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Morning Bid: China deflation, U.S. inflation - both dent sentiment 2023-08-09 - Aug 10 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian markets from Jamie McGeever, financial markets columnist. Lingering concern over China's slide into deflation and caution ahead of U.S. inflation data will keep markets in check on Thursday, as investors also eye India's interest rate decision, wholesale inflation from Japan and Philippine GDP data. Renewed tension between the United States and China could be back on investors' radar, with the White House detailing plans to prohibit some U.S. investments in Chinese technology, and requiring that the government be notified of other investments. Although Chinese stocks fell for a third day on Wednesday the rest of Asia shrugged off the Chinese deflation figures, and the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index rose 0.5% for its best performance so far this month. Perhaps there was some relief that the -0.3% annual rate of deflation was not quite as bad as the -0.4% economists had expected - it was certainly enough to lift China's economic surprises index to its highest since June 26. In the same vein, a more benign reading of U.S. inflation on Thursday than consensus estimates could lift some of the gloom that has descended on markets since Fitch stripped the United States of its triple-A credit rating on Aug. 1. Wall Street could do with some relief as the S&P 500 fell on Wednesday for the sixth session out of seven, ahead of the July inflation report which is expected to show the annual rate of consumer price rises increasing to 3.3% from 3.0%. Keep an eye on oil prices though. Crude futures are the highest since January and are now down only 9% from a year ago - that's a significantly weaker deflationary impulse than the 40% year-on-year decline registered as recently as June. Also on the inflation front, the annual rate of Japanese wholesale price inflation is expected to have fallen to 3.5% in July from 4.1% in June. That would be the lowest since March 2021 and the seventh straight decline from the peak of 10.2% in December. The Reserve Bank of India, meanwhile, is expected to keep its repo rate steady at 6.50% on Thursday but adopt a far more hawkish tone in the face of a recent rise in food prices which has been sharper than expected and seen lasting longer. Interest rate markets are pricing in a decent chance of a quarter-point hike, if not this week then certainly by the end of the year. Currency traders don't seem to be expecting a hike - the rupee goes into the meeting bumping along October's record low around 83 per dollar. Here are key developments that could provide more direction to markets on Thursday: - India interest rate decision - Japan wholesale price inflation (July) - Philippines GDP (Q2) By Jamie McGeever; Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Kellogg's 'woke' workplace diversity programs are illegal, group claims 2023-08-09 - Kellogg's Corn Flakes, owned by Kellogg Company, are seen for sale in a store in Queens, New York City, U.S., February 7, 2022. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo Companies Kellogg Co Follow Target Corp Follow Aug 9 (Reuters) - A conservative legal group on Wednesday urged a U.S. anti-discrimination agency to investigate Kellogg Co (K.N) over workplace diversity policies that it says are unlawful, and accused the cereal maker of sexualizing its products. This is the second complaint filed this week against a company by America First Legal, a nonprofit run by Stephen Miller, who was an adviser to former President Donald Trump. America First in a letter to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) said Kellogg's hiring, training and promotion practices are designed to achieve a balance based on race and sex that violates the federal law banning workplace bias. It also criticized marketing campaigns including boxes of Cheez-It crackers featuring drag queen RuPaul and cereal boxes celebrating LGBTQ Pride Month. "Management has discarded the company's long-held family friendly marketing approach to politicize and sexualize its products," the group said. The EEOC can sue companies if it finds that their employment practices amount to illegal discrimination. Kellogg did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Many legal experts expect an uptick in legal challenges to corporate diversity programs in the wake of a June U.S. Supreme Court ruling barring race-conscious admissions policies in higher education. America First in the letter said Kellogg, for example, has said it wants to have "25% underrepresented talent at the management level" by 2025 and runs fellowship programs that are only open to racial minorities. "Kellogg’s employment practices are unlawfully based on 'equity,' which is a euphemism for illegal discrimination," Reed Rubenstein, a lawyer with the group, wrote in the letter. America First said it also had sent a letter to Kellogg's board of directors on Wednesday threatening shareholder litigation if the company maintains the allegedly illegal policies. The nonprofit on Tuesday sued Target Corp (TGT.N) on behalf of an investor, saying the retailer failed to anticipate customer backlash over LGBTQ-themed merchandise that hurt its stock value. The complaints are part of a campaign conservative legal groups and Republican legislators are waging against corporations that have enacted so-called woke policies on social issues such as race, gender and diversity. Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York; Editing by Stephen Coates Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Illumina cuts annual profit forecast as biotech funding woes linger 2023-08-09 - (Reuters) -Illumina Inc cut annual profit forecast, in a sign that a funding crunch among its biotech and pharmaceutical clients is expected to weigh on sales for its genetic testing tools and diagnostics products. FILE PHOTO: The offices of gene sequencing company Illumina Inc are shown in San Diego, California January 11, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo Shares were down nearly 6% in extended trading on Wednesday. Rising interest rates have squeezed funding for drug development and research programs among small biotech firms, especially in China. The funding crunch has been exacerbated by the collapse of U.S. lender Silicon Valley Bank, a key investment banker in the biotech sector. “We expect our second-half revenue to be negatively impacted by customers remaining more cautious in their purchasing, a more protracted recovery in China, and a larger-than-expected temporary decline in high throughput consumables as customers transition to NovaSeq X,” said Interim CEO Charles Dadswell. Higher-than-estimated demand for the production-scale sequencer, NovaSeq X, however, helped the U.S. genetic testing company surpass Wall Street estimates for second-quarter profit. The San Diego, California-based company reported adjusted profit of 32 cents per share, compared with expectations of 2 cents per share, according to Refinitiv data. Illumina expects full-year adjusted profit per share to be between $0.75 and $0.90, compared with its prior forecast of $1.25 to $1.50. The outlook reflects a tax expense impact of about $75 million. The company is looking to save costs by cutting jobs and shut some offices to cushion the impact of sticky inflation, a strong dollar and an ongoing litigation related to its $7.1 billion repurchase of Grail in 2021. It recorded total sales of $1.18 billion for the quarter ended July 2, compared with expectations of $1.16 billion. Illumina was also engaged in a proxy battle with activist investor Carl Icahn and is looking for a new CEO after former chief Francis deSouza stepped down in June.

Explainer: U.S. starts process to restrict some investment in key tech in China 2023-08-09 - A central processing unit (CPU) semiconductor chip is displayed among flags of China and U.S., in this illustration picture taken February 17, 2023. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration/File Photo WASHINGTON, Aug 9 (Reuters) - The White House on Wednesday announced plans to prohibit some U.S. investments in certain sensitive technologies in China, and require that the government be notified of other investments, but said it could take time before the moves take effect. President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed an executive order directing the U.S. Treasury Department to regulate certain U.S. investments in narrowly defined areas such as semiconductors, quantum computing and artificial intelligence, senior administration officials said. Following are some key details: 'COUNTRIES OF CONCERN' The order lays out the intention to regulate investments in certain "countries of concern," with a separate annex naming China, Hong Kong and Macau, as the initial targets. Additional countries could be added in the future, a senior administration official told Reuters. Administration officials insisted the proposed rule would require notification of many investments while prohibiting a few. The goal is to avert the "most acute" national security risks by regulating investments in Chinese companies and entities working on a narrow set of technologies that could give China military and intelligence advantages. The rules will not be retroactive, applying only to future investments, an administration official said. RULEMAKING PROCESS Biden's executive order authorizes the U.S. Treasury Department to regulate certain U.S. investments. To do that, Treasury will issue an advance notice of proposed rulemaking, which will allow companies and investors time to comment. The administration will then assess the public comments by stakeholders and move forward with a formal notice of proposed regulation, with a goal of ensuring public comment. Experts said that process could take months to complete, pushing enactment of the new regulations well into 2024, a presidential election year, if not longer. The Treasury would ultimately have the authority to investigate potential violations and pursue available penalties, officials said, adding that the secretary will have the power to unwind future investments. CONSULTATION WITH ALLIES Officials said the moves had been carefully discussed with allies and partners, and that U.S. officials, including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, had clearly communicated to Beijing Washington's intention to narrowly limit the measures. No coordinated action by allies was expected on Wednesday, although Britain and the European Union have already signaled their intention to move along similar lines, and the Group of Seven advanced economies agreed in June that restrictions on outbound investments should be part of the overall toolkit. Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Karen Freifeld; additional reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Jonathan Oatis Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Disney hikes streaming prices, focuses on costs as Iger moves to reassure investors 2023-08-09 - A sign is shown at one of the entrances to Disney Studios in Burbank, California, U.S., July 25, 2023. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo Aug 9 (Reuters) - Walt Disney (DIS.N) said on Wednesday it would raise prices of its streaming service Disney+ in October, the second price hike this year, and CEO Bob Iger emphasized the company's efforts to keep a lid on costs as he tried to reassure investors. The company beat Wall Street's profit expectations for its fiscal third quarter and said it was on track to cut costs by more than the $5.5 billion it promised investors in February. Shares were last up 3% in extended trading, reversing losses after the entertainment conglomerate posted quarterly revenue below expectations and fell slightly behind analyst projections for U.S. subscribers of Disney+. Iger, who returned for a second stint running Disney, said in a statement that Disney was undergoing an "unprecedented transformation" to help it become more efficient. "I can't emphasize enough the time that we spent, and the effort that we spent, on managing costs," Iger told analysts on a conference call, referring to the company's streaming business. "We have done a tremendous job in a very, very short time." Iger, who faces formidable challenges on nearly all fronts of the entertainment empire, acknowledged that Disney still has work to do to make the streaming business profitable. Disney will raise by 27% the price of the ad-free tier of the Disney+ service to $13.99 and hike by 20% the no-ad version of Hulu. Looking for ways to attract and retain subscribers in a competitive streaming market, Disney also announced it would launch ad-supported streaming in Europe and Canada and provide U.S. subscribers with a new, ad-free package in coming months. Iger said he would address the issue of password sharing next year, echoing Netflix (NFLX.O), which has cracked down on password sharing in the United States and beyond, alerting users that their accounts cannot be shared for free outside of their households. He said Disney will reduce the number of titles it releases and also the cost per title. REVENUE JUST MISSES Disney said it cut losses at its streaming video services to $512 million in its fiscal third quarter, narrower than its loss of about $1.1 billion a year ago. It added 800,000 Disney+ subscribers, 100,000 subscribers shy of analyst estimates, and shed 12.5 million subscribers to the Disney Hotstar service in India, or nearly a quarter of its subscribers, as it gave up rights to Indian Premiere League cricket matches. "Disney will have to cut prices from current levels in an effort to stimulate demand and defend its market share in an increasingly competitive industry," said Jesse Cohen, senior analyst at Investing.com. "The streaming space is certainly feeling the pinch of persistently high inflation which has forced consumers to make changes to their spending habits as disposable income shrinks." Paolo Pescatore, analyst at PP Foresight, echoed that Disney will have to focus on attracting new streaming subscribers and managing costs as it transitions from its traditional core business to streaming. Disney's revenue for the quarter ended July 1 rose 4% to$22.33 billion from a year earlier, just short of the Wall Street estimates, according to Refinitiv. It delivered per-share earnings of $1.03, when excluding certain items, beating Wall Street projections of 95 cents a share. The company took $2.65 billion in impairment and restructuring charges in the quarter, reflecting the cost of removing some content from its streaming services, terminating licensing agreements and $210 million in severance payments to laid-off workers. Disney's traditional television business continued its decline. Higher sports programming production costs and lower affiliate revenue dragged down the performance of its cable channels. TV revenue fell 7% to $6.7 billion, while operating income fell 23% to $1.9 billion. Disney's direct-to-consumer business reported a 9% increase in revenue to $5.5 billion, as the average revenue per subscriber rose at Disney+ and Hulu. Content sales and licensing, the unit that includes film and television sales, reported a deeper operating loss of $243 million in the quarter, compared with a loss of $27 million a year ago. The quarter included the release of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," which performed less well at the box office than the prior year's "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness." Also released during the most recent quarter was the live-action remake of "The Little Mermaid," which disappointed. Disney's Parks, Experiences and Products group reported a 13% increase in revenue in the quarter, to $8.3 billion, and an 11% bump in operating income to $2.4 billion. The results were buoyed by the rebound of the Shanghai Disney Resort, which was open for the full quarter compared with the same time a year ago, when COVID-19 forced the park to be closed for all but three days. The unit had lower operating income at its domestic parks, due to decreases at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles Additional reporting by Chavi Mehta and Aditya Soni in Bengaluru Editing by Peter Henderson, Sayantani Ghosh and Matthew Lewis Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Private equity firm STG to buy Avid Technology in $1.4 bln deal 2023-08-09 - Cast and crew including actors Tom Cruise and Jennifer Connelly pose for a group photo at the premiere of 'Top Gun: Maverick' in London, Britain May 19, 2022. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls NEW YORK, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Avid Technology (AVID.O) said on Wednesday it had agreed to go private in an all-cash deal with an affiliate of Symphony Technology Group (STG) that valued the media editing software company at about $1.4 billion. Earlier on Wednesday, Reuters first reported that private equity firm STG was nearing a deal to acquire Avid, citing people familiar with the matter. Avid said STG will buy the software company for $27.05 per share in cash. Excluding debt, equity value of the deal comes up to $1.19 billion. The deal represents a 32% premium to Avid's closing share price on May 23, the day before Reuters reported the company was exploring a sale. Shares of Avid have risen nearly 30% since. Founded in 1987, Avid provides editing software and hardware primarily to entertainment industries. Its products, which have been used in the production of blockbuster movies such as "Top Gun: Maverick" and "Avatar: The Way of Water," include Media Composer, MediaCentral and AirSpeed. An activist hedge fund and Avid's largest shareholder, Impactive Capital LP, has representation on the Burlington, Massachusetts-based company's board after cutting a deal with the company in 2019. Palo Alto, California-based STG is a mid-market private equity firm focused on technology investments. Earlier this year, STG struck a deal to take Momentive Global Inc, the parent company of SurveyMonkey, private in a $1.5 billion deal. STG currently manages about $10 billion of assets and has invested in more than 50 companies in the technology industry. Reporting by Milana Vinn and Anirban Sen in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Shinjini Ganguli Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Strategist who called 2023 U.S. stock rally says S&P 500 will go nowhere for rest of 2023, and likely in 2024 too 2023-08-09 - A strategist who anticipated the 2023 rally says he expects stocks to go nowhere for the rest of the year, while potentially struggling in 2024 as well, as corporate earnings growth fails to live up to Wall Street’s overly optimistic expectations. Barry Bannister, an equity strategist at Stifel, said in a report shared with MarketWatch late Wednesday that he believes this year’s rally, spurred by relief that a U.S. recession wouldn’t arrive in 2023, has run its course. He now expects the S&P 500 SPX to trade sideways for the rest of the year, ultimately finishing at 4,400, roughly 68 points lower from where the index closed on Wednesday, according to FactSet data. However, investors can still find opportunities as sectors that have lagged behind the market leaders. Based on this view, Bannister sees opportunities in so-called “pair trades” like shorting Big Tech stocks, while buying financials, materials, industrials stocks and other cyclical growth stocks that have underperformed. He also expects the equal-weighted S&P 500 index RSP to beat the traditional capitalization-weighted S&P 500 in the second half. These trades would have already paid off over the past month. Since the start of corporate earnings season in mid-July, the equal-weighted S&P 500 has risen 2.4%, according to FactSet data, compared with 1.6% for the traditional S&P 500. Over the same period, several members of the “Magnificent Seven” group of megacap technology stocks that Bannister is recommending as shorts have started to retreat. Apple Inc. AAPL, -0.90% is down 6.6% at $178.19 per share, and Tesla Inc. is down 11.8% at $242 per share. Meanwhile, Nvidia Corp. NVDA, -4.72% , the stock that has benefited perhaps more than any other from the artificial-intelligence boom, has barely budged. Investors have reason to listen, since Bannister belongs to a select group of analysts who called this year’s rebound. At the time Bannister made his bullish call early this year, the consensus view on Wall Street, shared by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM, -1.34% , Morgan Stanley MS, -1.03% , Goldman Sachs Group GS, -1.60% and others, was that stocks would sink to new lows during the first half of 2023 before rebounding later in the year. Bannister opted to turn that call on its head, based on the expectation that U.S. inflation would retreat. That view ended up being correct. Consumer prices rose by just 0.2% in June, according to CPI data, showing inflation ebbed to the slowest pace in two years and slowed more quickly than economists had expected. Investors will receive another update on the state of U.S. inflation Thursday morning. Bannister now believes the slowdown in inflation is reaching its limit. But perhaps more important, he expects stocks could struggle in 2024 as well, as Wall Street’s lofty expectations for corporate earnings growth are ultimately disappointed. For 2024, Bannister and Stifel expect S&P 500 aggregate earnings per share to come in at $209, little-changed from where analysts expect them to be in 2023, that is compared with Wall Street’s consensus for $226. STIFEL “…[I]f our flattish EPS view is right the S&P 500 may be flat,” he said in a note to clients. Bannister expects earnings could struggle as a mild recession will arrive during the first quarter of 2024, while rising oil prices create a mini-price shock, helping to transform 3% inflation into a new floor, making it more difficult for the Federal Reserve to justify interest-rate cuts. Sluggish economic growth also will hurt corporate profits, he said. Making matters worse, COVID-19 stimulus drove a surge in earnings growth in 2021 that will result in years of difficult year-over-year comparisons for companies, Bannister said. U.S. stocks finished lower on Wednesday, extending an early-August slump. The S&P 500 lost 31.67 points, or 0.7%, to 4,467.71, while the Nasdaq Composite COMP shed 162.31 points, or 1.2%, to 13,722.02. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA fell by 191.13 points, or 0.5%, to 35,123.36.

Disney is raising prices on Hulu and Disney+ again. Here’s how much you’ll soon pay. 2023-08-09 - Walt Disney Co. is again boosting the prices of many of its streaming offerings as it faces pressure from Wall Street to improve the financials of its direct-to-consumer media offerings. Starting Oct. 12, subscribers will have to pay $13.99 a month for ad-free Disney+, up 27% from the $10.99 monthly fee that the company currently charges and which itself was a relatively fresh price announced last summer. The price of ad-supported Disney+ is standing put at $7.99 a month.

PGA Tour commissioner says LIV Golf merger is on ‘right path,’ but some players remain skeptical 2023-08-09 - PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan says he regrets keeping golfers in the dark about the tour’s LIV Golf merger deal, but remains steadfast that the deal will be finalized this year. “I put players on their back foot,” Monahan said in his first public comments since July 17. “That’s something I regret and will not do again.” In June, the PGA Tour reached an agreement with LIV Golf, which is funded by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, to create a new entity to “unify” golf. The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) disrupted the sport when it created LIV Golf in 2021, which aimed to be a direct challenge to the PGA Tour. LIV Golf has been luring golfers away from the PGA by offering athletes millions of dollars to join its league. See also: Tiger Woods turned down LIV Golf offer in the ‘neighborhood’ of $700 million, says Greg Norman “There is the short term and there is the long term. Looking out over the horizon, we feel like this is the right move for the PGA Tour to create a new commercial model that allows PIF to invest … and to be able to grow the PGA Tour that will reward players and fans,” Monahan said. “That’s what we think is the right path forward,” he added. Monahan, who met with players on Tuesday to further discuss the PGA-LIV merger, is returning from a medical absence where he was “dealing with anxiety, which created physical and mental-health issues and challenges.” Monahan’s meeting with players was lacking in details and attendance, with only 25 players attending in the clubhouse at the TPC Southwind. “There’s still a whole lot that no one really knows, and we don’t know,” golfer Rickie Fowler said. “It’s just continuing to trust that leadership and everyone is doing what’s best for all of us and the tour moving forward. Some of that was talked about in calls before this. There really wasn’t that many guys in the meeting, or less than I thought there would have been.” “It was good just to have Jay there in front of us, see him again and see that he’s doing well,” golfer Tom Hoge said about the meeting. “Who knows what the path is going forward? I’ll guess we’ll just wait and see.” When the deal was announced, many PGA Tour players were critical of it and voiced their concerns on social media. They pointed out that the PGA was critical of PIF and LIV Golf when it was luring golfers away from the PGA Tour with large sums of money, but seemingly happy to take the money for themselves. The proposed Saudi investment in the PGA as part of the deal, which is still being negotiated, could be “north of $1 billion.” Monahan said he believes he can regain the trust of players. “I see a clear path doing it, as difficult as that may seem right now for some,” he said. Representatives from the PGA Tour did not respond to MarketWatch’s request for comment. In a congressional hearing in July, PGA Tour board member Jimmy Dunne and PGA Tour COO Ron Price defended the impending deal with LIV Golf and the Saudi wealth fund, saying that the PGA would remain in control of golf. Senators used much of their time during the hearing to discuss human-rights abuses committed by the current Saudi regime and accused the nation of “sportswashing,” which is a term used to define entities using athletic events to improve a tarnished reputation. According to the U.S. State Department, Saudi Arabia has been accused in recent years of multiple human-rights violations, including: unlawful killings; executions for nonviolent offenses; forced disappearances; torture and cases of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of prisoners and detainees by government agents; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention; and taking political prisoners or detainees, among other offenses. From the archives (August 2022): Trump tells golfers to ‘take the money’ from LIV Golf or ‘pay a big price’ The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Plug Power posts swelling losses, and its stock is losing juice 2023-08-09 - Shares of Plug Power Inc. were falling in Wednesday’s extended session after the alternative-energy company saw its losses for the second quarter swell more than Wall Street was anticipating. The company notched a net loss of $236.4 million, or 40 cents a share, compared with a loss of $173.3 million, or 30 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Analysts tracked by FactSet were anticipating a 27-cent per-share loss on a GAAP basis.

Disney posts smaller streaming loss, will hike prices for Disney+ and Hulu 2023-08-09 - Walt Disney Co.’s stock dipped in after-hours trading Wednesday after the company posted mixed quarterly results roughly in line with analysts’ expectations amid a cost-cutting frenzy. Separately, Disney said it is hiking prices on almost all of its streaming packages in an aggressive push to boost its bottom line. Commercial-free Disney+ will cost $13.99 per month, a 27% increase, beginning Oct. 12. Ad-free Hulu will increase 20% to $17.99 per month. A new Disney+ and Hulu Bundle ad-free plan launches Sept. 6 for $19.99. Read more: Disney is raising prices on Hulu and Disney+ again. Here’s how much you’ll soon pay. The media giant DIS, -0.73% reported a fiscal third-quarter loss of $460 million, or 25 cents a share, mostly because of restructuring and impairment charges. After adjusting for restructuring costs and other effects, Disney reported earnings of $1.03 a share. Revenue grew 4% to $22.3 billion from $21.5 billion a year ago. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had on average expected adjusted earnings of 96 cents a share on revenue of $22.5 billion. Disney shares declined about 3% in after-hours trading immediately following the release of the report, after dropping 0.7% to $87.52 in the regular session. “Our results this quarter are reflective of what we’ve accomplished through the unprecedented transformation we’re undertaking at Disney to restructure the company, improve efficiencies and restore creativity to the center of our business,” Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger said in a statement announcing the results. Disney is in the midst of a $5.5 billion cost-cutting plan overseen by Iger, who returned to the CEO position to right the ship in late 2022. Direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales, which includes streaming services and some international products, hauled in $5.5 billion, compared with analysts’ forecast of $5.7 billion on average and last year’s total of $5.05 billion. The division did reduce its quarterly losses to $512 million, compared with $1.06 billion a year ago. Analysts were expecting a loss of $758 million. Still, the company has lost more than $10 billion in its DTC segment since launching Disney+ in late 2019. Disney had told investors for three years it expects Disney+ to be profitable by September 2024. During a conference call with analysts late Thursday, Iger said Disney is “actively exploring” options to crack down on account sharing when the company updates subscriber agreements later this year and will “roll out tactics to drive monetization” in 2024. The company’s iconic theme parks around the world and product-sales business increased to $8.3 billion in revenue from $7.4 billion a year ago. The average analyst estimate was $8.1 billion. Disney’s largest business segment, media and entertainment distribution, raked in $14 billion during the quarter, down from $14.1 billion a year ago. Analysts on average predicted $14.3 billion, according to FactSet. Disney’s television networks generated sales of $6.7 billion, while analysts’ average estimates called for $6.74 billion. Content sales and licensing, a category that includes Disney’s film business, reported revenue of $2.1 billion, compared with analysts’ expectations of about $2.15 billion. In the weeks leading up to Disney’s results, there has been a whirlwind of fear and doubt over the current state of the company’s streaming services — including ESPN — as well as linear-TV ad sales, the actors’ and writers’ strikes that have shut down Hollywood, Disney’s theme parks and its legal and political battle with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Front and center is the health of Disney+ as it battles streaming rivals like Apple Inc. AAPL, -0.90% , Netflix Inc. NFLX, -2.14% , Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, -1.49% , Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. WBD, -2.15% and Comcast Corp. CMCSA, -0.26% . Macquarie Equity Research analyst Tim Nollen believes in Disney’s streaming services over the long term but said “we see too many near-term issues to overcome to support a more constructive view.” Disney+ had 146.1 million subscribers globally, 7% fewer than the 157.8 million it had in the previous quarter. The decline mostly came from India, where Disney lost the rights to stream a popular cricket league last year. Disney and DeSantis, who is running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, have filed dueling lawsuits that stem from the company’s criticism last year of a Florida law that bans classroom discussion of sexuality and gender identity with younger children. Earlier this week, a group of mostly former Republican high-level government officials called DeSantis’s takeover of Disney World’s governing district “severely damaging to the political, social, and economic fabric” of Florida. The somber vibe prompted Deutsche Bank analysts on Tuesday to lower their price target on Disney shares 8% to $120, with “lower advertising revenue, underperformance at the box office, and lighter parks attendance in Orlando” chief among their concerns. “This is Iger’s most important earnings call since returning to Disney late last year. He came in with a punch list that was too long to realistically knock off in two years,” Rick Munarriz, an analyst at the Motley Fool, said in an email. “Now the board has given him four years, and every word he uses during Thursday afternoon’s earnings call has to carry some serious heft.” Disney’s call was to start at 4:30 p.m. Eastern. Shares of Disney have inched up 0.7% this year, while the S&P 500 SPX has climbed 16%.

Opinion: Why Nvidia investors are rattled by Supermicro’s AI chip supply constraints 2023-08-09 - Executives at a Silicon Valley computer and server maker sent a message late Tuesday when they said the company needs more artificial-intelligence chips from Nvidia Corp. The commentary confirmed that there are supply constraints for Nvidia’s popular graphics chips, which suggests that even as companies are excited about AI applications, they may have trouble immediately getting the hardware they need. Shares of both Nvidia NVDA, -4.72% and Super Micro Computer Inc. SMCI, -23.39% — two companies that have surged on the AI boom — dropped Wednesday, with Supermicro tumbling nearly 24%, while Nvidia lost nearly 5%. Their shares had surged about 323% and 206%, respectively, through Tuesday’s close, and have racked up sizable gains on the year. Analysts were concerned about Supermicro’s lower-than-expected outlook for its September quarter, which suggests the company’s revenue-growth rate could be as low as in the single digits. Supermicro forecast a revenue range of $1.9 billion to $2.1 billion, indicating a year-over-year growth range of 5.5% to 22%. That comes after the company reported June-quarter revenue growth of 34%, amounting to $2.18 billion. Also read: AI has given a boost to a lesser-known Silicon Valley computer maker Supermicro Chief Executive Charles Liang told analysts on the company’s call that the company is seeing supply constraints for the graphics chips coming from Nvidia that are designed for AI applications. One analyst asked about Nvidia’s past July-quarter projections for a doubling of its data-center revenue and whether there is a lag time between when Nvidia recognizes revenue and when equipment makers like Supermicro recognize revenue. “We believe their capacity [is] growing and that’s why we talk to them every day, asking for more,” Liang said. “So hopefully we can gather more support from them and hopefully their capacity grows more quickly. So that’s all I can say now.” Chief Financial Officer David Weigand also noted that Supermicro saw 52% of its revenue in servers coming from server racks designed specifically for AI-based applications, which was a jump from about 30% in the previous quarter. Aaron Rakers, a Wells Fargo analyst who follows Nvidia but not Supermicro, wrote up a brief note highlighting the supply constraints that the computer maker was seeing. He noted that it implied a three-times sequential revenue increase in Nvidia’s quarter, for which the company will post results on Aug. 23. While Supermicro is seeing very strong demand for its AI-designed servers, the company also said that overall data-center demand is otherwise declining. When asked about the company’s non-AI business and what the spending was like for non-AI-related servers, Liang said Supermicro’s other sales were about flat, while the overall industry was declining. Investors will now be focused on Nvidia’s report later this month. The company forecast a mammoth $11 billion in quarterly revenue, but whether supply issues are going to affect results going forward is now a question on everyone’s mind.

Trade Desk posts upbeat earnings in tough ad climate, but its stock moves lower 2023-08-09 - Advertising-technology company Trade Desk Inc. sailed past quarterly earnings expectations Wednesday, but its shares were moving lower in the extended session. Trade Desk TTD, -5.12% logged second-quarter net income of $33 million, or 7 cents a share, whereas it posted a net loss of $19 million, or 4 cents a share, in the year-prior quarter. The company recorded adjusted earnings per share of 28 cents, compared with 20 cents in the year-earlier period. Analysts tracked by FactSet were expecting 26 cents. Revenue increased to $464 million from $377 million, whereas analysts were projecting $455 million. Don’t miss: Trade Desk nabs Nasdaq-100 index inclusion The second quarter “marked another quarter of outstanding execution and share gains for the Trade Desk,” Chief Executive Jeff Green said in a release. “With advances in areas such as [connected TV], retail and identity, we are helping the world’s largest brands buy media on the open internet with more precision and transparency than ever.” Still, Trade Desk shares were off about 6% in Wednesday’s after-hours trading. “While results in the quarter were solidly above guidance, based on our conversations, they fell short of buy-side expectations given the stock’s recent momentum,” RBC Capital Markets analyst Matthew Swanson said in a note to clients. For the third quarter, Trade Desk expects at least $485 million in revenue, while analysts were anticipating $481 million. The company also models $185 million in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, whereas analysts had been looking for $183 million. Trade Desk results come as large advertising agencies have sent cautious signals this earnings season. Streaming company Roku Inc. ROKU, -5.66% , meanwhile, blew past revenue expectations for its own second quarter but signaled a challenging spending landscape for media and entertainment advertisers. See also: Ad agency WPP cuts sales outlook over caution from U.S. technology companies Read: Tech stocks look strong, but here’s a sign the sector is actually under a lot of stress

Why Sonos Stock Is Trading Higher After Hours - Sonos (NASDAQ:SONO) 2023-08-09 - Sonos Inc SONO shares are moving higher in extended trading Wednesday after the company reported better-than-expected financial results. Q2 Revenue: $373.36 million, beat estimates of $334.24 million $373.36 million, beat estimates of $334.24 million Q2 EPS: 16 cents beat estimates for a loss of 20 cents Revenues were up 0.4% year-over-year. Gross margin fell 130 basis points to 46%. Cash flow from operations came in at $8.9 million, while free cash flow was negative $7.8 million. "Despite the challenging environment, we are winning in the market and I'm proud of our team's execution as we outperform the competition. We remain on track to deliver against our fiscal 2023 guidance," said Patrick Spence, CEO of Sonos. Outlook: Sonos sees full-year 2023 revenue in the range of $1.64 billion to $1.66 billion versus estimates of $1.64 billion. Gross margin is expected to be between 44% and 44.2%, down from the company's prior outlook of 44.3% to 44.8%. Management will discuss these results on a conference call at 5 p.m. ET. See Also: Applovin Stock Swooshes Higher On AI-Driven Earnings Beat: The Details SONO Price Action: Sonos shares were up 10.7% after hours at $17.32 at the time of publication, according to Benzinga Pro. Photo: courtesy of Sonos.

United Parcel Service Unusual Options Activity For August 09 - United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) 2023-08-09 - Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bullish stance on United Parcel Service UPS. And retail traders should know. We noticed this today when the big position showed up on publicly available options history that we track here at Benzinga. Whether this is an institution or just a wealthy individual, we don't know. But when something this big happens with UPS, it often means somebody knows something is about to happen. Today, Benzinga's options scanner spotted 12 options trades for United Parcel Service. This isn't normal. The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 50% bullish and 50%, bearish. Out of all of the options we uncovered, 11 are puts, for a total amount of $687,637, and there was 1 call, for a total amount of $27,400. What's The Price Target? Taking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts, it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from $160.0 to $220.0 for United Parcel Service over the last 3 months. Volume & Open Interest Development Looking at the volume and open interest is an insightful way to conduct due diligence on a stock. This data can help you track the liquidity and interest for United Parcel Service's options for a given strike price. Below, we can observe the evolution of the volume and open interest of calls and puts, respectively, for all of United Parcel Service's whale activity within a strike price range from $160.0 to $220.0 in the last 30 days. United Parcel Service Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days Biggest Options Spotted: Symbol PUT/CALL Trade Type Sentiment Exp. Date Strike Price Total Trade Price Open Interest Volume UPS PUT TRADE BULLISH 11/17/23 $160.00 $217.3K 468 749 UPS PUT SWEEP BEARISH 01/19/24 $170.00 $115.2K 10.7K 319 UPS PUT SWEEP NEUTRAL 08/11/23 $220.00 $49.7K 0 61 UPS PUT TRADE BULLISH 09/15/23 $175.00 $47.0K 469 5 UPS PUT TRADE BULLISH 08/25/23 $175.00 $44.5K 1.1K 615 Where Is United Parcel Service Standing Right Now? With a volume of 3,136,723, the price of UPS is down -0.65% at $179.37. RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be approaching oversold. Next earnings are expected to be released in 76 days. What The Experts Say On United Parcel Service: BMO Capital has decided to maintain their Market Perform rating on United Parcel Service, which currently sits at a price target of $190. JP Morgan has decided to maintain their Neutral rating on United Parcel Service, which currently sits at a price target of $186. Loop Capital downgraded its action to Hold with a price target of $195 Credit Suisse has decided to maintain their Neutral rating on United Parcel Service, which currently sits at a price target of $194. UBS downgraded its action to Neutral with a price target of $185 Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock, but they have higher profit potential. Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily, scaling in and out of trades, following more than one indicator, and following the markets closely. If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for United Parcel Service, Benzinga Pro gives you real-time options trades alerts.

Looking At Eli Lilly's Recent Unusual Options Activity - Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) 2023-08-09 - A whale with a lot of money to spend has taken a noticeably bearish stance on Eli Lilly. Looking at options history for Eli Lilly LLY we detected 73 strange trades. If we consider the specifics of each trade, it is accurate to state that 31% of the investors opened trades with bullish expectations and 68% with bearish. From the overall spotted trades, 7 are puts, for a total amount of $341,826 and 66, calls, for a total amount of $4,653,126. What's The Price Target? Taking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts, it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from $200.0 to $600.0 for Eli Lilly over the last 3 months. Volume & Open Interest Development Looking at the volume and open interest is a powerful move while trading options. This data can help you track the liquidity and interest for Eli Lilly's options for a given strike price. Below, we can observe the evolution of the volume and open interest of calls and puts, respectively, for all of Eli Lilly's whale trades within a strike price range from $200.0 to $600.0 in the last 30 days. Eli Lilly Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days Biggest Options Spotted: Symbol PUT/CALL Trade Type Sentiment Exp. Date Strike Price Total Trade Price Open Interest Volume LLY CALL TRADE NEUTRAL 01/17/25 $430.00 $146.2K 656 11 LLY CALL TRADE BEARISH 08/18/23 $525.00 $124.5K 176 408 LLY CALL SWEEP BEARISH 01/17/25 $500.00 $97.0K 534 13 LLY CALL TRADE NEUTRAL 08/18/23 $490.00 $94.2K 673 129 LLY CALL SWEEP BEARISH 12/19/25 $410.00 $88.9K 6 5 Where Is Eli Lilly Standing Right Now? With a volume of 5,334,138, the price of LLY is up 0.89% at $526.23. RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be overbought. Next earnings are expected to be released in 83 days. What The Experts Say On Eli Lilly: Morgan Stanley has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on Eli Lilly, which currently sits at a price target of $551. Citigroup has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Eli Lilly, which currently sits at a price target of $525. JP Morgan has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on Eli Lilly, which currently sits at a price target of $600. Wells Fargo has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on Eli Lilly, which currently sits at a price target of $615. Jefferies upgraded its action to Buy with a price target of $615 Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock, but they have higher profit potential. Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily, scaling in and out of trades, following more than one indicator, and following the markets closely. If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for Eli Lilly, Benzinga Pro gives you real-time options trades alerts.

This Is What Whales Are Betting On Arista Networks - Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) 2023-08-09 - A whale with a lot of money to spend has taken a noticeably bearish stance on Arista Networks. Looking at options history for Arista Networks ANET we detected 20 strange trades. If we consider the specifics of each trade, it is accurate to state that 45% of the investors opened trades with bullish expectations and 55% with bearish. From the overall spotted trades, 5 are puts, for a total amount of $316,630 and 15, calls, for a total amount of $679,005. What's The Price Target? Taking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts, it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from $150.0 to $210.0 for Arista Networks over the last 3 months. Volume & Open Interest Development Looking at the volume and open interest is a powerful move while trading options. This data can help you track the liquidity and interest for Arista Networks's options for a given strike price. Below, we can observe the evolution of the volume and open interest of calls and puts, respectively, for all of Arista Networks's whale trades within a strike price range from $150.0 to $210.0 in the last 30 days. Arista Networks Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days Biggest Options Spotted: Symbol PUT/CALL Trade Type Sentiment Exp. Date Strike Price Total Trade Price Open Interest Volume ANET PUT SWEEP BULLISH 09/15/23 $165.00 $138.6K 1.1K 476 ANET CALL SWEEP NEUTRAL 09/01/23 $180.00 $116.0K 101 625 ANET CALL SWEEP BULLISH 09/01/23 $180.00 $86.1K 101 989 ANET CALL TRADE NEUTRAL 01/17/25 $150.00 $82.5K 141 16 ANET PUT SWEEP BULLISH 09/15/23 $185.00 $63.7K 227 5 Where Is Arista Networks Standing Right Now? With a volume of 1,623,116, the price of ANET is down -1.66% at $177.46. RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be approaching overbought. Next earnings are expected to be released in 82 days. What The Experts Say On Arista Networks: Wells Fargo has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on Arista Networks, which currently sits at a price target of $225. Morgan Stanley has decided to maintain their Equal-Weight rating on Arista Networks, which currently sits at a price target of $185. Needham has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Arista Networks, which currently sits at a price target of $200. Keybanc has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on Arista Networks, which currently sits at a price target of $217. Argus Research has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Arista Networks, which currently sits at a price target of $225. Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock, but they have higher profit potential. Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily, scaling in and out of trades, following more than one indicator, and following the markets closely. If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for Arista Networks, Benzinga Pro gives you real-time options trades alerts.

Fox Secures Second 2024 GOP Debate Broadcast, Tightening Grip On Early Contests - Fox (NASDAQ:FOXA), Rumble (NASDAQ:RUM), Fox (NASDAQ:FOX) 2023-08-09 - Fox Corp's FOX FOXA Business unit has been chosen to broadcast the second debate of the 2024 Republican presidential primary, which solidifies Rupert Murdoch-owned Fox as the host for the party’s initial two debates, targeting a broad Republican viewership base. What Happened: The initial debate is set to take place Aug. 23 in Milwaukee and will air on Fox News, the sister station of Fox Business. It will also be exclusively livestreamed on Rumble Inc RUM. While there’s a cloud of uncertainty surrounding the participation of former President Donald Trump in the Milwaukee event, the subsequent debate, scheduled for Sept. 27, has already started drawing attention, according to Politico. Read also: Trump Will Have ‘More Votes Than We Have People’ In 2024, Says MyPillow CEO: ‘It’ll Be Like Pennsylvania’ Adding another layer to the narrative, Politico said that in April, Trump expressed displeasure over the Reagan Library’s association with Fred Ryan, the former publisher of the Washington Post. Key Poll Findings: As Benzinga has previously reported, Trump continues to dominate the GOP nomination race despite facing a third criminal indictment. Trump extends his lead, now at 59% (up 1% from last week). DeSantis trails at 16%, a slight 1% increase. Vivek Ramaswamy holds the third spot at 8%, down by 1%. What To Expect: With the RNC revising the candidate qualifying threshold, political enthusiasts might see a more concise group of presidential hopefuls. Read next: CPI Inflation Data Hits Thursday: 5 ETFs With Potential For Wild Market Moves Photo via Shutterstock.

Wynn Resorts Clocks Strong Q2 Growth - Is This The Sign Of A Recovery? - Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ:WYNN) 2023-08-09 - Wynn Resorts, Limited WYNN shares are trading higher in Wednesday's after-hours session on the heels of the company's second-quarter earnings. Here's what to know. What Happened: Wynn Resorts reported quarterly earnings of 91 cents per share which beat the analyst consensus estimate of 59 cents, a 210.98% increase over losses of 82 cents per share from the same period last year. The company reported quarterly sales of $1.60 billion, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $1.54 billion, a 76.05% increase over sales of $908.83 million in the same period last year. Adjusted Property EBITDAR was $524.5 million for the second quarter of 2023, compared to $179.2 million for the second quarter of 2022. "Our second quarter results reflect continued strength in North America and Macau. In the U.S., Wynn Las Vegas and Encore Boston Harbor continue to perform well, generating a new second-quarter record for Adjusted Property EBITDAR at our combined North American properties," said Craig Billings, CEO of Wynn Resorts, Limited. "In Macau, the post-COVID recovery accelerated during the quarter, with particular strength in our mass gaming, luxury retail and hotel businesses. On the development front, we were excited to begin construction on Wynn Al Marjan Island, which we believe will be a 'must see' tourism destination in the UAE." Related Link: The Trade Desk Q2 Earnings: Stock Slumps Despite Beating Expectations and Raised Guidance WYNN Price Action: Shares of WYNN were up 1.03% at $102.60 in the after-hours session at the time of publication, according to Benzinga Pro. Image by Wikimedia Commons

FDA's Global Drug Control Inquiry Seeks Public Engagement Ahead Of WHO Summit 2023-08-09 - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has initiated public input regarding the potential international control of certain drugs, a move preceding the World Health Organization (WHO) Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) meeting in October. Highlighted in the Federal Register, the FDA invites stakeholders and the public to contribute opinions on the international scheduling of specific drugs, a decision that holds broad implications for global drug regulations, as reported by Marijuana Moment (MM). Related Content: House Committee Chair To Question FDA Head On Hemp-Derived CBD, Medical Devices Notably, nitrous oxide, known as "laughing gas," used medically and recreationally, lacks an international classification. According to the FDA, "Nitrous oxide (N2O) is an inhalable gas... approved by FDA as a medical gas but has seen increasing use around the world for its subjective effects." Member states will assess whether nitrous oxide should undergo a preliminary review for possible international scheduling during the WHO ECDD meeting. Other substances under consideration include carisoprodol and six others like benzodiazepines, synthetic opioids, and stimulants, none of which are internationally controlled. Comments received will significantly influence the evaluation process. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will incorporate inputs into a scientific assessment submitted to the WHO for its decision on international control, potentially impacting manufacturing, distribution, and record-keeping. Related Content: Biden Wants To See Marijuana Scheduling Review 'As Quickly As Possible,' Says HHS Top Official While the FDA seeks public input, its scheduling recommendation to the WHO awaits the latter's suggestion to the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs, expected in late 2023. The FDA's call for comments concludes on August 24, allowing ample opportunity for engagement. When it comes to federal cannabis scheduling, there is no doubt that will be a burning topic among those at the 17th edition of the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference, which is returning to Chicago on Sept 27-28. Get your tickets today before prices increase and secure a spot at the epicenter of cannabis investment and branding. Image edited in Canva by El Planteo // Texture by Ilona Szentivanyi