Appliance maker SharkNinja is building a tool to allow its finance team to monitor profitability in real time, potentially shaving weeks off the cumbersome process of building a forecast.
The tool is one of several big bets that SharkNinja is making on AI. For the company's finance function, building a monthly forecast can take as long as several weeks, according to Chief Financial Officer Adam Quigley. The work involves gathering sales data, determining the profit margin, working through expenses and determining what happened during the month. "By the end of it, you're reacting to a P&L that got inputs three weeks ago," Quigley told me in a recent interview.
With faster access to profitability metrics, the company can make quicker decisions in areas such as where to invest, Quigley said. "We want the insights sooner so that we can do something about it," he said.
SharkNinja ran its real-time monitor alongside its July forecast for North America to prove its capabilities. The company expects to begin using the tool during the fourth quarter. "And then 2027 will be a whole new way of working," Quigley said.
Quigley said he views AI as a "capacity multiplier," allowing companies to accomplish more, rather than as a technology designed to cut costs. SharkNinja earlier this month raised its full-year guidance after second-quarter sales rose on strong demand across its products, which include blenders, vacuums and air fryers.
The Day Ahead
📆 Earnings
Home Depot
Klarna
Toll Brothers
📈 Economic Indicators
The Census Bureau reports new residential construction data for July.
The National Association of Realtors releases its Pending Home Sales Index for July.
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What Else Matters to CFOs
L3Harris Technologies, the company that overhauled a Qatari plane now used as Air Force One, has replaced Christopher Kubasik as chairman and chief executive after an investigation determined he violated the defense contractor's code of conduct.
Kubasik's alleged conduct didn't involve and has no impact on the Melbourne, Fla., company's financial reporting, controls, customer relationships or operational performance, L3Harris said Monday. The company didn't give details on when it received a report of the potential violation.
Why Do Boards Keep Giving Misbehaving CEOs Second Chances?
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The Web of Hidden Deals That Snared the Dodgers Owner in a Federal Probe
Costco Sells Vacations, Gas and, Soon, Medicare Plans
Investment Firm General Atlantic Is Eyeing an IPO Again
U.S. Home-Builder Sentiment Still Muted by Affordability Concerns
The Big Number
The percentage growth in S&P 500 companies' quarterly revenues compared with a year earlier, the fastest pace in five years, according to Goldman Sachs.
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CFO Moves
Centene, a St. Louis-based managed-care company, named Chris Neczypor as CFO, effective Jan. 1. Neczypor was previously finance chief at Lincoln National for about three years before stepping down last week. He succeeds Drew Asher, who is retiring.
-Colin Kellaher contributed to today's Ledger.
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