STOCK MARKET NEWS: Busch CEO on Mulvaney, Best Buy layoffs, Subway sales process, Walmart change

People walk past a Best Buy store in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., November 22, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

Best Buy Co Inc is cutting store jobs across the United States as the electronics retailer looks to trim costs and shift its business more towards e-commerce, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the situation.

The layoff would affect hundreds of jobs across Best Buy's U.S. stores, the report said, adding that the laid off employees could, however, reapply for open positions within the company or receive severance.

This week, several store workers who specialize in selling more complex products such as computers and smartphones were told their jobs would be eliminated, the report added.

RETAIL

Best Buy lays off hundreds at stores as sales move online

Best Buy has made a string of store-level job cuts over the past two years as competition from online retailers has continued to erode sales in its physical stores.

Subway Pickleball Club Sandwich (Photo: Subway)

Subway has reportedly drawn more than 10 bidders as an auction to sell the sandwich chain moves to a second round, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

MARKETS

Another round of bidding on Subway reportedly coming up

Round two of bids for the possible sale of foot-long sandwich chain Subway are ready to begin for a sale that could fetch $10 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. It follows a prior round.

Possible suitors include private equity firms, the Journal said.The restaurant chain, founded by the late Fred DeLuca and Dr. Peter Buck is seeking a $10 billion valuation.

Subway has about 37,000 locations in over 100 countries, including over 20,000 in America. Its network of franchisees, meanwhile, totals over 20,000, according to a recent press release.

Best Buy logo on store in Mt. Laurel, N.J., Feb. 4, 2023

Best Buy Co Inc is cutting store jobs across the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the situation.

Best Buy did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Generic drugmaker Teva says the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will not approve its partner’s application for AVT02, a high-concentration biosimilar candidate for Humira (adalimumab).

The FDA issued a complete response letter (CRL) to Alvotech for its Biologics License Application (BLA) for AVT02.

The CRL stated that the application could not be approved at this time based on deficiencies associated with Alvotech’s manufacturing facility that must be satisfactorily resolved.

Additional review of the details following the recent FDA’s re-inspection and CRL are being assessed to determine next steps.

AVT02 is a monoclonal antibody and has been approved as a biosimilar to Humira (adalimumab) in the 27 EU member countries, Norway, Lichtenstein, Iceland, the UK, Switzerland, Canada, Australia and Saudi Arabia. It is currently marketed in sixteen countries in Europe and in Canada. 

An employee organizes beauty products inside the Walmart Supercenter in North Bergen, N.J., Feb. 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

Walmart Inc U.S. chief merchandising officer Charles Redfield is stepping down after just over a year in the role, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters on Friday, at a time the retailer is navigating a tightening spending environment.

Redfield will assume an advisory role supporting the U.S. business effective May 1, Walmart U.S. CEO John Furner wrote in a memo to US-based associates on Friday, without naming a successor.

The rejig comes at a time when inflation has eroded consumer spending power, denting Walmart's business and prompting the retailer to take up a cautious stance on 2023.

Redfield started his Walmart career as a cashier at Sam's Club and has been with the company for 32 years. He had led the U.S. food and grocery business since 2015 prior to taking up his role as chief merchandising officer.

He was also integral in working with suppliers to lower product prices amid skyrocketing inflation over the past several months, Furner said in the memo.

Boxes of the drug mifepristone sit on a shelf at the West Alabama Women's Center in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Mar. 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)

The Biden administration and a drug manufacturer asked the Supreme Court on Friday to preserve access to an abortion drug free from restrictions imposed by lower court rulings, while a legal fight continues.

POLITICS

Abortion pill maker, DOJ ask Supreme Court for emergency review

The Department of Justice and the drug manufacturer Danco Laboratories have asked the U.S. Supreme Court for emergency relief from a lower court decision restricting access to abortion pills.

The Justice Department and Danco Laboratories both warned of “regulatory chaos” and harm to women if the high court doesn't block an appeals court ruling in a case from Texas that had the effect of tightening Food and Drug Administration rules under which the drug, mifepristone, can be prescribed and dispensed.

The new limits would take effect Saturday unless the court acts before then.

Demonstrate gather outside the Paris town hall, Friday, April 14, 2023 in Paris. France's Constitutional Council on Friday approved an unpopular plan to raise the retirement age to 64, in a victory for French President Emmanuel Macron after three months of mass protests over the legislation that have damaged his leadership. The move is likely to enrage unions and other opponents of the pension plan, including protesters gathered in spots around France on Friday evening as the decision came down.(AP Photo/Lewis Joly)

France’s Constitutional Council has approved an unpopular plan to raise the retirement age to 64 that unleashed mass protests.

It is a victory for President Emmanuel Macron after three months of public anger over the legislation that have damaged his leadership.

The move enraged and disappointed unions and other opponents of the pension plan. Protesters were gathered in spots around France on Friday evening as the decision came down.

The council rejected some other measures in the pension bill. But the higher age was central to Macron’s plan and the target of protesters’ anger. Macron can enact the bill within 15 days.

Peakstone Realty Trust began trading on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday under the ticker symbol 'PKST' and was up 56% at noon on Friday.

In connection with this listing, the company previously uploaded to its website (www.pkst.com) a variety of investor materials, including a narrated presentation discussing the company’s business plan.

Peakstone Realty Trust is an internally managed, publicly registered real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns and operates newer-vintage portfolio of predominantly single-tenant industrial and office properties.

As of March 31, Peakstone’s portfolio consists of 19 million square feet across 24 states in primarily high growth, strategic coastal and sunbelt markets.

Meta Materials Inc., a developer of high-performance functional materials and nanocomposites, today announced that it has priced an underwritten public offering of 83,333,334 shares of its common stock at a combined public offering price of $0.30 per share and accompanying warrant.

Each warrant is exercisable immediately at an exercise price of $0.375 per share and will expire five years following the date of issuance.

The offering is expected to close on or about April 18, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

Meta Materials intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for working capital and general corporate purposes, including research and development.

JPMorgan Chase Bank is seen in New York City, Mar. 21, 2023. (Reuters/Caitlin Ochs)

JPMorgan Chase & Co's first-quarter profit beat Wall Street estimates as higher interest income offset weakness in dealmaking, and the biggest U.S. lender remained resilient through the banking crisis in March.

MARKETS

JPMorgan shares jump on record quarter

Shares for JPMorgan Chase are higher on Friday after the multinational financial services company reported quarterly earnings that beat Wall Street predictions.

JPMorgan set aside loan loss provisions of $2.3 billion, up 56% from last year. It reported a 52% increase in profit to $12.62 billion, or $4.10 per share, in the three months ended Mar. 31.

Excluding one-time costs, the bank earned $4.32 per share, ahead of analysts' average expectation of $3.41 per share, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

Net interest income, a measure of how much it earns from lending, surged 49% to $20.8 billion. The lender increased its forecast for NII to $81 billion this year, excluding profits from markets, from an earlier $74 billion.

However, its Wall Street investment banking business remained a sore point. Revenue at the unit fell 24%, weighed down by a tepid market for mergers, acquisitions and stock sales. Equity trading revenue slid 12%. Fixed income trading revenue was flat.Overall revenue jumped 25% jump to $38.3 billion.

People shop at a Target store in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., November 25, 2022. REUTERS/Jim Vondruska

Consumer sentiment was essentially unchanged this month, according to the University of Michigan's monthly report, inching up less than two index points from March.

Sentiment is now about 3% below a year ago but 27% above the all-time low from last June. Rising sentiment for lower-income consumers was offset by declines among those with higher incomes.

While consumers have noted the easing of inflation among durable goods and cars, they still expect high inflation to persist, at least in the short run. On net, consumers did not perceive material changes in the economic environment in April.

PNC Bank logo shown in Charlotte, N.C., April 18, 2012. (REUTERS/Chris Keane)

PNC Financial Services Group reported an 18.5% rise in first-quarter profit on Friday, as the Federal Reserve's rate hikes fueled a surge in the U.S. regional lender's net interest income (NII).

PNC, among the top 10 largest U.S. banks by assets, reported a profit of $3.98 per share in the quarter that exceeded analysts' average estimate of $3.67.

Deposits for the first quarter ended March rose marginally to $436.8 billion from $436.3 billion in the previous quarter as customers steered towards larger and relatively safer regional banks in the aftermath of the banking crisis.

Investors are closely watching the performance of mid-sized lenders after the biggest meltdown in the industry since the 2008 global financial crisis.

NII, a key metric that measures the difference between earnings on loans and deposit payouts, jumped about 28% to $3.6 billion from a year earlier.

Net income rose to $1.69 billion from $1.43 billion a year earlier.

UnitedHealth Group appears on the side of one of their office buildings in Santa Ana, Calif., April 13, 2020. (Reuters/Mike Blake)

UnitedHealth Group Inc beat Wall Street targets for quarterly profit and raised its annual forecast on Friday, as the healthcare giant banks on "market-leading" membership growth in its federal government-backed health insurance plans.

UnitedHealth is among the largest players in the Medicare Advantage market, where private insurers offer an alternative to the original Medicare — the federal government's health insurance plan for people aged 65 and older or those with certain disabilities.

The industry bellwether's strong Medicare outlook offers some relief at a time when health insurers are bracing to lose some members in their Medicaid plans — which cover healthcare costs for people with low incomes — as states remove pandemic-era guidelines to keep members continuously enrolled.

UnitedHealth raised its adjusted 2023 profit forecast to between $24.50 and $25 per share, compared with its earlier estimate of $24.40 to $24.90 and market expectations of $24.94.Excluding items, it reported a quarterly profit of $6.26 per share, beating estimates of $6.13.

A view of the exterior of the Citibank corporate headquarters in New York, May 20, 2015. (Reuters/Mike Segar)

Citigroup Inc's first-quarter profit beat Wall Street expectations on Friday as it earned more from borrowers paying higher interest on loans.

While its net interest income rose 23% to $13.3 billion, Citi also set aside $241 million to cover potential loan losses, from $138 million a year earlier. It joined other banking giants in preparing for a potential recession and the likelihood of consumers and businesses falling behind on payments later this year.

Citi earned $1.86 per share in the first quarter, beating analysts' average estimate of $1.67, according to Refinitiv data. Net income rose 7% to $4.6 billion, or $2.19 per share, in the three months to March 31 from $4.3 billion, or $2.02 per share, a year earlier.

The lender's deposit growth was flat at $1.33 trillion from a quarter as well as a year ago as investors moved their cash into money market funds to chase greater yields. Its loans also fell marginally to $652 billion.

Citi's investment banking revenue sank 25% from $774 million a year ago, weighed down by the most sluggish market for deals in more than a decade.

Wells Fargo bank branch, Gibbsboro, N.J., Jan. 8, 2022

Wells Fargo & Co on Friday beat profit expectations for the first quarter as the lender earned more from higher interest rates following the U.S. Federal Reserve's tighter monetary policy.

The bank, however, set aside $1.21 billion in the quarter to cover for potential loan losses, compared to a release of $787 million a year earlier.

Deposits at Wells Fargo fell 2% to $1.36 trillion at the end of March, compared with $1.38 trillion at the end of last year.

Net-interest income surged 45% to $13.34 billion.

The bank earned $1.23 per share, excluding one-time items, for the quarter ended March 31. That compared with analysts' average estimate of $1.13 per share, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, the bank had posted $3.3 billion in operating losses related to lawsuits, customer remediation and regulatory matters linked to the scandal.

Wells Fargo's total revenue rose 17% to $20.73 billion in the first quarter.

A sign for BlackRock Inc hangs above their building in New York, July 16, 2018. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson)

BlackRock Inc reported an 18% drop in first-quarter profit on Friday but it beat analysts' estimates as investors continued to pour money into its funds, cushioning the hit to fee income from a global banking rout that rocked financial markets.

The market rout hit BlackRock, which makes most of its money from fees on investment advisory and administration services. Still, net inflows for the first quarter were at $110 billion, compared with $86 billion a year earlier.

BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, reported an adjusted profit of $7.93 per share. Analysts had estimated a profit of $7.76 per share, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

The New York-based firm ended the first quarter with $9.1 trillion in assets under management (AUM), down from $9.57 trillion a year earlier but up from $8.59 trillion in the fourth quarter.

Quarterly revenue fell to $4.2 billion from $4.7 billion.

Bonobos Pioneers Streetleisure Category with Bonobos Fielder (Photo: Business Wire)

Walmart Inc is selling menswear brand Bonobos to Express Inc and WHP Global for $75 million.

MARKETS

Express shares soar on Walmart Bonobos deal

Shares for Express are up on Friday after the fashion apparel brand and style community bought Walmart's menswear line Bonobos for $75 million. Walmart shares are flat.

The deal marks the first acquisition since brand management firm WHP Global, which owns Toys "R" Us and fashion labels such as Anne Klein and Joseph Abboud, partnered with Express earlier this year and took a 7.4% stake in the clothing retailer.

WHP Global will acquire the Bonobos brand for a purchase price of $50 million, while Express will acquire the operating assets and assume the related liabilities of the Bonobos business for $25 million, the companies said on Thursday.

Bonobos, which Walmart acquired for $310 million in June 2017, sells menswear ranging from suits and trousers to swimwear and accessories online.

Logos of social media app Parler are seen in this Illustration taken, Oct. 17, 2022. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration)

Digital media conglomerate Starboard said on Friday it has bought Parler for an undisclosed sum and will temporarily shut down the social media app popular with U.S. conservatives to give itself time to roll out a revamped version of the platform.

TECHNOLOGY

Parler set to be shut down temporarily by new owner

Parent company Parlement Technologies Inc. said Friday it has agreed to sell Parler to digital media company Starboard, months after an acquisition agreement with rapper Ye fell apart.

The move comes months after the collapse of a deal that would have seen American rapper Kanye West, who now goes by Ye, buy the platform's parent company Parlement Technologies.

Starboard, formerly Olympic Media, founded in 2018 houses conservative-leaning platforms American Wire and BizPac Review. It plans to service "unsupported online communities" and build a home for them "away from the ad-hoc regulatory hand of platforms that hate them."

The Arlington, Virginia-based conglomerate did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for details on terms of the deal. However, it said the acquisition will be accretive by the end of second quarter 2023.

A Boeing 737 Max aircraft during a display at the Farnborough International Airshow, in Farnborough, Britain, July 20, 2022. (Reuters/Peter Cziborra)

Boeing Co's shares fell 6% in premarket trading on Friday after the U.S. planemaker halted deliveries of some 737 MAXs due to a new supplier quality problem by Spirit AeroSystems.

MARKETS

Boeing halts deliveries of some 737 MAXs, shares fall

Boeing is dealing with a parts issue that is forcing the planemaker to halt deliveries of some 737 aircraft.

Spirit, which manufactures fuselage, thrust reversers, engine pylons and wing components for the 737 MAX airplanes, slumped 14%.

The latest quality issue pertains to a fuselage fitting supplied by Spirit and is believed to date back to 2019, Boeing disclosed on Thursday.

Boeing warned that the issue will likely affect a "significant" number of undelivered 737 MAX airplanes both in production and in storage, and could result in lowered 737 MAX deliveries in the near term.