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Creditor of EVA Automation Files Court Action to Force Them Into Bankruptcy

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Says EVA Automation Owes Them $30 Million

Last week, several sharp-eyed Strata-gee readers forwarded the news that was initially erroneously reported that EVA Automation had filed for bankruptcy in Northern California. Actually, a search of court records revealed that a creditor of EVA Automation – Top Victory Investments Limited – has filed an action with the United States Bankruptcy Court in Northern California seeking to force EVA Automation into bankruptcy. EVA Automation, as most Strata-gee readers well know, is a former majority owner of Bowers & Wilkins (B&W).

See more on the action against EVA Automation…

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Best Buy Blows Away Fiscal 2nd Quarter Estimates – Yet Its Stock Drops; Why?

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Best Buy store

Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) had what appeared to be a big win this week, generating financial results that handily beat its fiscal second quarter estimates, driven largely by a huge 242.2% increase in ecommerce sales. Their fiscal second quarter, the 13-week period that ended August 1, 2020 was big, coming in at $9.910 billion – even in a COVID-19 ravaged quarter – fully 4% higher than the $9.536 billion in the same quarter in 2019.

And yet, the company’s stock value DROPPED on the announcement of their quarterly results. And in after-hours trading, Best Buy stock lost as much as 5% of its value. Why did that happen?

See why Best Buy stock got hit, on good news…

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Sonos Adds Top Microsoft Executive to Its Board of Directors

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Photo of Sonos One

Sonos, Inc. (NASDAQ: SONO) announced this week that they are adding a new member to their Board of Directors. In fact, they even increased the size of the Board to make room for this new addition. The news surprised – and impressed – many market observers, as the person they are adding is Panos Panay, a top Microsoft Corp. executive. You see, if you are not familiar with Panay, there is something special about his background that makes him an intriguing addition to the Sonos Board.

Learn more about this Sonos recruitment…

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Onkyo Closes US Subsidiary, Terminates Dealers, and Outsources Distribution to Klipsch

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Image from Onkyo Website

A Strangely Retroactive Notification

Last week, a letter was sent to all Onkyo dealers in the United States notifying them that their dealer agreements were being terminated. The reason for this termination? Onkyo USA Corporation no longer exists and therefore can no longer serve them. Don’t miss the significance of this historic moment – for the first time in 45-years there is no Onkyo subsidiary in the U.S., once the largest market for parent Onkyo Pioneer Corporation (OPC) of Osaka, Japan.

See more about this turn of events at Onkyo…

[Read more…] about Onkyo Closes US Subsidiary, Terminates Dealers, and Outsources Distribution to Klipsch

Sonos Fiscal Q3 Result Shocks Wall Street; Stock Value Skids 18%

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Sonos Move by the pool

Many Thought the Pandemic was Sonos’ Moment to Shine…Apparently Not to Be

Although Sonos CEO Patrick Spence and CFO Brittany Bagley both proclaimed that the Sonos fiscal Q3 results were “better than expected,” the fact that they reported that revenues had declined and the company booked a much larger net loss seems to be rubbing investors the wrong way. As of this writing on August 6th, the value of Sonos shares have declined more than 18% in afternoon trading.

See more on the Sonos fiscal Q3 results…

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A COVID Catastrophe – Emerald Reports 93% Drop in Q2 Revenues; Confirms Insurance Payments

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Emerald owns CEDIA expo

Owner of CEDIA Expo & CEPro Looks to Turn the Corner from COVID…Some Day

Emerald Holding Inc. (NYSE:EEX) – formerly Emerald Expositions Events, Inc. – released their fiscal 2020 second quarter results this week and it’s no surprise that they were brutal, as the company continues to find itself caught in a COVID catastrophe that is killing in-person events, like the very expositions they produce. With the second quarter covering the period of April – June, the previous peak of the pandemic’s infections and deaths (since exceeded), the company performance – as expected – was really challenged, with the bulk of their various trade shows and in-person events cancelled or postponed.

But the company did have one piece of good news…the insurance companies providing event cancellation insurance to the company have begun paying against their claims.

See an analysis of Q2 results for Emerald…

[Read more…] about A COVID Catastrophe – Emerald Reports 93% Drop in Q2 Revenues; Confirms Insurance Payments

Major Credit Agencies Downgrade Outlook for GKN – Biggest Melrose Company

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GKN Automotive division graphic

Future of Nortek a Question

Melrose plc, parent company to Nortek, Inc., has taken some serious incoming hits this month – hits from both major credit rating agencies Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service. And these hits hurt. Fitch was first when they announced a couple of weeks ago that in a review of GKN Holdings Limited – Melrose’s largest holding by far – it was maintaining its credit rating at current levels, but it was changing its future “Outlook” to “Negative.” Today, Moody’s announced they too were changing their outlook on GKN from “Ratings Under Review” to “Negative.”

See why credit pros are downgrading the mighty Melrose bet on GKN…

[Read more…] about Major Credit Agencies Downgrade Outlook for GKN – Biggest Melrose Company

Sonos Slashes Headcount by 12%, Closes NY Store, and Cuts CEO Spence’s Pay 20%

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Blow-up photo of Sonos One

In a new filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Sonos, Inc. [SONO:NASDAQ] announced a series of measures to try and get company costs under control in the wake of the COVID-19 impacted economy. More drastic than previous announcements, Sonos said it will cut its global headcount, close its New York retail store, close six satellite offices, cut the CEO pay, and further cut the executive team’s pay.

See more on these serious Sonos cutbacks…

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KKR Exits Sonos Investment, Divests Its Last 14M Shares for $180M

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Sonos soundbar and subwoofer

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday, KKR Stream Holdings LLC reported that it sold nearly 14 million shares of Sonos, Inc. stock (SONO:NASDAQ). The sale took place on Wednesday (June 17, 2020) and, according to their disclosure filed with the SEC, this sale takes them completely out of Sonos ownership, with zero shares remaining in its portfolio.

Learn more about KKR selling their Sonos stock…

[Read more…] about KKR Exits Sonos Investment, Divests Its Last 14M Shares for $180M

B&W Exec James Krakowski Tells Strata-gee, Ignore the ‘Noise,’ It’s All Good

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B&W Executive VP James Krakowski

Just last Friday, the big news hit that Sound United had signed a letter of intent (LoI) to acquire respected audio specialty brand Bowers & Wilkins. Strata-gee was one of the first to break the news and from the moment I hit “publish,” Strata-gee web traffic stats made it clear that you all viewed this as big news as well.

That first announcement came from the Sound United camp – and it was pretty terse. As luck would have it, for the last couple of weeks before that news hit, I had already been pursuing an interview with James Krakowski, Bowers & Wilkins’ Executive Vice President, Americas, to follow up on a previous story. Although we had been struggling to find a time to connect, when this news hit, he graciously agreed to make himself immediately available for an interview.

Learn more about what’s going on with B&W now…

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