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Lululemon might just be entering a newand improvedera. On Thursday, December 11, the athleisure apparel company shared a mostly positive third-quarter earnings report and announced the departure of its CEO, Calvin McDonald. McDonald will leave Lululemon Athletica on January 31, after seven years in the post. He previously served as CEO of Sephora Americas. The last year has been one of underperformance for Lululemon. In October, the companys controversial founder and largest independent shareholder, Chip Wilson, took out an ad in the Wall Street Journal criticizing Lululemons direction. While he didnt go as far as to name McDonald, Wilson wrote, The board insists on operator/finance CEOs who can speak Wall Street, rejecting the idea of a product-driven CEO. These types of finance focused CEOs dont know how to attract or motivate creative talent, and even worse, they think they understand great product when they dont. Why is McDonald leaving? In a post-earnings call, McDonald called his time as CEO a dream job but that the timing is right for a change. He will stay on as a senior adviser through the end of March. Lululemon has named its CFO, Meghan Frank, and CCO, André Maestrini, as interim co-CEOs while the company searches for a permanent replacement. In the announcement, McDonald claimed to have built a foundation for the future: I believe the outstanding product pipeline weve built, and action plan weve put into place, will yield positive results, and deliver value to shareholders in the months and years ahead. How did Lululemon perform in Q3? Quarter three was an improvement for Lululemon, with $2.57 billion in revenue, a 7% increase year-over-year (YOY) from compared to $2.4 billion. It also beat Wall Streets predicted $2.48 billion, according to consensus estimates cited by CNBC. Lululemon further reported $2.59 earnings per share, above Wall Streets expected $2.25. However, this was still lower YOY, compared to $2.87. Lululemon also projected sales below expectations for its current quarter. During quarter three, Lululemon bought back one million common stock shares for a total of $189 million. And the company announced that its board of directors has approved a $1 billion increase to its share repurchase program. As of Thursday, Lululemon had about $1.6 billion still available for its repurchase program. Overall, the good outweighed the bad for investors. Lululemons shares (Nasdaq: LULU) rose over 9% on Friday in premarket trading. As of Thursdays close, the stock is down almost 50% year to date.
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E-Commerce
Measles infections in America have hit their highest numbers in 33 years. In 2025, cases have topped 1,900, and that number is expected to rise due to an ongoing outbreak in South Carolina. Heres what you need to know about Americas latest measles outbreak and why the upcoming period could spell troubling times with the disease. Whats happened? Earlier this week, the South Carolina Department of Public Health (DPH) announced 27 new cases of measles in the state since the previous Friday, raising the total number of active measles cases in the southeastern state to 111. Due to the outbreak, there are currently 254 people in quarantine, with another 16 individuals in isolation in an effort to prevent the spread of the potentially deadly disease through the community. Of the new cases, 16 people were exposed at the Way of Truth Church in Inman, a city in the northwestern part of the state. The DPH has also identified new exposures at Inman Intermediate School. But South Carolina isnt the only state dealing with measles outbreaks. National figures show that 2025 has seen a resurgence of the disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data, South Carolina had a total of 123 measles cases for the year as of December 10. But that only put the state in third place. The leader is Texas, with 803 cases this year, followed by Arizona with 169 cases. Utah, at 115 cases, and New Mexico, at 100 cases, round out the top five. Worst year for measles in three decades In 2025, the number of measles cases in the United States skyrocketed when compared to recent years. According to the CDC, as of December 10, there have been a total of 1,912 cases of measles in the U.S. this year. To put that number in perspective, throughout all of 2024, there were only 285 reported cases, and only 59 in 2023. At 1,912 known cases so far this year, 2025 is also the year with the highest number of measles cases in the U.S. in the 21st century. The figures are well above the previous high of 1,274, set in 2019. In fact, there have not been this many measles cases in the United States since 199233 years ago. That year, measles cases topped out at 2,126. The CDC does state that case counts from 2023 through this year are preliminary and subject to change. In 2000, measles was declared eliminated from the United States, but that status is now at risk. window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}); Who is contracting measles? Measles can infect anyone, but it is most likely to infect those who are not vaccinated against it. Vaccination is given in two doses. The CDC says the measles vaccine is 93% effective at one dose and 97% effective at two doses. Out of the known 1,912 cases in the U.S. so far this year, the vaccination status of 92% of those infected was either unvaccinated or unknown, according to the CDC. Only 3% of those infected had had just one dose of the measles vaccine, and only 4% of those infected had had both doses. As for the ages of those infected, the majority are children and teenagers. According to the CDC, out of the 1,912 infections, individuals were aged: Under 5 years: 500 (26%) 5-19 years: 786 (41%) 20+ years: 613 (32%) Age unknown: 13 (1%) Has anyone in the United States died from the measles in 2025? Unfortunately, yes. According to the CDC, there have been three deaths attributed to the measles this year. However, hundreds of others have required hospitalization. Of the 1,912 cases this year, 218 of them, or 11%, required hospital stays. The CDC breaks down the hospitalization numbers by age as follows: Under 5 years: 21% (103 of 500) 5-19 years: 6% (47 of 786) 20+ years: 11% (68 of 613) Age unknown: 0% (0 of 13) There have been 43 outbreaks of measles across the U.S. this year. The CDC defines an outbreak as a collection of three or more related cases. Why are so many outbreaks happening now? The CDC says several factors are contributing to the resurgence of measles in America. As global travel activity increases, it is more likely that people returning to America from overseas could bring the virus back with them. But one of the main challenges America faces, which has contributed to the 2025 outbreak, is the declining rate of vaccination among Americans. When more than 95% of people in a community are vaccinated (coverage >95%), most people are protected through community immunity (herd immunity), the CDC explains. Below that threshold, herd immunity breaks down, and the disease spreads. There are currently only 11 states at or above the 95% threshold, meaning most states in the country can no longer count on herd immunity for protection. How will the holidays affect measles outbreaks? As we enter the holiday season, it is likely that more cases of measles will appear. The reason is because measles spreads through the air when people cough or sneeze. The virus can also linger in the air for up to two hours. Given that measles is contracted through airborne transmission in spaces where people gather, it’s likely that cases will increase as individuals tend to congregate more over the holidays and at work, family, and other social events. How can I protect myself? The best way to protect yourself and your loved ones is to get vaccinated against measles, says the CDC. You can find out more about measles vaccinations on the agency’s website.
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E-Commerce
Every few weeks, Americans get another letter in the mail that starts the same way: Were writing to inform you that your personal data has been exposed. A retailer gets hacked. A hospital. A supermarket. A travel site. It never ends. Most of us feel like weve lost control over who has our information and how its being used. But a new kind of privacy technology, one that lets companies confirm what they need to know without ever seeing your personal details, may finally offer a way out of this mess. Weve slipped into a world where giving away our personal information is the cost of participating in modern life and where were frustrated, but not surprised, when it gets stolen. In an age defined by apps, AI, and digital payments, our data has become both currency and collateral damage. But we may finally be reaching a turning point. And the solution thats emerging didnt come from Silicon Valley or Washington; it came from an unexpected place: cryptography, the science of using math to secure information, and the foundation of blockchain technology. Its called zero-knowledge proof technology, and despite the intimidating name, it theoretically offers something every American wants: privacy without the headaches, and security without the surveillance. Wall Street quietly moved first While consumers are dealing with endless breach notifications, something very different is happening on Wall Street. Many of the worlds financial titans, including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and BNY Mellon are testing blockchain-based trading, settlement, and other systems that let assets move 24/7. Tokenized treasuries, money-market funds, and even tokenized stocksa mechanism where something is turned into a digital “token” that lives on a blockchainare no longer experiments; Robinhood introduced tokenized versions of stocks and ETFs for European Union investors this summer. But theres one major barrier: on a public blockchain, everyone can see everything.Investors dont want that. Banks, pension funds, hedge funds dont want thatfor competitive reasons, among other things. If financial markets are going to ultimately run on modern cryptographic infrastructure, they will need privacy that doesnt compromise trust or oversight. Consumers feel the same way Americans are tired of being told that if they want convenience, they must give up control of their personal information. The AI economy depends on massive streams of data and whether it survives may come down to one thing: trust. Right now, trust is running out. People dont want more logins, more verification codes, or more data sitting in more databases that will inevitably get hacked. They want a world where businesses can verify what they need to verify, without collecting everything about us. Thats exactly where zero-knowledge proof technology comes in. Zero-knowledge proofs: verify without exposing A zero-knowledge proof lets someone prove something is true without revealing the underlying data. You can prove youre old enough to buy a product, without giving away your birthdate. A bank can prove it has enough reserves, without exposing its entire balance sheet. A company can verify a user is real, without storing personal details that can get hacked later. This isnt science fiction, and it isnt just crypto. Its already in the apps Americans use today: Google Wallet has quietly integrated zero-knowledge technology. Bumble uses it to verify user attributes without storing sensitive data. Financial institutions are incorporating it to protect user data. StarkWares founders codeveloped zk-STARKs and zk-SNARKs, advanced cryptographic methods for zero-knowledge proofs, and this technology now underpins some of the most promising privacy tools in AI, fintech, and digital identity. Regulators are finally ready to talk about privacy and the crypto angle For years, the word privacy in Washington was viewed with suspicion, confused with anonymity, or treated as a threat to oversight. Hopefully, thats now changing. Back in August, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce wrote compellingly that the “sledgehammer has become the tool of choice for monitoring financial crimes,” and “[t]he American people and their government should guard zealously peoples right to live private lives and to use technologies that enable them to do so.” The SEC is now preparing to convene a first-of-its-kind roundtable on Financial Surveillance and Privacy, where builders at the forefront of privacy technology will show how these tools allow for risk management without exposing every transaction. At the same time, the Executive Branch has embraced emerging technologies, signalling a top-down encouragement for regulators to approach innovation as a path towards improvement, and to encourage its growth. Why this moment matters The privacy wave is not just a consumer protest. It is institutional. It is technological. It is regulatory. It is an inflection. Institutions need privacy to operate competitively. Consumers need protection from constant breaches. Regulators need tools that preserve oversight without creating systemic vulnerabilities. Zero-knowledge proofs sit at the center of all three needs. The digital economy, from AI systems to payments to financial markets, is gaining speed. But without privacy infrastructure, we are setting ourselves up for a future where every trade, every transaction, and every personal detail is visible to everyone. We dont need to accept that world. Zero-knowledge proof technology offers a better one:a world where verification is possible without exposure, where markets are efficient without being surveilled, and where people can participate in the digital economy without surrendering their most intimate data. Privacy is not anti-technology.It is the foundation of trust and trust is the one thing the AI economy and the financial system cannot survive without.
Category:
E-Commerce
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