Raphael Stevens

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Papa John’s is seeing improvement in staffing levels for delivery drivers, CEO Rob Lynch told CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Monday.
“April was a challenging month, but our staffing situation has gotten progressively better. We’re starting to get drivers to come in and take the orders,” Lynch said in an interview on “Mad Money.”

Papa John’s is seeing improvement in staffing levels for delivery drivers, CEO Rob Lynch told CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Monday.
“April was a challenging month, but our staffing situation has gotten progressively better. We’re starting to get drivers to come in and take the orders. … Our demand is still huge, and it’s been a challenge servicing those orders,” Lynch said in an interview on “Mad Money,” adding that partnerships with DoorDash, GrubHub and Uber Eats have helped mitigate labor challenges.

Papa John’s reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue in its latest quarter. The company said that supply availability and labor shortages have been some of the bigger headwinds for the company.
The pizza company’s stock was down 4.37% on Monday, hitting a new 52-week low earlier in the day.
As for other snags in Papa John’s operations, Lynch said that while inflation is raising costs for the company, it’s being cautious about taking price hikes. Papa John’s raised prices by about 7% on average across its corporate stores last quarter.
“We haven’t seen this level of food inflation in about 40 years. … We’re taking a long-term view here. We’re continuing to bring new customers in,” he said. 
“So we’re not taking as much pricing potentially as we need to to cover the whole cost, because we want to make sure that when we come through these challenging times and return to a more normalized rate of cost, we’ll have those customers,” he added.

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It’s that time again! “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer rings the lightning round bell, which means he’s giving his answers to callers’ stock questions at rapid speed.

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Banco Santander SA: “The problem is the credit war is over in Europe. … That’s why that’s going down.”

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A $23.5 million modern mansion overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Southern California is set to officially hit the market on May 14.
In doing so, it will become the most expensive home ever up for sale in the town of Encinitas, California — a coastal community about 26 miles north of San Diego.
The home’s eight-figure asking price is more than double what it sold for less than six years ago.

The ocean views from the most expensive mansion to ever sell in Encinitas, CA.
Rancho Photos

A $23.5 million modern mansion overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Southern California is set to officially hit the market on May 14, and in doing so become the most expensive home ever up for sale in the town of Encinitas, California — a coastal community about 26 miles north of San Diego.
The home’s eight-figure asking price is more than double what it sold for less than six years ago.

“Coupled with the high demand for luxury housing that we have seen over the last few years in San Diego and such a rare offering, we believe it is priced where it should be,” said Kelly Howard of Compass, one of the co-listing agents on the property.
The bluff-top home at 532 Neptune Ave. is called Crescent House, named for one of its luxury amenities: a crescent-moon-shaped infinity pool that surrounds a round concrete terrace.

A crescent-moon shaped infinity pool wraps around a circular terrace.
Rancho Photos

The home already broke the local price record when it traded hands in 2016 for $11.1 million after just 28 days on the market. That sale remains the highest ever achieved in Encinitas history, according to Multiple Listing Service records provided by Howard, who also represented the listing for that record-breaking sale.
“We are confident this house will break its own record,” he said.
If the glass, concrete and titanium structure reminds you of fictional billionaire Tony Stark’s oceanfront mansion in Marvel’s “Iron Man” films, that may be because it’s the work of architect Wallace Cunningham. 

Razor House
Gary Kasl – Douglas Elliman Realty

Cunningham also designed the ultra-modern Razor House, located less than 20 miles to the south, in La Jolla. The cutting-edge design is believed by some to be one of the real-life inspirations for Stark’s fictional Malibu home, which was created by an illustrator and brought to life with computer-generated imagery.
“Nothing comes close to the Crescent House, except maybe the Razor House,” said Howard.
Both of the homes designed by the award-winning architect feature dramatic curves, striking edges and massive panes of glass that deliver jaw-dropping views of the Pacific Ocean.

The facade of the Razor House blends glass and concrete to deliver sharp lines and dramatic curves.
Gary Kasl – Douglas Elliman Realty

A view of the mansion perched atop a bluff overlooking the ocean.
Rancho Photos

Crescent House, meanwhile, has been featured in Architectural Digest magazine in 2005 and on the Season 3 premiere episode of HBO’s “Westworld.”
The mansion spans more than 6,300 square feet, across two levels, with four bedrooms, four full baths and two half baths according to the listing. Just about every room leverages its perspective of sky and ocean with floor-to-ceiling windows.

Primary bedroom
Rancho Photos

A stunning staircase twists up to the second level, designed by the architect to look like the skeleton of a giant dinosaur with vertebrae and ribs made of stainless steel.

A sleek steel-and-glass staircase twists upward connecting the home’s two levels.
Rancho Photos

Cunningham told Architectural Digest the house was built to deliver “the sense of being on a ship at sea.” That’s evident in the living area, where, at certain angles, the home appears to be floating over the ocean.

A sofa in the living area delivers a front-row seat to impressive ocean views.
Rancho Photos

Beyond the walls of glass are tiered terraces that put you even closer to the sea.

Multi-level terraces offer several spots to take in the view.
Rancho Photos

The current owners live in Florida full time, and after six years of holding onto the home, are ready to sell.
If the couple scores their asking price, the sale would deliver a price-per-square-foot of more than $3,700, almost four times the $928 average for luxury homes sold in the county, according to the quarterly Elliman Report. The report defines luxury homes as those at the top 10% of the market.

Guest suite
Rancho Photos

“San Diego’s luxury market has seen a serious increase in price since this Crescent House last sold,” listing agent Howard said.
Howard believes increased demand in the market, plus pedigree design and what he says is an above-average lot size for the bluff-top street, all work in the sellers’ favor and will help command a premium for the property.
The owners also made some upgrades, including commissioning the original architect to add two state-of-the-art fire features and equipping the mansion with smart home infrastructure, Howard said.

A modern fire feature adjacent to one of the home’s outdoor seating areas.
Rancho Photos

Howard told CNBC new coastal building regulations make replicating a house like this on this site impossible, which further justifies the 112% price increase over 2016, he said.

The mansion’s primary bathroom features twin vanities with mirrors that appear to float above the sinks.
Rancho Photos

Historical sales data suggests it’s not as crazy a jump in value as it may seem.
Back in October 2016, the last time Crescent House sold, the median sale price in Encinitas was just over $1.2 million, according to data compiled by the Greater San Diego Association of Realtors. Last month, that number topped $2.4 million, marking a similar doubling in less than six years.
Whether the home can command its full asking price is yet to be seen, but the ask is more than nine times Encinitas’s average home price, and finding a buyer willing to pay a record-breaking price isn’t always easy.
“The discriminating buyer that connects with it and understands it will be willing to pay for it,” said Howard.

The tiered outdoor terraces offer breathtaking views of the ocean, multiple dining areas, and an outdoor seating area with a fire feature.
Rancho Photos

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Novavax reported its first profitable quarter, though it still missed expectations on earnings and revenue.
Novavax’s Covid vaccine has rolled out in several major economies around the world.
The two-dose vaccine could receive U.S. authorization this summer.

Rafael Henrique | LightRocket | Getty Images

Novavax on Monday reported its first profitable quarter as its Covid vaccine rolls out across several countries around the world, though the company still missed earnings and revenue expectations.
Novavax reported net income of $203 million in the first quarter, compared to a net loss of $222.7 million the same period last year. The company reiterated its 2022 revenue guidance of $4 billion to $5 billion.

However, Novavax has not yet received an order from Covax, the international partnership that procures vaccines for lower-income nations. The timing and quantities of future orders from Covax are unclear which could affect the revenue guidance, Chief Financial Officer Jim Kelly told analysts during the company’s earnings call.
 “It’s an unclear marketplace right now in the low- and middle-income countries,” CEO Stanley Erck told analysts.
Novavax stock was down nearly 19% in extended trading.
Chief commercial officer John Trizzino told analysts there’s also upside to the revenue guidance in the U.S. market if the vaccine is authorized by the Food and Drug Administration. Novavax anticipates the FDA will authorize the shots for adults ages 18 and older as a two-dose primary vaccination series this summer, according to Erck. The company is currently in negotiations with the U.S. government on how it can meet demand after authorization, the CEO said.
Here’s how the company performed compared with what Wall Street expected, based on analysts’ average estimates compiled by Refinitiv:

Adjusted earnings: $2.56 per share, vs. $2.69 expected
Revenue: $704 million, vs. $845 million expected

The FDA’s committee of independent advisors is set to meet June 7 to review Novavax’s data and make a recommendation on whether the shots should be cleared for use. Erck said Novavax’s manufacturing partner Serum Institute of India successfully passed on FDA inspection ahead of the committee meeting. Novavax also has submitted vaccine data on adolescents ages 12 to 17 to the FDA and will submit additional data on booster doses, Erck said.
Novavax will start clinical trials on a vaccine that targets mutations on the omicron variant this month, the CEO said. The FDA committee is also holding a meeting on June 28 on whether the U.S. needs to switch to a new vaccine design that targets recent virus mutations. The current vaccines still target the original strain of the virus that emerged in Wuhan, China, in 2019.
Novavax was one of the early participants in Operation Warp Speed, the U.S. government-backed race to develop a Covid vaccine in 2020. Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson ultimately beat the company to the punch as it struggled to ramp up its manufacturing capacity. Novavax asked the FDA to authorize the shot four months ago in January, but officials said the review process is complicated.
“This is an incredibly complex review process that involves review of not just clinical data but also manufacturing data that will be needed to make a determination about emergency use authorization,” Dr. Doran Fink, deputy director of clinical review at the FDA’s vaccine division, told the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s committee of independent vaccine advisors last month.
Novavax has received authorizations in 41 countries for its two-dose Covid vaccine outside the U.S. The company shipped more than 42 million doses of its shots this year in markets including the European Union, Canada, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia, according to Trizzino.
“As we look ahead to the second quarter, we expect our shipments to key markets to increase,” Trizzino said. Novavax is fulfilling a 42 million dose order to the EU which should result in increased revenue for the second quarter, he said.
Novavax’s clinical trial in the U.S. and Mexico found that the protein-based vaccine was 90% effective at preventing mild illness and 100% percent effective at preventing severe illness. However, the study was conducted from December 2020 through April 2021, well before the delta and omicron variants emerged and weakened Covid vaccines ability to block infections.
Novavax released results from a lab study in December that showed the vaccine triggered an immune response against omicron, though not as strong as the response against the original strain of the virus. A third dose boosted the immune response against omicron to levels similar to the U.S. and Mexico clinical trial, suggesting a high level of protection with a booster.
If authorized by the FDA, Novavax’s shots would offer an alternative for people who do not want to take the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. Novavax uses more traditional protein-based technology, while Pfizer and Moderna’s shots use messenger RNA for the first time. Though Moderna and Pfizer shots have proven safe and effective against severe illness, some people may prefer technology that has a longer track record.
“We continue to hear from our market research as well as anecdotally that there’s a high demand for a choice in the marketplace,” Trizzino said.

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CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Monday said that investors willing to brave the current market should switch out their nonprofitable holdings for stocks that have cheap valuations and better-than-average growth rates.
“I say you put some cash to work now in the tangible, growth-at-a-reasonable-price stocks,” the “Mad Money” host said.

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Monday said that investors willing to brave the current market should switch out their nonprofitable holdings for stocks that have cheap valuations and better-than-average growth rates.
“I’m not advocating staying in the market, so much as I want you to take some losses and swap into better stocks that can spring back because their losses are just collateral damage. … The ones that can make things, send you back money,” the “Mad Money” host said.

“I say you put some cash to work now in the tangible, growth-at-a-reasonable-price stocks. … As for the former high-fliers, if you still own them, I recommend selling them on a snapback and upgrading your portfolio into something that better fits this difficult moment,” he added.
Stocks plunged on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbling 1.99% while the Nasdaq Composite fell 4.29%. The S&P 500 dropped 3.2%, sinking below 4,000 for the first time in more than a year.
“When [the markets] take out the last of the leaders … in this case the oil and gas stocks, that usually means we’re much closer to the bottom than the top,” Cramer said.
He added that while there are several kinds of sellers whose activity is currently roiling the market, sell-offs by companies and their shareholders who were forced to let go of their shares bring opportunities for investors to pick up shares of previously expensive stocks for cheap prices. 
“You’ve got to view this as a blessing, not a curse, if you have cash. These forced sellers put pressure on the whole market, so you can take advantage of them to get some terrific bargains. … You can get to your preferred levels much faster thanks to these sellers because they’re creating great value,” he said.

Cramer also warned investors to stay away from speculative stocks and cryptocurrency.

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Last week’s earnings reports from Fisker, Nikola and Lucid may shed light on what to expect from Rivian’s update this week.
All three companies are seeing strong product demand, but significant ongoing supply chain challenges and high rates of cash burn are weighing on them.
Rivian’s shares closed down over 20% on Monday following a CNBC report that Ford sold eight million of its total 102 million shares of the start-up.

Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe inside the company’s customer experience center outside of its plant on Aptil 11, 2022 in Normal, Ill.
Michael Wayland / CNBC

Electric vehicle maker Rivian Automotive will report its first-quarter earnings after market close on Wednesday. Wall Street analysts polled by Refinitiv expect a loss of $1.44 per share on revenue of about $130.5 million, but those numbers are just a small part of the story.
The bigger story is Rivian’s outlook for the next few quarters. Like most automakers, Rivian has been struggling with global supply chain disruptions that began during initial Covid-19 lockdowns and have been exacerbated since Russia invaded Ukraine in February. CEO RJ Scaringe warned investors in March that Rivian wouldn’t be able to produce as many vehicles in 2022 as it had originally planned, despite a swelling order book.

The electric truck maker may also face questions about whether its largest investors — Amazon and Ford Motor — are losing confidence in the company. Rivian’s shares closed down over 20% on Monday following a CNBC report that Ford sold eight million of its total 102 million shares of the start-up.
Here are three themes that may come up in Rivian’s results, if reports last week from high-profile companies in the EV space — Fisker, Nikola and Lucid Group — offer any guidance:

Demand for all kinds of EVs is very strong

Fisker, Nikola and Lucid all reported strong order books when they released quarterly results last week.
Lucid said it now has over 30,000 orders for its pricey Air sedan, up from over 25,000 the previous quarter — and that doesn’t include a recent order for up to 100,000 Lucids over the next 10 years from the government of Saudi Arabia, CEO Peter Rawlinson said.
Nikola said that it has received “purchase orders, letters of intent and memoranda of understanding” for more than 500 of its battery-electric heavy trucks. That may not sound like much, but Nikola has a lot to prove after allegations that founder Trevor Milton misled investors. (Milton denied those allegations, but they nonetheless brought about his abrupt departure.) That order number is also likely to grow as more fleets evaluate Nikola’s battery-powered Tre semitruck, which has received strongly positive reviews from customers, the company said.

As for Fisker, it now has over 45,000 reservations for its stylish Ocean SUV, set to launch late this year. In fact, demand is so strong that CEO Henrik Fisker said he is working with the company’s manufacturing partner, Magna International, to increase production capacity from a planned 50,000 annually to three times by the end of 2023.
Back in March, Rivian said it had about 83,000 reservations for its R1T pickup and R1S SUV. Investors will be eager to see where that number stands on Wednesday.

Supply chain issues are still a big challenge

Automakers of all sizes have been struggling with a global semiconductor shortage since last year, a consequence of surging demand for personal computers and gaming devices during Covid lockdowns. More recently, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to shortages of certain components and a surge in prices for key commodities.
Fisker won’t begin production until mid-November, but both Lucid and Nikola have already had to reset expectations for this year’s production totals. In February, Lucid cut its full-year production guidance from 20,000 vehicles to between 12,000 and 14,000. The chip shortage was a factor in that decision, Rawlinson said, but so were shortages of more mundane materials like glass and carpet. Lucid reiterated that guidance in last week’s earnings report.
Nikola could probably sell quite a few more than 500 trucks this year based on demand, but it expects to build only 300 to 500 due to parts shortages. Although further expansions are underway, Nikola’s Arizona factory already has the capacity to build 2,500 trucks per year. But the company isn’t confident that it can secure enough chips — specifically, control units for its battery modules, CEO Mark Russell told investors on Thursday.
Likewise, Rivian has slashed its production forecasts for 2022. It said in March that it expects to build 25,000 vehicles this year, down from the 50,000 it predicted in its initial public offering roadshow presentation last year. Wall Street will be looking for an update on production capacity when the company reports this week.

Raising more cash will be complicated

As Tesla investors know, raising cash isn’t difficult when a company’s stock price is high. But when the stock is under pressure, fundraising can be challenging.
With Rivian’s stock down roughly 90% from its high in 2020, the company has had to cut deals with private funds to raise cash on less-than-favorable terms. In its most recent transaction, announced last week, a private investor agreed to buy $200 million worth of convertible notes, which will pay 8% interest if Nikola repays in cash and 11% if it repays in stock.
Lucid still has plenty of cash from the deal that took it public, nearly $5.4 billion, Chief Financial Officer Sherry House said Thursday. But with big plans to expand its own Arizona factory, and a planned second factory in Saudi Arabia — a total of $2 billion in planned capital expenditures in 2022 — even relatively cash-rich Lucid may find itself in need of more funds before it can get to sustainable profitability. Unless its stock price surges, it may be hard to pull off a multibillion-dollar raise without diluting existing shareholders significantly.
Fisker said that it still has about $1 billion in cash, but much of that is earmarked for costs related to starting up production of its Ocean SUV. Its chief financial officer, Geeta Gupta-Fisker, said she expects Fisker’s operating expenses and capital expenditures to total between $715 million and $790 million this year.
At that rate, Fisker might need to raise $1 billion or more of additional capital as soon as the second quarter of 2023 — and like Lucid, its stock is well off its highs, which will make a big secondary offering a challenge.
But unlike its rivals, Rivian may not need to worry about cash anytime soon. It had a hefty $18.4 billion on hand as of the end of 2021, and it said in March that it expects to burn about $8 billion through the end of 2023 as it works to ramp up production of the R1S, R1T and an electric delivery van for Amazon.
That cash advantage may be the edge Rivian needs to revive its stock price in an EV landscape facing production challenges.
Clarification: This article has been updated to clarify that Fisker has over 45,000 reservations for its electric Ocean SUV.

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AMC Entertainment posted a narrower-than-expected loss during the first quarter.
“Our results for the first quarter of 2022 represent AMC’s strongest first quarter in two full years,” CEO Adam Aron said in a statement Monday.
AMC ended the quarter with $1.3 billion in available liquidity.

The AMC 25 Theatres in Times Square in New York is seen on Tuesday, July 8, 2014.
Richard Levine | Corbis News | Getty Images

Not even the tag-team of Spider-Man and Batman could make AMC Entertainment profitable during the first quarter. Still, shares of the movie theater chain rose more than 4% after hours Monday after it posted a narrower-than-expected loss during the period.
AMC has made big strides toward recovery since the pandemic shuttered all of its locations globally in 2020, but a limited slate of new films during the first three months of the year meant fewer movie tickets were sold compared to prepandemic levels.

However, the recent release of Marvel’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” kicks off a steady stream of new and hotly anticipated cinematic debuts that will bolster AMC’s ticket sales in the coming months.
“Our results for the first quarter of 2022 represent AMC’s strongest first quarter in two full years,” CEO Adam Aron said in a statement Monday.
“The cumulative success of ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home,’ ‘The Batman,’ ‘Sonic The Hedgehog 2’ and this past weekend’s opening of ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,’ should leave no doubt about the enduring appeal of theatrical exhibition,” he said. “When Hollywood releases films that moviegoers want to see, people flock to cinemas in huge numbers to watch movies where they were designed to be seen, in theatres, on the big screen.”
While “No Way Home” and “The Batman” had solid runs in theaters and AMC saw nearly 40 million visitors during the quarter, revenues collected during the period did not outweigh the nearly $1 billion AMC spent on operating expenses and rent.
The movie theater chain reported a net loss of $337.4 million, or 65 cents a share, as compared with a loss of $567.2 million, or $1.42 per share, a year ago.

Excluding items, the company lost 52 cents per share, a narrower loss than the 63 cents analysts had expected the company to lose during the quarter, according to a survey from Refinitiv.
Revenue rose to $785.7 million from $148.3 million last year and topped the $743 million analysts had expected.
AMC ended the quarter with $1.3 billion in available liquidity. The stock closed down 9% Monday as the broader market suffered a sell-off.

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An AMC theatre is pictured amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., January 27, 2021.
Carlo Allegri | Reuters

Check out the companies making headlines after hours.
AMC — Shares jumped 4% after the entertainment company reported its “strongest first quarter in two full years” as consumers return to movie theaters. AMC beat on revenues with $785.7 million, as compared with the $743 million expected by analysts polled by Refinitiv.

Novavax — Shares dropped more than 10% after the biotech company reported an earnings miss. Novavax reported adjusted earnings of $2.56 per share on revenue of $704 million. Analysts polled by Refinitiv were expecting earnings of $2.69 per share on revenue of $845 million. Still, Novavax reported its first profitable quarter from a global vaccine rollout.
Upstart — Shares tumbled 39% after the artificial intelligence company reported earnings. Upstart revenue of $310 million topped expectations. Analysts were expecting a quarterly profit of 51 cents per share on revenues of $300 million, according to consensus estimates from Refinitiv.

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