STOCK MARKET NEWS: Job growth strong, Silicon Valley Bank sinks, Bitcoin slides

MARKETS

Sam-Bankman Fried faces revoked bail as judge wonders about communication restrictions

The judge worried about whether restrictive communications for Sam Bankman-Fried would be sufficient, concerns that raised questions about if he could have his bail revoked as he awaits the trial.

A U.S. judge on Friday said he remained unsatisfied with a proposal to impose tight restrictions on how the indicted FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried communicates with the outside world while free on bail.

Bankman-Fried is fighting to stay out of jail pending his scheduled Oct. 2 fraud trial, with U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan expressing concern the former billionaire was testing the limits of his $250 million bail package.

Bankman-Fried's behavior while on bail became an issue after prosecutors said he tried to contact FTX Chief Executive John Ray and an in-house lawyer, in a possible attempt to tamper with witnesses. Defense lawyers said Bankman-Fried was trying to help, not interfere.

Last Friday, prosecutors and defense lawyers proposed letting Bankman-Fried have a flip phone with no internet capability and a basic laptop with limited functions, but be forbidden from using other electronic communication devices.

But at Friday's hearing, Kaplan said Bankman-Fried was "inventive," and could find a way to circumvent the restrictions and secretly communicate with others electronically.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen testifies before a U.S. House Ways and Means Committee hearing on President Joe Biden's fiscal year 2024 Budget Request on Capitol Hill in Washington, Mar. 10, 2023. (Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein)

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Friday defended a Biden administration budget request for an additional $29.1 billion in IRS enforcement funds as Republicans in Congress pressed her to explain how $80 billion funds approved last year would be spent.

The budget proposal aimed at boosting tax enforcement and collections comes on top of a fiscal 2024 appropriations request of $14.1 billion, marking an increase of $1.8 billion, or 15% over the 2023 IRS budget.

POLITICS

Yellen doesn't deny that 90% of new IRS audits would affect those making under $400K

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on Friday, where she was confronted with data that suggests up to 90% of new IRS audits will hit taxpayers making less than $400,000, which she did not deny.

The additional IRS funding requests contained in President Joe Biden's budget plan announced on Thursday drew the ire of Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee, where Yellen testified on Friday. The budget includes hefty tax increases on wealthy Americans and corporations to bring down deficits over the coming decade.

Yellen said she would unveil "in the coming weeks" a promised spending plan for the $80 billion in IRS investments approved last year as part of the climate and healthcare-focused Inflation Reduction Act.

The additional $29.1 billion in long-term enforcement investments would add two more years to the $80 billion program for 2032 and 2033, according to the budget. The Treasury estimates that this would produce an additional $105 billion in net revenue from collections during those two years.

Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner taxis past the Final Assembly Building at Boeing South Carolina in North Charleston, S.C., Mar. 31, 2017. (Reuters/Randall Hill)

The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday approved Boeing to resume deliveries of its widebody 787 Dreamliner next week.

The agency halted 787 deliveries on Feb. 23 due to a data analysis error related to the jet’s forward pressure bulkhead, which Boeing Co found after reviewing certification records. The FAA said Boeing had addressed those concerns.

"The FAA may resume issuing airworthiness certificates next week," the agency said.

Boeing said it had completed the analysis necessary to confirm the aircraft meets requirements, and will not require further production or fleet action to meet FAA standards.

"The FAA will determine when 787 ticketing and deliveries resume, and we are working with our customers on delivery timing," Boeing said.

Apple CEO Tim Cook gestures at the Apple Fifth Avenue store for the release of the Apple iPhone 14 range in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., Sept. 16, 2022. (Reuters/Andrew Kelly)

Apple Inc shareholders on Friday rejected two shareholder proposals put forth by conservative U.S. groups focused on scrutinizing the iPhone maker's inclusion and diversity policies and its ties to China.

Shareholders also approved the company's executive pay packages. The approval comes after the company reduced Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook's pay and made it more dependent on stock performance.

Century Casinos missed Wall Street revenue and profit estimates.

Net operating revenue fell 3% to $103.75 million, which is lower than the estimated $104.18 million.

The net loss was $4.04 million compared to a year ago profit of $3.96 million.

The per share loss was 14 cents. Wall Street expected results to range from 2 cents to 3 cents per share, with a forecasted mean of 2 cents per share.

“We finished 2022 with record net operating revenue and Adjusted EBITDA despite disruptions and temporary closures at our Caruthersville property due to low water levels in the Mississippi River,” the casino operator said. “In December 2022, we completed the relocation of the Caruthersville casino from the riverboat and barge to the land-based pavilion where we will operate the casino until the casino and hotel development project is complete.”

Reuters contributed to this report.

Embraer E 195 (Photo: Embraer)

Brazilian planemaker Embraer SA on Friday boosted its net revenue forecast for 2023 as it expects supply chain disruptions to gradually ease and aircraft deliveries to increase, sending its shares higher.

The company, which in 2022 met the lower-end of its $4.5-5.0 billion net revenue forecast, said it expects to reach a net revenue of between $5.2 billion and $5.7 billion this year, which would represent growth of as much as 27%.

The move comes as Embraer, the world's No. 3 planemaker after Boeing and Airbus, makes a shift into growth after years of recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and a failed commercial aviation deal with Boeing, chief executive Francisco Gomes Neto told Reuters in an interview.

"Our financial turnaround is concluded," he said. "After the pandemic and the Boeing deal, 2021 and 2022 were years of recovery. From 2023 onwards we will have years of growth."

In 2023, Embraer said, its commercial aircraft unit is forecast to deliver from 65 to 70 jets, up from 57 last year, with sales also set for a strong performance as travel rebounds post-pandemic, restoring the firm's backlog to its pre-2020 level.

Executive jet deliveries, meanwhile, are seen jumping as much as 27.5% to a level between 120 and 130, the firm said.

Embraer also maintained for this year its forecast of a free cash flow of $150 million or more. Last year, Embraer started with an estimate of $50 million or better but ultimately zoomed to a $540 million total.

People stand on the bank of the River Thames with the City of London financial district in the background, in London, Britain, Jan. 13, 2023. (Reuters/Henry Nicholls)

Children returning to school after an illness-ravaged December provided an unexpected, one-off boost to Britain's economy in January, when growth in output exceeded forecasts, data showed on Friday.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said Britain's economy expanded 0.3% month-on-month, after a drop of 0.5% in December — a reading that is likely to further allay recession fears, at least in the short term.

A Reuters poll of economists had pointed to growth of 0.1%.

The pound rose against the dollar and euro on the back of the figures, which showed growth was powered entirely by services — much of it due to the one-off bounce in the education sector.

“However, in the three months to January, GDP was flat and the construction sector is facing reasonably sharp contractions. This tallies with the idea that the UK economy is going to shrink overall this year, even if a technical recession is avoided,” said Sophie Lund-Yates, Lead Equity Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.Reuters contributed to this report.

Meta Platforms logo seen in Davos, Switzerland, May 22, 2022. (Reuters/Arnd Wiegmann)

Meta Platforms Inc is exploring plans to launch a new social media app in its bid to displace Twitter as the world's "digital town square".

"We're exploring a standalone decentralized social network for sharing text updates. We believe there's an opportunity for a separate space where creators and public figures can share timely updates about their interests," a Meta spokesperson told Reuters in an emailed statement.

TECHNOLOGY

Facebook parent Meta exploring new social network to rival Twitter

Meta Platforms Inc. is looking into devising a new social network that could be a competitor to Twitter. The app would allow users to share text updates.

Meta's app will be based on a similar framework that powers Mastodon, a Twitter-like service that was launched in 2016.

A Twitter-like app would allow Meta to take advantage of the current chaos at the Elon Musk-led company, where cost-cutting has been rampant.

Twitter has been struggling to hold on to its advertising base since Musk's takeover of the platform late last year. Companies have pulled back spending following Twitter's move to restore suspended accounts and release a paid account verification that resulted in scammers impersonating firms.

Allbirds has a new chief financial officer. Annie Mitchell will take over effective April 24, 2023. She will succeed Mike Bufano, who will be stepping down but will remain with the company through mid-May to ensure a smooth transition.

Separately, the sustainable footwear company reported a 13% drop in fourth quarter revenue to $84.2 million. Analysts expected $96.80 million.

The net loss widened to $24.9 million for the three months ended Dec. 31 from $10.4 million.

The quarterly adjusted loss was 12 cents​​ per share, matching the mean expectation of fourteen analysts for the quarter was for a loss of 12 cents per share.

Allbirds provided the following financial guidance targets for the first quarter of 2023:Net revenue of $45 million to $50 million, a decrease of 20% to 28% versus the first quarter of fiscal 2022.

Adjusted EBITDA3 loss of $29 million to $26 million.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Buckle Inc. on Friday reported fiscal fourth-quarter profit of $87.8 million.

On a per-share basis, the Kearney, Nebraska-based company said it had profit of $1.76.

The teen clothing retailer posted revenue of $401.8 million in the period.

For the year, the company reported profit of $254.6 million, or $5.13 per share. Revenue was reported as $1.35 billion.Buckle shares have fallen 19% since the beginning of the year. The stock has climbed roughly 3% in the last 12 months.

Pedestrian walks past a sign of Oracle in front of its office buildings in Beijing, China, Sept. 16, 2020. (Reuters/Tingshu Wang)

Oracle Corp narrowly missed quarterly revenue estimates on Thursday, but the company remained bullish on demand for its cloud software following the recent acquisition of electronic medical records firm Cerner.

On a conference call with analysts, company executives said Oracle expects to sign more healthcare customers over the next few quarters.

Cloud revenue jumped 45% to $4.1 billion in the third quarter.

However, while hybrid work has helped growth, a rally in the U.S. dollar has also hit the bottom-lines of multinational firms such as Oracle, with the company's net income in the third quarter falling to $1.89 billion from $2.32 billion a year earlier.

Oracle earned $1.22 per share on revenue of $12.39 billion in the quarter ended Feb. 28, while analysts were expecting a profit of $1.20 per share on revenue of $12.42 billion, according to Refinitiv data.

The company forecast fourth-quarter revenue to grow between 15% and 17%, compared with analysts' estimate of 16.2%.

Oracle also expects adjusted profit per share in the range of $1.56 to $1.60, above market expectations of $1.46.

ECONOMY

US job growth surges again in February as economy adds 311,000 new positions

The February payroll report released Friday provided a key snapshot of the labor market's health amid the Fed's aggressive interest rate-hike campaign.

The jobs data for February was stronger-than-expected creating another challenge for policymakers attempting to cool the U.S. economy.