Raphael Stevens

Seritage, a real estate investment trust that was spun out of Sears in 2015, said it’s exploring strategic alternatives for its business.
The company also announced that former Sears CEO Eddie Lampert, who had been serving as chair of Seritage’s board, is retiring, effective immediately.

Eddie Lampert, former CEO of Sears.
Source: Sears Holdings

Seritage Growth Properties, a real estate investment trust that was spun out of embattled department store chain Sears in 2015, said Tuesday it is exploring strategic alternatives for its business.
The company also announced that former Sears CEO Eddie Lampert, who had been serving as chair of Seritage’s board, is retiring, effective immediately.

Lampert said in a statement that he wanted to have greater flexibility to explore alternatives for his investment in Seritage, which could include participating with parties that may be interested in acquiring certain assets from the company.
As of Sept. 30, Lampert owned a 22.1% interest in the company and about 9.3% of Seritage’s Class A shares, according to a securities filing.
Seritage President and CEO Andrea Olshan added in a statement that the real estate company’s board believes there is an ongoing disconnect between the company’s stock price and net asset value.
“We believe that embarking on this process represents the most efficient way to unlock the full potential of this portfolio,” she said.
Olshan took over as CEO about a year ago, and her focus has been on redeveloping the roughly 170 properties in which Seritage has interests. As of March 2021, Seritage said it no longer has exposure to Sears nor Kmart, as it has been backfilling those spaces with new tenants.

Seritage said Barclays is serving as its financial advisor in the review process.
The company also said Tuesday that current board members David Fawer and Thomas Steinberg will not seek reelection at an annual shareholders meeting. The company is searching for additional board candidates.
Seritage shares closed the day up 7.8%. The stock is down 17% year to date, bringing its market cap to $479 million.
Find the full press release here.
Correction: Sears continues to operate. An earlier version mischaracterized the department store chain. 

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Stellantis, formerly known as Fiat Chrysler, plans to double its revenue to 300 billion euros ($335 billion) by 2030, CEO Carlos Tavares announced Tuesday.
The automaker plans to do so while sustaining a double-digit operating profit margin as it largely moves to all-electric vehicles.
Stellantis is targeting a 25% to 30% dividend payout ratio and intends to repurchase up to 5% of outstanding common shares through 2025.

Chris Feuell, CEO of Chrysler brand of Stellantis, introduces the all-electric Chrysler Airflow Concept vehicle during a Stellantis press event at CES 2022 at the Las Vegas Convention Center on January 5, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Alex Wong | Getty Images

Stellantis, formerly known as Fiat Chrysler, intends to double its net revenues to 300 billion euros ($335 billion) by 2030, CEO Carlos Tavares announced Tuesday.
The automaker plans to do so while sustaining a double-digit operating profit margin as it largely moves to all-electric vehicles, Tavares said during an investor presentation outlining Stellantis’ business plans through 2030.

The plans echo those of other major automakers such as Volkswagen and General Motors to remain profitable while transitioning to all-electric vehicles. The transitions are being driven by increasingly stronger global emissions regulations and Tesla’s rise to become the world’s most valued automaker by market cap.
Stellantis – the world’s fourth-largest carmaker – plans to increase its software-based businesses and services and sell 5 million all-electric vehicles by 2030, including all passenger car sales in Europe and 50% passenger cars and light-duty trucks in the U.S.

“We are moving, and we are moving fast to be a mobility-tech company,” Tavares said during the event.
The automaker plans to generate more than 20 billion euros ($22.3 billion) in industrial free cash flow in 2030. It also is targeting 25% to 30% dividend payout ratio and intends to repurchase up to 5% of outstanding common shares through 2025.
Stellantis plans to be carbon-neutral by 2038, with a 50% reduction by 2030, the company said.

The announcements did little for the company’s stock. Stellantis shares on the New York Stock Exchange closed Tuesday at $16.82 a share, down by 8%
Stellantis was formed by the merger of Fiat Chrysler and France-based Groupe PSA in January 2021. It has 14 individual auto brands, including Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep and Peugeot.

Stellantis will launch the Jeep brand’s first all-electric SUV in early 2023. The company previewed the vehicle on March 1, 2022 during an investor day.
Stellantis

The automaker plans to launch at least 25 new all-electric vehicles in the U.S. by 2030, Tavares said. Among the first will be a small Jeep SUV next year and a Dodge muscle car and Ram pickup by 2024. Globally, the company expects to offer more than 75 EVs by 2030.
Stellantis is investing 30 billion euros ($34 billion) in electric vehicles and supporting technologies through 2025.
The company’s near-term electrification strategy differs from other automakers. It still plans to release plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, or PHEVs, in the coming years. PHEVs combine electric systems and batteries with internal combustion engines.

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A shopping cart is seen in a Target store in the Brooklyn borough of New York, U.S., November 14, 2017.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.
Target – Shares of the retailer jumped 9.9% after the company reported 9% sales growth in the fiscal fourth quarter, despite supply chain pressures, and said it’s poised to keep that momentum going. Target also issued revenue guidance with growth in the low to mid- single digits and projected adjusted earnings per share to rise by high single digits in the year ahead.

Kroger — Shares of Kroger rose 3.3% after Telsey upgraded the grocery store chain ahead of its earnings report. “We believe we have higher visibility and confidence into Kroger’s multiyear omni-channel growth runway,” Telsey’s Joseph Feldman said.
Foot Locker – The athletic retailer saw shares fall 7.6% after Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to neutral from buy, saying it sees too much near-term pressure on the stock. The downgrade follows Foot Locker’s announcement that it will sell fewer Nike products.
AutoZone – The retail stock dipped 2.5% despite AutoZone beating expectations for earnings and revenues for its fiscal second quarter. The company’s same-store sales jumped 13.8% year over year.
Workday — Shares of Workday popped 4.9% after beating on the top and bottom lines of its quarterly earnings results. The company also raised guidance for its fiscal year 2023 subscription revenue to be in a range of $5.53 billion to $5.55 billion, reflecting year-over-year growth of 22%.
Lucid Group — Shares of the electric carmaker plunged 13.8% in midday trading after reporting a wider-than-expected loss of 64 cents per share, while analysts expected a loss of 25 cents per share, according to Refinitiv. Revenue came in at $26.4 million, below the forecast $36.7 million.

Zoom Video — Zoom shares fell 7.4% after the video conferencing platform issued a weaker-than-expected first quarter and full-year guidance. The company beat earnings and revenue expectations for the fourth quarter.
Novavax — Shares of Novavax rose 2.7% midday, then closed up 0.4%. The biotech company reported a miss on the top and bottom line in the fourth quarter, but said it expects revenue between $4 billion and $5 billion in 2022. Novavax is also working on an omicron-specific vaccine.
J.M. Smucker — J.M. Smucker shares fell 6.3% despite the company’s better-than-expected earnings report. The company reduced its fiscal-year sales growth guidance and reduced the high end of its fiscal-year earnings guidance.
Hormel Foods — Shares of Hormel rose 4% after the company beat revenue estimates in its latest quarterly report. Hormel earnings matched Wall Street expectations.
Rivian — Shares of Rivian sunk 8.4% after Wells Fargo reiterated its equal-weight rating on the stock. The firm said it sees too many “near-term headwinds.”
Chevron — Chevron shares rose 4% after Bank of America reiterated its buy rating on the stock. The call came after Chevron said it was close to acquiring Renewable Energy Group. 
Wells Fargo, Bank of America — Financial stocks were among the biggest losers Tuesday. Bank of America was down 3.9%, while Wells Fargo eased 5.8%. Falling Treasury yields could potentially take a bite out of bank profits, while the conflict in Eastern Europe and sanctions on Russia have some traders worried about disruption in credit markets.
Occidental Petroleum, APA Corp — Energy stocks got a lift as oil prices spiked, with U.S. crude hitting its highest level since June 2014. Occidental Petroleum added 7% and APA Corp rose 4.6%.
Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman — Defense stocks gained as investors monitored increasing tension in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Lockheed Martin rose 5.3% while Northrop Grumman added 3.2%.
— CNBC’s Maggie Fitzgerald, Jesse Pound and Samantha Subin contributed reporting.

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Advice and the Advisor

Head of household offers wider tax brackets, a bigger standard deduction and faster eligibility for other write-offs.
However, you must be unmarried and pay more than half the cost to maintain a home for a “qualifying person,” according to the IRS.

Getty Images

Your filing status is the backbone of your tax return, and checking the wrong box can be costly. Yet many filers still confuse single and head of household, financial experts say.
“Most people are not fully aware of the differences,” said Rose Swanger, a certified financial planner and enrolled agent at Advise Finance in Knoxville, Tennessee.

You can choose the single filing status if you’re not married. But if you’re financially supporting a dependent, you may qualify for head of household with significant tax benefits.

More from Advice and the Advisor:

Benefits of head of household

For divorced parents, it’s always better to file as head of household, said Linda Farinola, a CFP and partner at Princeton Financial Group in Plainsboro, New Jersey.
One reason is there are wider tax brackets, meaning it takes more income to reach each rate. For example, single filers may reach the top of the 12% bracket with $40,525, whereas heads of household may have up to $54,200.

And with a larger standard deduction — $18,800 compared with $12,550 for single filers in 2021— your taxable income may be lower.
You may also qualify for other write-offs sooner, such as the third stimulus payment, the enhanced child tax credit or boosted earned income tax credit for 2021.  

“There are a slew of tax benefits that become a bargaining chip in divorce negotiations,” Swanger said. 

Qualifying for head of household

While there are clear benefits for heads of household, there are strict eligibility requirements. “This is one area where the IRS is scrupulous,” said Swanger.
To qualify for head of household, you must be unmarried or living separately from your spouse for at least the last six months of the year. A temporary absence like school or work doesn’t count.
You must pay for more than half of the cost of maintaining a home, such as rent, mortgage interest, property taxes, utilities, repairs and meals at home. 

And you must have a “qualifying person,” such as a child, grandchild or other relatives, living with you for more than half of the year. A dependent parent doesn’t have to reside in your home if you cover more than half of their cost of living.
Both parents may qualify for head of household with two or more children, as long as one child lives with each parent for more than half of the year, providing more than half the financial support, said Sallie Mullins Thompson, a Washington, D.C.-based CFP and CPA at the firm with her name.
However, if there’s only one child, parents may alternate claiming the head of household filing status each year.
“If you plan ahead, both parents can save money and avoid mistakes,” Swanger added. More

General Motors sold its stake in Lordstown Motors during the fourth quarter following an undisclosed lockup period.
GM invested as part of the sale of an Ohio plant to the electric vehicle startup as well as a SPAC deal last year that took Lordstown public.
GM owned 7.5 million shares of common stock in Lordstown with an equity value of $75 million, including in-kind contributions and $25 million in cash. GM’s stake was less than 5%.

The Lordstown Motors factory is where GM once operated, in Lordstown, Ohio, on October 16, 2020.
Megan Jelinger | AFP | Getty Images

General Motors sold its stake in Lordstown Motors during the fourth quarter following an undisclosed lock-up period, the Detroit automaker confirmed Tuesday.
GM owned 7.5 million shares of common stock in Lordstown as part of a SPAC deal that took the Ohio-based automaker public in October 2020. The shares had an initial equity value of $75 million. They were given in exchange for in-kind contributions and $25 million in cash GM’s stake was less than 5%.

The disclosure comes after Lordstown on Monday announced underwhelming plans to produce and sell up to only 3,000 vehicles through next year, including 500 in 2022. Both are far below the amount former management sold investors on in the runup to the public listing. 
GM spokesperson Jim Cain declined to disclose exact timing of the open market sales or the net proceeds, saying the total wasn’t material.
The share sale was somewhat expected. GM’s involvement in the company was a goodwill gesture to assist in getting the Lordstown Assembly plant back up and running following the automaker ending production there in 2019.

“Our objective in investing was to allow them to complete the purchase of the plant and restart production,” Cain said.
Lordstown recently started producing preproduction models of its first vehicle, an all-electric pickup truck called the Endurance, at the plant. It plans to begin customer deliveries during the third quarter of this year.

In the fourth quarter, Lordstown announced a deal with iPhone maker Foxconn to purchase the plant for $230 million. The deal includes Foxconn, which is formally known as Hon Hai Technology Group, handling production of the Endurance pickup truck.
The deal is still being finalized, Lordstown executives said Monday. They’re also in negotiations for the two companies to co-develop vehicles in the future. Lordstown CEO Dan Ninivaggi characterized the deal as a critical component to the company’s future success.

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