Microsoft is adding a feature to its Slack rival, the Teams corporate chat program, that lets store workers push a button to turn their mobile phones into walkie-talkies for in-store communications. In a speech on Jan. 12 at a retail industry event, Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella plans to discuss how Ikea shifted more than 70,000 workers to Teams, using the service for meetings and chat. The home furnishing giant’s largest store, in Stockholm, also started using a scheduling feature to manage the shifts of 150 restaurant staffers.

Ikea is also working with Microsoft to determine if Teams can play a role in its “store of the future” concepts. The Swedish company may put video screens in stores that use Teams to connect customers with kitchen design advisers, said Kenneth Lindegaard, an Ikea vice president. The company plans to have the rest of its 165,000-person workforce on Office 365 cloud software and Teams by the end of spring, although Ikea still has some smaller groups using Slack and Google’s G Suite, he said. Ikea also uses Microsoft’s Azure and Google Cloud, he said.

The retail industry has been one of Microsoft’s most successful as the software maker tries to gain ground in cloud computing against market leader Amazon Web Services and lure more customers to its internet-based Office products. Some retailers are loath to work with e-commerce rival Amazon. Nadella and Google Cloud chief Thomas Kurian are set to speak next week at the annual show of the National Retail Federation, the biggest retail trade group, underscoring how significant the industry is to Amazon’s biggest cloud competitors.

“A key part of our offering is that we partner and we don’t compete,” said Shelley Bransten, the vice president who oversees Microsoft’s work with retailers and consumer goods companies. But there are other benefits to working closely with retailers, she said in an interview. Some of the software products built for retailers will be useful for companies in other industries.

For example, the walkie-talkie feature in Teams can help manufacturers, said Emma Williams, a Microsoft vice president who is charged with adding features to Office and Teams for use by customers in health care, retail, manufacturing and finance.

Microsoft explained the new features in a blog post Thursday ahead of Nadella’s speech in New York, the CEO’s first appearance at the retail conference.

Retail customers are also key to Microsoft’s competition with Salesforce, the leader in cloud-based customer relations software. Microsoft announced the official release of its Dynamics Commerce software for helping retailers manage inventory, scheduling, call centers, e-commerce sites and in-store operations. The company said outerwear maker Canada Goose Holdings Inc. has been using it.

Microsoft also provided new details on how some previously announced Azure customers are working with its products. One year ago, Microsoft said Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. would begin using Azure and deploy Microsoft 365-a collection of software that includes Windows 10, Office cloud services and security and mobile-management software-to the pharmacy giant’s more than 380,000 workers. Now Walgreens will try Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 goggles for worker training and the drugstore chain also is using Microsoft products to anonymously track shoppers’ steps, in order to better plan store layouts.

Microsoft is also targeting another lucrative Amazon business – digital advertising for products on retailers’ websites. In August, Microsoft acquired New York-based PromoteIQ, which helps companies like Kroger and Kohl’s sell ads on their websites to companies who want prime placement for their goods. Nadella will announce Home Depot has also signed up for the service.

The addition of the world’s largest fund manager is a significant milestone for Climate Action 100+, bringing total assets under management by its members to more than $41 trillion. The group already has some notable victories in its campaign of engagement with corporate giants that account for more than two-thirds of global industrial emissions.

Last year, BP agreed to report in detail on how its investments are compatible with the Paris climate agreement after shareholders supported a resolution proposed by the activist group. It has also extracted pledges from Royal Dutch Shell and commodities giant Glencore.

“This announcement from BlackRock will lead to some uncomfortable shuffling in the board rooms of Big Oil, power utilities and other carbon intensive industries,” Mark Campanale, founder and chairman of Carbon Tracker, said in an emailed statement.

BlackRock joins more than 370 global investors already participating in the initiative, which has the ambition of becoming the biggest, richest, and possibly most benevolent bully the corporate world has ever seen. It is cajoling companies to detail exactly how climate change will affect their business, so shareholders can pull money from those that aren’t preparing for the future.

“BlackRock’s decision to sign on to Climate Action 100+ reinforces that the world’s largest asset manager believes that climate change is a growing financial risk to both companies and the global economy,” said Mindy Lubber, a member of the Climate Action 100+ steering committee and also chief executive officer of Ceres, which campaigns for sustainable investment. Its involvement “sends a powerful signal to companies to reduce emissions, improve corporate governance and strengthen their disclosure.”

Climate change is becoming an increasingly important topic in the asset management industry. Protesters and non-profit groups are ramping up criticism of the largest fund managers for what they say is insufficient action around the global environmental crisis. Investor money is starting to follow, with environmental, social and governance, or ESG, investment strategies for exchange-traded funds drawing in a record $8 billion in 2019, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

BlackRock has come under pressure for doing too little to tackle climate change. Boston Trust Walden and Mercy Investment Services submitted shareholder proposals to BlackRock, Vanguard Group and JPMorgan Chase & Co., blasting the firms for failing to align their public stance on the issue with their proxy voting records.

The New York-based asset manager has been promoting products with ESG-minded strategies. In 2018, it introduced a series of sustainable ETFs meant to serve as the core building blocks of an investor’s portfolio. It also offers products with more targeted goals, like the iShares Global Clean Energy ETF, a fund first introduced in 2008 that holds about $444 million in assets.

Joining Climate Action 100+ “is a natural progression of the work our investment stewardship team has done,” BlackRock said in an emailed statement. “We believe evidence of the impact of climate risk on investment portfolios is building rapidly and we are accelerating our engagement with companies on this critical issue.”

At least three firms raised their price target on the stock, while KeyBanc Capital Markets named it one of its “key ideas” in the Internet sector this year. In particular, analysts were broadly positive that Alphabet would see strong growth in its ad business, helped in part by political ad spending.

Thursday’s gain extends a push into record territory, with the stock having risen nearly 40% from a low in June. The rally has brought Alphabet within striking distance of a $1 trillion valuation; the current market capitalization is about $980 billion.

There are several advertising and shopping initiatives “that could increase product monetization and impact overall revenue growth,” wrote BofA analyst Justin Post, who called Alphabet “a top Internet utility.” He reiterated his buy rating on the stock and lifted his target to $1,620 from $1,450.

Jefferies raised its target by $100 to $1,650, making it one of the most optimistic forecasts on Wall Street, behind Credit Suisse’s Street-high view of $1,700. Analyst Brent Thill reiterated his buy rating, seeing “continued search strength, aided by increasing contribution from mobile, YouTube and international expansion.”

KeyBanc sees Alphabet benefiting from key 2020 trends, including a heightened investor focus on profitability, an “intensifying battle for entertainment space/time” and political ad spending in an election year. The “historic scale” of digital political ads this year “should benefit large ad platforms, both through the direct spend and in the competition for ad space, which should raise prices for other advertisers.” Analyst Andy Hargreaves has an overweight rating and $1,546 price target on Alphabet shares.

Cowen also cited an improved view of 2020 ad spending, mentioning a survey it conducted of ad buyers.

Google Search is the highest return on investment platform, and YouTube is expected to be one of the “bigger expected ad budget share gainers” through 2021, wrote analyst John Blackledge. He reiterated his outperform rating and raised his price target to $1,575 from $1,525.

Currently, 40 analysts recommend buying Alphabet, while five have a hold rating on the stock. None of the firms tracked by Bloomberg have a sell rating on the shares. The average price target is about $1,467, roughly 4% above the most recent close.

Kohl’s, J.C. Penney and L Brands all reported drops in same-store sales, which is a critical measure of retail success. Macy’s also reported a drop in comparable sales on Wednesday, while Bed Bath & Beyond withdrew its financial projections amid weak results.

The holidays are the most important time of year for most retailers, so hopes for a sustained turnaround in large part hinged on a better performance in the final months of 2019. But deeply ingrained trends – such as digital-savvy shoppers migrating to wherever the discounts are, forcing prices down across the market – are preventing many retailers from regaining their former stature.

The declines at Kohl’s and L Brands in particular were surprising, said Poonam Goyal, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence.

“Sales should have been up, but they weren’t and that’s a bit concerning,” Goyal said. “They could have posted better results, and the fact that they didn’t shows the need for them to drive traffic and maybe even shrink their stores into smaller formats. It’s time to do more.”

The biggest retailers – especially Amazon.com, Walmart and Target – have been the biggest beneficiaries of the mall-based troubles.

Here’s a look at some of the details the companies released on Thursday.

– Kohl’s

Kohl’s reported a same-store sales decline of 0.2% in November and December. The company also said profit for fiscal 2019, which ends in February, will be at the low end of its previously announced range of $4.75 to $4.95 a share.

Chief Executive Officer Michelle Gass said strength in e-commerce, beauty, footwear and other areas was offset by weakness in women’s apparel, and said the company is working “with speed” to fix the problem.

“Although the sales dip at Kohl’s is only modest, it is disappointing that the company was not able to continue the growth posted during the third quarter,” Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail, said in emailed comments. “This is especially so as the consumer economy was strong over the period, so the flat performance is more reflective of Kohl’s and its strategy rather than of external dynamics.”

Kohl’s shares fell as much as 9.6% to $44.63, the most in more than a month.

– L Brands

The owner of Victoria’s Secret also posted negative results, a sign its efforts to shift its marketing approach haven’t been enough. L Brands has struggled to adjust to a broader change in the lingerie business, with competitors gaining traction by embracing different body types while Victoria’s Secret continued to push its push-up bra aesthetic.

Same-store sales dropped 12% for Victoria’s Secret, and L Brands cut its earnings forecast for the fourth quarter to about $1.85 a share, down from a previous projection of about $2.

Investors shrugged off the results, however, with L Brands stock up 1.93% to $18.5.

– J.C. Penney

The Dallas-based department store chain, which has been fighting to reverse falling foot traffic and improve its inventory management, reported that same-store sales fell 5.3% in the holiday period when excluding the impact of its exit from the appliance and furniture categories.

J.C. Penney reaffirmed its forecast for a full-year adjusted comparable-store sales decline of 5% to 6%. The company is scheduled to report earnings on Feb. 27.

The shares fell as much as 8.3% to $1.1.

The People’s Bank of China made the announcement on its official Wechat account Wednesday, without giving more details. The decision to accept the application signals that it’s moving closer to final approval.

AmEx in November 2018 became the first foreign company to win permission to start preparation for the business after forming a joint venture with LianLian, a Chinese fintech-services firm.

The latest move shows progress in U.S. payment networks’ battle for access to mainland China, which has been a point of contention raised in the trade dispute with the U.S. China on Thursday announced Vice Premier Liu He will travel to Washington to sign the first phase of the trade deal with the U.S. on Jan. 15, confirming a ceremony announced by President Donald Trump.

China in June 2015 allowed foreign bank-card clearing providers to obtain licenses by setting up units or acquiring a local company, ending a monopoly by state-run China UnionPay Co. But progress in entering China has been slow for Visa and Mastercard, the world’s two biggest payment networks, with neither firm as of yet obtaining approval.

The Communist Party ruled country is opening up its financial markets this year to allow foreign firms to set up fully owned operations to run insurance businesses, asset management and investment banking. BlackRock Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are among a bevy of firms that are preparing to pile in full bore to capture profits from China’s fast growing wealth.

China had 8.2 billion bank cards in circulation at the end of September, with 90% of them debit cards.

AmEx will pit itself against large domestic players and a well-developed market for mobile payments. Mobile transactions topped 190 trillion yuan ($27 trillion) in China in 2018, making it the world’s largest such market, according to iResearch. Ant Financial’s Alipay and Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s WeChat Pay are the dominant firms.

The projects will be at Thammasat’s Rangsit campus and the Nava Nakorn Industrial Promotion Zone in Pathum Thani.

Memoranda of understanding for the “digital industrial zones and intelligent communities” were signed on Wednesday (January 8).

Ratch chief executive Kijja Sripatthangkura said the sites were carefully chosen based on the suitability of the surrounding communities and their educational, residential, commercial and industrial zoning as well as infrastructure.

Thammasat’s Faculty of Architecture and Planning and the Harvard design school will create conceptual designs for architecture and landscaping and a master plan for urban planning and infrastructure.

Ratch, NNCL and ALT will contribute the needed information about energy technology, industrial and commercial infrastructure, telecommunications innovations and an intelligent communication network.

The project model is expected to be completed by mid-2020.

They join two other telecom operators to consider a bid.

TrueMove H Universal Communication, the mobile-phone unit of True Corp, was the first company to have picked up the documents for next month’s 5G spectrum auction. It picked up the documents on January 3, a day after the NBTC made the documents available

Dtac TriNet Co Ltd, subsidiary of Total Access Communication (DTAC), picked up the bid documents on Wednesday (January 8).

The documents will be available until February 3 and bids must be submitted on February 4.

The NBTC will auction the 700 megahertz, 1800MHz, 2600MHz and 26 gigahertz spectrum licences.