The Morning Ledger

Good morning. Americans are continuing to spend, despite anxiety over the economy, making companies question their expectations of consumer spending habits during slower economic growth.

Shoppers are stretched, but discretionary spending isn’t abating as quickly as some finance chiefs and economists expected—a phenomenon economists and finance chiefs have coined “revenge” and even “doom” spending. And it has CFOs across industries—from travel to clothing, restaurants and consumer packaged goods—working to figure out what the impact is on balance sheets.

Americans—for now—remain resilient and are holding on to some nice-to-have experiences and habits, and are willing to even spend on small and large extravagances, even while grocery prices soar, pandemic-era savings dwindle and credit is more expensive.

📆 Earnings

• Carnival
• Cintas
• Jefferies Financial Group
• Paychex

United Parcel Service plans to devote a larger chunk of its revenue to capital spending through 2026 as margin pressures from the costs of its labor contract begin to subside, CFO Brian Newman said.

The delivery giant expects capital spending between 2024 and 2026 to comprise about 5.5% of total revenue, up from 4.9% the prior comparable period. Last summer, UPS and union leaders agreed to a new five-year pact, the costs of which were particularly substantial in the first year. The company is continuing to cut costs and boost efficiencies, for example, by shedding 12,000 jobs and expanding use of radio-frequency identification technology, Newman said.

“The certainty of the labor contract will enable us to manage cost effectively, allow us to invest in the business and will continue to be disciplined on revenue, which will expand margin and drive cash,” he said.

—Mark Maurer

Federal probes, sloppy factories, angry airlines, tense union negotiations and supply-chain snarls. Boeing’s crisis won’t end when David Calhoun exits as chief executive.

The next leader of the American manufacturing icon will have to address some of the same issues that Calhoun, a longtime Boeing director, was brought on to clean up four years ago when the board he led ousted his predecessor.

MannKind, the Danbury, Conn.-based biopharma company, appointed Christopher Prentiss as chief financial officer, effective April 22, after Steven Binder announced that he planned to retire. Since September 2022, Prentiss was CFO of clinical-stage biotechnology company ADARx Pharmaceuticals. Between April 2015 and November 2021, he held a series of finance positions including CFO at Adamas Pharmaceuticals. Binder will remain at MannKind through the end of the year as executive vice president of special projects.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals, the Cranbury, N.J.-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, shuffled its executive team and hired a finance chief as it transforms its business model toward a commercial-stage gene therapy company. The company named Aaron Ondrey as CFO and Kinnari Patel as president, head of research of development and chief operating officer. Ondrey most recently served as CFO of Mirati Therapeutics through the launch of Krazati and the company’s acquisition by Bristol Myers Squibb in January.

—Emon Reiser and Sabela Ojea contributed to this newsletter.

The Wall Street Journal’s CFO Journal offers corporate leaders and professionals CFO analysis, advice and commentary to make informed decisions. We cover topics including corporate tax accounting, regulation, capital markets, management and strategy.

Follow us on X @WSJCFO. The WSJ CFO Journal team comprises reporters Kristin Broughton, Mark Maurer and Jennifer Williams, and Bureau Chief Walden Siew.

You can reach us by replying to any newsletter, or email Walden at walden.siew@wsj.com.