Raphael Stevens

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    Lunar company Intuitive Machines’ stock jumps more than 40% after NASA moon satellite contract

    Intuitive Machines’ stock rose more than 40% on Wednesday.
    NASA awarded the lunar-focused company a major contract to build moon data satellites.
    The five-year contract has a maximum total value of $4.82 billion.

    Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 mission lander shortly after launching on Feb. 15, 2024.
    Intuitive Machines

    Intuitive Machines’ stock jumped in early trading Wednesday after NASA awarded the lunar-focused company a major contract to build moon data satellites.
    “This contract marks an inflection point in Intuitive Machines’ leadership in space communications and navigation,” Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus said in a statement.

    NASA said the company was the sole awardee to build “lunar relay systems” for the agency’s Near Space Network, a system that communicates with government and commercial missions that are up to one million miles from Earth. The contract will see Intuitive Machines build and deploy a constellation of lunar satellites to provide communications and navigation services, especially for NASA’s Artemis program.
    The five-year contract, which has a maximum total value of $4.82 billion, will incrementally issue awards as work progresses. Intuitive Machines’ initial NSN award is worth $150 million.
    Intuitive Machines shares surged more than 40% in afternoon trading from its previous close at $5.40 a share.

    Read more CNBC space news

    Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Andres Sheppard, whose firm has a buy-equivalent rating and a $10 price target on the stock, called the NSN contract a boon for the company.
    “We see the win today as a significant catalyst and validation towards LUNR’s outlook and the company’s ability to continue to win contracts,” Sheppard wrote in a note to clients.

    The stock has more than doubled year to date as Intuitive Machines has steadily racked up NASA contracts.
    Intuitive Machines made history in February as the first U.S. company to soft land a cargo mission on the moon’s surface. Since then, it became one of three companies awarded contracts under NASA’s $4.6 billion crew lunar rover contract and also added its fourth cargo delivery contract with a $117 million award last month.

    Benchmark’s Josh Sullivan, who also has a buy rating and $10 price target, said he believes the latest award shows that NASA views Intuitive Machines’ experience “as elite.”
    “LUNR’s path to becoming the preeminent lunar infrastructure player took a big step forward with NSN,” Sullivan wrote.
    The company is preparing to launch its next cargo mission to the moon, IM-2, in the first quarter. Analysts expect the company’s first NSN lunar satellite will launch on the IM-3 mission that is scheduled for late 2025.

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    University of Tennessee to raise season ticket prices 10% in anticipation of revenue sharing

    Tennessee athletics will raise season ticket prices across all its sports by 10%.
    The school said it is implementing the “talent fee” to prepare for the proposed revenue-sharing model that Tennessee believes could happen as soon as July 1, 2025.
    Tennessee football season ticket holders were notified via email Tuesday that the changes will go into place for the 2025 season.

    Nico Iamaleava, #8 of the Tennessee Volunteers, warms up prior to the Duke’s Mayo Classic against the NC State Wolfpack at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Sept. 7, 2024.
    Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

    The University of Tennessee is raising its season ticket prices by 10% across all its sports to prepare for athletes starting to get a cut of the school’s sports revenue, according to an email sent to football season ticket holders on Tuesday.
    Tennessee is calling its hike a “talent fee,” and said it “will help fund the proposed revenue share for our student-athletes,” according to the email.

    Athletic departments have been gearing up for revenue sharing after a proposed settlement involving three cases the NCAA is named in. A judge has yet to approve the settlement and expressed concerns this month over some of the terms, but Tennessee believes it could go into effect as soon as July 1, according to the email.
    The proposed settlement would give $2.78 billion in backpay to student-athletes and would allow schools to pay players up to 22% of the Power Five schools’ average athletic revenue in a given year going forward, according to the NCAA release. It would also get rid of a cap on scholarships.
    “As the collegiate model changes, we have to remain flexible,” Tennessee athletic director Danny White said in a video included in the email. “We have to continue leading the way. That connection between resource and competitiveness has never been tighter, only now we have the ability to share these resources with our student-athletes.”
    The changes will go into effect beginning with the 2025 football season and will also include a 4.5% hike on single-game tickets.
    Tennessee already has one of the biggest athletic departments in the country, coming in at eighth overall for total operating revenue in the 2022-23 season in Sportico’s database of public university athletic departments.
    College athletes have been permitted to profit off their name, image and likeness since 2021, which has changed college sports dramatically. Star athletes have been able to sign big endorsement deals, but universities have not started direct revenue sharing, which would benefit more student-athletes.

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    The Fed forecasts lowering rates by another half point before the year is out

    U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a press conference following a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee on interest rate policy in Washington, U.S., July 31, 2024. 
    Kevin Mohatt | Reuters

    The Federal Reserve projected lowering interest rates by another half point before the end of 2024, and the central bank has two more policy meetings to do so.
    The so-called dot plot indicated that 19 FOMC members, both voters and nonvoters, see the benchmark fed funds rate at 4.4% by the end of this year, equivalent to a target range of 4.25% to 4.5%. The Fed’s two remaining meetings for the year are scheduled for Nov. 6-7 and Dec.17-18.

    Through 2025, the central bank forecasts interest rates landing at 3.4%, indicating another full percentage point in cuts. Through 2026, rates are expected to fall to 2.9% with another half-point reduction.
    “There’s nothing in the SEP (Summary of Economic Projections) that suggests the committee is in a rush to get this done,” Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said in a news conference. “This process evolves over time.”
    The central bank lowered the federal funds rate to a range between 4.75%-5% on Wednesday, its first rate cut since the early days of the Covid pandemic.
    Here are the Fed’s latest targets:

    Arrows pointing outwards

    “The Committee has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2 percent, and judges that the risks to achieving its employment and inflation goals are roughly in balance,” the post-meeting statement said.

    The Fed officials hiked their expected unemployment rate this year to 4.4%, from the 4% projection at the last update in June.
    Meanwhile, they lowered the inflation outlook to 2.3% from 2.6% previously. On core inflation, the committee took down its projection to 2.6%, a 0.2 percentage point reduction from June.
    — CNBC’s Jeff Cox contributed reporting.

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    Why the Federal Reserve has gambled on a big interest-rate cut

    The Federal Reserve’s decision to lower interest rates by half a percentage point, announced on September 18th, is momentous for two reasons. As the first cut by America’s central bank since it lifted rates to quell inflation, it marks the start of a monetary-easing cycle. It also represents a bet by the Fed that inflation will soon be yesterday’s problem and that action is needed to support the labour market. For the first time since 2005, one of the Fed’s governors in Washington, DC, dissented from the decision. Michelle Bowman preferred to cut rates by a quarter-point. More

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    Boeing starts furloughing tens of thousands of employees amid machinist strike

    Boeing’s CFO Brian West earlier this week said the company would freeze hiring and raises to cut costs, and would let “non-essential contractors” go temporarily.
    The cost-cutting measures come after more than 30,000 Boeing machinists turned down a contract and voted to strike.

    Workers with picket signs outside the Boeing Co. manufacturing facility during a strike in Everett, Washington, US, on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. 
    M. Scott Brauer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    Boeing will temporarily furlough thousands of U.S. executives, managers and other staff, citing the ongoing machinist strike as the company races to preserve cash, CEO Kelly Ortberg told employees Wednesday.
    The furloughs will affect tens of thousands of Boeing employees, a company spokesperson said.

    The plan came less than a week after Boeing’s more than 30,000 machinists in the Seattle area and Oregon overwhelmingly voted down a new labor contract and 96% voted to strike, walking off the job just after midnight on Friday.
    Negotiations between the two sides continued this week with a mediator. Boeing had offered a 25% raise and the union endorsed the tentative contract. But some workers told CNBC that the contract offer was rejected because the raises weren’t sufficient enough to match the increase in the cost of living in the Seattle area and it didn’t restore their pensions.
    “We will not mince words – after a full day of mediation, we are frustrated,” the union said in a statement Tuesday.
    Ortberg, who has been in the job for just under six weeks, said in a staff memo that affected employees would take one week of furlough every four weeks for the strike’s duration and he and his team would take “commensurate” pay cuts during the strike.
    “While this is a tough decision that impacts everybody, it is in an effort to preserve our long-term future and help us navigate through this very difficult time. We will continue to transparently communicate as this dynamic situation evolves and do all we can to limit this hardship,” Ortberg said in his message.

    Read more CNBC airline news

    Boeing’s CFO, Brian West, earlier this week said the company would freeze hiring and raises to cut costs, and would let “non-essential contractors” go temporarily.
    The financial impact of the strike will depend how long it lasts, West said, but it adds to pressure on Boeing’s leaders, who are trying to move the company past safety and quality crises, including the fallout from a near-catastrophic door plug blowout in January, and $60 billion in debt.
    Ortberg said that “activities critical to our safety, quality, customer support and key certification programs will be prioritized and continue” including production of its 787 Dreamliners, which are made in a nonunion facility in South Carolina.

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    JPMorgan creates new role overseeing junior bankers as Wall Street wrestles with workload concerns

    JPMorgan Chase created a new global role overseeing all junior bankers in an effort to better manage their workload after the death of a Bank of America associate in May forced Wall Street firms to examine how they treat their youngest employees.
    The firm named Ryland McClendon its global investment banking associate and analyst leader in a memo sent this month, CNBC learned.
    The memo specifically stated that McClendon would support the “well-being and success” of junior bankers.

    JPMorgan Chase CEO and Chairman Jamie Dimon gestures as he speaks during the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee oversight hearing on Wall Street firms, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 6, 2023.
    Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters

    JPMorgan Chase has created a new global role overseeing all junior bankers in an effort to better manage their workload after the death of a Bank of America associate in May forced Wall Street to examine how it treats its youngest employees.
    The firm named Ryland McClendon its global investment banking associate and analyst leader in a memo sent this month, CNBC has learned.

    Associates and analysts are on the two lowest rungs in Wall Street’s hierarchy for investment banking and trading; recent college graduates flock to the roles for the high pay and opportunities they can provide.
    The memo specifically stated that McClendon, a 14-year JPMorgan veteran and former banker who was previously head of talent and career development, would support the “well-being and success” of junior bankers.
    The move shows how JPMorgan, the biggest American investment bank by revenue, is responding to the latest untimely death on Wall Street. In May, Bank of America’s Leo Lukenas III died after reportedly working 100-hour weeks on a bank merger. Later that month, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said his bank was examining what it could learn from the tragedy.
    Then, starting in August, JPMorgan’s senior managers instructed their investment banking teams that junior bankers should typically work no more than 80 hours, part of a renewed focus to track their workload, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
    Exceptions can be made for live deals, said the person, who declined to be identified speaking about the internal policy.

    Dimon’s warning

    Dimon railed against some of Wall Street’s ingrained practices at a financial conference held Tuesday at Georgetown University. Some of the hours worked by junior bankers are just a function of inefficiency or tradition, rather than need, he indicated.
    “A lot of investment bankers, they’ve been traveling all week, they come home and they give you four assignments, and you’ve got to work all weekend,” Dimon said. “It’s just not right.”
    Senior bankers would be held accountable if their analysts and associates routinely tripped over the policy, he said.
     “You’re violating it,” Dimon warned. “You’ve got to stop, and it will be in your bonus, so that people know we actually mean it.”

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    ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski will retire from company to take a job in college basketball

    ESPN’s star NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski is retiring from the company, according to a post from his X account Wednesday morning.
    Wojnarowski became known in the NBA world for his breaking news reports.
    He will take a job at St. Bonaventure University and become the general manager of its men’s basketball program, per ESPN.

    Adrian Wojnarowski looks on before a game at Kaseya Center in Miami on June 7, 2023.
    David L. Nemec | National Basketball Association | Getty Images

    ESPN’s star NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski is retiring from the company, according to a post from his X account Wednesday morning.
    The longtime sports reporter will take a job at St. Bonaventure, his alma mater, and become the general manager of its men’s basketball program, the university said.

    Wojnarowski often broke big news in the NBA world, so frequently that his breaking news reports on player transactions became colloquially known as “Woj bombs.” He and The Athletic’s Shams Charania often competed for scoops on the latest news.
    “I’ve known and admired Woj since we first worked together at Yahoo! in 2007. His work ethic is second to none,” ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in a statement. “He’s extraordinarily talented and fearless. He has led the industry at ESPN, and his dedication to the craft and to fans is legendary.”
    The general manager position has grown in popularity in college athletics since the introduction of the Name, Image and Likeness era as athletic departments look for ways to help their programs and student-athletes navigate the new era where they can ink endorsement deals.

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    Alaska-Hawaiian merger clears DOT review, but airlines must preserve miles, routes

    Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines can go through with their planned merger, the U.S. Department of Transportation said Tuesday.
    The two carriers must maintain the value of their airline reward systems and preserve several key routes, among other conditions.

    Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines can go through with their planned merger, but they must maintain the value of their airline reward systems and preserve several key routes, the U.S. Department of Transportation said Tuesday.
    The two carriers’ $1.9 billion merger agreement cleared the U.S. Justice Department’s review last month. That put it in the hands of the Transportation Department, which must also review airline mergers.

    The DOT said the airlines must ensure that miles earned in the HawaiianMiles and Alaska Mileage Plan programs before the creation of a new, combined loyalty point system will not expire and that they can transfer at a 1-to-1 ratio.
    They also must preserve “essential air support” for rural areas and maintain current levels of service for passenger and cargo routes between the Hawaiian islands, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said on a press call.
    The Department of Transportation noted that the airlines can begin the process of closing the merger, but still need approval for a transfer application, which allows them to combine and operate international routes under one certificate.
    After the DOT’s announcement, Alaska said it would appoint an interim transition team to oversee the combination of the two companies as they seek a single operating certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration. Joe Sprague — who is currently Alaska Airlines regional president overseeing Hawaii — will be appointed CEO of Hawaiian Airlines once the transaction is closed until the FAA process is finished, the company said.

    Read more CNBC airline news

    Hawaiian’s stock rose nearly 4% on Tuesday.

    The two airlines said in December when they announced plans to combine that they would keep each carrier’s brand but operate under a single platform, combining into a more than 360-airplane fleet offering over 130 destinations.
    Hawaiian must also adopt Alaska’s practices of guaranteeing family seating without an additional fee and providing compensation if the airline causes significant flight delays or cancellations, the DOT said.

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