Raphael Stevens

Boeing reported a bigger loss and weaker revenue than analysts expected for the second quarter.
Both the company’s commercial and defense units have been challenged by programs running behind schedule and higher-than-expected costs.
The company is under increased federal scrutiny after a door plug blew out from a nearly new 737 Max 9 in January.

A logo is seen on the Boeing stand on the opening day of the Farnborough International Airshow 2024, south west of London, on July 22, 2024.
Justin Tallis | AFP | Getty Images

Boeing on Wednesday reported a bigger quarterly loss and weaker revenue than analysts expected as both its commercial airplane and defense programs continued to struggle. Boeing also said it hired more-than-three-decade aerospace industry veteran Robert “Kelly” Ortberg to become its next CEO as the manufacturer tries to regain its footing.
Here’s how Boeing performed in the second quarter compared with estimates compiled by LSEG:

Loss per share: $2.90 per share adjusted versus $1.97 per share adjusted
Revenue: $16.87 billion versus $17.23 billion

“Despite a challenging quarter, we are making substantial progress strengthening our quality management system and positioning our company for the future,” CEO Dave Calhoun said in an earnings release Wednesday. Calhoun said in March that he would step down by the end of the year.
Boeing reported a net loss for the second quarter of $1.44 billion, or $2.33 per share, compared with a loss of $149 million, or 25 cents per share, during the year-earlier period. On an adjusted basis, the company reported a loss of $2.90 per share, coming in nearly $1 per share under analyst expectations, according to LSEG.
Revenue for the three months ended June 30 was down 15% to $16.87 billion.
Boeing is trying to stabilize its operations after a door plug blowout from a nearly new 737 Max at the start of the year reignited additional scrutiny from regulators and further slowed deliveries of new, more fuel-efficient jets to airlines.
On Wednesday, Boeing said it still plans to increase output of its Max planes to 38 a month. Analysts said it was producing them in the mid-20s per month the last quarter.

The company’s all-important commercial airplanes unit reported a 32% year-over-year drop in revenue to $6 billion.
Low deliveries and production have pushed back some of Boeing’s financial targets.
CFO Brian West warned in May that the company would continue to burn cash in the second quarter, similar to the first, largely due to lower production and delivery rates than expected.
On Wednesday, the manufacturer reported negative free cash flow of $4.3 billion for the second quarter.

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Boeing’s other business units have also faced cost overruns and delays, like its defense unit which is building the two Boeing 747 aircraft that will serve as Air Force One, which are behind schedule.
The company’s defense unit reported a 2% decline in revenue for the second quarter to $6.02 billion. The segment had a loss of $913 million during the period, nearly double the $527 million it lost during the same quarter in 2023. Some of the losses “reflect higher estimated engineering and manufacturing costs, as well as technical challenges,” Boeing said.

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Boeing has named Robert “Kelly” Ortberg to succeed Dave Calhoun.
Ortberg, 64, previously led major aerospace supplier Rockwell Collins and has more than three decades of experience in the industry.
Boeing announced in March that Calhoun would step down by year’s end, part of a broader company shake-up following a door plug blowout in January.

Kelly Ortberg, chief executive officer of Rockwell Collins Inc., stands for a photograph at the company’s production facility in in Manchester, Iowa, U.S., on Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2016. 
Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Boeing has named Robert “Kelly” Ortberg to succeed CEO Dave Calhoun, picking a longtime aerospace veteran from outside the company as the manufacturer scrambles to regain its footing from safety and manufacturing crises. He will start Aug. 8.
Ortberg, 64, previously led major aerospace supplier Rockwell Collins, which later became Collins Aerospace, and the business is now part of industry behemoth RTX. He retired in 2021.

Ortberg, who has a mechanical engineering degree, will face a host of challenges as Boeing’s CEO: persistent losses, heightened regulator scrutiny, a crisis of confidence from airline customers whose planes are delayed, and tense labor talks that now include the threat of a strike.
His appointment Wednesday came alongside Boeing’s second-quarter results, which revealed a wider-than-expected loss and a 15% drop in sales.
Boeing announced in March that Calhoun would step down by year’s end, part of a broader company shake-up that also included the departure of its then-chairman and the replacement of its head of commercial aircraft. The changes came after a door plug blew out of a nearly new 737 Max 9, reigniting federal scrutiny over Boeing just as it was trying to move on from two fatal crashes of its bestselling plane.
“The Board conducted a thorough and extensive search process over the last several months to select the next CEO of Boeing and Kelly has the right skills and experience to lead Boeing in its next chapter,” Boeing’s chairman, Steven Mollenkopf, said in note to employees on Wednesday. “Kelly is an experienced leader who is deeply respected in the aerospace industry, with a well-earned reputation for building strong teams and running complex engineering and manufacturing companies.”
Ortberg will also join Boeing’s board.

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Washington, D.C., Attorney General Brian Schwalb alleges StubHub is using deceptive pricing techniques to illegally boost profits.
StubHub has sold over 5.5 million tickets to consumers in the district, extracting $118 million in hidden fees, since 2015, the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit comes as consumers and lawmakers alike criticize ticket platforms for additional or “junk” fees.

The StubHub logo is seen at its headquarters in San Francisco.
Andrej Sokolow | Picture Alliance | Getty Images

Washington, D.C., Attorney General Brian Schwalb sued the online ticket exchange platform StubHub on Wednesday, alleging deceptive and unfair pricing.
The lawsuit claims StubHub uses deceptive advertising of low ticket prices to lure consumers who pay vastly more after an arduous checkout process.

“This is no accident — StubHub intentionally hides the true price to boost profits at its customers’ expense,” Schwalb said in a statement.
The ticketing platform, valued at over $16 billion, had been eyeing a summer initial public offering. However, earlier this month, the company announced it would delay the IPO until after Labor Day, citing difficult market conditions.
The AG’s lawsuit said the ticketing platform uses a system called “drip pricing,” which employs a countdown clock to create a false sense of urgency. The complaint argued that StubHub tacks on substantially higher “fulfillment and services fees” without an adequate explanation.
In a statement responding to the lawsuit, StubHub said it strongly supports federal and state proposals that enhance existing laws to empower consumers, such as requiring all-in pricing uniformly across platforms.
“StubHub is committed to creating a transparent, secure, and competitive marketplace to benefit consumers. We are disappointed that the DC Attorney General is targeting StubHub when our user experience is consistent with the law, our competitors’ practices, and the broader e-commerce sector,” the company said.  

The lawsuit comes as consumers and lawmakers alike criticize the hidden or “junk” fees charged by ticket sellers. Other businesses like airlines have also faced allegations of deceptive pricing.
In its lawsuit, the attorney general’s office said that from 2014 to 2015, StubHub used “all-in pricing,” in which the advertised price included mandatory fees. The complaint alleged that StubHub did a testing period where it randomly assigned consumers to one of the two models. The company found that if it hid fees until the end of the checkout, consumers were more likely to buy tickets and purchase them at the higher prices, the lawsuit said.
“The District of Columbia is particularly impacted by StubHub’s illegal conduct, as residents and visitors spend more per capita on live entertainment in Washington, D.C., than those in many other U.S. cities,” the AG’s office said.
In one example, the complaint shows a pair of tickets with an advertised price of $178 per ticket, or $356 for a pair. As the clock ticks down, the checkout page shows the total price about 40% higher, at $497 for the two tickets.
“StubHub never explains to consumers throughout the purchase process how the fees for a particular ticket purchase are calculated,” the complaint said.
Since 2015, StubHub has sold over 5.5 million tickets to consumers in the district, extracting an estimated $118 million in hidden fees, the AG’s office said.
The company also faced a federal class action lawsuit in January for allegations that it deliberately misled customers on ticket prices.
StubHub has been one of the top players in the ticketing industry since it launched in 2000.
Co-founder Eric Baker and his company Viagogo reacquired the ticket seller from eBay in 2020 in a $4 billion deal.

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Ford Motor has redesigned its small Maverick pickup truck, adding more technology, new performance and hybrid options to the vehicle.
The Ford entry-level pickup has been a surprise hit for the company since its introduction in 2021.
The starting price has increased from about $20,000 for the 2022 model to $26,295 for a 2025 Maverick hybrid model.

2025 Ford Maverick

DETROIT — Ford Motor has redesigned its small Maverick pickup truck, adding more technology, new performance and hybrid options to the vehicle.
Updates to the 2025 Ford Maverick include refreshed exterior and interior styling, including a 13.2-inch center touchscreen; an all-wheel-drive hybrid option; and connectivity features such as a 5G modem and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

The Ford entry-level pickup has been a surprise hit for the company since its introduction in 2021. The company has exponentially increased sales and production of the vehicle, including a 77% uptick in vehicles built through June of this year compared to that same time period in 2023.
“We had unprecedented demand,” John Emmert, Ford general manager of trucks in North America, told CNBC. “Halfway through this year we’re almost equal to what our full-year sales were last year.”
The Maverick is drawing new customers to the Ford brand — many of whom are buying their first-ever new vehicle, the company said. Additionally, Ford said 80% of Maverick owners did not own a truck as their previous vehicle.

2025 Ford Maverick XLT interior

The 2022 Maverick rapidly gained attention for its up to 40 miles per gallon of fuel economy and starting price of about $20,000. That number has increased amid record vehicle prices and rising costs to $26,295 for a 2025 Maverick hybrid model.
Todd Eckert, Ford truck product marketing and brand manager, argues that for the amount of technology added to the vehicle, and considering the average price of a new car or truck hovers around $50,000, the Maverick is still a good deal.

“It’s still the most affordable pickup truck in the marketplace,” he said. “That’s one of the cores for us. … It’s finding that right balance.”
Ford officials declined to discuss Maverick’s profitability, but Emmert said, in general, when the company decides to add content to a truck, “there’s a business case.”
Expanding Ford’s truck business has been a goal under CEO Jim Farley, who is restructuring the automaker’s operations to focus on its strengths such as pickups.

2025 Ford Maverick Lariat

The Maverick is mainly sold in North America and parts of South America. Emmert declined to discuss the potential for additional markets such as Europe, but said, “If we see an opportunity, that could be a discussion.”
In addition to the new hybrid options, an off-road “Tremor” package will now be offered as a stand-alone model. The Maverick Tremor includes a beefed-up, higher-riding suspension and all-wheel-drive system.
Eckert said the most popular Maverick model is the XLT, which currently starts at $26,420. That price is expected to hold for the 2025 model, but new higher-end technologies and the Tremor model should boost Maverick profits for Ford.
The average transaction price for Maverick is about $32,000, according to Ford.
The Maverick is available with a 2.5-liter hybrid engine capable of a Ford-estimated 191 horsepower and 155 pounds-foot of torque or a 2.0-liter EcoBoost engine rated at 238 horsepower and 277 pounds-foot of torque.
The 2025 Maverick is available to order starting Aug. 1, with deliveries expected to begin in late 2024. The trucks are produced at Ford’s Hermosillo assembly plant in Mexico.

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Starbucks’ quarterly earnings met expectations, but the company’s revenue fell short of Wall Street’s estimates.
In China, same-store sales dropped 14%.
The coffee reiterated its outlook after it slashed it last quarter, predicting that its sales slump would not end any time soon.

Starbucks glass art on a store in Tokyo.
Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Starbucks on Tuesday reported quarterly revenue that missed analysts’ expectations as both its U.S. and international cafes faced weaker demand.
Still, the results weren’t as bad as investors feared. Shares of the company rose more than 5% in extended trading.

Here is what the company reported compared to what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

Earnings per share: 93 cents adjusted vs. 93 cents expected
Revenue: $9.11 billion vs. $9.24 billion expected

The coffee giant reported fiscal third-quarter net income attributable to the company of $1.05 billion, or 93 cents per share, down from $1.14 billion, or 99 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding items, Starbucks earned 93 cents per share.
Net sales dropped 1% to $9.11 billion. The company’s same-store sales fell 3% in the quarter, fueled by a 5% decline in transactions.
Traffic to its U.S. stores fell again this quarter, dropping 6%. Domestic same-store sales fell 2%, boosted by an increase in average ticket. Last quarter, executives discussed plans to revive the lagging U.S. business that included leaning on discounts and new drinks to bring back customers who had abandoned the chain.

CEO Laxman Narasimhan said on Tuesday that more shoppers are buying its packaged coffee at grocery stores, but a “challenging consumer environment” is weighing on sales at its cafes.
Still, the company sees green shoots in the U.S. business already, like the success of new products. Its Summer-Berry Refreshers drinks with boba-inspired pearls broke the company’s record for a week-one product launch. Next quarter will also bring the return of its Pumpkin Spice drinks, a perennial favorite since its launch more than two decades ago.
The company now allows customers to order via its mobile app and pay without joining its rewards program. Improvements to its app also mean that it’s more accurate at predicting when an order will be ready, lowering customer complaints. In a letter posted on LinkedIn after last quarter’s gloomy report, former CEO Howard Schultz said the company needed to fix the mobile app experience to win back customers.
Schultz isn’t the only investor upset with Starbucks’ performance lately. Activist hedge fund Elliott Management has accrued a stake in Starbucks. Narasimhan acknowledged that the firm is a shareholder in Starbucks and said conversations so far have been constructive.
Outside of North America, same-store sales slid 7%. In China, Starbucks’ second-largest market, same-store sales tumbled 14% as both average ticket and transactions shrank.
Starbucks has faced stiffer competition in China from local coffee shops that undercut the coffee giant on price. But there are encouraging signs in the country, too. Average daily transactions and weekly sales in China have improved sequentially quarter-over-quarter, according to Narasimhan.
The company is in the “early stages” of exploring strategic partnerships to accelerate its growth in China, Narasimhan said. It’s unclear what kind of shape that partnership could take.
Starbucks opened 526 net new stores in the fiscal quarter.
The company reiterated the outlook it provided last quarter. The company projects revenue growth of a low single-digit percentage and earnings per share growth in a range of flat to a low single-digit percentage.

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The breakthrough Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi slowed disease progression in patients over three years, demonstrating the need for them to stay on the treatment long term.
That’s according to new data presented by Japanese drugmaker Eisai at a medical conference.
The study results on Leqembi, which Eisai shares with Biogen, also found that the health of Alzheimer’s patients who take the therapy worsens after they stop treatment.

The newly FDA approved Alzheimer’s treatment Leqembi is prepared at Abington Neurological Associates in Abington, PA., on Tuesday, November 7, 2023. 
Hannah Yoon | The Washington Post | Getty Images

The breakthrough Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi slowed disease progression in patients over three years, demonstrating the need for them to stay on the treatment long term, according to new data released Tuesday by Japanese drugmaker Eisai. 
The study results on Leqembi, which Eisai shares with Biogen, also found that a patient’s Alzheimer’s disease worsens after they stop treatment. Rates of adverse side effects associated with Leqembi, including brain bleeding and swelling, dropped after six months of treatment, Dr. Lynn Kramer, Eisai’s chief clinical officer of deep human biology learning, told CNBC. 

That decline is critical: Those side effects in the brain have raised concerns among some doctors and are the main reason a European drug regulator recommended against approving Leqembi last week.
The study is the longest available efficacy and safety data to date on Leqembi, which has had a bumpy rollout in the U.S. since winning regulatory approval last summer due to bottlenecks related to diagnostic test requirements and regular brain scans, among other issues. Eisai released 24-month data on Leqembi in November.
Eisai presented the findings on Tuesday at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Philadelphia, the world’s largest meeting for dementia research. The results are a first glimpse at what Alzheimer’s patients’ future could look like on therapies such as Leqembi, which is currently taken twice a month through an infusion.
The drug is a monoclonal antibody that targets toxic plaques in the brain called amyloid, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s, to slow the progression of the disease during its early stages. Leqembi also works by clearing protofibrils, the building blocks of amyloid plaque.
The data demonstrates the importance of early and sustained treatment for people living with the notoriously hard-to-treat brain disorder — even after a drug clears a patient’s amyloid plaque. 

“Continuing treatment is important if you would like to maintain cognition and functionality longer,” Kramer said. 
While Leqembi is not a cure, “if you start early enough, it can give you years of benefit,” he said.
Kramer added that Eisai believes patients can eventually switch to a maintenance dose of Leqembi after roughly 18 to 24 months of treatment, which could be a less frequent or more convenient way to take the drug over a long period. 
Eisai and Biogen are seeking regulatory approval for a once-monthly infusion of Leqembi, with a decision expected in January. The drugmakers also aim to bring to the market an injectable form of Leqembi that patients can take at home once a week. 
“Those two things will change the paradigm, make it easier for the patient, make it easier for the whole medical system,” Kramer said in an interview. 
Nearly 7 million Americans have the condition, the fifth-leading cause of death for adults over 65, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. By 2050, the number of Alzheimer’s patients is projected to rise to almost 13 million in the U.S.

Long-term study details

The results are based on extended research on certain participants in mid-stage and late-stage trials on Leqembi.
One phase three trial, called Clarity AD, examined three different groups of patients for 36 months. 
One group of participants took Leqembi for the full three years, while another received a placebo for the first 18 months before switching to Eisai’s drug for the same length of time. Eisai observed a last group of patients outside of the trial who did not receive any treatment over three years. 

Tek Image/science Photo Library | Science Photo Library | Getty Images

Patients who started Leqembi early continued to benefit from the drug over three years, showing a slower rate of cognitive decline compared to the other two groups, according to an Eisai presentation. 
The difference in cognitive decline between the “early start” Leqembi group and patients who did not receive anything throughout the study period grew larger between 18 and 36 months, according to Kramer. 
Leqembi “interrupts the natural progression of the disease, and it has an effect more and more,” he said, adding that “the earlier you catch it, the better.” 
Patients who started on a placebo saw a slower rate of cognitive decline after switching to Leqembi at the 18-month mark. But their Alzheimer’s disease was still worse than the group that started Leqembi earlier through the 36 months.
A sub-study of the trial partly examined patients with no or very low levels of another protein that builds up in the brain called tau, which is considered a marker of Alzheimer’s severity. People with low levels of that protein are at the earlier stages of the disease. 
After three years on Leqembi, 59% of people with no or very low tau levels did not see their Alzheimer’s progress at all, according to the presentation. A little over half of that patient population actually saw their condition improve. 
Meanwhile, one phase two trial, called Study 201, examined patients who temporarily stopped treatment with Leqembi. 
For 18 months, one group of participants took Leqembi and another received a placebo. The groups then took nothing during a gap period of two years on average before all patients started treatment with Leqembi for another 18 months. 
Leqembi’s positive effect on a patient’s disease was maintained even after they stopped treatment, according to the presentation.
But the rate of cognitive decline in patients who stopped Leqembi reverted to the rate of people who had taken a placebo during the gap period. That shows that even when amyloid plaque is removed, the disease continues to progress when a patient stops Leqembi, Eisai said in a release.
“The concept is, if you stop, you get worse,” Kramer said. 

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JetBlue Airways posted a surprise profit for the second quarter.
The carrier said it would defer another $3 billion in aircraft spending through 2029 to improve cash flow.
JetBlue has spent recent months cutting unprofitable routes and reducing costs to try to stop losing money as it faces higher expenses and an oversupplied domestic market.

A JetBlue Airways jet comes in for a landing after flights earlier were grounded during an FAA system outage at Laguardia Airport in New York City, New York, U.S., January 11, 2023. 
Mike Segar | Reuters

JetBlue Airways shares jumped 12% on Tuesday after the airline posted a surprise profit and said it would defer another $3 billion in aircraft spending through 2029 to improve cash flow.
The carrier posted a $25 million profit for the second quarter, down nearly 82% from last year. Wall Street analysts had expected a quarterly loss.

JetBlue hasn’t posted an annual profit since before the pandemic. It has spent recent months cutting unprofitable routes and reducing costs to try to stop losing money as it faces higher expenses and an oversupplied domestic market.
JetBlue said Tuesday that it has halted 50 routes and is focusing more on service from New York, New England and Puerto Rico, where it has historically been strong. It also is trying to better deploy its planes outfitted with premium seats like its Mint aircraft to maximize revenue.
JetBlue says the changes will help it add $800 million to $900 million in pretax profit from 2025 through 2027.
It’s deferring delivery of 44 Airbus A321neo aircraft until 2030 or later. The airline has also been impacted by a Pratt & Whitney engine recall.
“We have and are taking aggressive action on every front,” CEO Joanna Geraghty said on an earnings call on Tuesday.

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Geraghty said Tuesday the airline is taking additional steps to improve reliability, such as adding more buffer time to flights. JetBlue has consistently ranked toward the bottom of U.S. carriers in punctuality.
The airline plans to cut capacity by as much as 6% in the third quarter and as much as 5% for the full year. Even with the reductions it expects third-quarter revenue to drop as much as 5.5% from last year and full-year sales to be down as much as 6% over 2023.
Airline executives have blamed weaker-than-expected revenue this summer on an oversupply of capacity.
Tuesday’s results and the investor reception was a win for Geraghty, a JetBlue veteran, who took the reins in February. Hours after she started in the top role, activist investor Carl Icahn disclosed a nearly 10% stake in the company. He won two board seats days later.
JetBlue and Spirit Airlines called off their merger agreement earlier this year after the New York airline’s planned acquisition of the budget carrier was blocked by a federal judge. Both carriers have said they are challenged in competing with larger rivals.

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