Raphael Stevens

Walmart is laying off and transferring hundreds of its corporate employees.
The company is relocating remote workers and those at its Dallas, Toronto and Atlanta offices.
The discounter is currently building a new headquarters in its hometown of Bentonville, Arkansas.

People walk near the entrance to a Walmart Supercenter in Hallandale Beach, Florida, on Feb. 20, 2024.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images

Walmart is laying off hundreds of corporate workers across the country as it relocates many employees to its Arkansas headquarters.
The big-box retailer confirmed the layoffs and relocations in a memo sent to employees Tuesday.

In the memo, Chief People Officer Donna Morris said the move is meant to bring more of its employees back to the office after the Covid-19 pandemic. The company brought corporate employees back to its Bentonville, Arkansas, headquarters in February 2022.
Now, she said, Walmart is taking that a step further. The majority of employees working remotely and in offices in Dallas, Atlanta and Toronto have been asked to relocate. Most will be moved to the company’s Arkansas headquarters, but some will also relocate to offices in the San Francisco Bay Area or Hoboken, New Jersey, she said.
“In addition, some parts of our business have made changes that will result in a reduction of several hundred campus roles,” she said in the memo. “While the overall numbers are small in percentage, we are focused on supporting each of our associates affected by these changes.”
Walmart did not say how many people were affected by the cuts.
The news comes days before Walmart’s much-anticipated earnings report on Thursday.

The layoffs are the latest cost cut for the discounter. In late April, Walmart announced it would shutter 51 health clinics across Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois and Texas. The new clinics, which offered doctor, dentist and therapy appointments, were part of Walmart Health, a broad effort by the discounter to bring lower prices to the health-care industry. It had opened the health clinics next to its big-box stores, but said in an announcement on its website that the business was not financially sustainable.
Walmart is the nation’s largest private employer with about 1.6 million employees, most of whom work at its stores across the country.
Walmart has another reason to bring more employees to Bentonville: It is building a nearly 350-acre campus there. The major development, which is well underway, includes 12 office buildings, along with parking lots, a hotel and other amenities. The campus’ first few buildings have already opened, including a fitness center and a day care.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the layoffs and relocations.
Read the full memo from Morris to Walmart employees:

It has been a little over four years since we faced the global pandemic that reshaped our lives in many ways, including our ways of working. In February 2022, we made the decision to bring Home Office associates back into our campus offices. We believe that being together, in person, makes us better and helps us to collaborate, innovate and move even faster. We also believe it helps strengthen our culture as well as grow and develop our associates.
With the goal of bringing more of us together more often, we are asking the majority of associates working remotely, and the majority of associates within our offices in Dallas, Atlanta, and our Toronto Global Tech office, to relocate. Most relocations will be to our Home Office in Bentonville, but some will be to our offices in the San Francisco Bay Area or Hoboken/New York.
In addition, some parts of our business have made changes that will result in a reduction of several hundred campus roles. While the overall numbers are small in percentage, we are focused on supporting each of our associates affected by these changes.
We have had discussions with associates who were directly impacted by these decisions. We will work closely with them in the coming days and months to navigate the best path forward.

This is developing story. Please check back for updates.

Don’t miss these exclusives from CNBC PRO More

Fat Brands has confidentially filed to spin off its Twin Peaks and Smokey Bones chains through an initial public offering.
The announcement comes days after the restaurant company and its chair Andy Wiederhorn were criminally indicted.
Fat Brands bought Twin Peaks in 2021 and Smokey Bones in 2023.

Smokey Bones at Broadcasting Square. 
Tim Leedy | Medianews Group | Getty Images

Fat Brands said Tuesday it has confidentially filed to take its Twin Peaks and Smokey Bones restaurant chains public through an initial public offering, less than a week after federal authorities charged the restaurant company and its chair Andy Wiederhorn for an alleged $47 million bogus loan scheme.
Fat Brands announced its intention to spin off Twin Peaks through an IPO last year. At that time, the company had already disclosed a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into Wiederhorn.

On Thursday, Fat Brands, Wiederhorn and a few other people were criminally indicted by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles for wire fraud, tax evasion and other counts related to the alleged scheme. In a separate civil complaint filed on Friday, the SEC accused the company and Wiederhorn of violations related to the same conduct.
Both Fat Brands and Wiederhorn, through an attorney, have denied the charges.
Since its founding in 2005, Twin Peaks has grown to nearly 115 restaurant locations in the U.S. and Mexico. Fat Brands bought the company in 2021. The sports bar chain is known for its female staff’s revealing uniforms, similar to Hooters.
Smokey Bones is a newer addition to Fat Brands’ portfolio, which currently includes 18 chains. Olive Garden owner Darden Restaurants created the barbecue chain in 1999 but later sold the brand. Fat Brands acquired it in September 2023, with the goal of converting more than half its 61 corporate-owned restaurants into Twin Peaks locations.
“Our priority is to use the proceeds from any transaction to deleverage the balance sheet,” Wiederhorn said about the potential IPO on the company’s first-quarter conference call on May 1.

Wiederhorn owns 45% of Fat Brands’ common shares through Fog Cutter Holdings, according to FactSet.
Shares of the company have fallen 9% this year, dragging its market value down to about $90 million.

Don’t miss these exclusives from CNBC PRO More

Patients taking Novo Nordisk’s obesity drug Wegovy maintained an average of 10% weight loss for up to four years, according to a new analysis from the longest clinical trial to date on the treatment.
The highly popular drug also reduced the risk of heart disease regardless of a patient’s weight, a second analysis on the same trial found.
The findings shed light on the long-term effects of Wegovy, and could boost Novo Nordisk’s case to insurers and governments to cover the costly but effective drug.

Boxes of Wegovy made by Novo Nordisk are seen at a pharmacy in London, Britain March 8, 2024. 
Hollie Adams | Reuters

Patients taking Novo Nordisk’s obesity drug Wegovy maintained an average of 10% weight loss for up to four years, according to a new analysis published Tuesday from the longest clinical trial to date on the treatment.
The highly popular drug also reduced the risk of heart disease regardless of a patient’s weight, a second analysis on the same trial found. Both analyses were presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Venice, Italy, this week.

The findings shed light on the long-term effects of Wegovy and add to growing evidence of the weekly injection’s broad health benefits. That could boost Novo Nordisk’s case for insurers and governments to cover the costly but effective drug.
Insurance coverage is limited for Wegovy, part of a class of medications called GLP-1s. Those obesity and diabetes treatments have soared in popularity over the last year and work by mimicking a hormone produced in the gut to suppress a person’s appetite. Neither Novo Nordisk or Eli Lilly, which has its own weight loss drug, have been able to produce enough supply to meet the insatiable demand for their treatments.
The two analyses build on data published in November from Novo Nordisk’s SELECT trial. The findings from that trial showed that Wegovy slashed the risk of heart attacks, stroke and other serious cardiovascular complications by 20% in people who have obesity or are overweight and also have cardiovascular disease.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Wegovy for that purpose in March.
The SELECT trial, which included more than 17,000 patients from over 40 countries, tested Wegovy for its cardiovascular benefits.

Participants were not required to track diet and exercise because it was not an obesity study. Patients in the trial lost around 10% of their total body weight on average after 65 weeks on Wegovy, according to the first analysis published in the journal Nature.
Patients continued to take the weekly drug over a period of three years and four months and sustained their weight loss for up to four years. Other research has shown that many people regain weight after stopping the drugs.
The second analysis showed that patients in the trial reaped the heart benefits of Wegovy regardless of their weight when they started on the drug and regardless of how much weight they lost on it.
For example, the reduced risk of serious cardiovascular events for those on Wegovy, compared with a placebo, was similar among people who lost 5% or more of their body weight, those who lost less than that or even those who gained weight.

More CNBC health coverage

The finding suggests Wegovy helps improve a patient’s heart health through methods beyond weight loss, the study authors concluded.
Notably, the weight loss in the trial was less than the average 15% weight loss observed in an earlier study on Wegovy’s effect on obesity.
But the researchers in the first analysis noted that the previous study was designed specifically for weight loss and included structured lifestyle changes, such as diet and exercise. The population that study followed was also different from the SELECT trial.
Safety results from the two analyses were consistent with the previous data from the SELECT trial. More people on Wegovy than people who got a placebo decided to stop participating in the trial because of side effects.
Patients also experienced side effects consistent with other GLP-1 medications, such as nausea, diarrhea, vomiting and constipation.

Don’t miss these exclusives from CNBC PRO More

Comcast said Tuesday it will introduce a streaming bundle for its cable, broadband and mobile subscribers, tying together Peacock, Netflix and Apple TV+ at a discounted rate.
The announcement comes as major media players increasingly join forces to drive value for users and subscriptions for streaming services.
Comcast did not disclose the price of the bundle.

Omar Marques | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Comcast said Tuesday it will introduce a streaming bundle for its cable, broadband and mobile subscribers, tying together Peacock, Netflix and Apple TV+ at a discounted rate.
The announcement, made Tuesday at the MoffettNathanson media conference in New York, comes as major media players increasingly join forces to drive value for users and subscriptions for streaming services.

On May 8, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery announced a bundle of its streaming services — Disney+, Hulu and Max.
Comcast’s offer follows a model similar to several bundles from Verizon: Its streaming bundle will be offered to existing Comcast subscribers, which could help prop up its pay-TV subscribers.
The company lost 487,000 cable TV customers during the first quarter, Comcast reported during earnings on April 25. The company’s wireless business, however, saw a 21% jump in customers to 6.9 million total lines.
Comcast did not disclose the price of the upcoming bundle. Peacock subscription plans start at $5.99 per month, though that’s increasing to $7.99 per month this summer. Comcast broadband customers typically receive a discount on the company’s streaming service.
Netflix plans start at $6.99 per month, and Apple TV+ costs $9.99 per month.

“We’ve been bundling video successfully and creatively for 60 years,” Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said Tuesday. “And so this is the latest iteration of that. And I think this will be a pretty compelling package.”
— CNBC’s Kerry Caufield, Lillian Rizzo and Alex Sherman contributed to this report.
Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC.

Don’t miss these exclusives from CNBC PRO More

Automaker Stellantis expects to quickly grow sales of China-made electric vehicles outside of the country through a new joint venture with Leapmotor, starting later this year.
The announcement comes amid increasing geopolitical tensions surrounding China-made electric vehicles in the U.S., Europe and other regions.
The expansion plans do not currently include distribution in the U.S., Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said, citing, among other reasons, new American tariffs on China-made EVs.

Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares and Leapmotor founder and CEO Zhu Jiangming shake hands in relation to new partnerships between their companies.
Stellantis

Automaker Stellantis expects to quickly grow sales of China-made electric vehicles outside of the country through a new joint venture with Leapmotor, starting later this year, according to the two companies.
The companies said Tuesday that beginning in September, sales of the China-built Leapmotor vehicles will begin through Stellantis’ distribution networks, including dealers in Europe — France, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Greece and Romania.

Those markets will be followed by the Middle East and Africa, India and Asia Pacific, and South America in late 2024, the companies said.
The expansion plans do not currently include distribution in the U.S., Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said Tuesday following a press conference in Hangzhou, China, where Leapmotor is based. That’s due, in part, to new American tariffs on China-made EVs, Tavares said, citing among other reasons as well.
The Biden administration on Tuesday announced stiff new tariff rates on billions’ worth of Chinese imports, including quadrupling tariffs on imported Chinese electric vehicles, from 25% to 100%. 
“There is very limited Chinese offering in the U.S. market, so it is not a priority for us,” Tavares said. “There is a lot in Europe because we see Europe has a very different approach for this problem. … It looks like the U.S. is going for a very strong protectionism. Whereas, for the time being, I see Europe is keeping the market reasonably open.”
The joint venture’s expansion plans include at least six EVs by 2027, according to a presentation by Stellantis and Leapmotor. The cars, initially budget vehicles, are expected to be complementary to Stellantis’ current vehicle lineup, the companies said.

The announcement comes amid increasing geopolitical tensions surrounding China-made electric vehicles in the U.S., Europe and other regions. Many in and around the automotive industry fear the less-expensive, China-made vehicles will flood the markets, undercutting domestic-produced EVs.

“From a Stellantis perspective, our position is we compete. We compete with the Chinese carmakers and we compete as strongly as we can because it’s the best way to learn. It’s the best way to stay fit for the global race in which we are now part of,” Tavares said.
Tavares said Tuesday that the Chinese carmakers, which he previously called Stellantis’ greatest competitors, are expected to rapidly grow internationally — with or without joint venture assistance.
“Whether I like it or not, with me or without me, Leapmotor would have been in Europe anyway … perhaps not as fast, perhaps not as strongly but they would have gone to Europe,” Tavares said. “What I am doing is just trying to be opportunistic against a dynamic that has been created by the Chinese carmakers.”
Chinese companies accounted for 8% of Europe’s all-electric vehicle sales as of September and could increase their share to 15% by 2025, the European Union said in October 2023. The EU believes Chinese EVs are undercutting the prices of local models by about 20% in the European market.

Employees work on the assembly line of C11 electric SUV at a factory of Chinese EV startup Leapmotor on April 26, 2023 in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province of China.
VCG | Visual China Group | Getty Images

The influx of Chinese EVs has spurred the European Union to launch government support for the industry.
“The partnership between Leapmotor and Stellantis demonstrates a high level of efficiency, opening a new chapter in the global integration of China’s intelligent electric vehicle industry,” Leapmotor founder, chairman and CEO Jiangming Zhu said in a release. “We believe that this cooperation can give Leapmotor a boost to become a respected world-class intelligent electric vehicle company.”
The companies declined to disclose sales volume expectations for Leapmotor vehicles sold through Stellantis’ sales network, which is expected to grow from 200 locations to up to 500 by 2026. Leapmotor reported deliveries of 144,155 vehicles in 2023, a roughly 30% increase from the previous year.
Stellantis owns 51% of the joint venture with Leapmotor, announced earlier this year and including an investment of 1.5 billion euros in Leapmotor for a roughly 21% stake in the company.
As part of the deal, Stellantis has exclusive rights for export and sale, as well as for manufacturing Leapmotor products outside of Greater China.

Don’t miss these exclusives from CNBC PRO More