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    in Finance

    Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: Avis, Palantir, Cadence Design and more

    A customer boards an Avis Budget Group Inc. shuttle bus at the Denver International Airport (DEN) in Denver, Colorado, U.S., on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015.
    Luke Sharrett | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    Check out the companies making headlines in after-hour trading.
    Avis — The car rental company gained 3.5% after beating both top- and bottom-line estimates from analysts polled by Refinitiv. Avis posted adjusted earnings per share of $10.46 on revenue of $2.77 billion, compared with analysts’ estimates of $6.79 in per-share earnings on revenues of $2.69 billion. The company cited strong demand and said that has continued in the current quarter.

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    Amkor Technology — Shares of the semiconductor stock slid 5% after missing per-share earnings estimates while beating expectations for revenue, according to FactSet. The company also gave first-quarter guidance that was below analysts’ expectations.
    Cadence Design — The software company gained 4% after beating both top- and bottom-line expectations of analysts polled by FactSet in the fourth quarter. The company also gave first-quarter guidance that was above what analysts anticipated.
    Palantir — Shares jumped 18% on the back of quarterly results that came in ahead of analysts’ expectations for per-share earnings and revenue, according to Refinitiv. It is also the first quarter Palantir posted positive net income on a GAAP basis, coming in at $31 million.
    Arista Networks — The cloud stock advanced less than 1% after reporting earnings and revenue that came in ahead of the consensus estimate set by analysts polled by Refinitiv. The company also gave current-quarter revenue guidance that was above expectations.
    SolarEdge — Shares of the solar stock gained less than 1% after beating earnings and per-share revenue estimates from analysts polled by FactSet. The company also said first-quarter revenue should come in at between $915 million and $945 million compared with the analyst consensus estimate of $917.2 million.

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    War and subsidies have turbocharged the green transition

    To many activists, Lutzerath, an abandoned hamlet in Germany, encapsulates the nightmare of the global energy crisis. For months campaigners blocked the site’s demolition, after Robert Habeck, the country’s energy minister, allowed a utility firm to mine for lignite—the dirtiest form of coal—under its graffitied houses. As a giant excavator swallowed its way closer, hundreds of police, unfazed by the pyrotechnics propelled at them, dragged protesters from their stations. Now the village is empty; its last buildings gone. In their panic to keep the lights on, policymakers across Europe and Asia are reopening coal mines, keeping polluting power plants alive and signing deals to import liquefied natural gas (lng). State-owned oil giants, such as the uae’s adnoc and Saudi Aramco, are setting aside hundreds of billions of dollars to boost output, even as private energy firms mint enormous profits. Many governments are encouraging consumption of these dirty fuels by subsidising energy use, to help citizens get through the winter. Yet the reality is that the return of brown fuels is a subplot in a much grander story. By making coal, gas and oil scarcer and dearer—prices remain well above long-run averages, despite recent falls—Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has given renewable power, which is mostly generated domestically, a significant strategic and economic edge. Indeed, even as Mr Habeck endorsed coal-mining last year, the Green politician set out plans to expand solar and wind energy, including in Lutzerath’s gusty Rhineland. All over the world officials are raising renewables targets and setting aside huge sums to bankroll a build-out. This complexity makes it difficult to discern whether the tumult in energy markets has aided or impeded the energy transition. To assess the overall picture, The Economist has looked at a range of factors, including fossil-fuel consumption, energy efficiency and renewables deployment. Our findings suggest that the crunch caused by the war in Ukraine may, in fact, have fast-tracked the green transition by an astonishing five to ten years. Smoke signalsAs the Battle of Lutzerath suggests, the main reason for alarm is that the world is burning more coal these days. Before the war, it seemed as if appetite for the fuel, having peaked in 2013, was in secular decline. Last year, however, consumption grew by 1.2%, surpassing 8bn tonnes for the first time in history. Sky-high gas prices have pushed utility firms in Europe and parts of Asia, notably Japan and South Korea, to use much more of the stuff. Politicians have prolonged the life of coal-fired plants, reopened closed ones and lifted production caps. This has led to a scramble for supply, one which has been exacerbated by Europe’s ban on Russian imports. In China and India production jumped by 8% and 11% respectively in 2022, pushing world output to a record high. The International Energy Agency (iea), an official forecaster, predicts coal demand will remain high until 2025 (though it cautions that soothsaying is particularly hard in current market conditions). Europe will receive less gas from Russia, and global lng supply is likely to stay tight, meaning coal will remain the bloc’s fall-back option. India’s appetite will probably grow, adding to demand. But the rise will be tempered by an increase in the use of renewables—and beyond 2025 coal’s fortunes look dim. New lng projects in America, Qatar and elsewhere will kick in, providing relief to gas markets. At the same time, a wind and solar boom will shrink appetite for fossil fuels, not least in China. The iea expects the country to build renewable generation capacity capable of supplying 1,000 terawatt-hour by 2025, equivalent to the total power generation of Japan today. Meanwhile, the world’s existing production capacity of both oil and gas is already close to being fully used. Russia cannot easily redirect gas exports; its oil rigs, lacking people and parts, may soon produce less than they do now. Although energy-hungry countries have been busy signing long-term deals to import lng, More

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    Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Zillow, Microsoft, Meta, Fidelity National and more

    Microsoft signage is seen at the company’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington, January 18, 2023.
    Matt Mills Mcknight | Reuters

    Check out the companies making the biggest moves midday:
    Zillow Group — Shares advanced 4.57% after Evercore ISI upgraded the stock to outperform from in line, saying investors should buy shares ahead of what could be a “rapid recovery” in the housing market. The firm also boosted its price target to $61 from $34, suggesting about 44% upside from Friday’s close.

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    Microsoft — The technology corporation’s shares rose 3.12% on Monday, pushing its market cap over $2 trillion once again, after Morgan Stanley reiterated its overweight rating for the stock. Microsoft announced its new artificial intelligence-powered Bing search browser last week.
    Twilio — The cloud communication software marker gained 2.08% after announcing plans to cut 17% of its workforce, or roughly 1,500 jobs. Twilio already cut 11% of its workforce in September.
    Ralph Lauren — Shares of the apparel giant rose 3.95% after Bank of America upgraded the stock to buy from neutral. The firm also raised its price target, saying the brand is differentiating itself among its peers during this challenging time. The move follows an upbeat earnings report on Thursday when it posted better-than-expected sales for the fiscal third quarter, according to Refinitiv.
    Meta — The Facebook parent’s stock rose 3.03% after the Financial Times reported that Meta is planning another round of layoffs. Meta already let more than 11,000 employees go in November as part of its effort to become leaner and more efficient.
    Fidelity National Information Services — Shares dropped 12.5% after the company gave weak guidance for the first quarter, although it reported a slight earnings and revenue beat for the fourth quarter, according to FactSet. Fidelity also said it will spin off its merchant solutions business.

    AllianceBernstein — The financial stock added 2.56% on the back of an upgrade to outperform from neutral by Credit Suisse. The firm said AllianceBernstein’s stock is more attractive, especially following the company’s better-than-expected fourth quarter and future guidance.
    XPO — Shares of the shipping company rose 3.52% on Monday as XPO’s stock recovered slightly from its heavy losses in the prior week. Shares slid late last week after XPO reported its fourth-quarter results. Morgan Stanley on Monday became the latest Wall Street firm to downgrade XPO, saying the stock could be in the “penalty box” after its latest report.
    Henry Schein — The health-care products and services provider gained 3.18% after announcing it was repurchasing up to $400 million shares of its common stock.
    Fastly — Shares surged 27.66% after Bank of America double upgraded the stock to buy from underperform. In a note, analyst Tal Liani said Fastly could reach profitability by next year on the back of its core technology and new management team.
    Five Below — The discount retailer’s stock rose 2.66% after Roth MKM upgraded it to buy from hold, noting it sees attractive growth ahead.
    Tesla — The electric-vehicle maker dipped 1.14%. Late last week, Reuters reported that Tesla must open its supercharging network to competitors in order to qualify for U.S. subsidies.
    Illumina — Shares jumped 9.85%, recouping losses resulting from the company’s disappointing earnings report last week. Illumina is also one of the stocks Goldman Sachs recently named as “likely to generate the largest alpha.”
    — CNBC’s Alex Harring, Hakyung Kim, Jesse Pound, Pia Singh and Michael Bloom contributed reporting.

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    Crypto firm Paxos to face SEC charges, ordered to stop minting Binance stablecoin

    New York state regulators ordered Paxos to stop minting new Binance USD tokens, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said on Twitter.
    The Ethereum-built BUSD tokens are backed by some $16 billion worth of Treasurys and Treasury Reverse Repurchase Agreements.
    The regulator said it issued the order Monday “as a result of several unresolved issues related to Paxos’ oversight of its relationship with Binance.”

    Chad Cascarilla, CEO of Paxos.
    Adam Jeffery | CNBC

    Cryptocurrency firm Paxos will cease issuing new Binance USD, or BUSD, stablecoins under the direction of New York state’s financial regulator, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao said Monday.
    Paxos’ own stablecoin was not impacted, but the company did confirm it had been notified by the Securities and Exchange Commission of potential charges in connection with its BUSD product.

    A stablecoin is a cryptocurrency which attempts to maintain a more stable price, usually by pegging its value to an underlying asset like gold, or in this case, U.S. dollars.
    The move is the latest in an escalating regulatory effort to rein in the once free-wheeling crypto industry. Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission settled with crypto exchange Kraken over allegations of unregistered offering and sale, in connection with Kraken’s crypto staking platform.
    The New York State Department of Financial Services issued the order “as a result of several unresolved issues related to Paxos’ oversight of its relationship with Binance,” the regulator said Monday in a consumer alert.
    “We were informed by Paxos they have been directed to cease minting new BUSD [Binance’s stablecoin] by the New York Department of Financial Services,” Zhao said on Twitter.
    “Effective February 21, Paxos will cease issuance of new BUSD tokens as directed by and working in close coordination with the New York Department of Financial Services,” Paxos said in a statement, adding that it would “end its relationship with Binance for the branded stablecoin BUSD.”

    The potential SEC charges came through what’s known as a Wells notice, which informs firms of the results of an investigation pending charges. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that the SEC would argue that Paxos’ BUSD product was a security, an approach it has employed with other crypto firms including Gemini, Genesis, and Kraken.
    “Paxos categorically disagrees with the SEC staff because BUSD is not a security under the federal securities laws,” a Paxos spokesperson told CNBC. “This SEC Wells notice pertains only to BUSD. To be clear, there are unequivocally no other allegations against Paxos.”
    The spokesperson also said, “We will engage with the SEC staff on this issue and are prepared to vigorously litigate if necessary.”
    Binance did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
    Paxos’ BUSD product is built on the Ethereum blockchain and backed one-to-one by U.S. Treasuries and Treasury Reverse Repurchase Agreements, with Paxos reporting some $16 billion in holdings as of Jan. 31. Paxos’ BUSD product is related to, but separate from, Binance’s self-issued Binance-pegged BUSD.
    Binance’s self-issued BUSD, which is not directly regulated by NYDFS, is independently wrapped and issued by the crypto exchange on blockchains beyond Ethereum. In other words, Binance can take a single Paxos-issued BUSD, create an analogous BUSD on another blockchain (like Binance’s own blockchain, for example), and freeze a corresponding Paxos-issued BUSD.
    “The Department has not authorized Binance-Peg BUSD on any blockchain, and Binance-Peg BUSD is not issued by Paxos,” NYDFS said.
    “This action does not impact our ability to continue serving new or existing customers, our continued dedication to grow our staff or fund our business objectives,” Paxos’ statement said.
    In 2014, New York became the first state to establish licensing for crypto-related companies. Paxos is one of over two dozen companies that have secured a BitLicense. In January, NYDFS took action against another regulated company, Coinbase.
    Two other New York-state regulated entities, Genesis Global Trading and crypto exchange Gemini, have been accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission of engaging in the unregistered offer and sale of securities, in connection with a joint crypto lending program.

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    Lidar makers Ouster and Velodyne complete their merger, creating a sector powerhouse

    Ouster and Velodyne have merged into a new company that will retain the Ouster name.
    Ouster’s CEO, Angus Pacala, will lead the new company, while Velodyne’s CEO, Ted Tewksbury, will chair its board of directors.
    The merger creates a lidar powerhouse with more than 850 customers and about $315 million in cash on hand.

    The New York Stock Exchange welcomes Ouster Inc. (NYSE: OUST), today, Friday, March 12, 2021, in celebration of its Initial Listing. To honor the occasion, Ouster CEO Angus Pacala, joined by Chris Taylor, Vice President, NYSE Listings and Services, rings The Opening Bell®.

    Lidar makers Ouster and Velodyne said on Monday that they have successfully completed a “merger of equals,” creating a lidar powerhouse.
    The combined company will have more than 850 current customers, a deep portfolio of patents and about $315 million in cash on hand, based on year-end figures. That cash is critical in a market that has become much more difficult for not-yet-profitable companies to raise much-needed funds.

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    The company will retain the Ouster name and will continue to trade under that company’s ticker symbol, “OUST.” Shares of Ouster closed down about 10% on Monday, as investors digested the dilution that will result from the all-stock deal. Velodyne shareholders voted to approve the deal on Friday.
    Lidar, short for “light detection and ranging,” is a sensor technology that uses infrared lasers to create a detailed 3D map of the sensor’s surroundings. Lidar units are used in a variety of robotics applications. Of particular interest to investors, lidar sensors are considered important components of nearly all of the autonomous-driving systems currently under development.  
    Investors’ interest in the potential of self-driving vehicles led many lidar startups to go public over the past few years. But valuations have fallen sharply in the last year as investor enthusiasm cooled and as some automakers reduced spending on self-driving programs in favor of more limited driver-assist technology.
    Those developments helped set the stage for consolidation in the lidar space, Ouster CEO Angus Pacala said when the deal was first announced.
    Pacala, who will lead the combined company, told CNBC in an interview on Monday that the merger is “a major step toward profitability for Ouster.”

    Ouster’s products have posted positive gross margins for a while, meaning they sell for more than it costs to make them. Pacala noted that after recent changes to Velodyne’s contract-manufacturing arrangements, that company’s gross margins turned positive as well.
    “This is huge for the merger and for the strength of the combined business,” Pacala said. “Not only are we increasing the revenue base of the two companies by merging, but it’s all positive margin.”
    In November, when the merger was first announced, the companies said they expected annual savings of about $75 million that could be realized within the first nine months after the transaction closed. Pacala said he now expects the total savings to be somewhat higher – but, he noted, that will come at a cost: The merged company will cut between 100 and 200 jobs, he said, mostly in operational roles where the two companies have significant overlap.
    Ouster will have about 350 employees once the two companies are integrated, Pacala said.
    Some of that integration has already taken place in the executive suite. Velodyne’s CEO, Ted Tewksbury, will chair the combined company’s board of directors, and its chief financial officer, Mark Weinswig, will retain that role with Ouster, while Ouster co-founder Mark Frichtl will serve as the combined company’s chief technology officer.
    But Pacala said the combined company has no plans to combine manufacturing.
    “Velodyne manufactures with Fabrinet in Thailand, about an hour and a half from the Benchmark manufacturing facility that Ouster has been using,” he said. “We intend to continue to work with both partners.”
    Ouster said it will provide a “comprehensive update” on its integration plans during its fourth-quarter earnings presentation on March 23. But investors can expect good news: In a preview of its earnings report, Ouster said it met its full-year 2022 revenue and gross margin guidance. Velodyne exceeded its fourth-quarter billings and revenue targets, Ouster said.
    Velodyne shareholders can expect to receive 0.8204 shares of Ouster stock for each Velodyne share they held, representing a premium of about 7.8% based on the respective companies’ share prices when the deal was first announced in November.

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    Jim Cramer’s Investing Club meeting Monday: Caterpillar, Estee Lauder, Salesforce

    Every weekday the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer holds a “Morning Meeting” livestream at 10:20 a.m. ET. Here’s a recap of Monday’s key moments. Buy CAT on a pullback EL set to rise Watch CRM 1. Buy CAT on a pullback Baird on Monday downgraded construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar (CAT) to neutral from buy, arguing the stock is approaching a “cyclical pivot point” — a call with which we disagree. Not all of the company’s upcoming construction projects have been factored into its backlog, meaning there’s likely more room for growth. The industrial giant is poised to benefit from the U.S. government’s $1 trillion infrastructure spending law , as funds start to be doled out this year. We would be buyers here if not restricted from trading CAT at the moment, and could look to add to our position this week. Shares of CAT were down roughly 0.35% in midday trading Monday, at $246.79 apiece. 2. EL set to rise Estee Lauder (EL) stock climbed roughly 1.6% Monday, $254.22 a share, after Piper Sandler raised its price target on the cosmetics firm to $298 per share from $290. We expect Estee Lauder’s inventory overhang in U.S. department stores to ease further, while the firm should continue to gain market share in China, a region that accounts for roughly a third of the beauty company’s total revenue. We bought up EL shares last Friday on a pullback on the expectation the stock will continue to rise. 3. Watch CRM Shares of Salesforce (CRM) were up 1.8% on Monday after analysts at Bank of America called the Club holding the next quality “GARP,” or growth at a reasonable price stock. The analysts said the company is on a path to expand its annual margins and raised their price target to $200 a share from $180. The enterprise software giant has restructured its business and gotten serious about cost cuts, as activist investors pressure the company to make changes to unlock shareholder value. If the company is able to deliver annual margin expansion, as BofA analysts predict, we believe the stock could go even higher. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long CAT, EL & CRM. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED. More

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    Super Bowl betting sets records for sportsbooks

    This was the first Super Bowl played in a state with legal sports betting.
    FanDuel said it was taking 50,000 bets per second at its peak.
    DraftKings paid out $2.68 million to one bettor on the Chiefs’ win.

    It was a record-breaking Super Bowl for sportsbooks as gamblers ponied up across the United States.
    Super Bowl 57 was the first one to be played in a state where sports gambling is legal, and early data shows there was a lot of enthusiasm for betting on the big game.

    GeoComply, a company that verifies the locations where gamblers are betting, saw 100 million sports-betting transactions this Super Bowl weekend, an increase of 25% over last year. In and around State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, more than 100,000 transactions were verified on Sunday.
    FanDuel expected to handle more than 17 million Super Bowl bets. At its peak, the sportsbook told CNBC, it accepted 50,000 bets per second and averaged 2 million active users on its platform throughout the game.

    The wagering was intense even in Las Vegas, the nation’s most mature sports betting market. MGM Resorts said it set a new company record for Nevada: the highest Super Bowl handle in history, combining the money bet in its nine retail sportsbooks on the Strip and bets placed through the BetMGM app.
    “This was BetMGM’s most successful Super Bowl and most bet on single game sporting event ever,” the company told CNBC.
    BetMGM took one bet for half a million dollars on the Kansas City Chiefs that paid out $525,000. Another bet $547,000 to win $437,000 on the over, which was 49.5 points. The teams combined to score 73 points.

    At DraftKings, one bettor put $1.68 million on the Chiefs. That paid out a whopping $2.68 million.
    Among a slew of prop bets that paid off was the “Octopus” — a player who scores a touchdown and immediately scores a two-point conversion, totaling eight points. Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts delivered on the longshot prop bet in the fourth quarter, for a payoff of +1,400.
    For those viewers who bet on the color of the traditional Gatorade bath (which was not shown on TV this year), longshot purple was the winner at 9/1 odds. Only 10% of the money at BetMGM was on purple.
    The American Gaming Association, the trade group representing the casino industry, projected a record 50.4 million American would wager $16 billion on this year’s Super Bowl, double last year’s estimate. That includes not only bets placed with legal sportsbooks, which AGA estimates at about $1 billion, but also wagers with unregulated, offshore sites; bookies; and social bets among friends or coworkers. If that proves true, that would be double last year’s estimates.
    Already, sportsbooks are accepting wagers for next year’s Super Bowl, which, for the first time, will take place in America’s gambling capital – Las Vegas.
    DraftKings has opened betting with the Chiefs at 6/1 odds.

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    Barney is back: Mattel gives its nostalgic purple dinosaur an animated makeover

    Barney the purple dinosaur will return in an animated series launching in 2024.
    Mattel is launching new Barney content to be followed by a line of toys, books, clothing and accessories.
    The toymaker recently resurrected its Monster High and Masters of the Universe franchises and it’s been delving deeper into content creation, including it’s upcoming “Barbie” movie.

    Mattel is relaunching its Barney franchise bringing the famous purple dinosaur back to television, film and YouTube content as well as a full range of products including toys, books and clothing.
    Courtesy: Mattel Inc.

    Millennials’ favorite purple dinosaur is returning to TV and toy shelves.
    Mattel is relaunching its Barney franchise through a series of television, film and YouTube videos alongside a line of toys, books, clothing and accessories. A new animated series is set for release in 2024, followed by a product line in 2025.

    “Barney’s message of love and kindness has stood the test of time,” said Josh Silverman, chief franchise officer and global head of consumer products at Mattel. “We will tap into the nostalgia of the generations who grew up with Barney, now parents themselves, and introduce the iconic purple dinosaur to a new generation of kids and families around the world.”
    Barney has been off the air since 2010, after a nearly two-decade-long run on “Barney & Friends,” a popular live-action children’s television show. The new animated series, set to debut globally next year, makes his first appearance in 14 years. Mattel previously announced plans for a theatrical film in partnership with “Get Out” star Daniel Kaluuya.

    Barney, the purple dinosaur, in scene fr. (The Lyons Group) PBS TV series Barney & Friends. (Photo by Mark Perlstein/Getty Images)
    Mark Perlstein | The Chronicle Collection | Getty Images

    Mattel’s resurrection of the famed purple dinosaur comes after successful relaunches of its Monster High and Masters of the Universe franchises, both of which have have launched new content and consumer products in recent years.
    The toymaker has been delving deeper into content creation since launching its film division in 2018. It’s “Barbie” movie, a co-production with Warner Bros., is set for release in July and stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.
    The company is looking to better engage consumers through film and television series, which it hopes will ultimately lead to a stronger connection with Mattel’s brands and help drive toy sales.
    The division has more than a dozen additional projects in development, including films based on Hot Wheels, Magic 8 Ball, Major Matt Mason, Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots and Uno.

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