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Remote Work? Google’s Over It

🏘️Google and other companies are becoming less patient with remote workers.

April 24, 2025

Silver banana goes to…




In this issue of the peel:

  • 📈Markets rose again as Trump softened his stance on China and Powell.

  • 🚗Tesla and Chipotle whiffed on earnings, but their stocks jumped anyway.

  • 🏘️Google and other companies are becoming less patient with remote workers.

Market Snapshot

Banana Bits

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Impress your manager by focusing on strategic initiatives, allowing you to win more deals and enhance your firm's success, as Pitch Creator empowers you to strike the perfect balance between human expertise and AI automation.

Macro Monkey Says

Wall Street Plot Twist 

Wall Street narratives aren’t always old and played out. Sometimes there are plot twists.  

Both Chipotle and Tesla reported earnings that fell short of expectations. Yet, their stock prices didn't just hold steady—they jumped. It's as if investors collectively shrugged and said, "Meh, close enough."

Chipotle's first-quarter revenue rose 6.4% to $2.88 billion, but that was still shy of the anticipated $2.98 billion. Comparable restaurant sales dipped by 0.4%, marking the first decline in nearly five years. 

The company attributed the slowdown to adverse weather and a decrease in consumer spending. Despite these challenges, Chipotle's net income increased to $396.8 million, or $0.29 per share, slightly above analyst expectations. Investors seemed to focus on the positive, with shares rising modestly in after-hours trading.

Tesla's first-quarter performance was less than stellar, with earnings per share at $0.27 and revenue at $19.3 billion—both missing forecasts. 

Vehicle deliveries dropped 13%, the worst quarter since 2022. However, CEO Elon Musk announced he would reduce his involvement in the U.S. government's "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE), a move investors interpreted as a renewed focus on Tesla. The company's stock responded positively, climbing nearly 10% in after-hours trading.

The Takeaway?

In the world of investing, sometimes it's not about hitting the mark but about the story you tell. Both Chipotle and Tesla managed to spin their narratives in a way that kept investors optimistic. So, the next time your grades aren't perfect, just remember: with the right spin, you could still make the Dean’s List.

Career Corner

Question

I have been talking with some upperclassmen at my school, and a lot of them have told me that for the banks that target us, we should always be emailing with our school email.

Is there any way I could get the right inbox for my school email and just separate everything into another folder? If not, is there any validity to what they're saying? Their rationale, from interns, is that the banks auto-sort emails from certain domains.

Answer

Unless the school email is run through Gmail, I don't think right-inbox will work. For alums, if upperclassmen are telling you that, I'd listen to them and use your Gmail and right inbox for the non-alums.

Head Mentor, WSO Academy

What's Ripe

Tempus AI (TEM) 14.6%

  • ​Tempus AI's stock surged following the announcement of a substantial investment in Personalis, a biotech firm specializing in cancer diagnostics. 

  • This move increases Tempus’ ownership to just over 19% of Personalis, strengthening their strategic collaboration to commercialize the NeXT Personal Dx diagnostic product.

Duolingo (DUOL) 10.0% 

  • ​Duolingo got a nice shout-out from a key Wall Street Analyst, sending the stock up. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage with an "overweight" rating and a Street-high price target of $435, citing the company's rapid user growth, expanding profit margins, and potential gains from generative AI innovations. 

  • The firm's optimism is also driven by Duolingo's Max subscription tier, which offers ad-free, AI-enhanced learning experiences, positioning the company for significant monetization improvements.

What's Rotten

Enphase Energy (ENPH) 15.7%

  • ​​Enphase got a double whammy of bad news. After reporting earnings that missed expectations, a Guggenheim analyst put a stop to all of the previous day’s solar optimism. 

  • Solar stocks were trading up on news that the US would apply massive tariffs on foreign solar companies. The analyst poured cold water all over that situation and believes investors got ahead of themselves.

General Dynamics (GD) 3.3%

  • Beating earnings but still seeing your stock decline is a kick in the nuts. General Dynamics reported a 27% increase in first-quarter profit, driven by a robust recovery in its aerospace segment and sustained strength in its defense business. 

  • Still, investors stayed away from a broader selloff in defense stocks over upcoming policy changes.

Thought Banana

Google to employees: Come in or clock out for good

Remember when remote work was the future? Well, Google just hit “undo.” Their patience for remote work is running thin, and they’re starting to put pressure on some of their remote workers, telling them to return to the office or risk losing their jobs. 

No more waking up at 7:55 for that 8am meeting. For certain employees, working remotely full-time is no longer on the table, and refusal to comply could lead to “performance consequences.” Yikes.

This move is part of Google’s broader RTO (Return to Office) policy requiring most employees to be in the office at least three days a week. 

The company says face time fuels collaboration and innovation. Translation: Zoom just isn’t cutting it anymore. So now we all have to listen to ill-timed jokes and slightly cancelable comments in person versus online.

But Google is not alone. Across the tech and finance sectors, the RTO push is getting more aggressive. 

JPMorgan has long insisted on in-person work for many of its employees. Goldman Sachs is basically allergic to remote work. And even Meta, which once let people work from anywhere, is now calling folks back in. It’s like the pandemic flipped a switch, and now employers are flipping it back.

Why the shift? Some leaders believe in-person work boosts productivity, culture, and creativity. Others, let’s be honest, have no life outside of work, and just like seeing full desks and hearing the sound of keyboards again. Money spent on office space also needs to be justified.

The Takeaway?

If you thought your couch was your new office chair forever, think again. 

The work-from-anywhere dream is getting a reality check. So, whether you’re in tech, finance, or just working at your campus library, get used to the phrase “see you in the office.” Or don’t—just be ready for your manager to start dropping hints... or pink slips.

The Big Question: Is the return-to-office push about productivity, or just proving the office lease wasn’t a colossal waste?

Banana Brain Teaser

Previous

Of the 150 houses in a certain development, 60% have air-conditioning, 50% have a sun porch, and 30% have a swimming pool. If 5 of the houses have all the 3 of these amenities and 5 have none of them, how many of the houses have exactly 2 of these amenities?

Answer: 55

Today

A project scheduled to be carried out over a single fiscal year has a budget of $12,600, divided into 12 equal monthly allocations. At the end of the 4th month of that fiscal year, the total amount actually spent on the project was $4,580. By how much was the project over its budget?

Send your guesses to vyomesh@wallstreetoasis.com

❝

In any investment, you expect to have fun and make money.

Michael Jordan

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Happy Investing,
Chris, Vyom, Ankit & Patrick