Barbie dolls from the Fashionistas line of the U.S. toy manufacturer Mattel are on display at the company’s stand at the International Toy Fair, January 28, 2020 in Bavaria, Nuremberg. 2020.
Daniel Karmann | picture alliance | Getty Images

Shares of Mattel rose as much as 4% on Wednesday as the company outlined its plans for 2021 and beyond.
As part of the company’s investor day presentation, the toy maker reiterated its expectation for growth this year and laid out its forecasts for 2022 and 2023.

For 2021, Mattel expects adjusted EBITDA to range between $775 million and $800 million. That would be an increase from $719 million last year.
The company added it sees revenue growing in the mid-single digits from the $4.58 billion seen in 2020. Mattel executives noted they see sales growing at a similar pace in 2022 and 2023. The company also sees operating income margin staying in the mid-teens through 2023.
Additionally, Mattel expects cost savings of $250 million by 2023. Mattel cut costs by $1 billion between 2018 and 2020.
Since taking over as CEO in 2018, Ynon Kreiz has set in motion a multiyear strategy aimed at restoring profitability and reigniting topline growth while capturing the value of Mattel’s intellectual properties.
Kreiz’s plans involve implementing an online retail and e-commerce strategy as well as producing films showcasing the different Mattel brands. One of Kreiz’s first moves since joining the company was launching a film and television division; it currently has more than 50 projects in the works. Among the projects are an Uno live-action film, a Whac-A-Mole game show and a Thomas & Friends series.

Mattel’s forecasts come on the back of strong fourth-quarter results, which were released earlier this month.
Excluding items, Mattel earned 40 cents a share, which was higher than a Refinitiv earnings per share forecast of 23 cents. Sales jumped by 10% to $1.63 billion, outpacing the $1.58 billion analysts expected.
Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that Mattel expects adjusted EBITDA to range between $775 million and $800 million in 2021. A prior version of this story misstated the lower end of the range. More

On Friday evening, 45-year-old Ferigo Foscari left the Milan office of the international law firm where he is a partner, and commuted to his family home in Venice, as he has done almost every week for the last four years. He recently began driving the 170 miles between the two cities, after deciding that train […] More

Venu Sports will be a case study in the value of marketing.
Sling TV already sells a product that’s similar to Venu Sports, and it’s been losing customers for five years.
Venu said Thursday the streaming service will cost $42.99 per month when it launches this fall.

Actor Jon Hamm playing Don Draper in Mad Men.
Michael Yarish | AMC | AP

Call Don Draper, Venu Sports may have a marketing problem
The Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery jointly-owned streaming service said Thursday it will launch this fall at $42.99 per month. That’s much more expensive than Netflix, Max, Peacock or any other major subscription streaming service. It’s a lot less than the $73-per-month YouTube TV or a standard cable bundle — but those offerings include a wide variety of entertainment content beyond sports.

Venu will give consumers access to a bundle of networks: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS, ABC, Fox, FS1, FS2, BTN, TNT, TBS, and truTV. Subscribers will also get ESPN+. The plan is to debut in time for the football season. It doesn’t include CBS and NBC, two networks that have the rights to many sports, including college football and NFL games.
Venu’s theoretical user is someone willing to pay a hefty monthly subscription for a narrow segment of media — live sports, but not all live sports. The service is marketing itself as a product for so-called “cord nevers” — a set of younger consumers who haven’t wanted to pay for cable because it’s too expensive but have been yearning for access to ESPN and other live sports.
It’s entirely unclear this user base will materialize.
There are two major obstacles for Venu to succeed. First, the total addressable market of users who are OK with paying $43 per month for some sports but not OK with paying for cable may not be that high. Many non-cable subscribers are content to watch highlights on YouTube and their favorite influencers for commentary. According to a survey by Kantar, cited by YouTube at its 2024 upfront, 54% of people would rather watch creators break down a major live event than actually watch the event.
On the other end of the spectrum, NFL-crazed younger people will have to buy Peacock and Paramount+ — the streaming services attached to NBC and CBS — to get a full slate of NFL games. They could also get a digital antenna to pair with Venu, but antenna uptake among younger viewers may be a tad oxymoronic.

Other major sporting events — such as the ongoing Olympics — simply won’t be available on Venu, because Olympic broadcaster Comcast’s NBCUniversal isn’t a part of the service.

An existing player

The second problem is potentially bigger: A product like Venu already exists — and it may already be a better deal than Venu.
For $60 per month, Echostar’s Sling TV offers the popular networks that come with Venu — ESPN, TNT, TBS, Fox and ABC — but it also includes NBC. Moreover, it also comes with CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, Bravo, USA, HLN, Discovery NFL Network, and a slew of other networks — 46 in all, to Venu’s 14. Plus, it comes with an introductory offer where consumers can pay just $30 for the first month.
For those that just want ESPN, Sling TV also offers a $40-per-month package that doesn’t include the broadcast networks but does come with TBS, TNT, CNN, and more than 20 other networks.

Sinseeho | Istock | Getty Images

As of the end of March, Sling TV had 1.92 million subscribers, and it’s not growing. It lost 135,000 customers in the first quarter, which was actually a narrower loss than the 234,000 subscribers it lost in the first quarter a year ago.
At the end of 2021, Sling TV had 2.5 million customers, down from the 2.7 million subscribers it topped out at in 2019.
The company blamed the existence of other streaming services for its decline last quarter.
“We continue to experience increased competition, including competition from other subscription video-on-demand and live-linear OTT service providers, many of which are providers of our content and offer football and other seasonal sports programming direct to subscribers on an a la carte basis,” Echostar said in a filing.
To sum up, Sling TV — a more robust offering than Venu for about $17 more per month — has been losing subscribers for five years and never got more than 2.7 million as its peak.
That’s quite the marketing challenge for Venu, which will need to convince consumers that it’s worth signing up for on the strength of branding and technology.
Or, it will hope that its $43 per month offer lasts long enough that it can take advantage of the $17 delta. The typical pattern for bundles of live networks is they start with an introductory offer only to raise prices. Venu hinted at this in its press release, telling consumers they could lock in the $43 per-month price for 12 months from time of sign-up — suggesting a price increase may be coming.
Venu wants to add more sports to the service in time, but that will likely cause the price to increase, making the value proposition an even tougher sell for cord-nevers.
Further undercutting Venu, Disney is already planning an ESPN Flagship streaming service in the fall of 2025, which will include ESPN for a lower price than Venu.
Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox will argue that they’re going for maximum coverage here — kind of like the Apple iPad mini did in slotting into the tech company’s existing product line-up between its phones and larger tablets. Maybe there’s an audience for Venu, and if there is, the companies want to serve it. Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch has already predicted the service can get 5 million subscribers in the next five years.
But even 5 million seems ambitious given Sling TV’s struggles. Getting there will require a lot of money spent on marketing.
And that effort may be so costly that it defeats the purpose.
Disclosure: CNBC parent NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics is the U.S. broadcast rights holder to all Summer and Winter Games through 2032. NBC Sports broadcasts NFL games. More

The new electric Hummer from General Motors will live up to the reputation of its predecessors for being capable and over the top but in different ways than the gas-guzzling vehicles that previously bore the name.
The 2022 GMC Hummer EV, which the automaker unveiled Tuesday night, is big, bold and flamboyant – all things someone would expect from a military-inspired vehicle – but it also includes new technologies and exotic performance to support GM’s claim of it being “the world’s first supertruck.”

“This is all about people who just love the best in automotive innovation, performance, capability and technology,” GMC Vice President Duncan Aldred told CNBC. “These are the people who you may have seen buy the exotic sports car type brands. This will be the must-have item.”

2022 GMC Hummer EV sport utility truck
GM

GM says the vehicle will offer the performance of an exotic sports car, including zero to 60 mph in 3 seconds, as well as off-road capability “that’s second to none.” Plus, it will have fast charging of up to 100 miles of range in 10 minutes as well as a host of new technologies such as GM’s next-generation driver-assist system that allows hands-free driving on highways.

Pricing

The technologies and performance will come at a cost though. Initial availability of the Hummer EV pickup next fall will start at $112,595, including destination charges, for a launch version called the “Edition 1.” A $99,995 version will be available a year later, followed by $89,995 and $79,995 models in the springs of 2023 and 2024, respectively.
The years-long production cadence and premium pricing should assist in the vehicle’s expected profitability – a goal of GM’s as it pivots to electric vehicles, which have historically been unprofitable for automakers. The timeframe also should allow for the company to ramp-up production of a joint venture with LG Chem for battery cell production at a plant currently being constructed in Lordstown, Ohio.
But the timeframe could allow several competitors to enter the market with new, less expensive electric pickup trucks as well. The Hummer SUT will be among an initial group of electric pickups to come to market in what’s expected to be the industry’s newest, yet unproven, hotly contested segment.

The vehicle is expected to compete against a host of electric pickups expected from Tesla, Ford Motor and several start-up companies such as Rivian. Tesla’s Cybertruck and Rivian’s R1T are both expected to have starting prices well below the Hummer EV when they arrive to market as early as next year.

2022 GMC Hummer EV sport utility truck
GM

To assist with simplifying the manufacturing launch of the Hummer EV, all initial models, or “Edition 1” versions, will be identically appointed and fully equipped, according to GM. Each features a white exterior and a unique “Lunar Horizon” interior, with special “Edition 1” interior badging.
The vehicle will be produced at a factory in Detroit that the automaker recently renamed “Factory Zero,” a nod to the company’s pivot toward zero-emission vehicles. It’s in the process of overhauling the facility with $2.2 billion in new investments.

Sport Utility Truck

The Hummer sport utility truck, or SUT, will be the first vehicle with GM’s next-generation electric vehicle platform and batteries under a $20 billion plan to shift to electric and autonomous vehicles through 2025.
GM estimates the top-end Hummer SUT will achieve more than 350 miles of electric range and estimated best-in-class 1,000 horsepower and 11,500 lb.-ft. of torque. That power will be generated by three separate motors within two of GM’s proprietary drive units to four-wheel-drive performance on-road and off-road.

2022 GMC Hummer EV sport utility truck
GM

“We had one goal for Hummer EV: Build the most capable factory truck – ever,” Al Oppenheiser, GMC Hummer EV chief engineer, said in a statement. “It’s an absolute off-road beast with a unique e4WD drive system that provides maneuverability unlike anything GM has ever offered before.”
Lower priced models will feature shorter electric ranges of roughly 250 miles or 300 miles and less performance than the top-end models. The sub-$90,000 models will include 625 horsepower and 7,400 lb.-ft. of torque with two motors instead of three.
The vehicle also offers a host of off-road parts and features such as adaptive air suspension and “crab mode” that allows it to rotate all four wheels at once, allowing the truck to almost move diagonally.
“Short of being able to float or fly, I think it pretty much does everything else,” Aldred said. “It is like the perfect vehicle. It has something for every type of buyer.”

The 2022 Hummer EV features a new iteration of the vehicle’s traditional slotted grille with “HUMMER” backlit across the front of the truck.
GM

The vehicle features an open-air layout in which customers can remove the roof. The exterior features a new iteration of Hummer’s traditional slotted grille with “HUMMER” backlit across the front of the truck and a six-function tailgate in the back.
GM unveiled the electric Hummer sport utility truck, or SUT, online and during national television broadcasts Tuesday night of the World Series and “The Voice.”

‘Triple zero’

GM announced it was resurrecting Hummer during a Super Bowl ad in February. It was expected to be unveiled in May but was delayed due to the pandemic.
GM’s previous Hummer included an SUV and a short-lived pickup variant. The design was based on the military vehicle known as the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, or “Humvee.” During the early 2000s, the Hummer was a popular vehicle but also a source of criticism because of its size and poor gas mileage at around 15 mpg.

The 2022 GMC Hummer EV features a large front trunk, or frunk, to store the vehicle’s roof panels.
GM

As an electric vehicle, GM says it’s essentially flipping the Hummer’s reputation on its head under the automaker’s “triple zero” vision of zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion — an overarching goal for the company that GM CEO Mary Barra announced in 2017.
“Hummer EV represents the best in what General Motors is capable of in its entirety,” Aldred said. “I really do think it is a beacon of what GM can do and where it’s going to go and the zero-zero-zero future it’s creating.” More

In this articleMACSPGTSLAThe Tesla showroom at Park Meadows Mall March 31, 2016John Leyba | The Denver Post | Getty ImagesTesla showrooms have been a staple of many high-end shopping malls, but that could be changing.The electric car maker is shuttering a number of stores in favor of less-expensive locations, according to a report from Electrek.The decision would mark another shift in Telsa’s retail strategy, which has wavered in recent years. It would also be another blow to America’s mall owners, which have struggled to hang on to tenants and fill vacant storefronts.In early 2019, Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk said the company would be closing most of its brick-and-mortar locations and shifting its sales online. However, the company ended up reversing course and keeping a significant number of locations open.Tesla is now said to be letting go of most of its high-rent locations in malls and shopping districts in favor of putting money toward delivery centers, Electrek reported, citing sources familiar with the plans.The automaker is also looking to rent spaces in mall parking lots and in warehouses, according to the report. A Tesla spokesperson did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.Tesla operates more than 170 galleries and showrooms across the U.S., according to its website, in malls including Garden State Plaza mall in Paramus, New Jersey; Scottsdale Fashion Square in Scottsdale, Arizona; and Ala Moana Center in Honolulu, Hawaii.Mall owners such as Simon Property Group and Macerich — which count Tesla as a tenant — have seen a range of retailers move from the mall to other locations. Some of those retailers include Gap, Macy’s and Victoria’s Secret The strategy shift has accelerated during the Covid pandemic, as businesses look to get closer to customers’ homes, cut back on rent and tap the foot traffic that comes from being closer to neighborhood centers with grocery stores and drive-thru restaurants.Like Apple, Tesla has often been a favored tenant among landlords. Mall owners tout Tesla showrooms as accelerating visitors and boosting sales.Representatives from Simon and Macerich didn’t immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.Tesla shares were up less than 1% in premarket trading.Read the full report from Electrek. More