, the CFO said the company has planned for some variation of Trump’s tariff proposals to take effect and is expecting costs to increase as a result.

“We’ve game planned out several scenarios and steps we could take depending on what actually goes into effect,” he said.

The topic of immigration, meanwhile, has already come up on the highest share of calls since 2017.

Trump has promised mass deportations of undocumented immigrants during his second term in office. Cracking down on immigration has been a core component of Trump’s political messaging since he ran in part to “build the wall” between the U.S. and Mexico for his first term. Critics assert that his plans would shock the labor market and could result in higher inflation.

Immigration mentions tend to tick up during the first year of a new administration, CNBC data shows. But 2025 has surpassed the first years of Joe Biden’s presidency and Barack Obama’s second term, underscoring Trump’s role in elevating the issue within U.S. businesses.

Some companies grouped immigration with tariffs as drivers of broader unpredictability within the economy. Nicholas Pinchuk, CEO of toolmaker Snap-On, described anecdotes of strong demand for repair services from its clients, but said they were still stressed by red flags in the economic backdrop.

“It’s clear the techs are in a good position. But that doesn’t make them immune to the macro uncertainty around them: ongoing wars, immigration disputes, lingering inflation,” Pinchuk said. “Although the election is in the rear mirror and the new team may be more focused on business expansion, there’s a rapid fire of new initiatives. … It’s hard not to be uncertain about what’s up.”

Firms in a variety of sectors took questions about what changes in the composition of America’s population would mean. AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile all fielded questions about whether a slowdown in immigration would hurt demand for certain phone plans. Michael Manelis, operations chief at apartment manager Equity Residential, said in response to an immigration-related inquiry that it hasn’t seen any upticks in lease breaks from tenants being deported.

In the Southern California market, real estate developer Prologis CEO Hamid Moghadam said deportations can decrease the pool of workers and, in turn, drive up employment costs in the region. That can exacerbate pricing pressures already expected as the Los Angeles community rebuilds in the wake of last month’s wildfires.

Other businesses insisted deportations wouldn’t create labor shortages for their operations because all of their workers are legally authorized. One such company, chicken producer Tyson Foods, said it hasn’t had factories visited by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or seen any declines in worker attendance.

“We’re confident that we’ll be able to continue to successfully run our business,” CEO Donnie King said on Feb. 3.

Topics that gained newfound relevance with Trump’s return to office have also already started emerging.

DOGE — the acronym for the new Department of Government Efficiency led by Tesla CEO Elon Musk — has been mentioned on more than 15 calls, as of Friday morning. This department has put Wall Street on alert as investors wonder if contracts between public companies and federal agencies could be on the chopping block with Musk’s team slashing spending.

Iron Mountain’s mine that stores government retirement records was ripped as an example of inefficiency by Musk during a visit to the Oval Office. But surprisingly, CEO Bill Meaney said the push for streamlining can actually benefit other parts of its business.

“As the government continues to drive to be more efficient, we see this as a continued opportunity for the company,” he said last week.

Executives at Palantir, the defensive technology company that was a top performer within the S&P 500 last year, are similarly hopeful. Technology Chief Shyam Sankar described Palantir’s work with the government as “operational” and “valuable,” and is hopeful that DOGE engineers will be “able to see that for a change.”

“I think DOGE is going to bring meritocracy and transparency to government, and that’s exactly what our commercial business is,” Sankar said during the company’s Feb. 3 call. “The commercial market is meritocratic and transparent, and you see the results that we have in that sort of environment. And that’s the basis of our optimism around this.”

He noted some concerns among other government software providers, and called those agreements “sacred cows of the deep state” during the call.

Elsewhere, the so-called Gulf of America has been a point of divergence after Trump’s executive order renaming what has long been known as the Gulf of Mexico. Chevron used the moniker Gulf of America repeatedly in its earnings release and on its call with analysts late last month. But Exxon Mobil, which held its earnings call the same day, opted instead to refer to the body of water as the Gulf of Mexico.

Italo Medelius-Marsano was a law student at North Carolina Central University in 2022, when he took a job at an Amazon warehouse near the city of Raleigh to earn some extra cash.

The past month has been unlike any other during his three-year tenure at the company. Now, when he shows up for his shift at the shipping dock, Medelius-Marsano says he’s met with flyers and mounted TVs urging him to “vote no,” as well as QR codes on workstations that lead to an anti-union website. During meetings, managers discourage unionization.

The facility in the suburb of Garner, North Carolina, employs roughly 4,700 workers and is the site of Amazon’s latest labor showdown. Workers at the site are voting this week on whether to join Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity (CAUSE), a grassroots union made up of current and former employees.

CAUSE organizers started the group in 2022 in an effort to boost wages and improve working conditions. Voting at the site, known as RDU1, wraps up on Saturday.

Workers at RDU1 and other facilities told CNBC that Amazon is increasingly using digital tools to deter employees from unionizing. That includes messaging through the company’s app and workstation computers. There’s also automated software and handheld package scanners used to track employee performance inside the warehouse, so the company knows when staffers are working or doing something else.

“You cannot get away from the anti-union propaganda or being surveilled, because when you walk into work they have cameras all over the building,” said Medelius-Marsano, who is an organizer with CAUSE. “You can’t get into work without scanning a badge or logging into a machine. That’s how they track you.”

CAUSE representatives have also made their pitch to RDU1 employees. The union has set up a “CAUSE HQ” tent across the street from the warehouse and disbursed leaflets in the facility’s break room.

Amazon, the nation’s second-largest private employer, has long sought to keep unions out of its ranks. The strategy succeeded in the U.S. until 2022, when workers at a Staten Island warehouse voted to join the Amazon Labor Union. Last month, workers at a Whole Foods store in Philadelphia voted to join the United Food and Commercial Workers union.

In December, Amazon delivery and warehouse workers at nine facilities went on strike, organized by the Teamsters, during the height of the holiday shopping season to push the company to the bargaining table. The strike ended on Christmas Eve.

Union elections at other Amazon warehouses in New York have finished in defeat in recent years, while the results of a union drive at an Alabama facility are being contested. Organizers have pointed to Amazon’s near-constant monitoring of employees as both a catalyst and a deterrent of union campaigns.

The NLRB has 343 open or settled unfair labor practice charges filed with the agency against Amazon, its subsidiaries and contracted delivery companies in the U.S., a spokesperson said. 

Amazon has argued in legal filings that the NLRB, which issues complaints against companies or unions determined to have violated labor law, is unconstitutional. Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Starbucks and Trader Joe’s have also made similar claims that challenge the agency’s authority.

Amazon spokeswoman Eileen Hards said the company’s employees can choose whether or not to join a union.

“We believe that both decisions should be equally protected which is why we talk openly, candidly and respectfully about these topics, actively sharing facts with employees so they can use that information to make an informed decision,” Hards said in a statement.

Hards said the company doesn’t retaliate against employees for union activities, and called claims that its employee monitoring discourages them from unionizing “odd.”

“The site is operating, so employees are still expected to perform their usual work,” Hards said in a statement. “Further, the camera technology in our facilities isn’t to surveil employees — it’s to help guide the flow of goods through the facilities and ensure security and safety of both employees and inventory.”

Orin Starn, a CAUSE organizer who was fired by Amazon early last year for violating the company’s drug and alcohol policy, called Amazon’s employee tracking “algorithmic management of labor.” Starn is an anthropology professor at Duke University who began working undercover at RDU1 in 2023 to conduct research for a book on Amazon.

“Where 100 years ago in a factory you would’ve had a supervisor come around to tell you if you’re slacking off, now in a modern warehouse like Amazon, you’re tracked digitally through a scanner,” Starn said.

John Logan, a professor and director of labor and employment studies at San Francisco State University, told CNBC in an email that Amazon has “perfected the weaponization” of technology, workplace surveillance and algorithmic management during anti-union campaigns “more than any other company.”

While Amazon may be more sophisticated than others, “the use of data analytics is becoming far more common in anti-union campaigns across the country,” Logan said. He added that it’s ”extremely common” for companies to try to improve working conditions or sweeten employee perks during a union drive.

Other academics are paying equally close attention to the issue. In a research paper published last week, Northwestern University PhD candidate Teke Wiggin explored Amazon’s use of algorithms and digital devices at the company’s BHM1 warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama.

“The black box and lack of accountability that comes with algorithmic management makes it harder for a worker or activist to decide if they’re being retaliated against,” Wiggin said in an interview. “Maybe their schedule changes a little bit, work feels harder than it used to, the employer can say that has nothing to do with us, that’s just the algorithm. But we have no idea if the algorithm has changed.”

Some Amazon employees see the situation differently. Storm Smith works at RDU1 as a process assistant, which involves monitoring worker productivity and safety. Amazon referred Smith to CNBC in the course of reporting this story.

Amazon’s workplace controls, like rate and time off task, are “part of the job,” Smith said. Staffers are “always welcome” to ask her what their rate is, she added.

“For my people, if I see your rate is not where it’s supposed to be, I’ll come up to you and say, ’Hey, this is your rate, are you feeling alright? Is there anything I could get you to get your rate up? Like a snack, a drink, whatever,” Smith said.

Wiggin interviewed 42 BHM1 employees following the first election in 2021, and reviewed NLRB records of hearings. The facility employed more than 5,800 workers at the time of the union drive.

The NLRB last November ordered a third union vote to be held at BHM1 after finding Amazon improperly interfered in two previous elections. The company has denied wrongdoing.

Amazon staffers told Wiggin that during the union campaign, the company tweaked some performance expectations to “improve working conditions” and dissuade them from unionizing. One employee said these changes were partly why he voted against the union, according to the study.

Workers at an Amazon warehouse outside St. Louis, Missouri, filed an NLRB complaint in May. The employees accused Amazon of using “intrusive algorithms” that track when they’re working to discourage them from organizing, The Guardian reported. The employees withdrew their complaint on Tuesday.

Hards said Amazon doesn’t require employees to meet specific productivity speeds or targets.

Lawmakers zeroed in on how surveillance can impact organizing efforts in recent years. In 2022, the former NLRB general counsel issued a memo calling for the group to address corporate use of “omnipresent surveillance and other algorithmic-management tools” to disrupt organizing efforts. The following year, the Biden Administration put out a request for information on automated worker surveillance and management, noting that the systems can pose risks to employees, including “their rights to form or join a labor union.”

However, the Trump administration is attempting to purge the NLRB, with the president firing the chair of the organization on his first day in office last month. Trump has put Musk, a notorious opponent of unions, in charge of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, with the goal of cutting government costs and slashing regulations.

One of the most direct ways Amazon is able to disseminate anti-union messages is through the AtoZ app, which is an essential tool in their daily work.

The app is used by warehouse workers to access pay stubs and tax forms, request schedule changes or vacation time, post on the “Voice of the Associate” message board, and communicate with human resources.

Jennifer Bates, a prominent union organizer at BHM1, learned Amazon fired her through AtoZ in 2023. She was later reinstated by Amazon “after a full review of her case,” and provided backpay, Hards said.

The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which sought to represent BHM1 workers, has said the AtoZ app can access a user’s GPS, photos, camera, microphone and WiFi-connection information. The union also claims that “Amazon can sell the data collected to any third party companies and that data cannot be deleted.” The technology raises several concerns, including that it may suppress “the right to organize,” RWDSU said.

Hards said the RWDSU’s claims are inaccurate and denied that the company sells any data affiliated with AtoZ use. She said AtoZ users must give the app permission to access things like their GPS location.

At the Garner facility, the AtoZ app has been plastered with “anti-union propaganda” since the RDU1 election was announced last month, Medelius-Marsano said.

One AtoZ message suggested employees’ benefits could be at risk if they voted in a union, while another described CAUSE as an “outside party” that’s “claiming to be a union.”

RDU1 site leader Kristen Tettemer said in another message that a group like CAUSE “can get in the way of how we work together,” and that “once in, a union is very difficult to remove.” Smith said Amazon’s response to the union drive has been centered around “putting out the facts and telling you to do your research.”

Medelius-Marsano said it all amounts to an environment of intimidation.

“There’s no doubt about it,” Medelius-Marsano said. “If we lose, fear is going to be the reason.”

The new year for brick-and-mortar retailers is picking up right where 2024 left off, as a slew of stalwart brands are set to shutter dozens of store locations amid shifting consumer patterns.

The latest crop of closures are being led by fabrics and crafts retailer Joann, which said this week it was shuttering 500 locations in 49 states as part of a second go-around in Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.

“This was a very difficult decision to make, given the major impact we know it will have on our team members, our customers and all of the communities we serve,’ the company said in a statement. ‘A careful analysis of store performance and future strategic fit for the company determined which stores should remain operating as usual at this time. Right-sizing our store footprint is a critical part of our efforts to ensure the best path forward for Joann.”

Joann first filed for bankruptcy protection last March to address a heavy debt load, shrinking revenues and what it described as an “uncertain consumer environment.” It announced another Chapter 11 filing last month, this time with the goal of finding an entity to acquire all of its assets.

‘The last several years have presented significant and lasting challenges in the retail environment, which, coupled with our current financial position and constrained inventory levels, forced us to take this step,’ it said in a release accompanying its latest filing.

Meanwhile, JCPenney separately said this week it was closing a handful of stores, with an initial batch of eight to go under depending on “expiring lease agreements” and “market changes.” 

“While we do not have plans to significantly reduce our store count, we expect a handful of JCPenney stores to close by mid-year,” the company said in a statement.

JCPenney emerged from bankruptcy in 2020; last month, it announced it was merging with the group that operates other retail brands, including Aéropostale and Brooks Brothers.

In the first nine months of its current fiscal year, JCPenney’s adjusted earnings tumbled nearly 64% to $66 million.

Those results reflect an overall physical retail environment that continues to deteriorate. According to Coresight Research, as many as 15,000 retail locations could close this year, nearly doubling the count for 2024, which were already the most since 2020, the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Inflation and a growing preference among consumers to shop online to find the cheapest deals took a toll on brick-and-mortar retailers in 2024,” Coresight Research CEO Deborah Weinswig said in a release last month. “Last year we saw the highest number of closures since the pandemic. Retailers that were unable to adapt supply chains and implement technology to cut costs were significantly impacted, and we continue to see a trend of consumers opting for the path of least resistance.’

She said customers are running out of patience for stores that are ‘constantly disorganized, out of stock, and that deliver poor customer service.’

‘We have seen Shein and Temu capture market share as consumers choose to shop online to save time, money, and avoid frustration,’ she said.

In the first weeks of 2025, Coresight was already tracking about 30% fewer openings and more than triple the number of closures compared with the same period last year.

Other closures announced late last year or planned for 2025 include Party City, Big Lots, Kohl’s and Macy’s.

Breakfast specialists Denny’s will accelerate planned store closures in 2025 amid continued consumer shifts toward preferences for fast-food and take-out options.

On an earnings call Wednesday, CFO Robert Verostek said the closures would incorporate a mix of poorly performing restaurants and ones with expiring leases.

According to industry publication Restaurant Dive, the new closures represent about 30 more from a previously planned shuttering of 150 locations.

Denny’s remains publicly traded; today, its shares are worth less than $5, compared to the most recent high of about $24 seen in 2019.

The brand ended last year with 1,334 U.S. stores, with most located in Arizona, California, Florida and Texas.

An investor presentation by Denny’s in October showed ‘family dining’ options like Denny’s were losing more foot traffic than any other dining-out category.

Other brand-names in the family-dining group seeing declining fortunes include Applebee’s, Hooter’s, Outback Steakhouse and TGI Friday’s. Some notable exceptions include Chili’s and Texas Roadhouse, which analysts say have benefited from improved value perception and investments in customer service.

And even as it accelerates closures, Denny’s is still planning openings, with at least 14 slated for this year; as well as some location refurbishments.

Consumers sharply curtailed their spending in January, indicating a potential weakening in economic growth ahead, according to a Commerce Department report Friday.

Retail sales slipped 0.9% for the month from an upwardly revised 0.7% gain in December, even worse than the Dow Jones estimate for a 0.2% decline. The sales totals are adjusted for seasonality but not inflation for a month, in which prices rose 0.5%.

Excluding autos, prices fell 0.4%, also well off the consensus forecast for a 0.3% increase. A “control” measure that strips out several nonessential categories and figures directly into calculations for gross domestic product fell 0.8% after an upwardly revised increase of 0.8%.

With consumer spending making up about two-thirds of all economic activity in the U.S., the sales numbers indicate a potential weakening in growth for the first quarter.

Receipts at sporting goods, music and book stores tumbled 4.6% on the month, while online outlets reported a 1.9% decline and motor vehicles and parts spending dropped 2.8%. Gas stations along with food and drinking establishments both reported 0.9% increases.

Stock market futures held in slightly negative territory following the release, while Treasury yields lost ground. Traders raised bets that the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates again as soon as June.

“The drop was dramatic, but several mitigating factors show there’s no cause for alarm. Some of it can be chalked up to bad weather, and some to auto sales tanking in January after an unusual surge in December due to fat dealer incentives,” said Robert Frick, corporate economist with Navy Federal Credit Union. “Especially considering December was revised up strongly, the rolling average of consumer spending remains solid,” Frick added.

Inflation remains ahead of the Fed’s 2% goal. The consumer price index posted a 0.5% gain in January and showed a 3% annual inflation rate. However, the producer price index, a proxy for wholesale prices, showed some softening in key pipeline inputs.

In other economic news Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that import prices accelerated 0.3% in January, in line with expectations for the largest one-month move since April 2024. On a year-over-year basis, import prices increased 1.9%.

Fuel prices increased 3.2% on the month, also the biggest gain since April 2024. Food, feeds and beverage costs rose 0.2% following a 3% surge in December.

Export prices also increased, rising 1.3%.