Have you spent most of the year working from home? A tax break might be coming your way
If you were sent away from the office back in March to work from home, it’s likely you’ll qualify for a new tax deduction. According to new rules from the Canadian Revenue Agency, those who worked from home more than 50 per cent of the time over a period of at least four consecutive weeks as a result of the pandemic will be eligible for a deduction. Those who qualify will be able to claim $2 for each day they worked from home during that period, up to a maximum of $400. Read more
The CRA has come up with a new way for Canadians to claim a tax deduction for working from home. (Submitted by Sandy Mangat)
You won’t need a receipt to benefit from this class-action lawsuit
If you bought any PC versions of Microsoft software between 1998 and 2010, you might be eligible for compensation. And depending on the size of your claim, you won’t even need a receipt. The lawsuit alleged that Microsoft and Microsoft Canada were involved in a conspiracy to illegally increase prices for the company’s products. Microsoft agreed to a settlement — capped at $517 million — but denies any wrongdoing and has not admitted liability. Read more
One of the largest class-action settlements in Canada could be worth money in your pocket. 2:21
These nursing homes have the highest COVID-19 death rates in Ontario
Not all for-profit long-term care homes in Ontario are equal when it comes to COVID-19, according to a new Marketplace investigation and data analysis. The analysis found that both Southbridge and Rykka homes had higher death rates than other for-profit homes in the province. Read more
Protesters gather outside Hawthorne Place Care Centre in Toronto on May 31, 2020. The home is owned by Rykka Care Centres, a nursing home chain with one of the highest COVID-19 death rates in Ontario. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press)
Amazon opens pickup depot in Iqaluit, promising dramatically faster shipping
The new partnership with Canadian North will cut delivery times for Amazon Prime members from two to three weeks, down to three to five days. Many Iqaluit shoppers have come to rely on the company, which offers items like non-perishable food, toothpaste, tampons and deodorant at significantly lower prices than local brick-and-mortar stores, with prices driven up by shipping costs, staff wages and power bills. But as Iqaluit Coun. Kyle Sheppard acknowledged, those who lack a credit card, bank account, or the spare money for a Prime membership still won’t be able to benefit from the deal. Read more
Hidden cameras and secret GPS trackers reveal that some products sent back to Amazon Canada are being liquidated by the truckload and even destroyed or sent to the landfill. 11:27
We’ll be back in the new year with new stories and new investigations.
Happy holidays!
-The Marketplace Team
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Netflix (NFLX) stock slid as much as 9.6% Friday after the company gave a second quarter revenue forecast that missed estimates and announced it would stop reporting quarterly subscriber metrics closely watched by Wall Street.
On Thursday, Netflix guided to second quarter revenue of $9.49 billion, a miss compared to consensus estimates of $9.51 billion.
The company said it will stop reporting quarterly membership numbers starting next year, along with average revenue per member, or ARM.
“As we’ve evolved our pricing and plans from a single to multiple tiers with different price points depending on the country, each incremental paid membership has a very different business impact,” the company said.
Netflix reported first quarter earnings that beat across the board on Thursday, with another 9 million-plus subscribers added in the quarter.
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Subscriber additions of 9.3 million beat expectations of 4.8 million and followed the 13 million net additions the streamer added in the fourth quarter. The company added 1.7 million paying users in Q1 2023.
Revenue beat Bloomberg consensus estimates of $9.27 billion to hit $9.37 billion in the quarter, an increase of 14.8% compared to the same period last year as the streamer leaned on revenue initiatives like its crackdown on password-sharing and ad-supported tier, in addition to the recent price hikes on certain subscription plans.
Netflix’s stock has been on a tear in recent months, with shares currently trading near the high end of its 52-week range. Wall Street analysts had warned that high expectations heading into the print could serve as an inherent risk to the stock price.
Earnings per share (EPS) beat estimates in the quarter, with the company reporting EPS of $5.28, well above consensus expectations of $4.52 and nearly double the $2.88 EPS figure it reported in the year-ago period. Netflix guided to second quarter EPS of $4.68, ahead of consensus calls for $4.54.
Profitability metrics also came in strong, with operating margins sitting at 28.1% for the first quarter compared to 21% in the same period last year.
The company previously guided to full-year 2024 operating margins of 24% after the metric grew to 21% from 18% in 2023. Netflix expects margins to tick down slightly in Q2 to 26.6%.
Free cash flow came in at $2.14 billion in the quarter, above consensus calls of $1.9 billion.
Meanwhile, ARM ticked up 1% year over year — matching the fourth quarter results. Wall Street analysts expect ARM to pick up later this year as both the ad-tier impact and price hike effects take hold.
On the ads front, ad-tier memberships increased 65% quarter over quarter after rising nearly 70% sequentially in Q3 2023 and Q4 2023. The ads plan now accounts for over 40% of all Netflix sign-ups in the markets it’s offered in.
Netflix reported first quarter earnings after the bell on Thursday. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/File Photo (REUTERS / Reuters)
Alexandra Canal is a Senior Reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X @allie_canal, LinkedIn, and email her at alexandra.canal@yahoofinance.com.
Oil prices initially spiked on Friday due to unconfirmed reports of an Israeli missile strike on Iran.
Prices briefly reached above $90 per barrel before falling back as Iran denied the attack.
Iranian media reported activating their air defense systems, not an Israeli strike.
Oil prices gave up nearly all of early Friday’s gains after an Iranian official told Reuters that there hadn’t been a missile attack against Iran.
Oil surged by as much as $3 per barrel in Asian trade early on Friday after a U.S. official told ABC News today that Israel launched missile strikes against Iran in the early morning hours today. After briefly spiking to above $90 per barrel early on Friday in Asian trade, Brent fell back to $87.10 per barrel in the morning in Europe.
The news was later confirmed by Iranian media, which said the country’s air defense system took down three drones over the city of Isfahan, according to Al Jazeera. Flights to three cities including Tehran and Isfahan were suspended, Iranian media also reported.
Israel’s retaliation for Iran’s missile strikes last week was seen by most as a guarantee of escalation of the Middle East conflict since Iran had warned Tel Aviv that if it retaliates, so will Tehran in its turn and that retaliation would be on a greater scale than the missile strikes from last week. These developments were naturally seen as strongly bullish for oil prices.
However, hours after unconfirmed reports of an Israeli attack first emerged, Reuters quoted an Iranian official as saying that there was no missile strike carried out against Iran. The explosions that were heard in the large Iranian city of Isfahan were the result of the activation of the air defense systems of Iran, the official told Reuters.
Overall, Iran appears to downplay the event, with most official comments and news reports not mentioning Israel, Reuters notes.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that “there is no damage to Iran’s nuclear sites,” confirming Iranian reports on the matter.
The Isfahan province is home to Iran’s nuclear site for uranium enrichment.
“Brent briefly soared back above $90 before reversing lower after Iranian media downplayed a retaliatory strike by Israel,” Saxo Bank said in a Friday note.
The $5 a barrel trading range in oil prices over the past week has been driven by traders attempting to “quantify the level of risk premium needed to reflect heightened tensions but with no impact on supply,” the bank said, adding “Expect prices to bid ahead of the weekend.”
At the time of writing Brent was trading at $87.34 and WTI at $83.14.
