Raphael Stevens

A view of the ExxonMobil Baton Rouge Refinery in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, May 15, 2021.
Kathleen Flynn | Reuters

Shares of Exxon Mobil slid on Friday after the company took a $3.4 billion after-tax charge related to its Sakhalin-1 operation in Russia.
Exxon earned $5.5 billion during the first quarter, up from $2.7 billion in the same period during 2021. However, results were down from the $8.87 billion earned during the fourth quarter of 2021.

Revenue came in at $90.5 billion during the latest period. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were expecting the company to generate $92.73 billion in revenue. During the same quarter in 2021, Exxon’s revenue was $59.1 billion.
“Earnings increased modestly, as strong margin improvement and underlying growth was offset by weather and timing impacts,” CEO Darren Woods said in a statement. “The absence of these temporary impacts in March provides strong, positive momentum for the second quarter.”
Exxon’s results come amid a surge in oil and gas prices. Crude jumped to its highest level since 2008 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which prompted supply fears. U.S. oil traded as high as $130.50 per barrel. Prices have seen retreated, but remain above $100 per barrel, boosting energy companies’ operations.
Exxon’s first quarter capital and exploration expenses totaled $4.9 billion during the period, with oil-equivalent production falling 4% quarter over quarter to 3.7 million barrels per day.
“First-quarter cash increased by $4.3 billion compared to the fourth quarter of 2021, as strong cash flow from operations more than funded capital investment, additional debt reduction, and shareholder distributions in the quarter. Free cash flow in the quarter was approximately $11 billion,” the company said in a statement.

Exxon bought back $2.1 billion worth of stock during the period, and said it will increase its share repurchase program. The oil giant now expects to buy back $30 billion through 2023.
Shares of Exxon slid 2% during premarket trading.

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Victoria’s Secret is taking its beauty business to Amazon, marking the lingerie company’s first major tie-up with another retailer to sell its goods.
With Friday’s launch, about 120 different products including branded fragrances, lotions, body scrubs and body washes will be available on a new Victoria’s Secret “storefront” on Amazon.
The move by Victoria’s Secret into wholesale is emblematic of a dynamic that many retailers are grappling with today.

Beginning Friday, shoppers will find an assortment of roughly 120 Victoria’s Secret beauty items, including lotions and fragrances, on Amazon.
Source: Victoria’s Secret

Victoria’s Secret is taking its beauty business to Amazon, marking the lingerie company’s first major tie-up with another retailer to sell its goods.
With Friday’s launch, about 120 different products including branded fragrances, lotions, body scrubs and body washes will be available on a new Victoria’s Secret “storefront” on Amazon, the company said.

The intent will be to expand the offerings over time, based on what customers are looking for, said Greg Unis, CEO of Victoria’s Secret’s beauty business. And that could eventually entail adding some of the company’s bras, underwear and lounge wear, he said.
The move by Victoria’s Secret into wholesale is emblematic of a dynamic that many retailers are grappling with today. Brands that for years operated purely by selling direct to consumers — through their own stores and on their own websites — are seeking partnerships with big-box retailers such as Target or department stores like Nordstrom to also offer their wares.
At the same time, retailers such as Nike and Ralph Lauren that pushed heavily into wholesale are trying to scale back in a bid to regain control over pricing and profits. But the consensus seems to be that some wholesale is better than none at all.
According to Unis, many shoppers are already visiting Amazon in search of Victoria’s beauty items, such as its popular Bombshell fragrance line, only to find a litany of merchandise sold by third parties.
“Amazon is a free marketplace and anybody is allowed to sell [there],” Unis said in an interview. “We knew there was a strong appetite by just being observant on the range of products that were already being sold.”

Logistically, he added, it also was smoother for Victoria’s to start with beauty instead of intimates and clothing because there isn’t a sizing element involved with lotions and perfumes “It’s a much easier business to go after quickly,” he said about the beauty products.
Beauty sales amounted to about $900 million in fiscal 2021, accounting for roughly 15% of the company’s total revenue in North America, according to a June investor presentation. About 40% of beauty transactions took place online.
Since Victoria’s split from Bath & Body Works to become an independent company last August, it has pursued a number of new initiatives to try to boost sales and win customers. It invested $18 million for a minority interest in the popular women’s swimwear brand Frankie’s Bikinis, and it launched a gender-neutral brand for tweens called Happy Nation, which targets an even younger audience than its Pink brand.
The hope is that a deal with Amazon could take Victoria’s Secret’s beauty business to new heights. Currently, customers can find beauty shop-in-shops in all the retailer’s stores.
To be sure, for a number of retailers, the strategy of selling on Amazon hasn’t always worked out.
Companies including Ikea, Nike, Birkenstock and PopSockets have pulled away from the e-commerce giant in recent years. Businesses often try to partner with Amazon to fight counterfeiters and unverified third-party sellers. But that also means they lose access to certain consumer data and potentially how their brands are positioned on Amazon’s website.
Still, Victoria’s Unis sees the e-commerce giant as the best fit and the retailer’s sensible next step. He said it’s a chance for Victoria’s to raise its brand awareness in beauty, which is still “relatively low” compared with its lingerie.
“We’re expanding our universe of consumers,” he said. “And the way that we’ve set up the shop on the Amazon site, it almost feels like an extension of our own direct-to-consumer website.”

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The Chevron logo is displayed as a tanker truck enters the Chevron Products Company El Segundo Refinery on January 26, 2022 in El Segundo, California.
Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty Images

Chevron’s profit more than quadrupled during the first quarter of 2022, as higher oil and gas prices boosted the company’s results.
The oil giant reported $6.3 billion in earnings during the period up from $1.37 billion during the same quarter in 2021.

Chevron’s revenue rose to $54.37 billion, up from $32.03 billion during the first quarter of 2021.
Chevron’s results follow a surge in commodity prices.
West Texas Intermediate crude futures spiked to $130.50 in early March, a price last seen in 2008 as Russia’s invasion sparked supply fears. International benchmark Brent nearly hit $140, also the highest since 2008.
Prices have since cooled, but are still sitting above $100, boosting energy companies’ operations.
“Chevron is doing its part to grow domestic supply with U.S. oil and gas production up 10 percent over first quarter last year,” CEO Michael Wirth said in a statement.

Shares of Chevron were flat during premarket trading.
On an adjusted basis the oil giant earned $3.36 per share. It was not clear whether Chevron exceeded expectations. Wall Street was expecting the company to earn $3.27 per share on $47.94 billion in revenue, according to estimates compiled by Refinitiv. But FactSet’s consensus estimate per share was $3.41.

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China’s top leaders gave little indication Friday the country would loosen its zero-Covid policy soon.
Some businesses have resumed production in Shanghai and northern China. But the capital city of Beijing temporarily closed Friday a major luxury mall and non-essential businesses in one area to control an ongoing spike in cases stemming from the highly transmissible omicron variant.
Specific virus control measures may “sacrifice” the convenience of life for some regions and people, affecting the economy in the short term for some localities, Liang Wannian, head of the Covid response expert group under the National Health Commission, said at a press conference Friday.

Major luxury goods mall Beijing SKP, pictured here in 2021, said Friday it would close — with no reopening date specified — after the city confirmed three Covid cases in an apartment community nearby.
Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images

BEIJING — China showed few signs of loosening its zero-Covid control policies as the country continued to battle its worst outbreak in two years.
Some businesses have resumed production in Shanghai and northern China. But the capital city of Beijing temporarily closed Friday a large luxury mall and non-essential businesses in one area to control an ongoing spike in cases stemming from the highly transmissible omicron variant.

China’s top leaders said at a meeting Friday that Covid and the Ukraine crisis have increased challenges and uncertainties for the domestic economy, according to state media. Chinese President Xi Jinping headed the economic meeting, held regularly with China’s leadership, known as the Politburo.
The leaders noted the mutation’s new characteristics and said the country should stick to its “dynamic zero-Covid policy,” state media said.
That implies the Covid policy will not ease in the near term, said Bruce Pang, head of macro and strategy research at China Renaissance. He said the meeting reflects how headwinds for growth are stronger than previously expected, and noted leaders called for more policy support in order for China to achieve its GDP target of around 5.5%.
Many investment banks have cut their China GDP forecast, one as low as 3.9%, in the wake of new Covid cases and controls.

Mainland China reported more than 5,600 new confirmed Covid cases with symptoms for Thursday, with the majority resulting from cases in Shanghai that had previously showed no symptoms.

The southeastern metropolis, home to the world’s busiest port, has kept residents mostly in lockdown for more than a month in an attempt to control the local outbreak. Other parts of the country, including Beijing, have locked down neighborhoods, conducted mass virus tests and restricted travel in an attempt to control new spikes in cases.
Beijing reported two new Covid cases without symptoms and 47 with symptoms — similar to the daily count for much of the last week. More than 15 other province-level regions reported new cases, including the export-heavy Shandong, Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces.
Specific virus control measures may “sacrifice” the convenience of life for some regions and people, affecting the economy in the short term for some localities, Liang Wannian, head of the Covid response expert group under the National Health Commission, said at a press conference Friday.
But that will allow the largest area and number of people to work and live normally, for a cost-effective balance, he said.
Liang on Friday described the virus situation in Shanghai and Beijing as seeing significant improvement. He said the dynamic zero Covid policy does not mean zero infections, as variants such as omicron mean authorities cannot ensure that no single case appears.

Shanghai factories pick up speed

Shanghai has tried to allow some major businesses to resume production by releasing a list about two weeks ago with 666 companies that could get priority for restarting work.
Just over a third, or 247, of the companies are foreign-funded businesses, the Ministry of Commerce said Thursday.
German automaker Volkswagen and U.S. electric car company Tesla have resumed production, the ministry said, noting other foreign businesses have applied to join the second batch of whitelisted companies. The ministry said it would make every effort to ensure resumption of work.

American chemicals company DuPont said Thursday all its manufacturing facilities in China were either operating under normal conditions or in a bubble. Early last week, the company said its manufacturing sites in Shanghai had yet to resume production.
German chemicals giant BASF said most of its employees in Beijing have been working from home since Monday, and that most of its production sites in China, including in Shanghai, remain operational albeit with some reduced production volumes.
On Monday, German automaker Volkswagen said it started to resume production at its factory on the outskirts of Shanghai, and that its factories in Changchun in northern China were ramping up production volume. The company did not respond to an update request from CNBC Thursday.

Changchun city in the northern province of Jilin began resuming normal operations Thursday after weeks of lockdown, according to an official announcement.
Getting truck shipments between ports and factories remains a challenge.
Merchants have had to pay more for logistics costs — now about 25% of selling prices, up from 15% or 20% at the start of the pandemic — Diane Wang, founder and chairperson of Chinese e-commerce site DHgate, told CNBC on Thursday. The company primarily works with small Chinese companies selling abroad.
But with existing inventory, stay-home and lockdown orders would have to last for at least three months in order to really affect the businesses, she said.

Beijing city on alert

Schools in Beijing closed Friday, beginning the upcoming Labor Day holiday one day earlier. The last day of the long-weekend holiday in China is Wednesday, May 4. Many of the Covid cases in the city in the last week have been traced to schools.
Major luxury goods mall Beijing SKP said Friday it would close — with no reopening date specified — after the city confirmed three Covid cases in an apartment community nearby. Beijing city government has claimed the department store’s sales reached 17.7 billion yuan ($2.72 billion) in 2020 to rank first in the world.

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State media said gyms, movie theaters and other non-essential businesses in the surrounding area would need to close, while the city conducted mass tests of residents and employees there through Tuesday, May 3. The report did not mention stay-home orders, but discouraged people from going out.
Nearby, in an area one subway stop south of the main business center, local authorities have extended a lockdown that began Monday until the upcoming Tuesday, May 3. Authorities also expanded the scope of the lockdown area slightly to the south.
The affected areas above are in Beijing’s main business district that began three days of mass testing on Monday.

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In February, Volvo Cars and battery maker Northvolt said they would build a battery manufacturing plant in Gothenburg, Sweden.
As the number of electric vehicles on our roads increases, battery supply will become an increasingly important — and competitive — cog in the automotive sector.
Volvo’s electrification plans put it in direct competition with long-established automakers like Volkswagen, GM and Ford, as well as Tesla.

In 2021, Volvo Cars said it planned to become a “fully electric car company” by the year 2030, a move which will require it to have a consistent and secure supply of batteries for its vehicles.
Peerapon Boonyakiat /SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty Images

The new CEO and president of Volvo Cars has predicted that scarcity of battery supply will become a pressing issue for his sector, telling CNBC the firm has made investments that would help it gain a foothold in the market.
“Recently, we made a reasonably substantial investment with Northvolt, so that we are in control of our own battery supply as we go forward,” Jim Rowan, who joined the business last month, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” Thursday.

In March 2021, Volvo Cars said it planned to become a “fully electric car company” by the year 2030, a move which will require it to have a consistent and secure supply of batteries for its vehicles.
“I think battery supply is going to be one of the things that comes into scarce supply in the years to come,” Rowan said.

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“And that’s one of the reasons we made that substantial investment with Northvolt: So that we can be in control not just of the supply, but we can actually start to develop our own battery chemistry and production facilities.”
This would enable Volvo Cars to be “in complete control of that electrical propulsion engine for the future,” he said.
Gigafactory plans
In February, Volvo Cars and battery maker Northvolt said they would build a battery manufacturing plant in Gothenburg, Sweden, with construction set to begin in 2023. According to the companies, the facility is set to “have a potential annual cell production capacity of up to 50 gigawatt hours.”

This would equate to supplying enough batteries for around 500,000 cars every year, they said. The firms’ plans to develop a gigafactory had been previously announced, although a specific location was not confirmed at the time.
As the number of electric vehicles on our roads increases, battery supply will become an increasingly important — and competitive — cog in the automotive sector.
Speaking to CNBC’s Annette Weisbach last year, Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess highlighted just how important battery production would be in the years ahead, noting that challenges did exist.
“Batteries might be, let’s say, a continuous constraint for the growth of EVs over the next five to 10 years,” he said.
“Because the lead times are huge. We need so much energy and cell production … [There is a] huge supply chain which has to be set up within the next years, and that will, that might, lead to some constraints.”
More recently, this month saw Elon Musk highlight the importance of lithium, a key part of the batteries used in electric vehicles. On April 8, the Tesla CEO tweeted that lithium’s price had “gone to insane levels!”
“Tesla might actually have to get into the mining & refining directly at scale, unless costs improve,” Musk said. “There is no shortage of the element itself, as lithium is almost everywhere on Earth, but pace of extraction/refinement is slow.”

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Volvo’s electrification plans put it in direct competition with long-established automakers like Volkswagen, GM and Ford, as well as Tesla. Just this week, Ford CEO Jim Farley said his business planned to “challenge Tesla and all comers to become the top EV maker in the world.”
During his interview with CNBC, Volvo Cars’ Rowan was asked if there was a hope Musk’s takeover of Twitter would prove to be a distraction for the Tesla CEO.
“I have no idea,” he replied. “I know one thing … I will not be getting distracted from what we need to get done. And that is, quite simply, that we need to continue our march towards electrification.”
Rowan was speaking on the same day his business announced results for the first quarter of 2022.
Revenue grew by 8% to reach 74.3 billion Swedish krona (around $7.56 billion). Earnings before interest and taxes came in at 6 billion krona, compared to 8.4 billion in the first quarter of 2021.
The company sold 148,295 cars in the first quarter, which it said was a 20% drop compared to the same period last year.
As with many businesses, supply chain issues continue to have an effect on operations. “Semiconductor constraints continued to gradually improve,” the company said.
“However, due to a temporary shortage of a specific semiconductor, production was down at the end of the first quarter. This shortage is expected to remain in the second quarter.”
Looking ahead, the business said it was expecting “supply chains to improve in the second half of the year.”
—Chloe Taylor contributed to this article. More

Walmart is unveiling an elevated activewear and swim brand, Love & Sports, created with fashion designer Michelle Smith and SoulCycle instructor Stacey Griffith.
The fashion-forward collection is another sign of the big-box retailer’s efforts to become known as a place where shoppers can find stylish clothing along with milk, bananas and TVs.
Activewear has gained popularity, especially during the pandemic, with sales rising from $52.3 billion in 2019 to $70.8 billion in 2021, according to The NPD Group.

Fashion designer Michelle Smith and SoulCycle instructor Stacey Griffith are debuting their activewear line, Love & Sports, at Walmart. The line is designed to be fashion-forward, with vibrant colors and unique fabrics.

Over the past two years, fashion designer Michelle Smith and SoulCycle instructor Stacey Griffith have touched dozens of fabrics, spitballed brand names and tried out samples of sports bras and leggings when lounging at home or sweating during workouts.
Now, the New York City-based couple is revealing their secret project: Love & Sports, an elevated activewear and swim brand that they are debuting with Walmart. The new brand hits the big-box retailer’s website on Friday and is rolling out to 1,500 stores.

“I think some of our friends actually thought we were having a baby because we couldn’t talk about something and said, ‘We can’t go. We have something to work on,'” Griffith said.
“I guess we kind of are having a baby,” Smith said, with a laugh.
Smith co-founded high-end apparel brand Milly and designed the dress worn by Michelle Obama in her Smithsonian portrait. Now she has a newer, eponymous line of sleek items, from silk camisoles to alpaca coats, that can run as much as $2,750 apiece.
Meanwhile, Griffith has gained a fan-following as an indoor cycling teacher and gone on a motivational tour with Oprah Winfrey. The designer and fitness instructor met — and later started dating — thanks to a SoulCycle class.
The fashion-forward clothing collection is another sign of the retailer’s efforts to shake up its reputation and become known as a place where shoppers can find stylish garments along with milk, bananas and TVs.

Walmart has launched a growing number of exclusive and elevated fashion names, including Sofia Jeans, a denim brand developed with actress Sofia Vergara; Eloquii Elements, a plus-sized women’s brand inspired by acquired brand Eloquii; Scoop, a trend-forward womenswear brand; and Free Assembly, an apparel line of everyday wardrobe pieces for men, women and kids.
It has also tapped the star power of other fashion names, notably in the hiring of Brandon Maxwell — who has dressed famous women including Lady Gaga — as creative director of Scoop and Free Assembly.

Love & Sports will be sold on Walmart’s website and in 1,500 stores. Its first collection includes 121 pieces that range in price from $12 to $42.

Walmart, which still gets the majority of its annual revenue from the grocery business, does not break out apparel sales from other general merchandise, such as home decor and electronics.
Denise Incandela, executive vice president of apparel and private brands for Walmart U.S., said the retailer was drawn to Love & Sports’ unique designs and bold colors. She said teaming up with Smith and Griffith created an opportunity to stand out in a category where high quality usually comes with a high price.
The idea for the new brand was born when Smith reached out to Incandela through a direct message on Instagram in the early months of the pandemic. Incandela, an alumna of Saks Fifth Avenue, knew Smith because the luxury chain carried her Milly clothing line.
Smith later shared some initial sketches that she had worked on for a few months. “It’s just such a natural extension of Stacey and myself that it almost designed itself,” she said. “It just flowed through onto paper.”
Smith, who trained at elite fashion houses like Hermes and Louis Vuitton, said that she and Griffith were looking to make clothes that fit both budgets and bodies.
The brand’s first collection includes 121 pieces that range in price from $12 to $42. It includes retro running shorts, cropped sweatshirts and seamless bras. It ranges in size from XS to XXXL for activewear and up to XXL for swimwear.
Items have details that blend street fashion and fitness, such as lots of pockets for cell phones, invisible zippers on the inside to secure credit cards and waistbands that can be worn high-waisted (Smith’s preferred style) or rolled down for a low-waisted look (Griffith’s preference).
Love & Sports will add footwear and accessories, including sneakers and handbags, in the fall.

Love & Sports is debuting with swimwear. In the fall, the line will include shoes and accessories.

Activewear has become a hotter, but more crowded, field during the pandemic. Sales in the men’s and women’s apparel category rose from $52.3 billion in 2019 to $70.8 billion in 2021, a 35% increase during the two-year period, according to The NPD Group. The market research group includes all apparel items with active features such as moisture-wicking fabric.
Kristen Classi-Zummo, an industry analyst who covers fashion apparel for The NPD Group, said some observers bet that as the pandemic receded, people would step out into the world dressed up again and eager to don formal attire like in the Roaring ’20s.
Instead, she said, people have largely looked for comfortable and versatile pieces that fit into a hybrid way of life, such as pants with enough stretch to allow a quick walk around the block between virtual meetings or a longer sports bra that can pair with workout leggings as well as jeans and heels.
As the category has boomed, however, so has the number of brands vying for market share. The number of activewear brands has climbed from 1,600 in 2014 to 2,400 in 2021, according to NPD. That field includes players from Lululemon and Nike to private labels launched by the likes of Target, Kohl’s and Dick’s Sporting Goods.
Classi-Zummo expects activewear to remain popular this year and beyond, but have a slower growth rate than the double-digits in 2021 — and that, she said, will heighten competition for consumers.
“We still anticipate it will grow, but what is a brand to do in a marketplace that’s seeing less growth and a lot more competition?” she said. “She’s been buying activewear for years. She doesn’t need another pair of black leggings. What special features, what new fit, new fabric can you offer to keep her or him interested in the category?”
Griffith said Love & Sports was inspired, in part, by a pandemic-related shift to “an era of yummy fabrics.”
She said she’s already secretly sported the brand in SoulCycle classes, but hid sports bras beneath tops and worn pairs of shorts without a logo. Now, though, she’s looking forward to her big reveal.

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