The Fortune 500 comes out just once a year, but the companies on it make headlines every day. Here then are today’s highlights of news and happenings coming from the biggest names in business.
By Shelley DuBois, reporter
BREAKING UP IS FOR THE BEST for ITT Corp, which announced plans to split into three spin-off businesses. The company controlled three main channels: insurance, automotive and defense manufacturing and a hotel and casino business. That got unwieldy, according to shareholders, who pressured the split into three parts. ITT is following a general trend of companies forming spin-offs to focus their businesses, streamlining operations in the wake of the recession. [Wall Street Journal]
WILL JPMORGAN REGAIN ITS HOT STOCK STATUS? Despite gaining market share since the financial crisis, JPMorgan’s stock is still trading lower than some of its competitors–that’s despite being one of the companies to get the most help from the government bailout. While JPMorgan’s stock could improve soon because of JPMorgan’s (JPM) strong balance sheet and its intent to pay out a bigger dividend, the bank’s history of foreclosure problems could still come back to haunt it for some time. [Fortune]
THE TABLET THREAT is a reality for the PC market, which did not grow as fast as predictions, due to high tablet sales in the fourth quarter of 2010. Of the 17 million tablets shipped over the course of last year, the majority of them were Apple’s (APPL) iPad. Analysts predict tablet sales will increase 2011, further slowing PC market growth. [Financial Times]
GET OFF MY CLOUD Chip company Intel (INTC) wants to lead other tech companies in embracing cloud-based software and services on any device. To do that, its offering a step-by-step plan for companies who want to move operations currently locked to hardware into the internet. Intel’s qualified to lead the paradigm switch–after all, the company was integral in fueling the spread of wireless broadband seven years ago. The catch: heavyweights Amazon (AMZN), Google (GOOG) and Salesforce.com (CRM) have no desire to follow Intel’s lead. They’ve already got their own clouds, thank you. [Fortune]
FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE Boeing just received orders from House and Senate armed services committees to cease and desist development on its futuristic battlefield communication system. Tests completed by the Pentagon on Boeing’s (BA) system, called the Network Integration Kit, concluded that sound quality was poor, and the whole system was vulnerable to cyber attacks. [Bloomberg Businessweek]
BEST BUY BUYS BACK old electronics. The company introduced a new policy so that when consumers purchase new Best Buy products, they can opt to sell them back to the company after two years for 50% of the original cost. Then Best Buy (BBY) will refurbish, recycle or resell the gear, keeping it out of landfills. [Fast Company]