ReportWire

Tag: Media/Entertainment

  • Disney scraps plans on nearly $900 million investment at new corporate campus in Florida 

    Disney scraps plans on nearly $900 million investment at new corporate campus in Florida 

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    Walt Disney Co., locked in an escalating political feud with Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, has scrapped plans on a nearly $900 million investment in a new corporate campus in Florida that would have relocated more than 2,000 employees.

    “This was not an easy decision to make, but I believe it is the right one,” Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney’s parks, experiences and products division, told employees Thursday in a memo viewed by MarketWatch.

    “While some were excited about the new campus, I know that this decision and the circumstances surrounding it have been difficult for others,”D’Amaro wrote. “Given the considerable changes that have occurred since the announcement of this project, including new leadership and changing business conditions, we have decided not to move forward.”

    Citing “changing business conditions,” D’Amaro said the project is dead, and employees will no longer be asked to relocate from Southern California. Many Disney
    DIS,
    +0.84%
    employees balked at the company’s relocation plans when they were first announced by former Chief Executive Bob Chapek in July 2021. Chapek was fired by the board in November.

    D’Amaro said employees who already moved to Florida may be able to relocate back to California. Disney World is Florida’s largest employer, with approximately 75,000 workers.

    The reversal in Disney’s plans to develop in the town of Lake Nona, outside of Orlando, is the latest dispute between the media giant and DeSantis, who last year criticized Disney for publicly opposing a sex-education bill that he had championed. The rise in tensions has led to a spate of lawsuits and increasingly bitter war of words between the two sides.

    Disney’s stock is flat in trading Thursday.

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  • Netflix’s password-sharing crackdown is imminent, but the writers’ strike may be causing a delay

    Netflix’s password-sharing crackdown is imminent, but the writers’ strike may be causing a delay

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    Netflix Inc. has teased the U.S. rollout of a password-sharing crackdown, but one analyst wonders if the ongoing writers’ strike is delaying the company’s plans.

    The streaming-media company has already started to clamp down on account sharing in other markets by limiting who can use accounts and charging more for additional access. JPMorgan’s Doug Anmuth wondered if Netflix
    NFLX,
    +0.78%
    was rethinking a broader rollout at the moment, given the prospect of content interruptions.

    See more: Netflix delivers cliffhanger for investors as password-sharing crackdown is delayed

    “Paid sharing is effectively a price increase, w/paid members sharing their password receiving less value for the same price, or potentially paying more to add an extra member. And for borrowers who currently do not pay, paid sharing means either activating their own subscription or being added as an extra member, or losing access to NFLX,” he wrote in a note to clients.

    For that reason, “it’s possible that NFLX may not like the optics of implementing paid sharing while 11,500 WGA writers are on strike, w/production suspended or writing paused across at least a handful of NFLX titles including Stranger Things S5 & Emily in Paris S4, among others,” Anmuth continued.

    Netflix didn’t respond to a MarketWatch request for comment asking when paid sharing will roll out in the U.S., why it hasn’t rolled out yet, and if the delay was at all due to the writers’ strike.

    Opinion: Disney shows streaming wars are destroying all that was good about streaming

    The paid-sharing rollout is a critical element of Netflix’s financial story these days. Netflix estimates that some 100 million people were freeloading off of others’ paid Netflix subscribers, and Anmuth expected that Netflix would be able to get at least 30 million of those to start paying up, whether by becoming add-on members for existing accounts or new subscribers in their own right.

    For that reason, a continuation of the writers’ strike “could further postpone revenue & subscriber acceleration,” he wrote.

    See also: Streaming nirvana is about to become more expensive — and offer less content

    The writers’ strike also threatens to impact Netflix’s other hot initiative: its advertising tier. Anmuth noted that the company’s upfront presentation to advertisers, its first-ever, was turning into a prerecorded event, presumably because the company fears “heavy picketing and protesting” and “less availability of star talent.”

    “[U]ltimately, advertising is closely tied to paid sharing, w/borrowers likely viewing a $6.99 Standard w/Ads plan as a compelling low-priced option,” Anmuth wrote. “Therefore, ramp of the ad tier is also delayed if paid sharing is delayed.”

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  • Elon Musk says he’s hired new CEO for Twitter; is it NBCUniversal’s Linda Yaccarino?

    Elon Musk says he’s hired new CEO for Twitter; is it NBCUniversal’s Linda Yaccarino?

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    Twitter Chief Executive Elon Musk says he’s found a new CEO to run Twitter and its parent company, X Corp., and “she” starts soon.

    “Excited to announce that I’ve hired a new CEO for X/Twitter. She will be starting in ~6 weeks!” Musk tweeted Thursday afternoon. “My role will transition to being exec chair & [chief technology officer], overseeing product, software & sysops.”

    Musk did not offer any clues as to the identity of Twitter’s incoming CEO, but late Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported Linda Yaccarino, NBCUniversal’s head of advertising, was in talks to become the CEO.

    Yaccarino has worked at Comcast’s
    CMCSA,
    +1.28%
    NBCU for more than a decade, and has been an industry advocate in finding better ways to measure advertising’s effectiveness, according to the Journal.

    Yaccarino oversees global, national and local ad sales, partnerships, marketing, ad tech, data, measurement and strategic initiatives, according to her bio, which says she and her team have generated more than $100 billion in ad sales.

    “She knows metrics in advertising, and has played in different media,” Timothy Hubbard, assistant professor of management at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, said in an interview. “I don’t know much about her, but she can balance Musk somewhat with her flexibility in advertising.”

    She and Musk appeared in a keynote conversation at a conference in Miami last month, according to Dateline, before NBCU and Twitter inked a major ad pact for the 2024 Olympics.

    Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said the move is good for the stock of Tesla Inc.
    TSLA,
    +2.10%    ,
    where Musk is also CEO.

    “Musk stepping down as Twitter CEO sooner than thought is clearly good news overall for Tesla investors,” Ives said on Twitter. “Less time focused on Twitter platform and more time around Tesla SpaceX…balancing act too difficult and needed to make this move sooner rather than later.”

    In a note, Ives added: “With the tweet this afternoon, Musk’s reign as CEO of Twitter has finally come to an end and thus will be a positive for Tesla’s stock starting to finally remove this lingering albatross from the story,” and maintained Tesla’s outperform rating.

    Tesla shares advanced 1.6% in after-hours trading.

    After Musk acquired the social media giant for $44 billion, he posted a Twitter poll in December that asked if he should step down as CEO. A majority (57%) said yes, and he responded saying: “I will resign as CEO as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job! After that, I will just run the software & servers teams.”

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  • Elon Musk says he’s hired new CEO for Twitter; is it NBCUniversal’s Linda Yaccarino?

    Elon Musk says he’s hired new CEO for Twitter; is it NBCUniversal’s Linda Yaccarino?

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    Twitter Chief Executive Elon Musk says he’s found a new CEO to run Twitter and its parent company, X Corp., and “she” starts soon.

    “Excited to announce that I’ve hired a new CEO for X/Twitter. She will be starting in ~6 weeks!” Musk tweeted Thursday afternoon. “My role will transition to being exec chair & [chief technology officer], overseeing product, software & sysops.”

    Musk did not offer any clues as to the identity of Twitter’s incoming CEO, but late Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported Linda Yaccarino, NBCUniversal’s head of advertising, was in talks to become the CEO.

    Yaccarino has worked at Comcast’s
    CMCSA,
    +1.28%
    NBCU for more than a decade, and has been an industry advocate in finding better ways to measure advertising’s effectiveness, according to the Journal.

    “She knows metrics in advertising, and has played in different media,” Timothy Hubbard, assistant professor of management at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, said in an interview. “I don’t know much about her, but she can balance Musk somewhat with her flexibility in advertising.”

    Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said the move is good for the stock of Tesla Inc.
    TSLA,
    +2.10%    ,
    where Musk is also CEO.

    “Musk stepping down as Twitter CEO sooner than thought is clearly good news overall for Tesla investors,” Ives said on Twitter. “Less time focused on Twitter platform and more time around Tesla SpaceX…balancing act too difficult and needed to make this move sooner rather than later.”

    In a note, Ives added: “With the tweet this afternoon, Musk’s reign as CEO of Twitter has finally come to an end and thus will be a positive for Tesla’s stock starting to finally remove this lingering albatross from the story,” and maintained Tesla’s outperform rating.

    In December, Musk posted a Twitter poll asking if he should step down as CEO. A majority said yes, and he responded saying: “I will resign as CEO as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job! After that, I will just run the software & servers teams.”

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  • TripAdvisor lawsuit highlights companies moving to Nevada from Delaware

    TripAdvisor lawsuit highlights companies moving to Nevada from Delaware

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    A lawsuit filed in Delaware in April against the travel site Tripadvisor and its majority shareholder is highlighting what may be a growing trend: companies seeking to shift their incorporations to Nevada to avoid Delaware’s more stringent and entrenched legal standards.

    The suit was filed on behalf of a group of Tripadvisor Inc. TRIP shareholders, who are hoping to persuade the Delaware Chancery Court to stop the company from pushing ahead with board-approved plans to reincorporate in Nevada, arguing their motive is to take…

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  • Snap stock sinks nearly 20% on revenue miss

    Snap stock sinks nearly 20% on revenue miss

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    Snap Inc.’s stock plunged more than 18% in extended trading Thursday after the social-media company reported a decline in revenue as it retools its ad platform.

    Revenue dropped 7% to $988.6 million, from $1.06 billion a year ago. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected on average a net loss of a penny a share on revenue of $1 billion.

    Sales…

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  • Meta stock jumps toward highest price in a year as Facebook parent predicts renewed revenue growth

    Meta stock jumps toward highest price in a year as Facebook parent predicts renewed revenue growth

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    Meta Platforms Inc.’s stock soared more than 10% higher in extended trading Wednesday after the social networking company’s profit declined less than expected in the first three months of 2023, and a revenue forecast pointed toward reinvigorated sales growth.

    Facebook’s parent company META racked up fiscal first-quarter net earnings of $5.71 billion, or $2.20 a share, compared with earnings of $2.72 a share in the year-ago quarter. Revenue gained less than 3% to $28.65 billion from $27.91 billion a year ago.

    Analysts…

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  • Son of WWE ‘Million Dollar Man’ Ted DiBiase charged in scam involving NFL legend Brett Favre

    Son of WWE ‘Million Dollar Man’ Ted DiBiase charged in scam involving NFL legend Brett Favre

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    Federal prosecutors have leveled a legal dropkick on former pro wrestler Ted DiBiase Jr., charging him with stealing millions of dollars meant to feed needy kids in a Mississippi scandal that has also tarnished the reputation of NFL hall of famer Brett Favre.

    From the archives (September 2022): NFL star Brett Favre and Gov. Phil Bryant texted about how to use $5 million of welfare funds to build a new volleyball stadium

    DiBiase,…

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  • Facebook settlement: How to apply for some of Meta’s $725 million payout

    Facebook settlement: How to apply for some of Meta’s $725 million payout

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    If you used Facebook between May 2007 and December 2022, the social-media giant may owe you some money.

    A California judge preliminarily approved a $725 million settlement between Facebook parent Meta Platforms
    META,
    -1.01%
    and users who say the company allowed their data to be viewed or shared by third parties, notably Cambridge Analytica, without their consent.

    The judge’s approval was a precursor to the final approval hearing, which will take place in September, but people can begin submitting claims now to potentially get a cash payment.

    Who does the Facebook settlement apply to?

    The $725 million settlement applies to anybody who was a Facebook user in the U.S. between May 24, 2007 and Dec. 22, 2022. The class-action form simply states that people who were Facebook users during that period are eligible. It does not mention any required level of activity on the account.

    It’s unclear if someone with multiple Facebook accounts would be entitled to more money than a person with a single account. To find out if you are included in the settlement group, you can email info@FacebookUserPrivacySettlement.com 

    When is the deadline to submit a claim?

    The claim form must be submitted no later than Aug. 25, 2023.

    The form can be completed online or downloaded and mailed to the settlement administrator at the following address: Facebook Consumer Privacy User Profile Litigation, c/o Settlement Administrator, 1650 Arch St., Suite 2210, Philadelphia, PA 19103.

    How much money will you get?

    As is typical with class-action lawsuits, the amount an individual will receive is dependent on a variety of factors.

    The settlement form says the payment will vary based on how many people submit claims. Additionally, administrative costs and attorneys’ fees will be deducted from the settlement fund prior to its release.

    See also: Mark Zuckerberg’s total 2022 pay rose because of the increased use of private aircraft

    “Settlement payments will be distributed as soon as possible if the Court grants Final Approval of the Settlement and after any appeals are resolved,” the claim website notes.

    How many people does this affect?

    Because Facebook has so many users and because of the 16-year time frame for this settlement, there are millions of people who could submit a claim.

    According to data compiled by Statista, total Facebook users in the U.S. numbered roughly 240 million in 2022.

    What has Meta said about the lawsuit?

    In December 2022, Meta agreed in principle to pay the settlement. At the time, a Meta spokesman said settling the class-action suit was “in the best interest of our community and shareholders.” The company added that it had revamped its privacy approach and “implemented a comprehensive privacy program.”

    Despite agreeing to pay the settlement, “Meta expressly denies any liability or wrongdoing,” according to the lawsuit website.

    Representatives for Meta didn’t immediately respond to MarketWatch’s request for comment on this story.

    See also: NPR’s CEO sayd ‘I have lost my faith in the decision-making’ at Twitter under Elon Musk

    The settlement comes as Meta is set to announce another round of layoffs this week.

    Meta shares were down 0.95% in the early afternoon on Wednesday and have gained nearly 80% year to date, compared with the S&P 500’s
    SPX,
    -0.01%
     8.11% gain in 2023.

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  • Electric-vehicle tax credit: See which EVs qualify on updated list

    Electric-vehicle tax credit: See which EVs qualify on updated list

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    The Biden administration, pushing for more U.S. manufacturing, has issued its updated list of all-electric and gas-electric hybrid vehicles that qualify for the full $7,500 tax credit, and those that can earn at least a partial sweetener for buyers.

    With the update, 16 models are now eligible for a full or partial tax credit, based on new thresholds that require a certain percentage of the battery parts and the minerals used in those batteries to come from North America, meaning the U.S., or a country with select trade agreements with the U.S.

    The total is down from 25 electric and plug-in models previously eligible for a U.S. tax break, which were first introduced about 10 years ago.

    The revision limits the selection to vehicles built by four car companies: Tesla Inc.
    TSLA,
    -0.96%    ,
     Ford Motor Co.
    F,
    -0.04%    ,
     General Motors Co.
    GM,
    +0.17%
    and Stellantis NV
    STLA,
    +0.03%    ,
    which owns Jeep and Chrysler.  

    See the full list.

    The government site also advises on tax incentives for used vehicles and leased vehicles.

    For buyers to claim the full $7,500 tax credit, a percentage of the pre-determined battery parts must be made in North America and a percentage of critical minerals sourced in the U.S. or from certain trade-friendly countries. A partial $3,750 credit is available for meeting one of these two battery-sourcing requirements.  


    Terrence Horan

    Not a single electric model from a foreign brand is eligible for the subsidy as revised. And EVs from startups, such as passenger- and commercial-truck maker Rivian Automotive Inc.
    RIVN,
    -1.64%
    and luxury brand Lucid Group Inc.
    LCID,
    -0.19%    ,
    also missed making the list. That’s largely because their vehicles are too expensive for the price contingencies that inform which autos qualify. Income levels of buyers are also a consideration.

    Still, the new rules make for certain immediate winners over others.

    Nearly all of GM’s new EV models are eligible for the full $7,500 tax credit. Six Ford electric and plug-in hybrid models also qualify for a partial or full tax credit, including the Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning. 

    Among Tesla’s models, some entry-level Model 3 sedans will get a $3,750 credit. That is because the car uses battery cells made in China. Higher-end Model 3s and all its Model Y configurations qualify for the full $7,500 credit. 

    Tesla has been cutting its retail prices, a move to boost sales and bring some offerings in line with the tax breaks. And analysts say the maker likely isn’t done cutting prices.

    The tax credits made a big splash when they were included in 2022’s Inflation Reduction Act, the broad spending bill that observers labeled the biggest pro-climate action by an administration to date. But Biden’s pro-America stance soon came in conflict with the heart of the existing EV market, much of which is sourced abroad.

    Read: Biden adds more EV charging across U.S., with pledges from Uber, Walmart, PG&E and others

    The latest changes, which are intended to attract auto manufacturers into building domestically, apply to vehicles delivered to customers starting Tuesday. Several overseas makers, including Hyundai and Honda, have started to build battery plants in the U.S. 

    Other actions are intended to push EVs as well. The Environmental Protection Agency last week proposed its toughest restrictions ever on tailpipe emissions, a target that can likely only be met by turning out more EVs from assembly lines. The new standards aim for two-thirds of U.S. car sales to be electric by 2032.

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  • Why Snap is suddenly eligible to join the S&P 500

    Why Snap is suddenly eligible to join the S&P 500

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    Snap Inc.’s initial public offering led to changes that barred the company and others like it from joining major stock indexes, but at least one major index provider has decided to drop those limitations after less than six years.

    S&P Dow Jones Indices announced Monday afternoon that a 2017 rule barring companies with multiple share classes from joining indexes such as the S&P 500
    SPX,
    +0.33%
    has been dropped. The move comes after the index manager consulted with “market participants” at the end of last year to discuss several potential changes to the policy.

    Snap
    SNAP,
    +1.78%
    was the poster child for the initial change, after the parent company of the Snapchat mobile app went public in 2017 by selling a class of shares with no voting rights. That unprecedented move ensured that co-founders Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy would retain absolute power over their company even while selling shares to the public.

    Snap’s move was an acceleration of an approach used by a generation of Silicon Valley tech companies to ensure that founders retained control of their companies even while selling shares to the public. Companies such as Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc.
    META,
    -1.19%
    and Google parent Alphabet Inc.
    GOOGL,
    -2.66%
    GOOG,
    -2.78%
    used similar structures that provided their leaders with special shares that included increased voting rights, which Snap took further by offering no voting rights.

    From 2017: Snap backlash, Facebook capitulation won’t stop founder-friendly stock structures

    In response, FTSE Russell established rules about putting votes in the public’s hands while selling stock, and S&P Dow Jones Indices completely barred all companies that had multiple classes of stock from joining its core indexes. While FTSE Russell’s rule — which requires that at least 5% of votes rest in the hands of public investors — remains, S&P Dow Jones Indices will now drop its rule entirely, after roughly 80% of respondents voted in favor of a change in 2017.

    There were other options besides completely dropping the rule. Participants in the consultation process were given several options and asked to rank them, including barring companies that only offer nonvoting stock to the public — such as Snap — or allowing companies that establish “sunset” provisions that would eventually revert all shares to equal voting rights.

    Related: Investors want change, but founders like Mark Zuckerberg hold them off

    Snap declined to comment Monday afternoon.

    The change to allow all companies with multiple share classes to join the S&P Composite 1500 and its multiple component indexes is effective as of Monday, S&P Dow Jones Indices announced, though no changes were immediately made to any index. Tracking stocks will still not be eligible for inclusion, according to the announcement.

    For more: As Snap melts down, its founders make sure to protect the people who matter — themselves

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  • Tesla, Netflix earnings due: Cheaper cars, cheaper content, more workout videos, as ‘earnings recession’ seems likely

    Tesla, Netflix earnings due: Cheaper cars, cheaper content, more workout videos, as ‘earnings recession’ seems likely

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    For anyone watching Netflix, the streaming services’ recent moves to cut costs could mean fewer films, lower-budget shows and — depending on your subscription — more ads. For anyone buying a Tesla, its moves to cut prices will make it easier on customers, but harder on profit-seeking investors.

    With both companies reporting results this week, Wall Street will get a look at who still wants a Tesla, amid growing competition, and what kind of growth and viewership anyone can expect from Netflix, as it recalibrates its streaming ambitions and focuses more on profitability following years of rapid growth.

    Netflix Inc.
    NFLX,
    -2.18%    ,
    which reports first-quarter results on Tuesday, is trying to crack down on shared accounts, and analysts polled by FactSet see subscriptions coming in well below the average. However, BofA analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich said that first-quarter results would likely “mark the low point” of the year, “reflecting the initial impact of password sharing efforts in select markets.”

    Netflix will report as shareholders’ growing influence over the streaming universe raises questions over what shows and films get streamed, and for how long, as Wall Street tries to wring more bottom-line gains from an industry that boomed before and during the pandemic but burned cash and got crowded in the process. Netflix, along with Walt Disney Co.
    DIS,
    -0.93%    ,
    have laid off employees, while Warner Brothers Discovery Inc.
    WBD,
    -1.85%
    fuses its streaming holdings together.

    “We expect Netflix to continue reining in spending, particularly by seeking alternatives to its past practices,” Wedbush analysts Alicia Reese and Michael Pachter wrote in a research note on Thursday. “The company appears to us to be producing fewer feature length films, which we have always viewed as a poor investment, and appears focused on lower cost television content.”

    “We are equally encouraged that Netflix is looking at low-cost content like workout videos, which we believe will present a lot of value to subscribers at very low cost,” they added later.

    The analysts said that they felt Netflix was well positioned, as other streamers rethink their approach to expansion and financials. And they said Netflix “should be valued as an immensely profitable, slow-growth company.” They also said that Netflix’s decision to launch a cheaper ad-supported option was a “great decision” after growth stalled in the U.S. and Canada and the company’s business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa reaches the saturation point.

    For Tesla Inc.
    TSLA,
    -0.48%    ,
    which reports results on Wednesday, the focus for investors will be on price-cutting and its impact on margins. Still, Potter, an analyst at Piper Sandler, has said Tesla is on a “warpath” and “maintaining its aggressive approach to pricing,” and said investors “should expect relentless price cuts to continue.”

    Base prices for Tesla’s Model S and Model X have fallen by around $5,000, MarketWatch has noted, as the electric-vehicle maker tries to stimulate demand. The company is also selling a more affordable Model Y SUV.

    “Tesla concerns on pricing and a race to the bottom persisted as general sentiment on the stock is souring given recent price cuts after a brief period of stabilization,” TD Cowen analyst Jeffrey Osborne said in a note.

    Tesla will report as the Biden administration tries to take a harder stance on auto pollution. The EPA recently proposed new emissions restrictions intended to hasten electric-vehicle usage, by incrementally curtailing tailpipe emissions each year for vehicle model years 2027 through 2032. However, some analysts said the measures would push prices higher for regular and electric vehicles.

    This week in earnings

    The first-quarter earnings reporting season will pick up steam in the week ahead, with 60 S&P 500 companies, including six from the Dow Jones Industrial Average
    DJIA,
    -0.42%    ,
    reporting quarterly results, according to FactSet. Those companies will report as Wall Street analysts remain pessimistic about results for the quarter, and the prospect of another so-called “earnings recession” in which profits contract for at least two straight quarters.

    “As of today, the S&P 500 is reporting a year-over-year decline in earnings of -6.5% for the first quarter, which would mark the largest earnings decline reported by the index since Q2 2020 (-31.6%) and the second straight quarter the index has reported a decline in earnings,” FactSet Senior Earnings Analyst John Butters said in a report on Friday.

    After investors cheered JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s
    JPM,
    +7.55%
    quarterly results on Friday — despite Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse and broader recession anxieties — other banking giants, like Bank of America Corp.
    BAC,
    +3.36%    ,
    Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
    GS,
    +1.44%
    and Morgan Stanley
    MS,
    +1.19%
    report during the week ahead. So does Johnson & Johnson
    JNJ,
    -0.16%    ,
    after it agreed to pay as much as $8.9 billion to settle scores of lawsuits alleging that its talc baby powder was linked to cancer. Charles Schwab Corp.
    SCHW,
    -1.40%    ,
    United Airlines Holdings Inc.
    UAL,
    -0.71%
    and AT&T Inc.
    T,
    -0.15%
    also report during the week.

    The calls to put on your calendar

    Supply-chain update, anyone? Shipping rates have fallen. Labor tensions have risen. Railroad safety is under scrutiny. Elsewhere in that industry, hedge funders are applying pressure. Memories of 2021’s supply-chain meltdown are still fresh after it led to shipping delays and put the low-work labor that fuels much of that distribution network under a spotlight.

    At any rate, trucking and logistics company J.B. Hunt Transportation Services Inc.
    JBHT,
    +1.23%
    reports on Monday, while railroad giant CSX Corp.
    CSX,
    +0.13%
    reports on Thursday. Both companies report after a drop-off in demand for goods last year, as inflation remolded consumers’ buying habits. They also report after rail workers threatened to strike over what they said were inadequate sick-time policies. More recently, a group representing the terminal operators at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach alleged that dockworkers were disrupting daily operations at the two massive import gateways, as the workers’ union and the terminal operators try to work out a contract. The quarterly financial reports and earnings calls will offer a look at what the year ahead has in store.

    The number to watch

    Credit-card transactions, charge-offs: Credit-card providers Discover Financial Services
    DFS,
    +0.68%
    and American Express Co.
    AXP,
    +0.57%
    report Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. The companies will report after Discover took a hit in January after it forecast credit-card net charge-offs — a measure of debt a company doesn’t think it’ll get back — that were worse than what Wall Street expected. Similar to the results from the big banks, the results from American Express and Discover will tells us how much consumers are still spending, and whether more are falling behind on their bills, as recession anxieties prevail.

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  • Netflix Is About to Kick Off Tech Earnings. There Are Lots of Questions.

    Netflix Is About to Kick Off Tech Earnings. There Are Lots of Questions.

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    The outlook for


    Netflix


    ‘s first-quarter earnings report, due after the close of trading on Tuesday, is a little muddled.

    The company is still the clear leader in the streaming video market. But it is struggling to show meaningful growth given a weak economy, increasingly aggressive competition, and an apparently saturated U.S. market for streaming.

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  • The new Steve Jobs book is free to download now — here’s where to get it 

    The new Steve Jobs book is free to download now — here’s where to get it 

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    Apple founder Steve Jobs has continued to inspire even after his death in 2011. Just this week, in fact, Tim Cook — Apple’s AAPL current CEO and chief operating officer for a decade-plus under Jobs — mused in a GQ interview on life lessons imparted by his predecessor. 

    And now anyone who wants to get an intimate glimpse into Jobs’s wisdom and reflections on his life, which was cut short at just 56, can download a curated collection of personal correspondence, speeches and interviews — for free.

    “Make…

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  • AMC, Virgin Orbit, Marathon Oil, Walmart, and More Stock Market Movers

    AMC, Virgin Orbit, Marathon Oil, Walmart, and More Stock Market Movers

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    Stock futures fluctuated Tuesday following a mixed session on Wall Street that saw the


    Dow Jones Industrial Average


    and


    S&P 500


    rise after a spike in oil prices.

    These stocks were poised to make moves Tuesday:

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  • Apple CEO Tim Cook explains why consumers would want a mixed-reality headset

    Apple CEO Tim Cook explains why consumers would want a mixed-reality headset

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    Apple Inc. Chief Executive Tim Cook, GQ’s latest cover boy, has a sales pitch for a mixed-reality headset.

    “The idea that you could overlay the physical world with things from the digital world could greatly enhance people’s communication, people’s connection,” Cook told GQ, without confirming the rumored June 5 announcement of Apple’s
    AAPL,
    +0.77%
    Reality Pro headset.

    Apple’s plunge into the so-called metaverse would offer a jolt to a flagging industry as well as serious competition to Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc.
    META,
    +0.53%    ,
    Alphabet Inc.’s
    GOOGL,
    +0.61%

    GOOG,
    +0.88%
    Google, Microsoft Corp.
    MSFT,
    -0.37%    ,
    Snap Inc.
    SNAP,
    +0.27%
    and others.

    “ ‘It’s the idea that there is this environment that may be even better than just the real world — to overlay the virtual world on top of it might be an even better world.’ ”


    — Tim Cook

    Creative users, the lifeblood of Apple’s business model, stand to gain the most from virtual-reality products, according to Cook.

    “It’s the idea that there is this environment that may be even better than just the real world — to overlay the virtual world on top of it might be an even better world,” Cook told GQ. “If it could accelerate creativity, if it could just help you do things that you do all day long and you didn’t really think about doing them in a different way.”

    Cook also looked inward during the far-ranging interview, explaining his persona and the challenges in succeeding the legendary Steve Jobs as Apple CEO. Jobs died in 2011.

    “I always hate the word normal in a lot of ways, because what some people use to describe normal equals straight,” Cook said. “Some people would use that word in that kind of way. I don’t know — I’ve been described as a lot of things, but probably normal is not among those.”

    Added Cook: “I knew I couldn’t be Steve. I don’t think anybody could be Steve. I think he was a once-in-a-hundred-years kind of individual, an original by any stretch of the imagination. And so what I had to do was to be the best version of myself.”

    From the archives (October 2011): Steve Jobs: MarketWatch’s CEO of the Decade

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  • Dow rises more than 300 points after inflation report as Nasdaq heads for best quarter since 2020

    Dow rises more than 300 points after inflation report as Nasdaq heads for best quarter since 2020

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    U.S. stocks were climbing Friday afternoon following a softer-than-expected inflation report for February, while the Nasdaq Composite was on pace for its largest quarterly advance since 2020.

    How stocks are trading
    • The Dow Jones Industrial Average
      DJIA,
      +1.26%
      rose 340 points, or 1%, to 33,199.

    • The S&P 500
      SPX,
      +1.44%
      gained almost 47 points, or 1.2%, to nearly 4,098.

    • The Nasdaq Composite
      COMP,
      +1.74%
      advanced almost 173 points, or 1.4%, to 12,186.

    For the week, the Dow is on track to gain 3% while the S&P was on pace to rise 3.2% and the Nasdaq Composite was heading for a 3.1% increase, according to FactSet data, at last check.

    What’s driving markets

    U.S. stocks were up sharply Friday afternoon as investors weighed data showing signs of moderating inflation.

    “Core price pressures” eased in February, Barclays said in an economics research note Friday. “On balance, the easing in February PCE inflation was fairly broad-based across goods and services, barring housing.”

    The personal-consumption-expenditures, or PCE, price index increased 0.3% in February, with inflation slowing to 5% year over year from 5.3% in January, according to a report Friday from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

    Core PCE, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge that excludes energy and food prices, rose 0.3% last month for a year-over-year rate of 4.6%. That’s slightly lower than forecasts from economists polled by the Wall Street Journal and softened from the 4.7% increase seen over the 12 months through January.

    Read: Inflation softens in February, PCE finds, and gives ammo for Fed rate-hike pause

    While the Federal Reserve has been battling high inflation with interest rate hikes, futures traders are betting that rates have already peaked and that the Fed will likely reverse course and cut rates at least a couple of times before the end of the year, according to the CME’s FedWatch tool.

    The market is pricing in a “coin flip” as to whether the Fed raises its benchmark rate by a quarter percentage point at its May policy meeting, said Matt Stucky, senior portfolio manager at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co., in a phone interview Friday.

    “We think we’re getting pretty close to the end” of the rate-hiking cycle, he said. Stucky expects the Fed may stop hiking once “cracks” start to form in the labor market, with job losses in “nonfarm payrolls.”

    Meanwhile, consumer spending edged up 0.2% in February while personal incomes rose 0.3%, according to a Bureau of Economic Analysis report Friday.

    “Incomes and spending are hanging in there and inflation’s cooling,” said Mike Skordeles, head of U.S. economics at Truist, in a phone interview Friday. “That has positive implications for markets” and the economy, he said.

    Stocks traded higher following the release of the final reading on U.S. consumer sentiment for March from the University of Michigan. While confidence ticked lower compared with earlier estimates, inflation expectations moderated.

    U.S. stocks have held up relatively well this quarter, shrugging off the Fed rate hikes and renewed recession fears. Since hitting its highest level of the year in early February, the S&P 500 has been trading in an increasingly narrow range, leaving analysts divided about where the market might be heading next.

    “We need to see what the overall economy does,” said Kim Caughey Forrest, founder and chief investment officer of Bokeh Capital Partners. “I think GDP matters, and if GDP holds up while inflation comes down, that could be good for stocks.”

    The Nasdaq Composite has risen around 16% since the start of the year, putting it on track for its best quarterly gain since the three months through June 2020, according to FactSet data, at last check. The technology -heavy Nasdaq jumped more than 30% in the second quarter of 2020 as stocks rebounded from the global market rout tied to COVID-19 that year.

    The S&P 500 and Dow were also track for quarterly gains in late afternoon trading.

    “The bond market is definitely more concerned about recession risks than stocks are,” said Skordeles, who is expecting a recession in the second half of the year. “They couldn’t be sending more different signals.”

    Read: Two-year Treasury yields on pace for biggest monthly drop since 2008 after bank turmoil

    New York Fed President John Williams said Friday in a speech at Housatonic Community College that stress in the U.S banking system will cause banks to tighten credit and probably lead to lower consumer spending.

    Companies in focus

    —Steve Goldstein contributed to this article.

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  • How Trump’s presidency became inextricably linked with catch-and-kill — setting the stage for his indictment

    How Trump’s presidency became inextricably linked with catch-and-kill — setting the stage for his indictment

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    There is perhaps no part of the sordid tale of Donald Trump, the National Enquirer and the hush-money payments to an adult-film actress and a Playboy bunny who claimed to have had sex with him, that has lodged itself more firmly in the public consciousness than the phrase catch-and-kill. 

    The term arguably first became part of the national lexicon on Friday, Nov. 4, 2016, when the Wall Street Journal broke news about the dubious journalistic practice involving the man who would be elected president just four days later.

    Fast forward 6½ years and that revelation has snowballed into the first-ever criminal indictment of a former president with a Manhattan grand jury voting to bring charges against Trump for his role in the payoffs.

    Breaking news: Trump to surrender Tuesday before New York court appearance: report

    Back in 2016, I was a media reporter at the Journal and on that late Friday afternoon found myself at the heart of what would become a major political scandal, when then-colleague Michael Rothfeld came up to me asking for some help.

    Mike, an investigative reporter, explained that he and legal-affairs reporter Joe Palazzolo had uncovered a wild story about how the National Enquirer paid a Playboy bunny $150,000 for her kiss-and-tell story of having an affair with Donald Trump in 2006. But, once she signed the contract and was given her check, the supermarket tabloid had never run the story.

    The deal had given exclusive rights to the story to the Enquirer, so the move to bury it effectively locked the story up for good.

    At the time, I focused primarily on newspaper and digital media companies. In a previous life, I had worked in tabloids, so I was familiar with that world.

    I made some calls and struck gold, discovering that this kind of payoff was a time-honored method by which supermarket tabloids like the Enquirer protected friends and made bad news about powerful people go away. Usually the favor was returned later — quid pro quo — as a juicier story down the road or via some other form of payback.

    It emerged that this kind of thing was called a catch-and-kill.

    It was an explosive phrase that ran in the third paragraph of that first Journal story and subsequently appeared prominently in stories written about the subject by many media organizations for years to come. 

    That first catch-and-kill story would lead to numerous other revelations by the Journal’s crack team led by Joe and Mike about additional payoffs, most importantly one to adult-film star Stormy Daniels.

    MarketWatch and the Wall Street Journal are both published by Dow Jones, which is owned by News Corp.

    The payment for her story had been made not by the Enquirer but directly, by Trump’s then–personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, who was later reimbursed by the Trump organization, purportedly booked by the Trump Organization as legal fees.

    That chain of payments resulted in Cohen’s pleading guilty to campaign-finance violations and going to prison, as well as, ultimately, to the charges brought by the Manhattan district attorney’s office on Thursday.

    In 2019, the Wall Street Journal was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting for its work uncovering the catch-and-kill payments. 

    Given the tawdriness of the tale — replete with an army of characters with names that sounded made up, like Trump friend and AMI chief executive David Pecker — the phrase catch-and-kill has taken on a larger-than-life dimension that has come to define the Trump era as much as “Make America Great Again.”

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  • Disney eliminates metaverse division in cost-cutting purge: report

    Disney eliminates metaverse division in cost-cutting purge: report

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    The metaverse is among the first victims of Walt Disney Co.’s cost-cutting purge.

    The Magic Kingdom is shutting down its next-generation storytelling and consumer-experiences unit, the small division that was developing metaverse strategies, as part of a plan to slash 7,000 jobs, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Tuesday.

    Disney…

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  • Disney begins layoffs of 7,000 this week in first of three phases

    Disney begins layoffs of 7,000 this week in first of three phases

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    Walt Disney Co. will begin the process of eliminating 7,000 jobs this week, company Chief Executive Bob Iger said in a memo to staff Monday.

    “This week, we begin notifying employees whose positions are impacted by the company’s workforce reductions,” Iger wrote in the memo, obtained by MarketWatch. “Leaders will be communicating the news directly to the first group of impacted employees over the next four days. A second, larger round of notifications will happen in April with several thousand more staff reductions, and we expect to commence the final round of notifications before the beginning of the summer to reach our 7,000-job target.”

    Disney’s
    DIS,
    +1.64%
    three-phase layoff is “part of a strategic realignment of the company, including important cost-saving measures necessary for creating a more-effective, coordinated, and streamlined approach to our business,” said Iger, who returned last year as CEO following the ouster of Bob Chapek.

    Disney’s stock was up 1.4% in early-afternoon trading Monday. So far this year, shares have advanced 10% compared with the S&P 500 index’s
    SPX,
    +0.16%
    gain of 3.8% over the same period.

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