The daily business briefing: February 10, 2023

1. Russia follows through on threat to cut oil output

Russia said Thursday it would cut oil production by 500,000 barrels a day next month, a reduction equal to about 5 percent of its January output. The move comes after months of threats by the Kremlin to reduce oil output in retaliation for Western price caps and other sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine. The cuts threaten to renew disruption of the oil market and drive prices higher. Crude prices surged after the announcement. International benchmark Brent crude was up as much as 2 percent early Friday in London, after falling by 9 percent since mid-January. Moscow's reduction comes after OPEC+, the group of oil exporters led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, decided to reduce supply by two million barrels a day in late 2022.

Bloomberg

2. Credit Suisse reports biggest loss since 2008 financial crisis

Credit Suisse on Thursday reported that it lost nearly $8 billion last year, its largest loss since the 2008 financial crisis. The Swiss bank also warned that it would see another "substantial" loss in 2023. The company in October said it was embarking on a push to shrink its operations, focusing on managing wealthy clients' accounts and "abandoning a decades-long effort to compete with Wall Street giants in deal-making and trading," The New York Times reported. Credit Suisse's net revenue fell 34 percent last year, and customers in the division it's focusing on withdrew $120 billion in assets in the fourth quarter. "The question is whether the restructuring is fast enough," JPMorgan Chase analyst Kian Abouhossein wrote in a note to investors.

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The New York Times

3. Lyft issues disappointing guidance, shares plummet

Lyft shares plunged more than 30 percent in after-hours trading on Thursday after the ride-hailing company reported an unexpected loss in the fourth quarter of 2022, and issued a weak guidance for the first quarter of 2023. Lyft reported an adjusted loss of 74 cents per share. Analysts had expected a profit, according to FactSet. The company said first quarter revenue would likely be around $975 million, below Wall Street's expectations of $1.09 billion. Lyft also reported 20.4 million riders in the fourth quarter, the most in nearly three years of disruption by the pandemic, and more than analysts had expected. "Ride-share is back," Lyft co-founder and President John Zimmer told The Wall Street Journal in an interview.

The Wall Street Journal

4. Stock futures fall as Wall Street sentiment 'sours'

U.S. stock futures fell early Friday after several disappointing corporate earnings reports. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were down 0.4 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively, at 6:30 a.m. ET. Nasdaq futures were down 1.2 percent. The three major U.S. indexes fell on Thursday, and are on track to close the week with losses. The Dow and the S&P 500 dropped 0.7 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 1.0 percent. Sebastian Mackay, a multiasset fund manager at Invesco, said in The Wall Street Journal that "sentiment has soured a bit" since last week's blockbuster jobs report, which dampened hope that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates later this year.

CNBC The Wall Street Journal

5. Activist investor ends proxy fight after Disney announces job cuts

Activist investor Nelson Peltz said Thursday he was dropping his proxy fight with Disney, ending his push for a seat on the board after the entertainment giant announced it was cutting 7,000 jobs as part of a cost-reduction and restructuring plan. "Now Disney plans to do everything we wanted them to do," Peltz told CNBC's Squawk on the Street. Peltz said he wished Disney management "the very best" and would be "watching" and "rooting." Trian Partners, an investment firm led by Peltz, said in a statement: "This is a win for all shareholders." Trian purchased about $1 billion in Disney shares at roughly $90 a share as part of its push for changes, and the stock traded around $110 on Thursday.

CNBC The New York Times