Mastercard: U.S. Holiday Sales Grew 8.5 percent

According to Mastercard SpendingPulse, holiday retail sales, excluding automotive, increased 8.5 percent year-over-year this holiday season, running from November 1 through December 24. Notably, online sales grew 11.0 percent compared to the same period last year, its preliminary insights show.

Li & Fung Sells Logistics Arm To Maersk For $3.6 Billion

Li & Fung Limited entered into a transaction for shipping giant Maersk to acquire its logistics business, LF Logistics Holdings Limited (LF Logistics) and its various entities, valuing the business at $3.6 billion on an enterprise value basis.

Gaia Acquires Yoga International

Gaia, Inc., the subscription video-streaming service, has acquired Yoga International, a digital yoga service. The acquisition adds 4,000 hours of yoga content to Gaia’s library.

U.S. Golf Rounds Slide In November

According to Golf Datatech, U.S. rounds of golf were down 17.6 percent in November 2021 against November 2020, but still up 5.6 percent in the first 11 months of the year.

Inside The Call: North America And Digital Power Nike To Q2 Beat

Nike Inc.’s fiscal second-quarter earnings and sales topped Wall Street’s expectations as strong momentum in North America helped offset a steep decline in China. The sportswear giant maintained its guidance for the full year. Major themes on Nike’s analyst call included continued hyper-growth in digital, the Nike One Place reset accelerating Nike’s direct growth, healthy full-price sales, and ongoing, but not-worsening, supply chain disruption.

Brixton Appoints New CFO

Brixton announced that Rick Robertson, the former chief financial officer of Municipal Co, Inc., will join Brixton as its new chief financial officer beginning January 3.

Port Of Los Angeles Headed To Record Cargo Year

The Port of Los Angeles is on track to break a new record for cargo throughput in 2021, processing more volume than any port in the Western Hemisphere. With two weeks left in the year, the Port said it anticipates its final volume will be approximately 10.7 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs), about 13 percent more than its previous record set in 2018.

Nike’s Q2 Exceeds Wall Street Targets

Nike Inc. reported earnings for the second quarter ended November 30 rose 7 percent and easily topped Wall Street’s consensus target. Sales inched up one percent, led by Nike Brand Digital growth of 11 percent, while gross margins improved 280 basis points.