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Tag: industrial news

  • Snap suffers worst sales growth yet in holiday quarter, stock plunges after earnings miss

    Snap suffers worst sales growth yet in holiday quarter, stock plunges after earnings miss

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    Snap Inc. stumbled through another bleak quarter to end 2022 and executives refused to provide guidance Tuesday, sending shares sliding.

    In a potential barometer of what’s to come from advertising-dependent internet companies, Snap SNAP on Tuesday posted a loss of more than a quarter-billion dollars in the holiday quarter and declined to provide a forecast for the current quarter, which is likely to rattle investors in Meta Platforms Inc. META and Alphabet Inc.’s GOOGL GOOG Google, both of which report financial results later…

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  • AMD CEO promises to keep taking data-center from Intel even as cloud demand pauses following ‘strong’ 2022

    AMD CEO promises to keep taking data-center from Intel even as cloud demand pauses following ‘strong’ 2022

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    Advanced Micro Devices Inc. shares rose in the extended session Tuesday after the chip maker’s data-center sales gained and executives forecast sales of more than $5 billion to start 2023, even as cloud-customer demand begins the year light.

    AMD shares AMD rose 3% after hours, following a 3.7% gain in the regular session to close at $75.15.

    AMD…

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  • PayPal to lay off 7% of employees as part of cost-cutting push

    PayPal to lay off 7% of employees as part of cost-cutting push

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    PayPal Holdings Inc. plans to lay off about 7% of its staff as it continues with broader efforts to reduce costs.

    Chief Executive Dan Schulman announced the layoffs, which will affect about 2,000 PayPal PYPL employees, in an email to the staff Tuesday afternoon.

    “While we have made substantial progress in right-sizing our cost structure,…

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  • These 20 stocks led the January rally

    These 20 stocks led the January rally

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    The initial version of this story had incorrect price changes for 2023. It is now updated with information as of the market close on Jan. 31.

    Investors staged a January rally, with solid gains for the S&P 500 and an even better showing for technology stocks that led the dismal downward action in 2022.

    This…

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  • Biden to end U.S. COVID emergencies on May 11, but more than 500 people are still dying every day

    Biden to end U.S. COVID emergencies on May 11, but more than 500 people are still dying every day

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    President Joe Biden will end the twin national emergencies for addressing COVID-19 on May 11, as most of the world gets closer to normalcy nearly three years after the emergencies were first declared, the Associated Press reported. 

    The move would formally overturn the federal response to the virus and change it to one where COVID is treated as an endemic threat to public health, much like the flu, which returns seasonally but can be managed without major disruption to the healthcare system.

    The…

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  • U.S. employment costs slow again, but they’re still rising too fast to comfort Fed as inflation battle rages

    U.S. employment costs slow again, but they’re still rising too fast to comfort Fed as inflation battle rages

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    The numbers: The employment cost index slowed at the end of 2022 for the third quarter in a row, but worker compensation still rose a sharp 1% and didn’t offer much comfort to the Federal Reserve as it fights to tame inflation.

    Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a 1.1% increase in the ECI in the fourth quarter.

    Although trending in the right direction, labor costs are still rising far faster than the Fed would like.

    Compensation climbed at a 5.1% clip in the 12 months ended in December — up from 5% in the prior quarter — to leave the increase in worker pay near the highest level in 40 years.

    By contrast, wages and benefits rose an average of 2.7% a year from 2017 to 2019.

    Read: Workers love big raises. The Fed, not so much. Why pay has a big role in the inflation fight.

    Key details: Wages advanced 1% in the fourth quarter, but in a good sign, they slowed from 1.3% in the prior period.

    The increase in wages in the 12 months ended in December was flat at 5.1%, however.

    Benefits rose at a 0.8% pace in the last three months of 2022. The 12-month increase in benefits was unchanged at 4.9%.

    The ECI reflects how much companies, governments and nonprofit institutions pay employees in wages and benefits.  Wages make up about 70% of employment costs and benefits the rest.

    The big picture: Senior Fed officials want to see a tight labor market loosen up and wage growth decelerate further to help ensure inflation returns to pre-pandemic levels of 2% or so.

    The central bank on Wednesday is expected to raise a key interest again. It’s likely to keep raising rates — or keep them high for longer — until it sees more signs in the ECI or other wage trackers that labor costs are coming down.

    The increase in consumer prices slowed to 6.5% at the end of 2022 from a 40-year high of 9.1% last summer, but it’s still more than triple the Fed’s inflation goal.

    Looking ahead: “This result is a decent outcome for the Fed, as labor costs appear to be decelerating, but it would be premature to declare victory,” said chief economist Stephen Stanley of Amherst Pierpont Securities. “With the unemployment rate at a 50-year-plus low of 3.5%, it would be exceedingly optimistic to conclude that wage pressures have rolled over.”

    “Wage growth is slowing gradually,” said senior U.S. economist Andrew Hunter of Capital Economics said in a note to clients. “The Fed is still likely to keep raising interest rates at the next couple of meetings, but we expect a further slowdown in wage growth over the coming months to convince officials to pause the tightening cycle after the March meeting.”

    Market reaction: The Dow Jones Industrial Average
    DJIA,
    -0.77%
    and S&P 500
    SPX,
    -1.30%
    were set to open higher in Tuesday trades. Stocks fell on Monday.

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  • UBS posts better-than-expected profit, as wealth-management unit brings in $23.3 billion in new client money

    UBS posts better-than-expected profit, as wealth-management unit brings in $23.3 billion in new client money

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    UBS Group AG on Tuesday reported a surprise rise in fourth-quarter profit as its wealth-management arm attracted billions in new client money, offsetting a slump at its investment bank amid macroeconomic headwinds.

    The Swiss bank
    UBS,
    -0.75%

    UBSG,
    -2.80%
    reported a net profit of $1.65 billion in the three months to the end of December, up from $1.35 billion for the same period a year earlier.

    Revenue was $8.03 billion compared with $8.71 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021.

    It meant the Zurich-based bank beat 4Q estimates of net profit of $1.28 billion and revenue at $7.98 billion, according to analysts’ consensus provided by the company.

    UBS said it took on $23.3 billion in net new fee-generating assets at its key wealth-management business in the quarter, at a time when its local rival Credit Suisse Group AG had struggled with client withdrawals.

    Profit before tax at wealth management jumped 88% to $1.06 billion, it added.

    It also attracted $25 billion in net new money at its asset-management business, UBS said.

    But at its investment bank, profit before tax tumbled to around $100 million, down 84%, as dealmaking slumped.

    The bank cited persistent inflation, rapid central bank tightening, the Ukraine war, and geopolitical tensions that affected asset-pricing levels and investor sentiment in the year.

    “While the macroeconomic outlook remains uncertain, our operational resilience, capital strength and capital generation put us in a great position to serve our clients, fund growth and deliver strong capital returns to shareholders,” Chief Executive Ralph Hamers said.

    Its common equity tier 1 ratio, a measure of financial strength, at the end of December was 14.2%, down from 14.4% at the third quarter.

    The company said it would propose a dividend of $0.55 for 2022, a 10% year-on-year increase.

    The lender added that it would remain committed to a progressive dividend and expects to repurchase more than $5 billion of shares in 2023, after $5.6 billion in 2022.

    Write to Ed Frankl at edward.frankl@dowjones.com

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  • J&J Can’t Use Bankruptcy to Resolve Talc-Injury Lawsuits, Appeals Court Rules

    J&J Can’t Use Bankruptcy to Resolve Talc-Injury Lawsuits, Appeals Court Rules

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    A federal appeals court rejected Johnson & Johnson ‘s plan to use a legal strategy to push about 38,000 talc lawsuits into bankruptcy court, hampering the controversial tactic the company and a handful of other profitable businesses have used to move mass personal-injury cases to chapter 11.

    The Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday dismissed the chapter 11 case of J&J subsidiary LTL Management LLC, which the consumer-health-goods giant created in 2021 to move to bankruptcy court the mass lawsuits alleging its talc-based baby powder products caused cancer.

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  • Pandemic is still a global health emergency but it may be reaching a point where higher immunity levels mean fewer deaths

    Pandemic is still a global health emergency but it may be reaching a point where higher immunity levels mean fewer deaths

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    The coronavirus pandemic is still a global health emergency, according to the World Health Organization, but an advisory panel has determined that it may be nearing an inflection point where higher levels of immunity will lead to fewer deaths.

    That was the message Monday from WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the agency’s annual executive board meeting. He said that the world is in a far better state today than it was a year ago, when the omicron wave was at its peak.

    But Tedros cautioned that weekly reported deaths have been climbing since the beginning of December, at a cost of more than 170,000 lives.

    “And that’s just the reported deaths; we know the actual number is much higher,” Tedros said at the meeting. “We can’t control the virus, but we can do more to address the vulnerabilities in populations and health systems.”

    Vaccination remains the key tool, he said, and countries must vaccinate 100% of their most at-risk groups and increase access to testing and early antiviral use.  When there is a surge in cases, countries need context-specific measures, including maintaining and expanding laboratory networks.

    “And it means fighting misinformation,” he said. “We remain hopeful that in the coming year, the world will transition to a new phase in which we reduce hospitalizations and deaths to the lowest possible level, and health systems are able to manage COVID-19 in an integrated and sustainable way. “

    His comments comes as U.S. cases, hospitalizations and deaths continue to fall, with the seven-day average of new cases standing at 46,021 on Sunday, according to a New York Times tracker. That’s down 25% from two weeks ago.

    The daily average for hospitalizations was down 22% to 33,451. The average for deaths was 521, down 8% from two weeks ago. 

    Cases are currently rising in just nine states, as well as in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Tennessee is leading with total case counts, which are up 104% in two weeks, and also on a per capita basis, with 51 cases per 100,000 residents.

    Coronavirus update: MarketWatch’s daily roundup has been curating and reporting all the latest developments every weekday since the coronavirus pandemic began

    Other COVID-19 news you should know about:

    • Chinese health officials are saying that the wave of cases that emerged after the government dropped strict COVID restrictions in December is “coming to an end,” BBC News reported. China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention said there had been “no obvious rebound” in cases during Lunar New Year holiday gatherings last week. “In this time, no new variant has been discovered, and the country’s current wave is coming to an end,” said China’s CDC. China has understated its COVID numbers throughout the pandemic, but experts say the decline reported now corresponds with the expected timing of an end to this major wave.

    What’s seen as the world’s largest annual human migration is under way again in China for the Lunar New Year, after the country lifted pandemic restrictions. The Wall Street Journal’s Yoko Kubota reports on how it’s expected to boost the economy — and the risk of new COVID-19 outbreaks. Photo: Cfoto/Zuma Press

    • China announced it would resume issuing visas for Japanese travelers beginning Sunday, ending its nearly three-week suspension that was an apparent protest of Tokyo’s tougher entry requirements for tourists from China, the Associated Press reported. The statement was posted on the Chinese Embassy’s website. Japan reopened its borders for individual tourists in October, allowing travelers to show proof of vaccination instead of testing at airports unless they show symptoms, but on Dec. 30, Japan began requiring all travelers from China to show a predeparture negative test and take an additional test upon arrival.

    • A former Russian Orthodox monk who denied that the coronavirus existed and defied the Kremlin was handed a seven-year prison sentence Friday, the AP reported separately. Nikolai Romanov, 67, who was known as Father Sergiy until his excommunication by the Russian Orthodox Church, urged his followers to disobey the Russian government’s lockdown measures and spread conspiracy theories about a global plot to control the masses. A court in Moscow convicted him of inciting hatred. His lawyer immediately announced plans to appeal.

    Here’s what the numbers say:

    The global tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases topped 670.4 million on Monday, while the death toll rose above 6.82 million, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University.

    The U.S. leads the world with 102.3 million cases and 1,107,646 fatalities.

    The CDC’s tracker shows that 229.6 million people living in the U.S., equal to 69.2% of the total population, are fully vaccinated, meaning they have had their primary shots.

    So far, just 51.4 million Americans, equal to 15.5% of the overall population, have had the updated COVID booster that targets both the original virus and the omicron variants.

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  • Tesla, GM, Lucid, Alibaba, and More Stock Market Movers

    Tesla, GM, Lucid, Alibaba, and More Stock Market Movers

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    This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers visit http://www.djreprints.com.

    https://www.barrons.com/articles/stock-market-movers-tesla-alibaba-gm-lucid-51674835133

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  • Philips says it will cut 6,000 extra jobs by 2025 as it swings to a loss

    Philips says it will cut 6,000 extra jobs by 2025 as it swings to a loss

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    Royal Philips NV on Monday said it will cut an extra 6,000 jobs by 2025, including around 3,000 this year, as part of a plan to improve performance and drive value creation.

    The Dutch health-technology company
    PHIA,
    +0.57%

    PHG,
    +0.59%
    –which said in October that it was cutting 4,000 jobs, or about 5% of its 80,000-strong workforce–said Monday that the simplified operating model will make it more agile and competitive, while reducing costs. The job cuts announced Monday are in addition to those outlined in October.

    Philips said that it will now focus on extracting the full value of its portfolio through a strategy of focused organic growth.

    The company made the disclosure as it reported a swing to net loss for the fourth quarter of last year amid higher costs, but said that it has seen some improvement in the period and that is taking actions to address operational challenges in an uncertain environment.

    The Dutch health-technology company–which sells products including MRI scanners and ultrasound machines–posted a net loss attributable to shareholders of 106 million euros ($170.6 million) compared with a profit of EUR157 million for the fourth quarter of 2021 and a company-compiled consensus loss of EUR16 million.

    Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes and amortization–which strips out exceptional and other one-off items–was EUR651 million compared with EUR647 million and a consensus of EUR428 million.

    The company said its performance was hit by cost inflation that was partly offset by pricing and productivity measures.

    Group sales in the period were EUR5.42 billion compared with EUR4.94 billion and a consensus of EUR5.03 billion.

    Like-for-like sales were up 3%, compared with a company-compiled forecast for a fall of 5.2%, due to improved component supplies

    Royal Philips said it now expects low-single-digit comparable sales growth and high-single-digit adjusted Ebita margin for this year.

    It has also targeted mid-single-digit comparable sales growth and a low-teens adjusted Ebita margin by 2025, and for mid-single-digit comparable sales growth and mid-to-high-teens adjusted Ebita margin beyond 2025.

    “Considering the slowing of consumer demand and a gradual improvement of the order book conversion during 2023, Philips anticipates a slow start to the year, with improvements throughout the year supported by the ongoing productivity, pricing and other actions,” it said.

    Write to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com

    The company said its performance was hit by cost inflation that was partly offset by pricing and productivity measures.

    Group sales in the period were EUR5.42 billion compared with EUR4.94 billion and a consensus of EUR5.03 billion.

    Like-for-like sales were up 3%, compared with a company-compiled forecast for a fall of 5.2%, due to improved component supplies

    Royal Philips said it now expects low-single-digit comparable sales growth and high-single-digit adjusted Ebita margin for this year.

    “Considering the slowing of consumer demand and a gradual improvement of the order book conversion during 2023, Philips anticipates a slow start to the year, with improvements throughout the year supported by the ongoing productivity, pricing and other actions,” it said.

    Write to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com

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  • Philadelphia Eagles emerge as early Super Bowl favorites over Kansas City Chiefs

    Philadelphia Eagles emerge as early Super Bowl favorites over Kansas City Chiefs

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    The Kansas City Chiefs were still celebrating on the field Sunday night when oddsmakers moved them from slight favorites to win the Super Bowl over the Philadelphia Eagles to slight underdogs.

    After the Chiefs opened as a 1.5-point favorite by BetMGM
    MGM,
    +0.24%    ,
    the betting line quickly shifted, favoring the Eagles by 2.5 points, with the over/under at 49.5 points. FanDuel sports book odds also swung from the Chiefs to the Eagles, by 2 points, and DraftKings
    DKNG,
    +5.17%
    favored the Eagles by 2.5 points.

    The betting line will likely continue to change slightly over the next two weeks.

    Super Bowl LVII (that’s 57 to you non-Romans) will kick off at 6:30 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, Feb. 12, in Glendale, Ariz.

    The Chiefs edged the Cincinnati Bengals, 23-20, on Sunday night in the AFC Championship game in Kansas City, winning on a last-second field goal. Kansas City will be playing in its third Super Bowl in the past four years; the Chiefs last won it in 2020 over the San Francisco 49ers.

    Earlier in the day, the Eagles earned their spot by demolishing the 49ers, 31-7, in an NFC Championship game in Philadelphia that was never close and saw both 49ers quarterbacks — starter Brock Purdy and backup Josh Johnson — leave the game with injuries (Purdy returned in the second half, but essentially could not throw the ball). The Eagles were last in the Super Bowl five years ago, when they beat the New England Patriots.

    Last year, PlayUSA estimated there were more than $1 billion in legal wagers on the Super Bowl — a record amount — while AmericanGaming estimated a total of $7.61 billion was wagered in the U.S., when including casual bets, bookies and pool contests.

    Sports betting is legal in some form in 32 states, as well as the District of Columbia, according to the American Gaming Association.

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  • Could Big Tech layoffs keep growing? Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google may give hints in biggest week of earnings.

    Could Big Tech layoffs keep growing? Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google may give hints in biggest week of earnings.

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    In the biggest week of the holiday-earnings season, Big Tech results will receive the spotlight amid thousands of layoffs that could only be the beginning.

    After tech stocks were decimated in 2022, investors will be looking for signs of a turnaround in holiday reports and potential forecasts for the year ahead from three of 2022’s top five market-value losers: Amazon.com Inc.
    AMZN,
    -0.66%    ,
    Apple Inc.
    AAPL,
    -0.63%
    and Meta Platforms Inc.
    META,
    -0.60%    .
    The other two stocks on that list — Microsoft Corp.
    MSFT,
    -1.38%
    and Tesla Inc.
    TSLA,
    -0.15%
    — reported last week, and Microsoft’s results in the wake of a mass-layoffs announcement did not bode well for its Big Tech brethren.

    See also: Microsoft could be the cloud sector’s ‘canary in the coal mine’

    Those companies — along with Google parent Alphabet Inc.
    GOOGL,
    -1.32%
    GOOG,
    -1.49%
    — will deliver results after finding themselves in unfamiliar territory: A backdrop of layoffs amid slowing demand for core products like digital ads, electronics and e-commerce, after a two-year pandemic surge and a two-decade-plus honeymoon with investors. Some analysts say the bottom hasn’t arrived, for either their finances or their workforces.

    The one Big Tech company that hasn’t taken a sword to its payroll is Apple, which also increased its staff the least among the group during the COVID-19 pandemic. Apple shed $846 billion from its market cap last year, and now reports after its core product was part of the smartphone industry’s worst year since 2013 and worst holiday-season decline on record. The iPhone maker could also face questions from Wall Street about changing up its product sourcing, which has relied heavily on China, a nation whose COVID-19 restrictions have constrained production of some phones.

    While the tech-industry layoffs have yet to hit Apple, some analysts say the company is unlikely to be spared, despite Chief Executive Tim Cook requesting and receiving a healthy cut to his compensation.

    “Similar to other big technology companies, we expect Apple to adjust its head count to reflect an increasingly challenging global macroeconomic environment,” D.A. Davidson analyst Tom Forte said in a research note Tuesday.

    Rivals that have already cut could face more if profit continues to fall along with revenue growth. Alphabet, for instance, is cutting 12,000 employees, but an activist investor has already said that is not enough considering how much the company grew during the pandemic, and the difficulties it now faces in the online-ad sector.

    Opinion: Microsoft’s big move in AI does not mean it will challenge Google in search

    Analysts have said Meta’s “darkest days” are still ahead, as it navigates a round of more than 11,000 layoffs, competition from TikTok and its early stumbles in the metaverse. While cutting, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has promised to keep spending on metaverse development, even as the efforts slash the Facebook parent company’s previously healthy bottom line.

    “In 2023, we expect Meta to remain engulfed in arduous battles inside the Octagon,” Monness Crespi Hardt analyst Brian White said in a research note on Thursday. “In the long run, we believe Meta will benefit from the secular digital ad trend and innovate in the metaverse; however, regulatory scrutiny persists, internal headwinds remain, and we believe the darkest days of this downturn are ahead of us.”

    Full Facebook earnings preview: Meta’s ‘darkest days’ are ahead, but some analysts say ad sales are still on track

    Online retailer Amazon
    AMZN,
    -0.66%
    was the first Big Tech company to publicly declare cost-cutting was in order a year ago, and still coughed up $834 billion in market value in 2022. It kicked off 2023 with plans to lay off more than 18,000 workers as struggles continued throughout last year, when inflation siphoned away more consumer dollars toward essentials.

    Amazon’s own AWS cloud-infrastructure unit has helped to drive sales in years past, as businesses built out their tech infrastructures. But remarks and the outlook from Microsoft executives — the third-biggest market-cap loser of 2022, and a big barometer for tech spending overall — weren’t exactly encouraging for cloud growth: Executives there last week warned of “moderating consumption growth” for its own cloud business.

    For more: One company could determine whether U.S. corporate profits rise to a record in 2023

    “Sentiment was already bearish on AWS, with investors looking for slowing revenue over the next three quarters, largely confirmed after Microsoft earnings and conversations with industry checks,” Oppenheimer analyst Jason Helfstein said in a note on Wednesday. “Positively, we believe e-commerce revenue has stabilized, and margins should improve from organic scale and announced head-count reductions.”

    Layoffs are also starting to spread beyond Big Tech companies that grew fast during the pandemic in response to massive demand spikes. International Business Machines Corp.
    IBM,
    +0.76%
    confirmed plans for 3,900 layoffs as it reported earnings, despite already reducing its workforce by at least 20% during the pandemic.

    One sector to watch is semiconductors, where a chip shortage has turned into a glut: Chip-equipment maker Lam Research Corp.
    LRCX,
    +0.04%
    announced layoffs in the past week as Silicon Valley semiconductor giant Intel Corp.
    INTC,
    +0.27%
    displayed “astonishingly bad” results while laying off workers. When Intel rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc.
    AMD,
    -1.64%
    reports this week, it could determine whether there is any silver lining in the semiconductor storm.

    Earnings preview: AMD faces even more scrutiny after ‘astonishingly bad’ Intel outlook

    Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives said in a Sunday note that a common theme of this week’s Big Tech earnings will be that “tech layoffs will accelerate with more pain ahead to curb expenses,” though he added that “Apple will likely cut some costs around the edges, but we do not expect mass layoffs from Cupertino this week.”

    Big Tech earnings were a salve to other problems in the market for the past decade-plus, but with layoffs already under way and doubts about the path forward, don’t expect salvation from their results this week.

    This week in earnings

    For the week ahead, 107 S&P 500
    SPX,
    -0.19%
    companies, including six members of the Dow Jones Industrial Average
    DJIA,
    +0.18%    ,
    will report results, according to FactSet. While more Dow components reported last week, this will be the busiest week for S&P 500 holiday earnings of the season, FactSet senior earnings analyst John Butters confirmed to MarketWatch.

    Appliance-maker Whirlpool Corp.
    WHR,
    +1.18%
    reports on Monday, after it forecast fourth-quarter sales that were below expectations, following what it called a “one-off supply-chain disruption” and the pandemic home-renovation boom.

    On Tuesday, package-deliverer United Parcel Service Inc.
    UPS,
    -0.26%
    reports, amid questions about holiday-season demand. So does streaming service Spotify Technology,
    SPOT,
    -0.02%
    following its own layoffs and suggestions of possible price hikes, as well as McDonald’s Corp.
    MCD,
    -0.30%    ,
    amid concerns that rising prices are keeping people from dining out. Exxon Mobil Corp.
    XOM,
    -0.99%    ,
    Caterpillar Inc.
    CAT,
    -0.12%    ,
    Snap Inc.
    SNAP,
    +0.64%
    and Pfizer Inc.
    PFE,
    +0.72%
    also report Tuesday.

    Earnings outlook: McDonald’s earnings haven’t been hit by higher prices

    On Wednesday, T-Mobile US Inc.
    TMUS,
    +0.23%
    reports, in the wake of a data breach and wobbling cellphone demand. Coffee chain Starbucks Corp.
    SBUX,
    -0.58%
    reports on Thursday, with analysts likely to be zeroed in on U.S. demand and China’s reopening, after executives said they were confident that higher prices, along with enthusiasm from younger customers and for customizable drinks, could help them navigate any potholes in the economy.

    For the Big Tech companies, Thursday is also the big day: Apple, Amazon and Alphabet will report that afternoon, after Meta reports the prior day.

    The calls to put on your calendar

    WWE upheaval: World Wrestling Entertainment Inc.
    WWE,
    +0.91%
    reports earnings on Thursday, as Vince McMahon — who returned to the professional-wrestling organization this month following allegations of sexual misconduct — seeks a buyer or some other so-called “strategic alternative” for the company.

    Analysts have speculated how the company’s wrestling events and backlog of media content might be repurposed, with some entertaining the possibility of interest from Amazon or Netflix Inc.
    NFLX,
    -0.39%    .
    But WWE has struggled to develop story lines that stick with viewers, and has thinned its ranks of wrestlers.

    The Wall Street Journal this month reported that McMahon would pay a multimillion-dollar settlement to a former referee who accused him of raping her. Among the changes since McMahon returned was the departure of his daughter, who had been promoted to co-CEO after he stepped down from the role last year.

    There isn’t much clarity on whether Vince McMahon will be on Thursday’s earnings call, which was moved from the morning to the afternoon due to a scheduling conflict. But it should offer drama no matter who attends.

    The numbers to watch

    GM and Ford auto sales: Auto makers General Motors Co.
    GM,
    -2.00%
    and Ford Motor Co.
    F,
    -0.94%
    will issue results on Tuesday and Thursday respectively, amid signs of waning demand and rising interest rates that have made car loans more expensive. Despite falling new-vehicle sales in the third quarter, GM managed to keep its own sales higher, the AP noted.

    Mary Barry, GM’s chief executive, called out the popularity of vehicles like the Escalade, the Chevrolet Bolt EV and some pickups and SUVs during the auto maker’s third-quarter earnings call in October. During that quarter, GM said it completed and shipped nearly 75% of the unfinished vehicles held in its inventory in June. She said supply-chains were opening up again, but added that “short-term disruptions will continue to happen.”

    The auto makers report as they try to put a chip shortage and other production constraints behind them. But some forecasts call for 2022 auto sales, or sales volumes, to be the weakest in roughly a decade. Electric vehicle maker Tesla’s recent price cuts could also cut into GM’s and Ford’s own EV sales.

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  • FDA panel backs plan for annual COVID-19 booster, as new omicron subvariant continues to dominate in new cases

    FDA panel backs plan for annual COVID-19 booster, as new omicron subvariant continues to dominate in new cases

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    A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted unanimously Thursday for Americans to get a once-a-year booster against COVID-19, with the strain to be decided midyear for a fall campaign, the Associated Press reported. 

    “This is a consequential meeting to determine if we’ve reached the point in the pandemic that allows for simplifying the use of current COVID-19 vaccines,” said the FDA’s Dr. David Kaslow.

    The panel agreed that people should get the same vaccine formula whether they’re receiving their initial vaccinations or a booster. Today, Americans get one formula based on the original coronavirus strain that emerged in 2020 for their first two or three doses, and their latest booster is a combination shot made by Pfizer
    PFE,
    -0.33%
    or Moderna
    MRNA,
    -0.90%
    that adds protection against omicron.

    The FDA would have to decide how to phase in that change.

    COVID-19 vaccines have saved millions of lives, and booster doses remain the best protection against severe disease and death. But Americans are tired of getting vaccinated. While more than 80% of the U.S. population has had at least one COVID-19 shot, only 16% of those eligible for the latest boosters — so-called bivalent doses updated to better match more recent virus strains — have gotten one.

    Separately, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offered an update Friday on the strains that are dominant in the U.S., showing that XBB.1.5, the omicron sublineage that first emerged in small numbers in October, has extended its lead over other variants.

    XBB.1.5 accounted for 61.3% of cases in the week through Jan. 28, the data shows, up from 49.1% a week ago. The prior dominant variants, BQ.1.1 and BQ.1, together accounted for 31.1% of new cases.

    In the CDC’s Region 2, which includes New York, New Jersey, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, XBB.1.5 accounted for 91.1% of new cases, up from 86.8% the previous week.

    The World Health Organization said this week that it now has data on XBB.1.5 from 54 countries, showing it has a growth advantage over other circulating strains but still appears no more severe.

    In its weekly epidemiological update, the agency said it has raised the confidence level of its risk assessment for XBB.1.5 to “moderate” from “low,” using these additional reports. The highest number of XBB.1.5 cases are showing up in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Denmark, Germany, Ireland and Austria.

    The news comes as the seven-day average of new cases stood at 46,300 on Thursday, according to a New York Times tracker. That’s down 24% from two weeks ago. The daily average for hospitalizations was down 24%, at 34,833. The average number of deaths was 549, down 3% from two weeks ago. 

    Cases are currently climbing in eight states — Illinois, Tennessee, Minnesota, Alaska, South Dakota, Vermont, Kentucky and Kansas — as well as in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Washington, D.C.

    Coronavirus update: MarketWatch’s daily roundup has been curating and reporting all the latest developments every weekday since the coronavirus pandemic began

    Other COVID-19 news you should know about:

    • China’s claim that COVID cases and deaths have peaked and are falling fast is failing to take on board that testing is not keeping up with infections, the Guardian reported. China ended its zero-COVID policy in December and promptly saw a wave of cases spread across the nation. Its health authorities said this week that the worst is behind it, but experts are wary that it is underreporting numbers, as it has since the start of the pandemic. Now the pullback in testing is a factor, according to the Guardian. Daily tests had dropped to 280,000 by Monday, down from 150 million on Dec. 9, and 7.54 million on Jan. 1. Some provinces had enacted systems for collecting the results of residents or allowing residents to self-report, but the figures were “affected by the willingness of residents to test.”

    What’s seen as the world’s largest annual human migration is under way again in China for the Lunar New Year, after the country lifted pandemic restrictions. WSJ’s Yoko Kubota reports on how it’s expected to boost the economy–and the risk of new Covid-19 outbreaks. Photo: Cfoto/Zuma Press

    • South Korea says it will continue to restrict the entry of short-term travelers from China through the end of February over concerns that the spread of COVID may worsen following the Lunar New Year holidays, the AP reported. South Korea in early January stopped issuing most short-term visas at its consulates in China, citing concerns about the virus surge in the country.

    • Spain is set to end the mandatory use of face masks on public transport nearly three years after the start of the pandemic, the AP reported separately. Spanish Health Minister Carolina Darias said Thursday she would recommend that the government remove the health regulation when the cabinet meets on Feb. 7. Face masks will remain obligatory inside hospitals, health clinics, dentist offices and pharmacies.

    Here’s what the numbers say:

    The global tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases topped 669.9 million Wednesday, while the death toll rose above 6.82 million, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University.

    The U.S. leads the world with 102.3 million cases and 1,107,559 fatalities.

    The CDC’s tracker shows that 229.6 million people living in the U.S., equal to 69.2% of the total population, are fully vaccinated, meaning they have had their primary shots.

    So far, just 51.4 million Americans, equal to 15.5% of the overall population, have had the updated COVID booster that targets both the original virus and the omicron variants.

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  • U.S. pending home sales rise 2.5% in December. Realtors say the housing market is in recovery mode.

    U.S. pending home sales rise 2.5% in December. Realtors say the housing market is in recovery mode.

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    The numbers: U.S. pending-home sales rose 2.5% in December, reversing a six-month losing streak, according to the monthly index released Friday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

    Pending home sales were down for six months in a row, as the U.S. Federal Reserve increased interest rates and mortgage rates took off.

    Pending-home sales beat analyst expectations. Analysts polled by the Wall Street Journal had forecast the pending home sales index to drop by 1%.

    Contract signings rose in the South and the West.

    Pending home sales reflect transactions where the contract has been signed for an existing-home sale, but the sale has not yet closed. 

    Economists view it as an indicator for the direction of existing-home sales in subsequent months.

    Mortgage application activity hints at the housing market’s further recovery. Mortgage demand rose in the latest week. 

    Key details: Compared with a year earlier, transactions were down by 33.8%.

    On a monthly basis, pending sales rose in the South and the West. Sales dropped in the Northeast and Midwest. 

    Pending home sales fell the most since last December in the West, by 37.5%.

    Big picture: A dip in rates has boosted demand for mortgages. Buyers are coming back to the market, and the housing market is slowly recovering. But inventory remains low, as sellers hold out. Many are looking to the spring to see if sellers are motivated to list their homes.

    What the realtors said: “This recent low point in home sales activity is likely over,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said. “Mortgage rates are the dominant factor driving home sales, and recent declines in rates are clearly helping to stabilize the market.”

    Yun expects mortgage rates to hover between the 5.5% and 6.5% range. 

    He also expects the South to outperform in terms of sales, since the job market is stronger in the region.

    What they’re saying: “Home sales have now largely adjusted to the collapse in demand since late 2021. … [but] a sustained recovery likely remains a long way off,” Kieran Clancy, senior U.S. economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, wrote in a note.

    “The downturn in sales is coming to an end, but the decline in home prices is only just getting underway,” he added. He expects home prices to fall 15% over the next year.

    Market reaction: The Dow Jones Industrial Average
    DJIA,
    +0.08%
    and the S&P 500
    SPX,
    +0.25%
    were mixed in early trading on Friday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note
    TMUBMUSD10Y,
    3.511%
    rose above 3.5%.

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  • Intel stock drops nearly 10% after earnings miss, execs predict quarterly loss as data-center market shrinks

    Intel stock drops nearly 10% after earnings miss, execs predict quarterly loss as data-center market shrinks

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    Intel Corp. shares dropped more than 9% in the extended session Thursday after the chip maker reported a big miss for the fourth quarter, forecast a loss for the first quarter, said the data-center market was contracting and that inventory digestion will gnaw at margins.

    Intel
    INTC,
    +1.31%
    executives forecast an adjusted loss of 15 cents a share on revenue of about $10.5 billion to $11.5 billion and adjusted gross margins of about 39% for the current quarter. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated adjusted first-quarter earnings of 25 cents a share on revenue of $13.93 billion.

    Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger told analysts on a conference call he would not provide a 2023 forecast. Gelsinger restricted the outlook to the current quarter, citing macro uncertainties, a digestion of PC inventory that was “difficult” to forecast and a contracting data-center market. In the fourth quarter, AI group sales dropped 33% to $4.3 billion, while the Street expected revenue of $4.08 billion.

    “We expect Q1 server consumption [total addressable market] to decline both sequentially and year-over-year at an accelerated rate, with first-half 2023 server consumption TAM down year-on-year before returning to growth in the second half,” Gelsinger said.

    Chief Financial Officer David Zinsner told analysts that the company will institute an accounting change in the first quarter, where Intel will extend the useful life of their machinery to eight years from a current five years. Gelsinger said that Intel was going to “squeeze” its effective capacity.

    While Zinsner would not give a full-year outlook, he did say that continued inventory digestion should be weighted to the first half of the year.

    Pressed on how Intel could get back to the 51% to 53% margins range he promised a year ago, Zinsner said a “significant inventory burn” on PC inventory would hit gross margins by 400 basis points in the first quarter. Gross margins for the fourth quarter dropped to 43.8% from 55.8% a year ago, and from 45.9% in the third quarter.

    Intel reported a fourth-quarter loss of $664 million, or 16 cents a share, versus net income of $4.62 billion, or $1.13 a share, in the year-ago period. After adjusting for restructuring charges and other items, Intel reported earnings of 10 cents a share, compared with $1.13 a share from a year ago.

    Revenue declined to $14.04 billion from $20.52 billion in the year-ago quarter, for a 10th straight quarter of year-over-year declines.

    Analysts surveyed by FactSet estimated earnings of 21 cents a share on revenue of $14.49 billion, based on Intel’s forecast of 20 cents a share on about $14 billion to $15 billion.

    Intel shares fell 9% in after-hours trading, after closing the regular session up 1.3% at $30.09. Other chip stocks also declined, including top rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc.
    AMD,
    +0.33%    ,
    which saw shares drop more than 3% in after-hours trading, and Nvidia Corp.
    NVDA,
    +2.48%    ,
    which declined 2%.

    Breaking down divisions: Client-computing sales fell 36% to $6.6 billion from a year ago; “network and edge” sales slipped 1% to $2.1 billion; and foundry services revenue rose 30% to $319 million.

    Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected revenue from client computing to come in at $7.36 billion; “network and edge” revenue of $2.23 billion; and foundry services revenue of $199.1 million.

    Over the past 12 months, Intel stock has fallen 43%. Over the same period, the Dow Jones Industrial Average 
    DJIA,
    +0.61%
     — which counts Intel as a component — has slipped 1%, the PHLX Semiconductor Index 
    SOX,
    +1.63%
     has dropped 13%, the S&P 500 index 
    SPX,
    +1.10%
     has declined 7%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index 
    COMP,
    +6.59%
     has dropped 15%.

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  • Hasbro plans to lay off 15% of workforce and warns of holiday-season loss

    Hasbro plans to lay off 15% of workforce and warns of holiday-season loss

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    Hasbro Inc. late Thursday said it plans to lay off about 15% of its workforce and warned Wall Street to brace for a quarterly loss and a drop in revenue after a disappointing holiday season.

    Hasbro
    HAS,
    -0.50%
    reported preliminary losses between $1 a share and 93 cents a share for its fourth quarter, and an adjusted loss of between $1.29 a share and $1.31 a share in the period.

    That runs counter to FactSet consensus of an adjusted profit of $1.52 a share for the quarter.

    The maker of My Little Pony, Baby Alive and other toy brands also reported preliminary fourth-quarter revenue of about $1.68 billion, down 17% year-over-year. That compares with FactSet consensus for revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter.

    Hasbro stock fell more than 8% in the extended session after ending the regular trading day down 0.5%.

    Hasbro’s “consumer-products business underperformed in the fourth quarter against the backdrop of a challenging holiday consumer environment,” despite “strong growth” for digital gaming and other areas of the company, Chief Executive Chris Cocks said in a statement.

    Several retailers have posted lower-than-expected fourth-quarter sales as concerns about the economy simmer. Layoffs have also been widespread, with International Business Machines Corp.
    IBM,
    -4.48%
    and SAP
    SAP,
    -1.77%
    among the latest announcing cuts.

    The global job cuts will start in the next few weeks, Hasbro said. The toy maker employed 6,640 people worldwide as of December 2021, according to its most recent annual filing with securities regulators.

    Hasbro said that the layoffs and “ongoing systems and supply-chain investments” will keep the company on track to hit its goal of between $250 million and $300 million in cost savings by the end of 2025.

    Until then, however, 2022 and “particularly” the fourth quarter were a “a challenging moment for Hasbro,” the company said.

    Earlier this month, analysts at BMO said they expected Hasbro’s holiday-season sales were likely among “the weakest in the North American toy industry.”

    Hasbro’s stock has fallen about 29% in the last 12 months, compared with a decline of around 7% for the S&P 500 index
    SPX,
    +1.10%    .

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  • Intel stock drops after missing on earnings, predicting quarterly loss to start the new year

    Intel stock drops after missing on earnings, predicting quarterly loss to start the new year

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    Intel Corp. shares dropped in the extended session Thursday after the chip maker reported a big miss for the fourth quarter and forecast a loss for the first quarter.

    Intel
    INTC,
    +1.31%
    shares fell 6% in after-hours trading, after closing the regular session up 1.3% at $30.09.

    For the first quarter, Intel forecast an adjusted loss of 15 cents a share on revenue of about $10.5 billion to $11.5 billion and adjusted gross margins of about 39%. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated adjusted first-quarter earnings of 25 cents a share on revenue of $13.93 billion.

    “In 2023, we will continue to navigate the short-term challenges while striving to meet our long-term commitments, including delivering leadership products anchored on open and secure platforms, powered by at-scale manufacturing and supercharged by our incredible team,” said Pat Gelsinger, Intel’s chief executive, in a statement.

    Intel reported a fourth-quarter loss of $664 million, or 16 cents a share, versus net income of $4.62 billion, or $1.13 a share, in the year-ago period. After adjusting for restructuring charges and other items, Intel reported earnings of 10 cents a share, compared with $1.09 a share from a year ago.

    Revenue declined to $14.04 billion from $20.52 billion in the year-ago quarter, for a 10th straight quarter of year-over-year declines. Gross margins dropped to 43.8% from 55.8% a year ago, and 45.9% in the third quarter.

    Analysts surveyed by FactSet estimated earnings of 21 cents a share on revenue of $14.49 billion, based on Intel’s forecast of 20 cents a share on about $14 billion to $15 billion.

    Over the past 12 months, Intel stock has fallen 43%. Over the same period, the Dow Jones Industrial Average 
    DJIA,
    +0.61%
     — which counts Intel as a component — has slipped 1%, the PHLX Semiconductor Index 
    SOX,
    +1.63%
     has dropped 13%, the S&P 500 index 
    SPX,
    +1.10%
     has declined 7%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index 
    COMP,
    +1.76%
     has dropped 15%.

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  • Bed Bath & Beyond stock plunges more than 20% after filing shows default on loans

    Bed Bath & Beyond stock plunges more than 20% after filing shows default on loans

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    Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. shares plunged more than 20% and were halted Thursday afternoon, after the retailer disclosed in a filing that it was in default on loans that have been called in.

    The struggling retailer finally filed its quarterly report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday at roughly 2:30 p.m. Eastern time, after being threatened with having its stock delisted for being late with the required report.

    Included in the filing is news that Bed Bath & Beyond
    BBBY,
    -22.22%
    had defaulted on loans earlier this month, and executives were informed on Wednesday by banker JP Morgan Chase & Co.
    JPM,
    +0.62%
    that the debt was due immediately.

    “On or around January 13, 2023, certain events of default were triggered under the Company’s Credit Facilities as a result of the Company’s failure to prepay an overadvance and satisfy a financial covenant, among other things,” the filing reads.

    “As a result of the continuance of such events of default, on January 25, 2023, the administrative agent under the Amended Credit Agreement notified the Company that (i) the principal amount of all outstanding loans under the Credit Facilities, together with accrued interest thereon, the FILO Applicable Premium and all fees (including, for the avoidance of doubt, any break funding payments) and other obligations of the Company accrued under the Amended Credit Agreement, are due and payable immediately.”

    See also: Bed Bath & Beyond bankruptcy warning marks latest chapter in troubled retailer’s downward spiral

    Shares had traded between $3.25 and $3.47 on the day until about 5 minutes after the filing was released, when shares suddenly dove, triggering a halt. The stock fell as low as $2.10 and was halted three times between 2:46 p.m. and 3:14 p.m. before closing at $2.52, a 22.2% daily decline.

    The struggling retailer admitted earlier this year that it has “substantial doubt” about its “ability to continue as a going concern” and may need to declare bankruptcy. The home goods retailer also said that it expects to record lower sales for the latest quarter than analysts were anticipating.

    “As we consider all paths and strategic alternatives, we continue to work with our advisors and implement actions to manage our business as efficiently as possible,” a Bed Bath & Beyond spokesperson said in an email Thursday. “As is our practice, we do not comment on speculation. We will update all stakeholders on our plans as they develop and finalize.”

    Bed Bath & Beyond stock has become popular with “meme” traders and short sellers, who have been betting on opposite sides of the trade as the retailer reported a poor holiday season and plans to shut down stores. Shares have traded as high as $30.06 and as low as $1.27 in the past 12 months, while declining 81.8% overall in that time. The S&P 500 index
    SPX,
    +1.10%
    has declined 7.7% in the past 12 months.

    See also: Why naked short selling has suddenly become a hot topic

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