Raphael Stevens

Electric truck startup Nikola adjourned its annual meeting for a second time, to July 18, to provide more time to rally votes for a proposal to increase shares outstanding.
The company has spent the past month rallying shareholders to vote for the proposal in sufficient numbers to overcome objections from departed founder Trevor Milton.
The vote is now close but about a quarter of the company’s shares remain unvoted, said Nikola Chairman Stephen Girsky.

CEO and founder of U.S. Nikola, Trevor Milton speaks during presentation of its new full-electric and hydrogen fuel-cell battery trucks in partnership with CNH Industrial, at an event in Turin, Italy December 2, 2019.
Massimo Pinca | Reuters

Electric truck startup Nikola is still short of clearing a shareholder hurdle to raise new funds, the company said Thursday – hampered by the objections of its disgraced and now-departed founder.
The long-embattled company is seeking to raise money by issuing new stock, a process that requires shareholder approval. Nikola’s June 1 annual shareholder meeting was abruptly adjourned after its founder and former CEO and chairman, Trevor Milton, voted against the proposal.

The company briefly resumed the meeting on Thursday, when Nikola Chairman Stephen Girsky told shareholders that while the vote is now close, the proposal hasn’t yet passed. Girsky readjourned the meeting to July 18 in order to give shareholders more time to vote.
Girsky said about 48% of Nikola’s outstanding shares have voted in favor of the proposal to allow the company to increase its total number of shares outstanding. The proposal requires 50% to pass.
“Stockholders have voted overwhelmingly in favor of Proposal 2, with the exception of a single stockholder who appears to represent over 85% of the votes against Proposal 2,” Girsky said.
According to Girsky, holders of more than 112 million, or roughly 25%, of Nikola’s outstanding shares have yet to vote. He didn’t name the single stockholder voting heavily against the proposal, but Milton is the only shareholder who controls that many shares.
The company spent the past month rallying shareholders to vote for the proposal in sufficient numbers to overcome Milton’s “no” vote. Those efforts will continue until Nikola’s annual meeting resumes on July 18, when the final vote tally — or possibly, another adjournment — would be announced.

Milton remains Nikola’s largest shareholder. He owns 11% of the company’s stock outright and controls roughly 9% more via an investment vehicle that he co-owns, giving him effective control of about 90 million shares in total. Votes representing roughly 95 million shares were cast against the share-increase proposal as of June 1.
Nikola stock was up about 3% in midday trading immediately after the adjournment was announced, but fell back to close at $4.76, gaining just under 1% on the day.
The company isn’t in urgent need of cash, but the flexibility to sell more stock is important to its future. Nikola raised $200 million via a convertible note issue in May, and it had $385 million in cash and another $409 million available via an equity line from Tumim Stone Capital as of March 31, for a total of about $1 billion on hand.
CFO Kim Brady said in May that with the convertible note sale, Nikola had ample cash on hand to fund its operations for at least another year without additional raises. But the company is burning about $180 million per quarter, and a share offering was built into its plans for later this year, Brady said at the time.
Milton, who founded the electric heavy-truck company in 2015, left Nikola in September of 2020 after short-seller Hindenburg Research accused him of making false statements about the company’s technology to investors. A federal grand jury indicted him on three counts of fraud in 2021, and a fourth count was added last week. His trial is scheduled to start in July.
Federal prosecutors have alleged that Milton built an elaborate scheme intended to boost Nikola’s stock for his own gain, by lying about the company’s technology, the state of its product development, and its likely future sales prospects.

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A ticket sold in Vermont matched all six numbers drawn Wednesday night in Powerball.
The cash option — which most jackpot winners choose instead of an annuity — is $208.5 million.
Both federal and state taxes will be withheld, and more would likely be due at tax time.

Justin Sullivan / Getty

If you’re holding the winning ticket for Powerball’s $366.7 million jackpot, don’t forget about your silent partner: Uncle Sam.
After rolling higher for about two months of three weekly drawings with no winner, the lottery game’s top prize was nabbed in Wednesday night’s drawing. The ticket was purchased in Vermont, which marks the first time the jackpot has been won in that state. 

Of course, the advertised amount isn’t what the winner will end up with. Whether the prize is taken as an annuity of 30 payments over 29 years or as an immediate, reduced cash lump sum, taxes end up taking a big bite out of the windfall.
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For this jackpot, a required federal tax withholding of 24% would reduce the $208.5 million cash option — which most jackpot winners choose — by about $50 million.

More tax likely due after initial federal withholding

However, the top federal marginal tax rate is 37%, which applies to income above $523,600. In other words, there likely would be additional taxes due at tax time. For illustration purposes: If the winner had no reduction in income — for example, significant charitable contributions from the winnings — another 13%, or $27.1 million, would be due to the IRS ($77.1 million in all).

Odds of a Powerball jackpot win: about 1 in 292 million

The Powerball jackpot has reset to $20 million for the next drawing, which is scheduled for for Saturday night. The Mega Millions jackpot, meanwhile, stands at $360 million ($199.3 million cash option) for Friday night’s pull.
The chance of a single ticket matching all six numbers drawn in Powerball is about 1 in 292 million. For Mega Millions, it’s 1 in 302 million.

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Housing inventory in June was 19% higher than a year ago, but overall inventory is still about half of pre-Covid levels.
The median listing price in June hit another record high of $450,000.
The costs of owning the median-priced home in the second quarter required 31.5% of the average U.S. wage, the highest since 2007.

A historic housing shortage brought on by the one-two punch of slow construction and strong pandemic-induced demand is finally starting to ease.
Active listings for homes jumped 19% in June, the fastest annual pace since Realtor.com began tracking the metric five years ago. And the number of new listings during the month finally surpassed typical pre-Covid levels, up 4.5% from a year ago. Overall inventory, however, is still about half pre-Covid levels.

Some markets that saw the biggest surges in demand during the pandemic are now among those seeing the biggest gains in supply: Austin inventory was up close to 145% from a year ago, Phoenix was up 113% and Raleigh up nearly 112%. Other markets are still seeing supplies fall: Miami is down 16%, Chicago is down 13%, and Virginia Beach is down 14%.
“We expect to see additional inventory growth in July, building on accelerated improvements seen throughout June,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com, adding that the supply gains increased as the month progressed.
And Hale said even more homeowners could decide to sell, adding new supply as buyers grapple with higher costs and difficulty finding homes that fit their budgets. 
Still, the expanding supply is not easing sky-high home prices yet. The median listing price in June hit another record high of $450,000 according to Realtor.com. Annual gains are moderating slightly, but still up almost 17%. That’s partly because the share of larger, more expensive homes is rising.
The costs of owning the median-priced home in the second quarter required 31.5% of the average U.S. wage, according to a new report by ATTOM, a property data provider. That’s the highest percentage since 2007 and up from 24% the year before, marking the biggest jump in more than two decades. Lenders generally see a 28% debt-to-income ratio as the ceiling for approving a mortgage. It’s why some potential homebuyers today are no longer qualifying for a mortgage.

A ‘for sale’ sign hangs in front of a home on June 21, 2022 in Miami, Florida. According to the National Association of Realtors, sales of existing homes dropped 3.4% to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 5.41 million units. Sales were 8.6% lower than in May 2021. As existing-home sales declined, the median price of a house sold in May was $407,600, an increase of 14.8% from May 2021.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images

As a result, the affordability of buying a home in the second quarter dropped in 97% of the nation, according to ATTOM. That’s up from 69% in the same quarter a year ago, and the highest reading since just before the housing crash in the Great Recession.
ATTOM calculates the affordability for average wage earners by determining the amount of income needed for major home ownership expenses on a median-priced home, assuming a loan of 80% of the purchase price and a 28% maximum debt-to-income ratio.
“With interest rates almost doubling, homebuyers are faced with monthly mortgage payments that are between 40% and 50% higher than they were a year ago — payments that many prospective buyers simply can’t afford,” said Rick Sharga, executive vice president of market intelligence at ATTOM. 
A few factors could thwart the continued growth in inventory levels, including a pullback from potential sellers who might decide to wait for the market to strengthen again. Still, Hale of Realtor.com noted that new and pending home sales were up this month, so some people might feel now is time is right to buy.
“As expectations of higher future mortgage rates rise, today’s home shoppers could be more motivated, especially now that they’re seeing more options to choose from,” Hale said. 

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Disney’s Wish makes its maiden voyage from Port Canaveral in Florida to Castaway Cay, Disney’s private island in the Bahamas, on July 14.
The new ship launches at a time of transition and recovery for the cruise industry, which was battered by the pandemic and health restrictions.
Marvel, Star Wars and “Frozen” are ports of call aboard the Wish, acting as destination dining and themed play zones for kids and adults, alike.

Captain Minnie poses on board Disney’s newest cruise ship The Wish.

It’s been a decade since Disney has expanded its cruise fleet. Its newest addition, set to launch in a couple weeks, is a 1,119-foot floating theme park.
The Disney Wish is one of more than 30 ships from a variety of leaders in the cruise space expected to debut before the end of 2022, and dozens more are slated to join the seas through 2027.

The fifth addition to the company’s fleet of cruise liners, The Wish is scheduled to make its maiden voyage from Port Canaveral, Florida, to Castaway Cay, Disney’s private island in the Bahamas, on July 14.
The Wish sets sail at a time of transition and recovery for the cruise industry, which was battered by the pandemic and health restrictions. In addition to headwinds from guests, who have been slow to return to on-sea vacationing, the industry now faces economic pressures from rising fuel costs and inflation.
Disney is betting that franchises like Marvel and “Frozen,” as well as innovative spins on classic cruise experiences, will entice travelers back to the high seas.
Beyond typical Disney flourishes on cupcakes and candy apples, the Wish’s Star Wars-inspired Hyperspace Lounge boasts a $5,000 Kaiburr Crystal drink served in a camtono, a container often used by bounty hunters in the space opera franchise. It’s unclear what is in the drink, but it has become one of the most talked-about facets of the Wish after members of the media were given a test cruise of the ship this week.
Other, less expensive experiences include a “Frozen” sing-along dinner and a Marvel dining experience. The ship also has the first ever Disney attraction on board, the AquaMouse.

While overall passenger numbers are set to exceed pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2023, the cruise industry has never had the same pricing power as other travel and hospitality sectors, leading some analysts to raise concerns about short-term recoverability of the overall business. Especially, as rival brands like Carnival are saddled with three-times as much a debt as they had before the pandemic.

Arendelle: A Frozen Dining Adventure is Disney’s first “Frozen”-themed theatrical dining experience, bringing the kingdom of Arendelle to life through immersive live entertainment — featuring favorite characters like Elsa, Anna, Kristoff and Olaf — and world-class cuisine infused with Nordic influences.
Disney | Matt Stroshane

“Getting back to that financial position where you can play offense rather and playing defense or being in survival mode, it’s just a longer climb,” said David Katz, an analyst at Jefferies.
Royal Caribbean’s stock is down around 61% compared to the same time last year and Carnival is down around 68%.
Disney has a little more wiggle room because its overall business is much more diverse. The company operates a media empire as well as hotels, theme parks and cruises.
Disney does not separate out its cruise business when reporting earnings. Instead, it is wrapped up in its parks, experiences and products segment, which saw revenues more than double to $6.7 billion during the fiscal second quarter, compared to the prior-year period. For comparison, this segment generated $6.2 billion during the same quarter in 2019.
Shares of Disney are down around 66% compared to the same time last year.

Cruising the high seas

Katz, who only covers Carnival, said cruise companies operate in opposition to the hotel business. Meaning, cruises will discount tickets the closer they get to the ship’s launch in order to reach capacity. For hotels, prices typically increase as the booking date nears.
“This recovery has been unlike any other recovery that anyone else has experienced,” he said. Price doesn’t typically drive travelers’ willingness to go on cruises, so discounting might not increase the number of customers, he added.
Still, people are cutting back the number of days they will spend on a cruise because of rising costs.
Disney’s Wish has three-night cruises starting at $1,750 for two guest and four-night cruises starting at $2,250. These prices increase if travelers select cruises tied to Halloween or Christmas. Disney is considered slightly more expensive than Carnival and Royal Caribbean for base pricing, but if guests choose to upgrade to larger cabins or add food packages or experiences to their itineraries, the prices are quite similar.
Around 80% of travelers who have cruised before say they will cruise again, the same percentage as before the pandemic, according to data from the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), a global cruise industry trade group.
CLIA forecasts that 2022 will be a transition year for the cruise industry and 2023 will be when a full recovery will take place. It also predicts that passenger volume recover in excess of 12% above 2019 levels by the end of 2026.

For Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney parks, experiences and products, there is “zero worry” that the cruise industry will bounce back.
“Could the road be a little bumpy in the short term? Yes,” he said. “But, do I know where the destination is? Absolutely. I’m incredibly confident about that.”
The decision to add more ships to Disney’s fleet came five years ago, before D’Amaro was head of the division. The expansion includes The Wish and two other vessels that have yet to be named, but are due to premiere in 2024 and 2025.
While the average cost of producing a cruise liner is around $617 million, according to CLIA, larger vessels like Disney’s Wish are estimated to cost closer to $1 billion. Disney declined to say how much it invested in its new fleet additions.
“I think the Wish is going to be another one of those beacons that calls to the world and reminds them that cruising is a special thing to do with your family,” said D’Amaro. “We are pretty bullish about it.”
While there are traditional amenities onboard the Wish that are staples on cruise lines — upscale restaurants, pools, spas and gaming rooms for kids — Disney has integrated storytelling into these services to elevate them to the company’s standard for “magic.”
The Wish, captained by Minnie Mouse, offers a host of theatrical dining experiences, Broadway-style stage productions and the first ever Disney attraction at sea.
“With the Wish we had an opportunity to think about, ‘What are the things we can do that can be new and different and firsts?’ – and there’s a long list,” D’Amaro said.

Immersive dining experience

The 144,000 ton ship has more than 1,500 crew members on board, 75% of which have served on a cruise vessel previously, and capacity for 4,000 passengers.
“The ship is magnificent,” said Sharon Siskie, senior vice president and general manager at Disney Cruise Line.. “But it’s our crew that will bring the ship to life.”
Marvel, Star Wars and “Frozen” are ports of call aboard the Wish, acting as destination dining and themed play zones for kids and adults, alike.
While the cruise industry’s recovery has been slower than other entertainment industry’s, Siskie said offerings aboard the Wish will “help remind people why cruising is such a great experience.”
Like Disney’s newest immersive hotel, the Galactic Starcruiser in Florida, the Disney Wish offers interactive and immersive storytelling at several of its restaurants.
It’s “Frozen”-based dining experience is essentially a theater-in-the-round, with tables instead of stadium seating. The dinner is a celebration of the engagement of Anna and Kristoff and features singing and dancing from the pair alongside Elsa, Olaf and Oaken. The menu is inspired by Nordic cuisine.

Worlds of Marvel is the first-ever Marvel cinematic dining adventure, where guests play an interactive role in an action-packed Avengers mission that unfolds around them, complete with a worldly menu inspired by the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Disney | Amy Smith

Its Worlds of Marvel cinematic dining adventure brings guests along on an Avengers mission centered around Ant-Man and the Wasp, who offer to show diners the latest Pym technology. The Quantum Core enabled the shrinking and growing of things, but the demonstration doesn’t go according to plan and an unexpected villain arrives to steal the technology.
Ant-Man and the Wasp team up with other Avengers like Captain American and Captain Marvel to stop them.
For Star Wars fans of legal age, Disney’s Wish has the Hyperspace Lounge, a high-end bar designed to replicate the luxurious yacht-class spaceship owned by Dryden Vos in “Solo.”

For the first time on a Disney ship, guests embark on a space-jumping tour of the Star Wars galaxy at Star Wars: Hyperspace Lounge, a high-end bar styled as a luxurious yacht-class spaceship aboard the Disney Wish.
Disney | Amy Smith

Here, guests are served signature beverages inspired by destinations in the Star Wars universe, including jungle planet Batuu, desert planet Tatooine and lava planet Mustafar – which is also known as the home of Darth Vader. While they sip cocktails and test out the tasting menu, ships can be seen out the viewport jumping to lightspeed.

Unique offerings

There are two funnels on the Disney Wish, one that operates and one that is “aesthetically pleasing,” said Siskie.
In that second funnel is the Wish Tower Suite, the first suite to be situated in a cruise ship funnel. At nearly 2,000 square feet, the two-story penthouse accommodates eight guests and takes decor inspiration from “Moana.”

The Wish Tower Suite is a first-of-its-kind accommodation set high in the forward funnel of the ship. This 1,966-square-foot penthouse in the sky accommodates eight guests and features an elegant design inspired by Disney Animation’s “Moana,” incomparable ocean views and premium Disney service.

“The Wish Tower Suite really does provide such a great example of what makes Disney different in this space,” said Siskie.
Another first for Disney is the AquaMouse, which at first appears to be just another waterslide, but is actually a fully fledged water attraction.
The 760-foot ride has lighting, audio and water effects, including video screens showcasing new Mickey Mouse shorts, before turning into traditional waterslide. The attraction wraps around the top deck and takes about two minutes to travel.
In addition to the AquaMouse, there are six pools staggered among several tiered decks.
“We know we have got something very powerful here,” said D’Amaro.

Guests immerse themselves in “The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse” animated shorts aboard the first Disney attraction at sea, AquaMouse. Complete with show scenes, lighting and special effects, and splashtacular surprises, this wild water ride is sure to delight everyone in the family as they zig, zag and zoom through 760 feet of winding tubes suspended high above the upper decks.

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Walgreens Boots Alliance’s quarterly earnings beat Wall Street expectations as the chain saw online sales jump in the U.S. and retail sales bounce back in the fiscal third quarter.
The drugstore chain, however, reiterated its forecast for the year of adjusted earnings per share growth in the low single-digits.
Earlier this week, the company halted plans to sell its United Kingdom-based Boots business.

The Walgreens store at State and Randolph Streets in Chicago.
Nancy Stone | Chicago Tribune | Tribune News Service via Getty Images

Walgreens Boots Alliance’s shares fell on Thursday as sales at stores and online bounced back but demand for Covid-19 vaccines waned.
Shares were down by about 4.5% in premarket trading, as the company reiterated its forecast for the year. Walgreens said it expects adjusted earnings per share to grow by the low single-digits. It also stressed investments it is making in its health care business, which it said will take time to pay off. 

With inflation hitting consumers’ wallets, CEO Roz Brewer said Walgreens is working with suppliers to make sure it has lower prices than competitors. She said Walgreens has historically seen stable prescription trends in an economic downturn.
“There’s a shift in calculus due to food and fuel inflation, but health and wellness will always be a priority,” she said on a call with analysts.
Plus, the company’s drugstores’ locations — which are a short walk, bus ride or drive from many customers — give Walgreens an edge as gas costs more, she said.
Here’s what the company reported compared with what analysts were expecting for the three-month period ended May 31, based on Refinitiv data:

Earnings per share: 96 cents adjusted vs. 92 cents expected
Revenue: $32.6 billion vs. $32.06 billion expected

In the quarter, net income fell to $289 million, or 33 cents per share, from $1.2 billion, or $1.38 per share, a year earlier. The sharp decline reflected a $683 million charge related to its opioid settlement with the state of Florida, a decline in U.S. pharmacy sales as it lapped a high volume of Covid-19 vaccinations a year ago and investments in its expanding health care business.

Excluding items, the company earned 96 cents per share, exceeding the 92 cents expected by analysts surveyed by Refinitiv.
Sales decreased to $32.6 billion from $34.03 billion a year earlier. Analysts were expecting $32.06 billion.
Walgreens has grown sales during the pandemic as customers turned to its stores for Covid-19 vaccines and tests. That demand is fading, pushing the company to drive growth in other ways.
The company administered 4.7 million vaccines in the third quarter, a sharp drop from the 15.6 million vaccines in the first quarter and the 11.8 million in the second quarter.
Health care has become a major push, with Walgreens striking a deal with VillageMD to open hundreds of doctor offices at its stores.
Walgreens has also expanded online options, such as curbside pickup and delivery, to try to stop customers from buying toothpaste, soap and other items from online players like Amazon. The company said its digital options gained popularity in the quarter, growing 25%, from a year ago, on top of 95% growth in the year-ago period. The growth was fueled by 2.8 million same-day pickup orders, the company said.
In the U.S. and the U.K., retail sales picked up as consumers got out and about again. Same-store sales in the U.S. rose 2.4%, excluding tobacco, and 24% for Boots U.K. retail.
Earlier this week, Walgreens said it would halt plans to sell its United Kingdom-based Boots business, citing instability in the markets. The company said in January that it was looking into strategic options for that division, including a possible sale.
As of Wednesday’s close, Walgreens shares were down about 22% so far this year. Shares close Wednesday at $40.87, bringing the company’s market value to $35.30 billion.
Read the company’s earnings release here.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

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