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Super Micro Computers Splits Stock: Is This the Time to Buy? 2024-08-07 15:09:00+00:00 - Super Micro Computer NASDAQ: SMCI shares are imploding due to a knee-jerk reaction to weaker-than-expected margin news. However, the takeaways from the earnings report suggest that margin weakness is fleeting and that this dip is buyable. More to the point, the company’s 10-for-1 forward stock split is a signal for investors to load up on this value-building AI machine. Super Micro Computer Today SMCI Super Micro Computer $492.70 -124.24 (-20.14%) 52-Week Range $226.59 ▼ $1,229.00 P/E Ratio 27.62 Price Target $999.92 Add to Watchlist Stocks that split are well-known to outperform the S&P 500 NYSEARCA: SPY, usually by 2-to-1 over the long term, and there is a robust outlook to support this market. As tepid as the margin was, guidance was better and likely cautious, given the company’s dominating position in today’s tech market. Coincidentally, the 10-for-1 split is slated to take effect on 10/1. Get Super Micro Computer alerts: Sign Up What exactly does Super Micro Computer do? It makes data center infrastructure, including servers built on NVIDIA NASDAQ: NVDA and AMD NASDAQ: AMD AI accelerators. Because it is the leading provider of server solutions and components for data center infrastructure, investors can assume that demand for NVIDIA and AMD chips equals demand for its products. That is clearly seen in the results. Super Micro Computer Has Mixed Quarter: So What? Super Micro Computer had a mixed quarter, only relative to the analysts' inflated expectations. Analysts projected about 100% EPS growth compared to the 80% reported. Still, the miss was offset by ramping production and improving cash flow, which has the business set up to generate significant value for investors. Other highlights from the report include record demand for AI-related infrastructure products centered on next-gen technology, including DLC liquid cooling. DLC liquid cooling uses a closed-circuit system to establish a cooling loop to cut down on the massive amounts of heat generated by AI; this is important because the heat was a debilitating factor for large-scale data centers before AI, increasing the cost of operations and is now compounded by it. Super Micro Computer Stock Forecast Today 12-Month Stock Price Forecast: $921.46 79.59% Upside Hold Based on 15 Analyst Ratings High Forecast $1,500.00 Average Forecast $921.46 Low Forecast $325.00 Super Micro Computer Stock Forecast Details The cash flow, balance sheet, and guidance are why investors should look past the Q4 earnings miss. Cash flow jumped by triple digits, allowing for a 4x cash build and 4x inventory build, and is compounded by a doubling of receivables. Current and total assets are up 4x, offset to a degree by increased liability, but not by much. Equity is up 175% and likely to continue growing at a triple-digit pace in 2025. Among the causes of the bottom line weakness are expenses related to R&D and expansion plans, which will aid the company in scaling profitably and widening its margin. Regarding the guidance, the company is forecasting another year of triple-digit gains that are more significant than the consensus forecast. The company’s guide for Q1 is looking for revenue of $6.5 billion compared to the $5.5 billion analyst average target. The earnings outlook is equally strong, $8.27 versus $7.68, with strength expected to build sequentially. The full-year outlook includes an expectation for revenue nearly double the average analyst forecast, and it may be cautious. No reason to flee this market now. Analysts Forecast 50% Upside for Super Micro Computer Some analysts are lowering their price targets for SMCI stock because of the margin miss. However, the takeaway from the data is bullish because coverage is rising, nearly tripling the number of analysts over the last year, and the consensus target implies a 50% upside. The lowest fresh target is $700, sufficient for a 15% upside, and the revisions include at least one reiterated target above $1000. The price action may experience volatility while the market adjusts to the news. However, the uptrend in this stock is still intact, likely to be reinvigorated by stock-split-inspired value-seeking bottom-fishers. Following the release, the price action in SMCI was bearish, shaving more than 10% off the stock’s price. If the market doesn’t begin to rebound immediately, it could fall to the $450 range to align with the uptrend line before buyers enter the market. The risk is that SMCI stock will fall below trend and continue to move lower, but this is not expected due to the robust outlook for growth and improving shareholder value. Before you consider Super Micro Computer, you'll want to hear this. MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Super Micro Computer wasn't on the list. While Super Micro Computer currently has a "Hold" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. View The Five Stocks Here

Trump Dangles New Tax Cut Proposals With Real Political Appeal 2024-08-07 15:06:12+00:00 - First it was a tax cut for hotel and restaurant workers in Nevada, a swing state where Donald J. Trump proposed exempting tips from taxes. Then, in front of powerful chief executives gathered in Washington, Mr. Trump floated cutting the corporate tax rate, helping to ease concerns in the business community about his candidacy. Now Mr. Trump is calling for an end to taxing Social Security benefits, which could be a boon for retirees, one of the most politically important groups in the United States. Repeatedly during the campaign, Mr. Trump and Republicans have embraced new, sometimes novel tax cuts in an attempt to shore up support with major constituencies. In a series of social-media posts, at political rallies, and without formal policy proposals, Mr. Trump has casually suggested reducing federal revenue by trillions of dollars. While policy experts have taken issue with the ideas, Mr. Trump’s pronouncements have real political appeal, at times putting Democrats on their back foot. Nevada’s two Democratic senators and its powerful culinary union have endorsed ending taxes on tips. The AARP supports tax relief for seniors receiving Social Security benefits, though it has not taken a position on Mr. Trump’s proposal.

Disney returns to profit as streaming service and Inside Out 2 boost income 2024-08-07 15:00:00+00:00 - Disney returned to a profitable third quarter as its combined streaming business started making money for the first time and the movie Inside Out 2 did well in theaters. Operating income for the entertainment segment nearly tripled to $1.2bn thanks to better performances from its direct-to-consumer and content sales/licensing and Other segments. The Walt Disney Co earned $2.62bn, or $1.43 per share, in the period ended 29 June. A year earlier, it lost $460m, or 25 cents per share. Total revenue for the Burbank, California, company rose 4% to $23.16bn, beating Wall Street’s estimate of $22.91bn. The company made $254m in operating income from content sales and licensing – helped by the strong performance of Inside Out 2 at movie theaters, which is now the highest-grossing animated film of all time. Disney+ said the original Inside Out, which came out in 2015, helped drive more than 1.3m Disney+ sign-ups and generated over 100m views worldwide since the first Inside Out 2 teaser trailer dropped. The combined streaming businesses, which includes Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+, achieved profitability for the first time thanks to a strong three months for ESPN+ and a better-than-expected quarterly performance from the direct-to-consumer unit. Disney said in May that it expected its overall streaming business to soften in the third quarter, due to its platform in India, Disney+ Hotstar. The company also said at the time that it anticipated its combined streaming businesses to be profitable in the fourth quarter, so the money-making quarter was a surprise. In the Experiences division, which includes theme parks, revenue climbed 3% in the third quarter. International rose 5%. Domestic parks and experiences operating income fell 6%, while international operating income edged up 2%. Disney said that the decline in operating revenue for domestic parks and experiences was because of increased costs driven by inflation, technology spending and new guest offerings. The company cautioned that the moderation in demand it saw in its domestic parks in the third quarter could linger for the next few quarters. It anticipates fourth-quarter Experiences operating income falling by mid single digits compared with the prior-year period, due to the domestic parks moderation, as well as cyclical softening in China and fewer people at Disneyland Paris due to the impact of the Olympics on normal consumer travel. Disney now anticipates full-year adjusted earnings per share growth of 30%. Shares in the company sank 3% during early trading in New York on Wednesday.

Chemical used in rocket fuel is widespread in food, Consumer Reports finds 2024-08-07 14:50:00+00:00 - Consumer Reports states plastic chemicals being found in varying foods Consumer Reports states plastic chemicals being found in varying foods 02:02 A chemical used in rocket fuel and fireworks is also found in an array of food products, particularly those popular with babies and children, according to findings released Wednesday by Consumer Reports. The tests by the advocacy group come decades after the chemical, called perchlorate, was first identified as a contaminant in food and water. The Environmental Working Group in 2003 found perchlorate in nearly 20% of supermarket lettuce tested. Linked to potential brain damage in fetuses and newborns and thyroid troubles in adults, perchlorate was detected in measurable levels of 67% of 196 samples of 63 grocery and 10 fast-food products, the most recent tests by Consumer Reports found. The levels detected ranged from just over two parts per billion (ppb) to 79 ppb. Foods often consumed by children had the highest levels of perchlorate, averaging 19.4 ppb, while fresh fruit and vegetables as well as fast food also contained elevated amounts. In reviewing packaging types, foods in plastic containers had the highest levels, averaging nearly 55 ppb, followed by foods in plastic wrap and paperboard, Consumer Reports said. Specific concerns for kids The Environmental Protection Agency in 2005 set a reference dose for perchlorate of 0.7 micrograms per kilogram of bodyweight a day, while the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) established a tolerable daily intake of half that amount. None of the foods tested by Consumer Reports contained levels surpassing either agency's suggested daily limits. That said, concerns remain, according to the Consumer Reports. "[W]e all eat more than a few servings of food per day, and children — due to their lower body weight — may be particularly at risk," CR stated in its findings. "For a child between one and two years old, a serving of the boxed mac and cheese we tested would hit nearly 50% of the EFSA limit, and servings of the baby rice cereal, baby multigrain cereal and organic yogurt we tested would each hit about a quarter of that limit." A serving (typically about three-quarters of a cup) of cucumbers, baby carrots and collard greens would each exceed 50% of the EFSA daily limit of perchlorate for kids between 1 and 2 years of age, making it fairly easy for young children to consume relatively high levels each day, CR said. "Feeding your children a wide variety of healthy foods is the best way to make sure they get the nutrients they need and to minimize the potentially harmful effects of contaminants in food and water," said James Rogers, CR's director of product safety. The nonprofit organization noted that its tests did not reveal why some foods had higher levels of perchlorate than others, but anti-static plastic could be part of the reason in some packaged goods. Separately, CR researchers stated that fresh produce could contain perchlorate if irrigated with contaminated water. Most drinking water contamination comes from the manufacture, disposal and research of propellants, explosives and pyrotechnics, along with accidental releases from factories and rocket launch failures, according to the National Institutes of Health's Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

Nuclear Power Giant's Shares Jump on Raised Full-Year Guidance 2024-08-07 14:24:00+00:00 - Constellation Energy Today CEG Constellation Energy $179.66 -1.38 (-0.76%) 52-Week Range $102.40 ▼ $236.30 Dividend Yield 0.78% P/E Ratio 23.99 Price Target $232.00 Add to Watchlist Constellation Energy NASDAQ: CEG is an energy stock that has benefited significantly from the artificial intelligence rally, with a total return of 57% so far in 2024. The fact that about 67% of the company's energy-producing capacity is from nuclear power plants has spearheaded its rise. Nuclear power is one of the preferred types of energy sources for data centers, and the company has the nation's largest nuclear fleet. This has led to its shares vastly outperforming its sector this year; the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund NYSEARCA: XLE has returned just 6%. Get Constellation Energy alerts: Sign Up Constellation's Operations, Opportunities and Advantages The company reported Q2 2024 financial results on August 6, 2024. The market reacted positively, with shares up over 6% after the release. First, let's detail the firm's operations and some of its strategic advantages. Then, we'll dig into those results and examine the stock's outlook. Constellation Energy is the leading provider of carbon-free energy in the United States. In addition to nuclear power, 7% of its capacity is from renewables, including hydroelectric dams and wind or solar farms. Additionally, 26% comes from natural gas and oil plants. The company has some geographic diversity. 76% of its capacity is in the New York/Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions of the U.S. It also has a significant presence in Texas. A point of note for the firm is that as of year-end 2023, only 12.4% of its total capacity is under contract to supply large customers. The firm sells the power generated that is not under contract to the power grid. This leaves a large opportunity for the firm to grow its contractual relationships and bring in more revenue. This is because non-contracted supply often has price caps set by regulators. However, contracted energy supply prices can rise higher. This lets companies boost revenue based on market conditions. With energy demand expected to grow 2.4% annually through 2030, increasing contracted supply allows firms to benefit more from rising prices. To understand Constellation's rise, we must know why data center operators prefer nuclear power. Nuclear power offers the best of both worlds when it comes to power generation: reliability and sustainability. Data centers must run 24/7, and nuclear energy can generate power at any time, regardless of whether the sun is shining or the wind is blowing. Additionally, nuclear energy has a low-carbon footprint compared to fossil fuels, which is an increasingly important metric for companies to minimize. This is especially important because data centers use so much energy. Data centers used 3% of all U.S. energy in 2022, and experts expect that number to rise to 8% by 2030. Constellation Raises Guidance on Higher Energy Prices Constellation’s adjusted earnings-per-share (EPS) came in at $1.68, slightly below analysts' expectations of $1.69. This was an increase of 2.4% from the previous year. Revenue also missed by $70 million, coming in at $5.48 billion, an increase of less than 1% from last year. Constellation Energy Stock Forecast Today 12-Month Stock Price Forecast: $231.50 27.25% Upside Moderate Buy Based on 11 Analyst Ratings High Forecast $250.00 Average Forecast $231.50 Low Forecast $212.00 Constellation Energy Stock Forecast Details The big positive news and the reason shares jumped was the firm’s raised full-year adjusted EPS guidance. The company raised its midpoint guidance for the figure nearly 5%, up to $8. This midpoint was 3% higher than analysts had expected. This guidance increase was largely due to news from PJM Interconnection, a grid operator. It said electricity prices in its latest auction rose by 800% from last year due to supply and demand imbalances. The capacity factor of the company’s nuclear fleet, excluding two plants, increased by 3% to 95.4% from Q2 2023. The capacity factor shows the percentage of total energy capacity that plants are actually generating. This increase shows higher efficiency in the operation of these plants. Constellation: Essential to Discovering AI's Potential When it comes to fears related to the AI bubble, Constellation is a firm that has less to worry about. Giant tech companies are not slowing down their investments in AI despite market fears. There is great concern that utility companies are not keeping up with the power demand that AI will create in the future. Constellation will benefit from constrained supply. Even if AI investments don’t pay off in world-changing ways, the energy needed to discover them still has to be supplied. With AI still in its infancy, companies like Constellation are likely to have a long leash on which to run. Constellation Energy Co. (CEG) Price Chart for Wednesday, August, 7, 2024 Before you consider Constellation Energy, you'll want to hear this. MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Constellation Energy wasn't on the list. While Constellation Energy currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. View The Five Stocks Here

Stocks fall as comeback rally falters, Dow lower by 100 points 2024-08-07 14:13:00+00:00 - Stocks slipped into the red as markets closed Wednesday, losing gains from earlier in the day as Wall Street failed to recoup losses from Monday’s massive sell-off. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 163 points, or 0.4%. The S&P 500 declined 0.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.7%. Earlier in Wednesday’s trading session, the Dow rallied more than 300 points. The broad S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq were also higher on the day before turning negative. A rollover in Nvidia and other big technology stocks following an early jump led to the major averages rolling over in the afternoon. Nvidia pulled back 3.5%, while shares of Super Micro Computer tumbled more than 20% after the server company’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings missed analyst estimates. Tesla also lost 3.4% and Meta Platforms shed 0.2%. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield continued its climb and rose 5 basis points to 3.94%. This marked a return to its level prior to the weak jobs numbers on Friday that raised concerns of an economic downturn. The Cboe Volatility Index, known as Wall Street’s “fear gauge,” was last trading at 28.3 after falling to as low as 22 earlier on Wednesday. The sharp decline from near 65 on Monday indicates investors’ fears are abating, but still remain elevated from their initial levels at the start of the month. “There’s been some reassurance over the last couple days that things have calmed down a bit. But there are still quite a few unknowns on the horizon, such as how much more unwind there is on the yen carry trade, as well as geopolitical headwinds,” said Charlie Ripley, senior investment strategist at Allianz Investment Management. On Tuesday, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq each advanced 1%, while the 30-stock Dow added nearly 300 points on Tuesday. On Monday, the Dow and the broad-market S&P 500 posted their worst session since 2022, fueled by recession worries and the unwinding of the yen carry trade.

Airbnb Stock: Key Drivers Indicate Bright Future Despite Sell-Off 2024-08-07 14:07:00+00:00 - The stock market has been on a whipsaw in the past few trading days. As the so-called “Carry Trade” is now unwound in Japan after that country’s central bank hiked interest rates, the bottom for the S&P 500 is now further away than most had initially thought. Of course, when markets sell off, they don’t take any prisoners, and even stocks with strong fundamentals get dragged down. Airbnb Today ABNB Airbnb $113.01 -17.46 (-13.38%) 52-Week Range $110.38 ▼ $170.10 P/E Ratio 15.13 Price Target $153.58 Add to Watchlist One of these victims today is Airbnb Inc. NASDAQ: ABNB. This stock plummeted 14% after the market closed on Tuesday, even after reporting strong second-quarter 2024 earnings results. As bearish as this price action may seem, it presents the perfect example for investors to consider giving Airbnb a second look, especially as the American tourism industry is about to rally on a weaker dollar ahead. Get Booking alerts: Sign Up Though taking a weak dollar view might seem unpatriotic, none other than Warren Buffett has taken it, as Berkshire Hathaway Inc. NYSE: BRK.A reported to have sold half of its stake in Apple Inc. NASDAQ: AAPL and also closed some of its position in Bank of America Co. NYSE: BAC. But this doesn’t have to mean bad news for everyone, namely for Airbnb stock in the following quarters. All the Key Drivers Accelerating Airbnb Stock Higher Each industry and company has its own set of key performance indicators (KPIs), which investors and analysts always consider when making their decisions and recommendations. Here are a few of these indicators, or drivers, that are pushing the envelope for Airbnb. As in any other business, revenue leads the way. Airbnb reported 11% revenue growth over the past 12 months, but that’s not the only exciting thing inside the company’s press release. Free cash flow (operating cash flow minus capital expenditures), the lifeblood of any business, jumped by 16% over the year to reach $1 billion, translating into a 41% net income margin. Given that Airbnb is still relatively young, this is surely a welcoming sign since free cash flow typically leads to shareholder benefits like buybacks and dividends. But before investors dig deeper into the financial implications, here is what happened underneath the hood to enable these metrics to rise in the first place. Gross Booking Value (GBV) rose by 11% over the year, which basically means that the average daily rate in Airbnb locations went up, even ahead of rental inflation in most countries. Despite these rising prices, users couldn’t put a price on the freedom and flexibility that Airbnb offers, so investors will see a 9% increase in net bookings over the year. This is not expected to stop, as there was a 25% annual increase in global downloads for the Airbnb app or users to be monetized down the line. Investors and Wall Street See the Benefits of Sticking with Airbnb Stock With the newfound profitability, seen in a full 12 months of positive free cash flow, Airbnb management started rewarding its shareholders. How? Up to $749 million was allocated toward share repurchases, the most tax-efficient way for investors to get a reward. Airbnb Stock Forecast Today 12-Month Stock Price Forecast: $143.70 28.80% Upside Hold Based on 27 Analyst Ratings High Forecast $200.00 Average Forecast $143.70 Low Forecast $100.00 Airbnb Stock Forecast Details This is why Wall Street analysts feel comfortable forecasting up to 14.8% earnings per share (EPS) growth for Airbnb in the next 12 months. More than that, those at Benchmark see a price target as high as $190 a share for Airbnb stock, daring it to rally by 45.6% from where it trades today (plus or minus 12% as it sold off after hours). Despite a global stock market sell-off currently taking place, Airbnb short sellers are still showing signs of bearish capitulation. Over the past month, Airbnb stock's short interest declined by 9.9% as short sellers opened the way for bullish investors to take their place. So, knowing that there is so much bullish evidence supporting Airbnb stock's reaching new highs, why has the company shredded a few million in market capitalization after the quarterly results? Misconceptions Create Opportunities for Airbnb Stock The stock is selling off after a stellar quarter because management issued a slight warning about its future outlook. An expected decline in U.S. guests is causing a double-digit sell-off, but here’s why that threat might never be realized. As the weaker dollar bet becomes increasingly popular on Wall Street, investors need to understand one thing. Foreign currencies will strengthen as a direct effect of the dollar becoming weaker, which means that investors might expect a lot of overseas tourists to come to places like Disney World, New York, California, and other American destinations. With Airbnb’s global reach and popularity on the rise, this might actually turn out to be a potential earnings beat for the next quarter, erasing some—if not most—of the fears instilled by these negative U.S. demand comments. This is why, unlike other business services sector stocks like Booking Holdings Inc. NASDAQ: BNKG, Airbnb stock trades at a price-to-sales (P/S) premium. A 7.2x valuation for Airbnb will be roughly 42% above Booking’s 5.1x. There is typically a good reason for stocks to trade at premiums over peers; now investors know why that is. Airbnb, Inc. (ABNB) Price Chart for Wednesday, August, 7, 2024 Before you consider Booking, you'll want to hear this. MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Booking wasn't on the list. While Booking currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. View The Five Stocks Here

Investors push Glencore to scrap spin-off of heavily polluting coal division 2024-08-07 13:17:00+00:00 - Glencore has scrapped plans to spin off its coal business after shareholders urged the commodities company to hold on to the highly profitable but heavily polluting division. The FTSE 100 company said that an overwhelming majority of its shareholders favoured retaining the coal business over its plan to list the division as a separate company on the New York stock exchange. More than 95% of Glencore’s investors favoured keeping the business primarily on the basis that the fossil fuel would enhance the company’s “cash-generating capacity”, which would “accelerate and optimise the return of excess cashflows to shareholders”, the company said. “They recognise that cash is king,” said Gary Nagle, the company’s chief executive. Nagle drew up the now defunct restructuring plan last year, saying it would help create more shareholder value for both companies by listing them in separate markets. Under the plans, Glencore was expected to merge its own coal business with the steelmaking coal division of its recent acquisition, Canada’s Teck Resources, and list the new company in New York. Glencore emerged as one of many fossil fuel companies expecting to tap the US markets, where investors tend to take a more lenient view on polluting companies than many European investors. Tribeca Investment Partners, an Australian hedge fund, wrote to Glencore earlier this year to urge the company to keep hold of its coal division and move its primary market listing from the UK to Australia, where it employs more than 17,000 staff at a string of coalmines across the country. The hedge fund said the London Stock Exchange was “no longer the home of mining” due to the “low appetite for mining investment” among climate-conscious European investors. However, Nagle said the industry was now a “dynamic space” in which views on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues had “moved materially”. He said: “The ESG pendulum has swung back over the last nine to 12 months. The world has recognised the need for coal as we decarbonise.” skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Business Today Free daily newsletter Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning Enter your email address Sign up Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion The comments are likely to anger green groups that have campaigned against coal on the grounds it is one of the most polluting fossil fuels, and a leading contributor to the rise in global emissions, which has hastened the climate crisis. Glencore confirmed the board would heed the calls of its shareholders to retain the coal division, despite its heavy carbon footprint, alongside a 33% slump in its underlying profits for the first half of the year to $6.3bn (£5bn) compared with $9.4bn in the same months last year. The company’s former executives, including its billionaire former head of oil trading, have recently been charged with conspiring to make corrupt payments to benefit the firm’s oil operations in West Africa between 2007 and 2014. Alex Beard, who ran Glencore’s oil division from 2007 until his retirement in 2019, will face charges alongside the former Glencore executives Andrew Gibson, Paul Hopkirk, Ramon Labiaga and Martin Wakefield after a long-running Serious Fraud Office investigation into allegations of bribery at the company. Nagle said Glencore now has a “best in class, gold-standard compliance programme” that has created a “responsible and ethical” business. “It’s something we work on every day,” he said.

Novo Nordisk cuts profit outlook after weaker sales of weight-loss drug Wegovy 2024-08-07 13:12:00+00:00 - Novo Nordisk has cut its annual profit expectations after posting weaker-than-expected sales of its weight-loss drug Wegovy, fuelling investor concerns over growing competition and sending its shares lower. The Danish drugmaker’s market value has soared over the past year, making it the most valuable company in Europe, on the back of the success of its obesity and diabetes injections Wegovy and Ozempic, used by celebrities including Elon Musk and Oprah Winfrey. However, the company is facing increasing competition from its US rival Eli Lilly’s drugs Zepbound and Mounjaro. Sales of Wegovy, the first of a new generation of weight-loss drugs known as GLP-1s that mimic a gut hormone to suppress appetite, grew by 55% to 11.66bn Danish kroner (£1.3bn) in the April to June quarter, well below the 13.54bn forecast by analysts. Sales of Ozempic, a diabetes drug based on the same active ingredient as Wegovy, narrowly missed expectations, and overall second-quarter profit was below estimates. For 2024 as a whole, Novo Nordisk cut its operating profit forecast to between 20% and 28%, down from 22% to 30%, excluding currency effects. It raised its sales growth estimate slightly to between 22% and 28%, from 19% to 27%. The chief financial officer, Karsten Munk Knudsen, said that an adjustment of rebates related to estimates the company made on last year’s sales hit sales of Wegovy in the second quarter and described it as a “quarterly blip”. The shares, which have soared 230% over the past three years, fell as much as 7.7% in early trading and were down 3.6% later on Wednesday. However, the boom in demand for weight-loss drugs has outstripped Novo Nordisk’s ability to produce enough of the products. The company said the cuts to forecasts were a result of “expected, continued periodic supply constraints”. Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, the drugmaker’s chief executive, shrugged off concerns over competition from Eli Lilly. “I don’t see the competitive dynamics, at least for the foreseeable future, really having a big impact on how we drive sales,” he said. Markus Manns, a portfolio manager at Union Investment in Germany, which is a shareholder in Novo Nordisk, said the results were “in sharp contrast to the massive sales and earnings beats we have seen last year”. Sheena Berry, a healthcare analyst at the investment management firm Quilter Cheviot, said: “Ultimately, expectations for Novo Nordisk are high. The obesity story has dominated the narrative in healthcare since the end of the Covid boom and Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have been the big winners. “Novo also trades at such a significant premium to peers that it can’t afford messy quarters. But the growth outlook remains impressive, and some of the supply constraints will continue to subside. There is no fundamental issue here, just not a quarter of clean delivery, but investors will watch this closely.” skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Business Today Free daily newsletter Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning Enter your email address Sign up Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion Eli Lilly will report its second-quarter results on Thursday. Its diabetes treatment tirzepatide, marketed as Mounjaro, was approved for obesity at the beginning of this month, giving patients and doctors what the medical regulator said was a more effective alternative to semaglutide, better known as Wegovy. Novo Nordisk is working on new drugs such as CagriSema, a combination therapy in late-stage clinical trials that will compare it with the efficacy and safety of Eli Lilly’s Zepbound. Both companies have struggled to keep up with the runaway demand for their drugs, and Novo Nordisk is trying to scale up manufacturing capacity by building or acquiring new manufacturing sites. Competition in the obesity drug market is heating up. Last month, the Swiss drugmaker Roche released positive results in an early-stage trial of a once-daily obesity pill. Wegovy was approved in China in June. Novo Nordisk said it had withdrawn its submission to US and European regulators for approval of Wegovy for treatment of heart failure and kidney disease and plans to resubmit with additional data at the start of next year.

Elon Musk Clashes With Keir Starmer Over Riots in Britain 2024-08-07 12:06:22+00:00 - As he tries to quell violent outbreaks across Britain, Prime Minister Keir Starmer is also embroiled in a war of words with Elon Musk, the tech billionaire and owner of the social media platform X. Over the past few days, Mr. Musk has posted incendiary comments and shared memes and videos about the riots in Britain to his more than 193 million followers on X. Violence has flared in towns across the country over the past week amid widespread misinformation after a deadly stabbing attack in Southport, England, last week, in which three girls died at a dance class. “Civil war is inevitable,” Mr. Musk posted on X on Sunday in response to a video that showed small fires in the streets, fireworks being set off and rioters confronting the police. A spokesperson for Mr. Starmer said there was “no justification” for Mr. Musk’s comments. Since then, Mr. Musk has continued to post comments directed at the prime minister.

A Walzonomics Primer 2024-08-07 12:03:37.189000+00:00 - Where Harris’s running mate stands on the issues It’s been nearly 24 hours since Kamala Harris announced Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota as her running mate, catapulting him into the national spotlight. Unlike other candidates for the position, including Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, the Midwestern politician hasn’t been closely scrutinized — until now. Here’s where he stands on some key business issues. Taxes: Under Walz, Minnesota has adopted a “moderately progressive tax system,” according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. As governor, he approved lowering taxes for middle- and lower-income Minnesotans, including via rebates and a child tax credit. Those were funded by rises elsewhere, including a 1 percent surtax on capital gains, dividends and other investment income over $1 million a year, and higher taxes on multinationals’ overseas income.

New York Times Reports 13.6% Jump in Profit 2024-08-07 11:10:22+00:00 - The New York Times Company added about 300,000 new digital subscribers in the second quarter of the year, the company announced on Wednesday, propelling a 13.6 percent year-over-year increase in earnings. The company’s adjusted operating profit for the quarter, from April through June, rose to $104.7 million from $92.2 million a year before. Overall revenue increased 5.8 percent, to $625.1 million, compared with the same period in 2023. The Times now has more than 10.8 million total subscribers, of which 10.2 million are digital-only subscribers. The company has said it has a goal of 15 million subscribers by the end of 2027. A growing number of the digital subscribers — now nearly half — subscribe to more than one of The Times’s products, which include the news report, games, recipes, the Wirecutter review site and The Athletic, a sports news website. Meredith Kopit Levien, chief executive of the Times Company, said in a statement that the combination of The Times’s journalism and its lifestyle products gave the company “complementary offerings” with multiple opportunities for growth.

Super Micro gives margin, profit forecast below estimates; volatile shares down 14% 2024-08-07 05:54:00+00:00 - (Reuters) -Super Micro Computer reported fourth-quarter adjusted gross margin below analysts' estimates on Tuesday, as high costs associated with transitioning to newer AI chips weighed on the server maker's profits. Its shares, which have more than doubled this year on expectations of booming AI computing demand, swung wildly after announcements of the results and a stock split. They initially jumped 12% in extended trading before reversing course to trade down 14%. The company also forecast profit below many Wall Street targets but guided first-quarter and annual sales above estimates. "The initial aftermarket reaction was better than I thought it would be," said Running Point Capital chief investment officer Michael Ashley Schulman. "The focus must have been on the higher than expected 2025 estimates, but as you dig through the numbers, all the actual misses and especially the much lower-than-expected gross margin may make portfolio managers question whether management can effectively and efficiently scale to handle the growth." An executive on a conference call with investors said that margins would return to a normal range before the end of fiscal 2025. The company's fourth-quarter adjusted gross margin was 11.3% compared to analysts' average estimates of 14.1%, according to LSEG data. It expects adjusted profit between $6.69 to $8.27 per share for the first quarter, the midpoint of which is below estimates of $7.58. Analysts have questioned the company's hefty spending on supporting a new generations of AI chips, such as those sold by Nvidia, and whether these would help cushion profit margins with high-enough price tags. Still, the optimistic revenue forecast may also help allay some concerns of the AI rally tapering off, following disappointing results from large cloud providers including Microsoft and weak macroeconomic data that prompted a selloff in chip stocks last week. Super Micro expects net sales between $6 billion to $7 billion for the first quarter, compared to analysts' average estimate of $5.46 billion, according to LSEG data. (Reporting by Arsheeya Bajwa in Bengaluru)

Jim Cramer Says Go With Trump If 'You Care About Your Paycheck:' Is Ex-President Really Taxpayer Friendly? 2024-08-07 05:15:00+00:00 - Jim Cramer Says Go With Trump If 'You Care About Your Paycheck:' Is Ex-President Really Taxpayer Friendly? CNBC Mad Money host Jim Cramer has said in the past that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is good for one’s investment portfolio. On Monday, the stock picker said a Trump White House could also be good for income earners. What Happened: “If you're in the stock market, if you care about your paycheck, you go with Trump,” Cramer said while appearing on Squawk Box. “That's what you do,” he said. Don't Miss: The average American couple has saved this much money for retirement — How do you compare ? Can you guess how many Americans successfully retire with $1,000,000 saved? The percentage may shock you. Offering the rationale for the view, Cramer told Squawk Box host David Faber that the former president would cut taxes on income. Faber countered him saying his taxes were raised enormously during the previous Trump administration, adding that he lived in a blue-walled state. Incidentally, in a late-July episode of Mad Money show, which he hosts, Cramer said Vice President Kamala Harris, who is pitched against Trump, is an ideal candidate for investors looking to put their money in tech or international stocks. “If you're looking to invest in tech, you want a world where tech has a voice in Washington, not slashed vocal chords under Trump or on mute under Biden” and also "If you own many stocks of international companies and you want to vote your portfolio, Harris is more likely to help than hurt,” he said. Trending: Can you guess which type of investments Morgan Stanley says will reach $2.7 trillion by 2027? It even offers up to 20% APY potential to accredited investors up to $300 back in bonus for new users. Why It’s Important: The Trump campaign’s economic policy envisages a reduction in federal corporate taxes from the current 21%. It was rumored that his team floated the idea of imposing tariffs in order to make up for lost revenues from lowered taxes. The gravitation of the so-called billionaire boys or Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and businessmen toward Trump is partly inspired by expectations that he would pursue pro-business policies and advocate less stringent regulations. See Also: Amid the ongoing EV revolution, previously overlooked low-income communities now harbor a huge investment opportunity at just $500. Unlike what Cramer suggested, it isn’t very clear whether Trump will go on to downwardly adjust individual income taxes. Economist and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said the former president’s tariff proposals are the biggest supply shock that will likely push up prices of not just imported goods but all goods that compete with those imported. Story continues Trending: Elon Musk’s secret mansion in Austin revealed through court filings. Here’s how to invest in the city’s growth before prices go back up. The Republican candidate’s immigration policy would mean greater labor restrictions, potentially causing wage inflation, while scaling back energy subsidies will increase energy costs, he said. Summers sees increased inflation and inflation expectations, prompting the Fed to act to prove its credibility. “This could easily be a prescription for a 10% mortgage rate,” he added. After Harris replaced President Joe Biden as the Democratic candidate, Trump has ceded the advantage he had and trails behind the vice president in several nationwide polls. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY), an exchange-traded fund that tracks the performance of the S&P 500 Index, rose 0.90% to $522.04, according to Benzinga Pro data. The index is up 9.54% for the year despite the sell-off seen in the recent weeks. Check This Out: Miami is expected to take New York's place as the U.S. Financial Capital. Here's how you can invest in the city before that happens . This investment company boasts a 35.14% internal rate of return (IRR) for its realized projects, allowing accredited investors to earn passive returns and avoid the headaches of being a landlord. "ACTIVE INVESTORS' SECRET WEAPON" Supercharge Your Stock Market Game with the #1 "news & everything else" trading tool: Benzinga Pro - Click here to start Your 14-Day Trial Now! Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? This article Jim Cramer Says Go With Trump If 'You Care About Your Paycheck:' Is Ex-President Really Taxpayer Friendly? originally appeared on Benzinga.com

Global stock volatility hits the presidential election, with Trump decrying a 'Kamala Crash' 2024-08-07 05:10:00+00:00 - WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is hoping a dramatic sell-off in the U.S. stock market creates an opening to attack his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris, over who is best positioned to shepherd the economy. Trump’s campaign labeled the Monday drop as a “Kamala Crash,” a message designed to undercut the energy created by the vice president's entrance into the race. But Wall Street recovered on Tuesday as stocks posted gains. Several economists said the economic data disprove Trump's comments about a coming crisis, as unemployment remains relatively low and inflation has eased. For Trump, who has long broken with political norms by openly encouraging market volatility that he hopes will boost his candidacy, the turmoil was a chance to highlight his credentials as a businessman. Trump’s allies and outside strategists have long urged him to focus more on pocketbook issues that resonate with voters beyond the GOP base. Americans are more likely to think Trump’s presidency helped the country with job creation and cost of living compared to President Joe Biden’s administration, according to an AP-NORC poll conducted in April. It’s unclear whether the stock market volatility points to more serious economic trouble worldwide that could distract from Harris’ core campaign themes, such as protecting abortion rights and presenting Trump as a threat to Americans' freedom. For now, many economists say major investors are less interested in the presidential race than what happens at the Federal Reserve, where pressure is building to cut benchmark interest rates. "We have an economy that is still moving forward,” said Gregory Daco, chief economist at the consultancy EY-Parthenon. “The panic that we’re seeing in the markets — which may already be subsiding — is an overblown interpretation of the Fed being behind the curve, rather than weak economic fundamentals.” Trump has long staked his campaign on the markets Trump wrote more than a dozen posts on his social media network on Monday about the markets and U.S. economic policy, along with a video by the Republican’s campaign that seeks to yoke Harris to the market headlines and President Biden, who ended his reelection bid last month. The video features Harris saying, “Bidenomics is working” juxtaposed with news commentators describing the stock market decline. “VOTERS HAVE A CHOICE — TRUMP PROSPERITY, OR THE KAMALA CRASH & GREAT DEPRESSION OF 2024,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social account. Trump has proposed ramping up energy production and making tips and Social Security payments exempt from income taxes. That message has at times been drowned out by a flurry of news — including a gunman trying to assassinate him at a July rally — and by his own mix of messages and personal attacks on issues like Harris’ racial identity. Story continues Monday's stock market drop as well as higher price levels for groceries and gasoline during Biden's presidency were evidence of failed policies, argued Chris LaCivita, a Trump campaign senior adviser. “The bottom line is the chickens are coming home to roost and it’s undeniable. The impacts of bad policy are undeniable,” he said. “This enables us to demonstrate and to show, again, this is what bad policy brings.” The Harris campaign declined to comment. But Trump's remarks drew condemnation from some Democrats for seeming to cheer for a downturn that, were it to come to pass, could cause millions to lose their jobs or see their retirement savings suffer. “It’s a foolish judgment not supported by any serious analysis of data,” said Harvard University economist Larry Summers, a former treasury secretary during Bill Clinton’s presidency. “While there’s increased uncertainty and risk in the economy, it’s just wildly irresponsible to say this is going to be causing a depression.” Trump has a history of claiming credit for the markets whether they rise or fall. In 2020, he said that the stock market would crash if he was not reelected that year. He was not reelected. The S&P 500 stock index has climbed roughly 35% during Biden’s presidency. In early January of this year, Trump said in an interview with the late Lou Dobbs that “when there’s a crash, I hope it’s going to be during this next 12 months because I don’t want to be Herbert Hoover.” Later that same month, as the S&P 500 hit another record high, Trump sought to take credit for it. “THIS IS THE TRUMP STOCK MARKET BECAUSE MY POLLS AGAINST BIDEN ARE SO GOOD THAT INVESTORS ARE PROJECTING THAT I WILL WIN, AND THAT WILL DRIVE THE MARKET UP,” Trump said on social media. Lower markets can bring good and bad news The financial markets are something of a double-edged sword: Lower stock prices hurt people’s retirement savings and prompt them to spend less, but the selloff has also accompanied falling interest rates and oil prices — which could help relieve some of the inflationary pressures felt by consumers that have hurt Democrats politically. Indeed, the markets responded to the selloff by betting the Fed will be more aggressive in slashing interest rates to support the economy, something that Trump has previously warned the U.S. central bank against because he thinks it could help Harris. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool estimates a 0.5% cut in the Fed’s benchmark rate at its next meeting in September, twice as large as a week ago. A rate cut at that level would almost certainly contribute to lower interest rates for mortgages and auto loans — a potential boost for Harris’ campaign just as voting begins. The Federal Reserve’s chair and vice chair are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, but the central bank acts independently of the White House in setting rates.

Airbnb sinks on disappointing Q3 revenue outlook 2024-08-07 04:25:00+00:00 - Airbnb reported second quarter revenue of $2.75 billion which was about in line with the expected $2.74 billion. For Q3, the company expects revenue between $3.67 billion and $3.73 billion, which is short of the $3.84 billion Wall Street was expecting. In the shareholder letter, the company writes, "we are seeing shorter booking lead times globally and some signs of slowing demand from U.S. guests." Market Domination Overtime anchors Julie Hyman and Josh Lipton along with Interactive Brokers Chief Strategist Steve Sosnick discuss the report in the video above. For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Market Domination Overtime. This post was written by Stephanie Mikulich.

Bloomberg makes $600 million contribution to 4 Black medical schools 2024-08-06 22:38:00+00:00 - Michael Bloomberg's organization Bloomberg Philanthropies is announcing a $600 million gift to the endowments of four historically Black medical schools. Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor and the billionaire founder of Bloomberg LP, will make the announcement Tuesday in New York at the annual convention of the National Medical Association, an organization that advocates for African American physicians. "This gift will empower new generations of Black doctors to create a healthier and more equitable future for our country," Bloomberg said in a statement. Black Americans fare worse in measures of health compared with white Americans, an Associated Press series reported last year. Experts believe increasing the representation among doctors is one solution that could disrupt these long-standing inequities. In 2022, only 6% of U.S. physicians were Black, even though Black Americans represent 13% of the population. The gifts are among the largest private donations to any historically Black college or university, with $175 million each going to Howard University College of Medicine, Meharry Medical College and Morehouse School of Medicine. Charles Drew University of Medicine & Science will receive $75 million. Xavier University of Louisiana, which is opening a new medical school, will also receive a $5 million grant. The donations will more than double the size of three of the medical schools' endowments, Bloomberg Philanthropies said. The commitment follows a $1 billion pledge Bloomberg made in July to Johns Hopkins University that will mean most medical students there will no longer pay tuition. The four historically Black medical schools are still deciding with Bloomberg Philanthropies how the latest gifts to their endowments will be used, said Garnesha Ezediaro, who leads Bloomberg Philanthropies' Greenwood Initiative. The initiative, named after the community that was destroyed during the race massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma more than 100 years ago, was initially part of Bloomberg's campaign as a Democratic candidate for president in 2020. After he withdrew from the race, he asked his philanthropy to pursue efforts to reduce the racial wealth gap and so far, it has committed $896 million, including this latest gift to the medical schools, Ezediaro said. In 2020, Bloomberg granted the same medicals schools a total of $100 million that mostly went to reducing the debt load of enrolled students, who schools said were in serious danger of not continuing because of the financial burdens compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. "When we talked about helping to secure and support the next generation of Black doctors, we meant that literally," Ezediaro said. Valerie Montgomery Rice, president of Morehouse School of Medicine, said that gift relieved $100,000 on average in debt for enrolled medical students. She said the gift has helped her school significantly increase its fundraising. "But our endowment and the size of our endowment has continued to be a challenge, and we've been very vocal about that. And he heard us," she said of Bloomberg and the latest donation. Previous largest single donation to an HBCU In January, the Lilly Endowment gave $100 million to The United Negro College Fund toward a pooled endowment fund for 37 HBCUs. That same month, Spelman College, a historically Black women's college in Atlanta, received a $100 million donation from Ronda Stryker and her husband, William Johnston, chairman of Greenleaf Trust. Denise Smith, deputy director of higher education policy and a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, said the gift to Spelman was the largest single donation to an HBCU that she was aware of, speaking before Bloomberg Philanthropies announcement Tuesday. Smith authored a 2021 report on the financial disparities between HBCUs and other higher education institutions, including the failure of many states to fulfill their promises to fund historically Black land grant schools. As a result, she said philanthropic gifts have played an important role in sustaining HBCUs, and pointed to the billionaire philanthropist and author MacKenzie Scott's gifts to HBCUs in 2020 and 2021 as setting off a new chain reaction of support from other large donors. "Donations that have followed are the type of momentum and support that institutions need in this moment," Smith said. Dr. Yolanda Lawson, president of the National Medical Association, said she felt "relief," when she heard about the gifts to the four medical schools. With the Supreme Court's decision striking down affirmative action last year and attacks on programs meant to support inclusion and equity at schools, she anticipates that the four schools will play an even larger role in training and increasing the number of Black physicians. "This opportunity and this investment affects not only just those four institutions, but that affects our country. It affects the nation's health," she said. Utibe Essien, a physician and assistant professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, who researches racial disparities in treatment, said more investment and investment in earlier educational support before high school and college would make a difference in the number of Black students who decide to pursue medicine. He said he also believes the Supreme Court decision on affirmative action and the backlash against efforts to rectify historic discrimination and racial inequities does have an impact on student choices. "It's hard for some of the trainees who are thinking about going into this space to see some of that backlash and pursue it," he said. "Again, I think we get into this spiral where in five to 10 years we're going to see a concerning drop in the numbers of diverse people in our field."

Watch Live: Walz and Harris hold first event as running mates 2024-08-06 22:15:00+00:00 - This stream is set to begin at 5:30 p.m. ET. Please refresh if video hasn't started. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is set to deliver his first speech as the newly minted running mate of Vice President Kamala Harris at a rally in Philadelphia on Tuesday evening. "I couldn't be prouder to be on this ticket, and to help make Kamala Harris the next President of the United States," Walz is planning to say, according to excerpts of his speech. "She brings joy to everything she does." Walz will also mention his Midwest background, which Democrats see as an advantage for the ticket, potentially having an appeal to rural voters. "I was born in West Point, Nebraska and lived in Butte, a small town of 400 where community was a way of life," Walz will say. "Growing up, I spent summers working on the family farm. My mom and dad taught us to show generosity toward your neighbors and to work for the common good." The Pennsylvania rally is the first joint public appearance of the new Harris-Walz ticket, which the campaign officially announced Tuesday morning. In the hours since, the campaign has released new Harris-Walz merchandise, several advertisements introducing the new name on the ticket and social media statements. The campaign said it raised $10 million in donations after Walz was announced, a drop in the bucket relative to the $310 million the campaign hauled in July alone.

Stock markets stabilize after the S&P 500's worst day in almost two years 2024-08-06 22:02:00+00:00 - Stocks in the the U.S. rebounded on Tuesday as financial markets regained their footing after a sharp selloff on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which fell more than 1,000 points yesterday, rose 294 points, or 0.8%, to closed at 38,998, while the S&P 500 gained 1% after suffering its worst one-day plunge in more than two years. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also climbed 1%. The steadier trading followed three days of market turmoil sparked by signs the U.S. economy is slowing and concerns that the Federal Reserve has waited too long to cut interest rates. Based on that economic data, Wall Street now expects the Fed to cut rates more deeply in September than they had previously, and to usher in more cuts throughout 2024. "The recovery in equities so far today has lightened the mood," analysts with Capital Economics said in a report on Tuesday. "[T]he risks of a 'hard landing' have risen but one is still not the base case, not least because the Fed will probably start easing monetary policy fairly soon." All economists surveyed by financial data company FactSet now expect the Fed to cut its benchmark rate by 0.5 percentage points at its September 17-18 meeting, or double prior forecasts for a 0.25 percentage point cut. Sentiment was also helped by a report Monday by the Institute for Supply Management that said growth for U.S. services businesses was a touch stronger than expected, led by the arts, entertainment and recreation sectors, along with accommodations and food services. The U.S. economy is still growing, and most economists don't expect recession. The U.S. stock market is still up a healthy amount for the year, with double-digit percentage gains for the S&P 500, the Dow and the Nasdaq. What hurt stocks? The stock market rout began on Thursday after weak reports on manufacturing and construction, which stoked fears the U.S. economy may finally be buckling under the pressure of high interest rates. Then on Friday, investors were further spooked by a monthly jobs report that was far weaker than expected, fueling Wall Street's anxiety that the U.S. could be heading for a recession. Other catalyts also led investors to sell, including a view that some large technology players were overvalued. Although tech companies' earnings have been solid this year, they haven't wowed investors. Nvidia, the chip company whose technology powers artificial intelligence, shed 23% of its value between July 31 and August 5. Its shares rebounded $3.80, or 3.8%, to $104.25 Tuesday. Markets have romped to dozens of all-time highs this year, in part due to a frenzy around artificial intelligence technology, and critics have been saying prices looked too expensive. Other worries also are weighing on the market, with investors fretting that the Israel-Hamas war and other global hotspots could cause sharp swings for the price of oil. Despite Tuesday's rebound, some Wall Street analysts warn there could be more volatility. Barry Bannister, chief equity strategist at Stifel, is warning more drops could be ahead because of a slowing U.S. economy and sticky inflation. He had been predicting a coming "correction" in U.S. stock prices for a while, including an acknowledgement in July that his initial call was early. That was two days before the S&P 500 set its latest all-time high and then began sinking. —With reporting by the Associated Press.

Elon Musk’s support for Trump pushes a corporate customer away from Tesla 2024-08-06 21:59:00+00:00 - Model Y cars are pictured during the opening ceremony of the new Tesla Gigafactory for electric cars in Gruenheide, Germany, March 22, 2022. European drugstore giant Rossmann announced Tuesday it will no longer buy Tesla 's electric vehicles for its fleet, effective immediately, citing CEO Elon Musk's pro-Trump political support. Rossmann, based in Germany, said in a statement that its decision was "based on the incompatibility between the statements of Tesla CEO Elon Musk and the values that Tesla represents with its products." "Elon Musk makes no secret of his support for Donald Trump," Raoul Rossmann, a spokesperson for the company, said in a statement. "Trump has repeatedly described climate change as a hoax - this attitude is in stark contrast to Tesla's mission to contribute to environmental protection through the production of electric cars." While Rossmann only purchases about 180 electric vehicles a year — and only had 38 Teslas in its fleet according to Bloomberg — the company's decision to cut all Tesla EV purchases shows that Musk's political decisions have begun to impact the automaker well beyond the U.S. Musk formally endorsed Trump last month, and said he was contributing funds to a pro-Trump group he helped create called America PAC. Musk is also slated to interview the former president, Trump announced on Tuesday. During a debate with President Biden in June, former President Trump dodged questions about what he would do, if anything, to combat climate change. And Trump has called climate change a "hoax." He has also promised to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate agreement, as he did during his presidency, if he is re-elected in November. According to ongoing research by Morning Consult, Republicans in the U.S. began to view Musk more favorably following his leveraged buyout of Twitter (now known as X) in late 2022. However, this has not driven an increase in Republican's "purchasing consideration" of electric vehicles here. According to Pew Research, Musk's reputation with left-leaning voters has declined even though they are far more likely to purchase an EV. Rossman's decision follows a recent survey that found a deterioration in Tesla's brand, attributed partly to Musk's "antics" and "political rants." While Tesla's revenue increased 2% during the second quarter, automotive revenue dropped 7% to $19.9 billion from $21.27 billion in the same quarter a year ago. Tesla opened a factory in 2022 in Brandenburg, Germany (outside of Berlin) and employs thousands in the country. At the end of 2023, the drugstore chain Rossmann reported that it had more than 4,700 stores and more than 60,000 employees with about half in Germany. Tesla has faced protests by environmental activists in Germany who took issue with the company's plans to cut down part of a forest and to use water for manufacturing in Brandenburg. Musk lashed out at protesters there, saying on X in March they're "either the dumbest eco-terrorists on Earth or they're puppets of those who don't have good environmental goals." Tesla, Musk and representatives for Rossmann did not respond to requests for further details on Thursday morning.