Category: 3. Business

CENTER VALLEY, Pa.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
Shift4 Payments, Inc. (“Shift4” or the “Company”) (NYSE: FOUR), announced today, in connection with the 10,000,000 shares of 6% Series A Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock issued on May 5, 2025, consistent with the terms laid out in the offering, the Board of Directors has declared a dividend of $1.50 per share to be paid in cash on February 2, 2026 to holders of record as of the close of business on January 15, 2026.

Subject to the terms of the Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock, and as described further in the prospectus supplement filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 2, 2025, the declaration and payment of future quarterly dividends, if any, will be at the sole discretion of the Board of Directors based on its consideration of various factors, including the company’s operating results, financial condition and anticipated capital requirements.

Additional information regarding the Series A Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock can be found within the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 5, 2025, which can be accessed via the Company’s website investors.shift4.com.

About Shift4

Shift4 (NYSE: FOUR) is boldly redefining commerce by simplifying complex payments ecosystems across the world. As the leader in commerce-enabling technology, Shift4 powers billions of transactions annually for hundreds of thousands of businesses in virtually every industry. For more information, visit shift4.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Shift4 intends such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including statements regarding Shift4’s expectations associated with the declared dividends and future dividend payments. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to the substantial and increasingly intense competition worldwide in the financial services, payments and payment technology industries; our ability to continue to expand our share of the existing payment processing markets or expand into new markets; additional risks associated with our expansion into international operations, including compliance with and changes in foreign governmental policies, as well as exposure to foreign exchange rates; and our respective ability to integrate and interoperate each of our services and products with a variety of operating systems, software, devices, and web browsers, and the other important factors discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A in Shift4’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, as updated by our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2025 and our other filings with the SEC. Any such forward-looking statements represent management’s expectations as of the date of this press release. While we may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, Shift4 disclaims any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260105016652/en/

Investor Relations

Tom McCrohan

EVP, Head of Investor Relations

Shift4

investors@shift4.com

Paloma Main

Director, Strategy & Investor Relations

Shift4

investors@shift4.com

Media

Nate Hirshberg

SVP, Marketing

Shift4

nhirshberg@shift4.com

ICR

Shift4pr@icrinc.com

Source: Shift4 Payments, Inc.

Released January 5, 2026

News Summary:

• NVIDIA is the first to release an open reasoning VLA model designed to tackle long-tail autonomous driving challenges; NVIDIA Alpamayo family also includes simulation tools and datasets for AV development.
• Alpamayo 1, AlpaSim and Physical AI Open Datasets enable the development of vehicles that perceive, reason and act with humanlike judgment — enabling developers to fine-tune, distill and test models that unlock greater safety, robustness and scalability.
• With Alpamayo, mobility leaders such as JLR, Lucid and Uber, along with the AV research community including Berkeley DeepDrive, can fast-track safe, reasoning‑based level 4 deployment roadmaps.
  
   

CES—NVIDIA today unveiled the NVIDIA Alpamayo family of open AI models, simulation tools and datasets designed to accelerate the next era of safe, reasoning‑based autonomous vehicle (AV) development.

AVs must safely operate across an enormous range of driving conditions. Rare, complex scenarios, often called the “long tail,” remain some of the toughest challenges for autonomous systems to safely master. Traditional AV architectures separate perception and planning, which can limit scalability when new or unusual situations arise. Recent advances in end-to-end learning have made significant progress, but overcoming these long-tail edge cases requires models that can safely reason about cause and effect, especially when situations fall outside a model’s training experience.

The Alpamayo family introduces chain-of-thought, reasoning-based vision language action (VLA) models that bring humanlike thinking to AV decision-making. These systems can think through novel or rare scenarios step by step, improving driving capability and explainability — which is critical to scaling trust and safety in intelligent vehicles — and are underpinned by the NVIDIA Halos safety system.

“The ChatGPT moment for physical AI is here — when machines begin to understand, reason and act in the real world,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. “Robotaxis are among the first to benefit. Alpamayo brings reasoning to autonomous vehicles, allowing them to think through rare scenarios, drive safely in complex environments and explain their driving decisions — it’s the foundation for safe, scalable autonomy.”

A Complete, Open Ecosystem for Reasoning‑Based Autonomy

Alpamayo integrates three foundational pillars — open models, simulation frameworks and datasets — into a cohesive, open ecosystem that any automotive developer or research team can build upon.

Rather than running directly in-vehicle, Alpamayo models serve as large-scale teacher models that developers can fine-tune and distill into the backbones of their complete AV stacks.

At CES, NVIDIA is releasing:

• Alpamayo 1: The industry’s first chain-of-thought reasoning VLA model designed for the AV research community, now on Hugging Face. With a 10-billion-parameter architecture, Alpamayo 1 uses video input to generate trajectories alongside reasoning traces, showing the logic behind each decision. Developers can adapt Alpamayo 1 into smaller runtime models for vehicle development, or use it as a foundation for AV development tools such as reasoning-based evaluators and auto-labeling systems. Alpamayo 1 provides open model weights and open-source inferencing scripts. Future models in the family will feature larger parameter counts, more detailed reasoning capabilities, more input and output flexibility, and options for commercial usage.
• AlpaSim: A fully open‑source, end-to-end simulation framework for high‑fidelity AV development, available on GitHub. It provides realistic sensor modeling, configurable traffic dynamics and scalable closed‑loop testing environments, enabling rapid validation and policy refinement.
• Physical AI Open Datasets: NVIDIA offers the most diverse large-scale, open dataset for AV that contains 1,700+ hours of driving data collected across the widest range of geographies and conditions, covering rare and complex real-world edge cases essential for advancing reasoning architectures. These datasets are available on Hugging Face.
  
   

Together, these tools enable a self-reinforcing development loop for reasoning-based AV stacks.

Broad AV Industry Supports Alpamayo

Mobility leaders and industry experts, including Lucid, JLR, Uber and Berkeley DeepDrive, are showing interest in Alpamayo to develop reasoning-based AV stacks that will enable level 4 autonomy.

“The shift toward physical AI highlights the growing need for AI systems that can reason about real-world behavior, not just process data,” said Kai Stepper, vice president of ADAS and autonomous driving at Lucid Motors. “Advanced simulation environments, rich datasets and reasoning models are important elements of the evolution.”

“Open, transparent AI development is essential to advancing autonomous mobility responsibly,” said Thomas Müller, executive director of product engineering at JLR. “By open-sourcing models like Alpamayo, NVIDIA is helping to accelerate innovation across the autonomous driving ecosystem, giving developers and researchers new tools to tackle complex real-world scenarios safely.”

“Handling long-tail and unpredictable driving scenarios is one of the defining challenges of autonomy,” said Sarfraz Maredia, global head of autonomous mobility and delivery at Uber. “Alpamayo creates exciting new opportunities for the industry to accelerate physical AI, improve transparency and increase safe level 4 deployments.”

“Alpamayo 1 enables vehicles to interpret complex environments, anticipate novel situations and make safe decisions, even in scenarios not previously encountered,” said Owen Chen, senior principal analyst of S&P Global. “The model’s open-source nature accelerates industry-wide innovation, allowing partners to adapt and refine the technology for their unique needs.”

“The launch of the Alpamayo portfolio represents a major leap forward for the research community,” said Wei Zhan, codirector of Berkeley DeepDrive. “NVIDIA’s decision to make this openly available is transformative as its access and capabilities will enable us to train at unprecedented scale — giving us the flexibility and resources needed to push autonomous driving into the mainstream.”

Beyond Alpamayo, developers can tap into NVIDIA’s rich library of tools and models, including from the NVIDIA Cosmos™ and NVIDIA Omniverse™ platforms. Developers can fine-tune model releases on proprietary fleet data, integrate them into the NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion™ architecture built with NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor™ accelerated compute, and validate performance in simulation before commercial deployment.

Learn more by watching NVIDIA Live at CES.

GALWAY, Ireland, Jan. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT), a global leader in healthcare technology, today announced it will participate in the 44th annual J.P. Morgan healthcare conference on Monday, January 12, 2026.

Geoff Martha, Medtronic chairman and chief executive officer, will make a formal presentation and answer questions on the company beginning at 10:30 a.m. PST (12:30 p.m. CST). Immediately following the presentation, Martha will be joined by evp and chief financial officer, Thierry Piéton, to answer questions on the company.

A live webcast of the presentation and Q&A session will be available on January 12, 2026, by clicking on the Events link at http://investorrelations.medtronic.com. An archive of the presentation and Q&A session will be available on the same webpage later in the day.

About Medtronic
Bold thinking. Bolder actions. We are Medtronic. Medtronic plc, headquartered in Galway, Ireland, is the leading global healthcare technology company that boldly attacks the most challenging health problems facing humanity by searching out and finding solutions. Our Mission — to alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life — unites a global team of 95,000+ passionate people across more than 150 countries. Our technologies and therapies treat 70 health conditions and include cardiac devices, surgical robotics, insulin pumps, surgical tools, patient monitoring systems, and more. Powered by our diverse knowledge, insatiable curiosity, and desire to help all those who need it, we deliver innovative technologies that transform the lives of two people every second, every hour, every day. Expect more from us as we empower insight-driven care, experiences that put people first, and better outcomes for our world. In everything we do, we are engineering the extraordinary. For more information on Medtronic (NYSE: MDT), visit www.Medtronic.com and follow Medtronic on LinkedIn.

Any forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties such as those described in Medtronic’s periodic reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results may differ materially from anticipated results.

Contacts
Erika Winkels
Public Relations
+1-612-558-8932

Ingrid Goldberg
Investor Relations
investor.realations@medtronic.com

 

SOURCE Medtronic plc

Global law firm K&L Gates has advised Australian environmental consultancy Ektimo Pty Ltd on the sale of 70% of its shares to PEMBA Capital Partners, marking PEMBA’s first investment in the environmental consulting sector.

Ektimo is a leading provider of air quality, odour, and emission monitoring services to the energy, resources, infrastructure, and manufacturing sectors – sectors facing increasingly stringent environmental and regulatory requirements amid Australia’s decarbonisation push.

The transaction, signed on 23 December 2025, positions Ektimo for accelerated growth as PEMBA partners with the company to expand its service offerings and geographic footprint.

The deal team was led by Melbourne partner Harry Kingsley, with support from senior associate Andrew Saunders, and lawyers Rami Maserow and Seb Kostas. KMPG’s Luke Lawrentschuk and Lauren Morcom acted as corporate financial advisers to Ektimo, ensuring seamless execution of this complex transaction.

Kingsley stated: “This transaction underscores the growing importance of environmental consulting as businesses navigate complex regulatory landscapes and pursue emissions reduction targets. We are proud to have supported Ektimo in achieving this milestone and thank PEMBA Private Equity for their collaborative approach throughout the process.  We look forward to seeing Ektimo accelerate its growth through this strategic partnership.”

Matthew Heskin, CEO and Co-Founder of Ektimo, said: “This partnership marks a pivotal moment for Ektimo. PEMBA’s investment will allow us to scale our capabilities, broaden our service offerings, and continue delivering industry-leading environmental solutions nationwide. We greatly appreciate K&L Gates’ guidance and support in navigating this transformative step for our development.”

K&L Gates’ Corporate practice is one of the most substantial in the legal industry, with hundreds of lawyers in offices across the globe providing clients with practical legal solutions in the structuring, financing, and completion of domestic, international, and cross-border transactions.

To learn more about this transaction, see additional coverage in the Australian Financial Review.

WASHINGTON — As part of longstanding policies to safeguard the American public from trucking-related safety incidents, and in line with recent Department of Transportation (DOT) policies to make American roadways safer, the U.S. Postal Service will begin working with its contracted trucking providers to phase out any use of non-domiciled Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) operators who have not been thoroughly vetted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. These actions are consistent with the Administration’s goals as expressed in the DOT’s recent interim final rule titled “Restoring Integrity to the Issuance of Non-Domiciled Commercial Drivers Licenses (CDL)”.

“The safety of our employees, our customers, and the American public is of the utmost concern to the Postal Service,” said Amber McReynolds, chairwoman of the Postal Service Board of Governors. “In order to maintain the highest possible safety standards, we have decided to phase out any use of non-domiciled Commercial Driver’s License operators who have not been thoroughly vetted by the Postal Inspection Service.”

By tightening the use of non-domiciled CDL drivers by our third-party (contracted) providers, USPS seeks to improve transportation safety and accountability and add yet another layer of protection and safety.

“USPS just completed an extremely safe and efficient peak season delivering the nation’s holiday mail and packages,” said Postmaster General and CEO David Steiner. “We believe this additional requirement will strengthen the safety, efficiency and reliability of our services into the future.”

The Postal Service moves 55,000 loads by truck every day – nearly 2 billion miles per year – and making improvements in our operations goes hand-in-hand with improvements in safety so that we can safely deliver to more than 170 million addresses six and often seven days a week.

USPS strives to promote a culture of safety to minimize accidents among employee and contract drivers. This includes monitoring industry and government data relating to our contractors.

# # #

COLUMBUS, Ga., Jan. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Aflac Incorporated (NYSE: AFL) announced today that it will release fourth quarter 2025 financial results after the market closes on Wednesday, February 4, 2026. At that time, earnings materials, including the quarterly earnings release and financial supplement, will be available, along with a financial update video from Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Max Brodén, on the company’s Investor Relations website, investors.aflac.com.

Aflac Incorporated will also webcast a conference call scheduled for 8:00 a.m. (ET) on Thursday, February 5, 2026. During the webcast, Aflac Incorporated Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Daniel P. Amos, along with Brodén, will discuss the company’s quarterly results. Virgil Miller, President of Aflac Incorporated and Aflac U.S., will join them to answer questions during the webcast with other members of executive management from the U.S. and Japan. To listen to the conference call, please register at investors.aflac.com five to seven minutes prior to the scheduled start time. 

ABOUT AFLAC INCORPORATED
Aflac Incorporated (NYSE: AFL), a Fortune 500 company, has helped provide financial protection and peace of mind for seven decades to millions of policyholders and customers through its subsidiaries in the U.S. and Japan. In the U.S., Aflac is the No. 1 provider of supplemental health insurance products.¹ In Japan, Aflac Life Insurance Japan is the leading provider of cancer and medical insurance in terms of policies in force. The company takes pride in being there for its policyholders when they need us most, as well as being included in the World’s Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere for 19 consecutive years (2025) and Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies for 24 years (2025). In addition, the company became a signatory of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in 2021 and has been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index (2024) for 11 years. To find out how to get help with expenses health insurance doesn’t cover, get to know us at aflac.com or aflac.com/español. Investors may learn more about Aflac Incorporated and its commitment to corporate social responsibility and sustainability at investors.aflac.com under “Sustainability.”

¹ LIMRA 2024 U.S. Supplemental Health Insurance Total Market Report

Analyst and investor contact – David A. Young, 706.596.3264 or 800.235.2667, or dyoung@aflac.com

Media contact – Ines Gutzmer, 762.207.7601 or igutzmer@aflac.com

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SOURCE Aflac Incorporated

This report from Verdantix, an independent research firm, analyses the best practices for building a digital SIF prevention strategy across your people, processes, and technology.

What’s Inside

Despite significant workplace safety gains made in lowering incident and lost-time rates, reductions in serious injuries and fatalities (SIFs) have remained stagnant for the last decade. Reliance on traditional approaches to occupational safety and lagging indicators has kept many organizations from breaking through to continue lowering SIF incident rates.

New approaches to SIF prevention are needed to integrate core practices like leadership commitment and knowledge-sharing with emerging technologies and AI to better identify workplace risks and prevent SIFs.

This report from Verdantix analyzes best practices to build a digital SIF prevention strategy across people, processes, and technology. Download the report to learn more.

Key Takeaways

Plus learn about:

• Industry trends that are creating systemic weaknesses in SIF prevention
• How leadership mindsets affect SIF strategies
• EHS technology best practices that support SIF prevention, like control-of-work solutions and reporting software
• How firms can leverage domain-specific AI technology to help prevent SIFs