Durable Household Products

Amazon.com Inc. AMZN -0.79% is buying Roomba maker iRobot Corp. IRBT 19.21% for $1.7 billion, including debt, as the online retailer adds another connected-home product to its portfolio. Amazon on Friday said it is paying $61 a share for iRobot in an all-cash deal. The price represents a 22% premium to iRobot’s closing price of $49.99 on Thursday. iRobot…

Roku Inc. ROKU -2.01% said it expected two of its main revenue drivers—advertising and sales of streaming hardware—to come under further pressure during the second half of the year, sending the company’s shares down 25% in after-hours trading. “We are in an economic environment defined by recessionary fears, inflationary pressures, rising interest rates, and ongoing supply chain disruptions,” the company said in a letter to investors…

SEOUL— Samsung Electronics Co. is starting to feel the sting of rising inflation and weakening demand for electronics and the chips that go inside them.The South Korean tech giant on Thursday reported revenue of 77.2 trillion won, or the equivalent of about $59 billion, for the three months ended June 30. That represented a 21.6% rise from the year-ago quarter but a slight pullback versus the opening three months of the year when Samsung posted record-high revenues of 77.8 trillion won.…

Consumers looking for relief from higher prices might have to wait a while.The makers of Coca-Cola beverages, Dove shampoo, Huggies diapers and Big Macs have been raising prices as their costs increase on everything from wood pulp to wages. The executives behind these global brands on Tuesday said they would keep passing along those costs to shoppers, for now. Consumers are continuing to buy even as inflation takes a toll on households, these executives said. However, some companies are already warning of a consumer…

Whirlpool Corp. WHR -1.86% said it lost $371 million in the second quarter stemming from the appliance maker’s exit from its business in Russia and cut its profit outlook for the year. Whirlpool is one of hundreds of companies from the U.S. and other Western countries that said this spring that they would stop doing business in Russia altogether or curtail operations following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February. Others…

SEOUL— Samsung Electronics Co. has floated the prospect of investing nearly $200 billion for 11 new chip-making plants in Texas over the next two decades, a mega splurge that if executed would dramatically boost its semiconductor foothold in the U.S.The South Korean tech giant’s proposed spending was divulged in recent filings submitted to the Texas Comptroller’s office and made public Wednesday. One likely motivation is a year-end expiration of a Texas state incentive program offering…

SEOUL— Samsung Electronics Co. ’s string of record results is expected to end, as the global tech boom slows amid rising inflation and economic uncertainties. On Thursday, the South Korean tech giant—which had reported record revenues in the past three straight quarters—forecast a 11.4% rise in second-quarter operating profit from the prior year. Revenue for the April-June period is expected to increase year-over-year by 20.9%. Samsung…

The excess inventory piling up at large retailers such as Target and Walmart is proving a boon for liquidators and other companies that help dispose of the oversupply.Liquidity ServicesXcess Limited, B-Stock LLC and other companies said they are seeing a glut of kitchen appliances, televisions, outdoor furniture and apparel that major chains are trying to clear out. In many cases, the liquidators are picking up pallets at the ports or from a warehouse without the goods ever hitting store shelves and are selling the items…

MONDAYDemand for U.S. factory goods has been strong during the recent expansion, with consumers and businesses spending heavily on autos, appliances, equipment and other goods. The Commerce Department’s report on new orders for durable goods—products designed to last at least three years—will show whether soaring prices, rising interest rates and an uncertain economic outlook weighed on demand in May.TUESDAYThe S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller home-price index is expected to show housing costs continued to climb at an…

NYLAH BURTON, 27, doesn’t have just one electric toothbrush—she has two. At the recommendation of her dentist three years ago, the Chicago-based travel writer stopped using her manual brush. She decided to buy the $270 Philips Sonicare DiamondClean 9500, a smart electric toothbrush. She had been applying way too much force to her teeth and has found the pressure sensor on the Sonicare has helped her ease off. “It has made my gums stop bleeding as much,” she said. Unfortunately, Ms. Burton found its charger impractical to…