Raphael Stevens

Metsera said Novo Nordisk’s new bid for the obesity biotech is “superior” to a revised offer from Pfizer, escalating a heated tussle over the startup between the two pharmaceutical giants. 
Novo Nordisk’s new proposal values Metsera at up to $86.20 per share, for a total of around $10 billion.
Pfizer’s new bid values Metsera at up to $70 per share, for a total of roughly $8.1 billion. 

The logos of Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk, maker of the blockbuster diabetes and weight-loss treatments Ozempic and Wegovy is seen outside theri building as the company presents the annual report at Novo Nordisk in Bagsvaerd, Denmark, on February 5, 2025.
Mads Claus Rasmussen | Afp | Getty Images

Metsera on Tuesday said Novo Nordisk’s new bid for the obesity biotech is “superior” to a revised offer from Pfizer, escalating a heated tussle over the startup between the two pharmaceutical giants. 
Novo Nordisk’s new proposal values Metsera at up to $86.20 per share, for a total of around $10 billion. In a release, Metsera said that represents a roughly 159% premium to its closing price as of Sept. 19, the last trading day before Pfizer announced its proposed acquisition of the company. 

Meanwhile, Pfizer’s new proposal values Metsera at up to $70 per share, for a total of roughly $8.1 billion. 
Under the terms of the original agreement for Pfizer to acquire Metsera, the drugmaker has two business days to negotiate adjustments to the proposal. If Metsera’s board believes that Novo Nordisk’s proposal is still better than Pfizer’s after that window, Metsera would be entitled to end the existing merger agreement, according to the release.
“We believe that Novo Nordisk’s offer is illusory, and cannot constitute a superior proposal under the terms of our merger agreement with Metsera because it violates antitrust law and there is a high risk it will never be consummated,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call on Tuesday.
In a statement Tuesday, Novo Nordisk confirmed its new bid and said it could maximize the potential of Metsera’s complementary drug portfolio. Novo Nordisk reiterated that the proposal complies with all applicable laws and “is in the best interest of patients who will benefit from our commitment to innovation, as well as Metsera’s shareholders.”
The new bids comes one day after Pfizer filed its second lawsuit against Novo Nordisk and Metsera, alleging that the Danish drugmaker’s attempt to outbid Pfizer to acquire the biotech company is anticompetitive. 

The clash reflects the shifting landscape for blockbuster weight loss and diabetes drugs, with veteran Novo Nordisk now trailing rival Eli Lilly as other companies like Pfizer race to break in.
Metsera, founded in 2022, brings a pipeline of both oral and injectable treatments with different targets, including a drug targeting GLP-1 and another targeting another gut hormone called amylin. Both are being studied as potential once-monthly treatments, which would mean they are taken less frequently than the weekly injections on the market.
For Pfizer, Metsera’s pipeline could be the company’s golden ticket to enter the space after struggling to bring its own obesity products to market over the last few years. Novo Nordisk helped establish the market, but is losing market share to Eli Lilly and cheaper copycats and struggling to impress investors with its drug pipeline. 
Pfizer in September said that it would acquire Metsera for $4.9 billion, or up to $7.3 billion with future payments.
But Novo Nordisk launched a takeover bid Thursday valuing the biotech at around $6 billion, or up to $9 billion, triggering a deadline of four business days for Pfizer to renegotiate its offer. More

Yum Brands will explore strategic options for Pizza Hut, which has struggled in recent years.
Potential outcomes could include an outright divestiture, selling a stake in the chain or a joint venture.
The chain’s share of the U.S. pizza market has shrunk from 22.6% in 2019 to 18.7% in 2024, according to Barclays.

A Pizza Hut store is seen on November 01, 2023 in Austin, Texas. Pizza Hut’s third-quarter revenue fell short of analysts’ expectations for same-store sales. 
Brandon Bell | Getty Images

Yum Brands on Tuesday announced it will explore strategic options for Pizza Hut.
“The Pizza Hut team has been working hard to address business and category challenges; however, Pizza Hut’s performance indicates the need to take additional action to help the brand realize its full value, which may be better executed outside of Yum! Brands,” Yum CEO Chris Turner said in a statement.

The company has not set a deadline or definitive timetable for the review process. While Yum did not specify what the review’s “range of strategic options” include, potential outcomes could be an outright divestiture, a joint venture or the sale of a stake in the chain.
Pizza Hut has been a part of a triumvirate with KFC and Taco Bell for decades, dating back to when PepsiCo still owned the fast-food chains. The beverage giant spun off the restaurants in 1997, christening the new company Tricon Global, later renamed to Yum.
Tuesday’s announcement caps years of struggle for Pizza Hut.
On Tuesday, Yum reported that the chain’s same-store sales fell 1% during the third quarter, fueled by a 6% drop in its home market. During the same quarter, Taco Bell and KFC reported same-store sales growth of 7% and 3%, respectively.
Before the pandemic, Pizza Hut tried to shrug off its reputation as a dine-in venue and reposition itself as an option for pizza delivery and carryout in the U.S. When Covid-19 lockdowns shuttered restaurants, the chain saw its sales skyrocket, like the rest of its pizza industry. But once restrictions loosened, so-called pizza fatigue settled in, leading to another sales slump.

And now, with consumers dining out less often, Pizza Hut is facing increased competition for a smaller set of diners. The chain’s share of the U.S. pizza market has shrunk from 22.6% in 2019 to 18.7% in 2024, ceding customers to rival Domino’s Pizza, according to Barclays.
In the wake of the pullback in consumer spending, other restaurant companies have recently shed challenged parts of their businesses in an effort to improve their balance sheets.
Starbucks on Monday announced it is selling a majority stake in its embattled China business and will form a joint venture with Boyu Capital. Last month, Jack in the Box divested Del Taco for $115 million, well short of the $575 million it paid for the chain less than four years ago. And Krispy Kreme sold its remaining stake in Insomnia Cookies this summer to focus on growing its U.S. business profitably. More

Pfizer reported third-quarter earnings and revenue that topped estimates and hiked its full-year profit outlook as it cuts costs, even as sales for the period fell.
The pharmaceutical giant now expects its full-year adjusted profit to come in between $3 and $3.15 per share, up from a previous guidance of $2.90 to $3.10 per share.
The results come weeks after Pfizer became the first drugmaker to strike a deal with President Donald Trump to voluntarily sell its medications for less.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla speaks during a press conference after a visit to oversee the production of the Pfizer-BioNtech Covid-19 vaccine at the Pfizer factory in Puurs, Belgium, April 23, 2021.
John Thys | Reuters

Pfizer on Thursday reported third-quarter earnings and revenue that topped estimates and hiked its full-year profit guidance, as cost cuts helped to outweigh declining sales for the period.
The pharmaceutical giant now expects its full-year adjusted profit to come in between $3 and $3.15 per share, up from a previous guidance of $2.90 to $3.10 per share. Pfizer said that reflects its “solid” performance for the year, “continued confidence in our business” and progress with reducing costs, among other factors. 

Pfizer said it also includes a one-time $1.35 billion charge tied to its licensing agreement with Chinese biotech 3SBio, which hit earnings by roughly 20 cents per share. The company said its 2025 guidance also accounts for President Donald Trump’s current tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico. It does not reflect Trump’s threatened pharmaceutical-specific tariffs, as the company is exempt from those levies under a new drug pricing deal with the president.
Pfizer maintained it full-year revenue guidance of $61 billion to $64 billion.
Here’s what the company reported for the third quarter compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

Earnings per share: 87 cents adjusted vs. 63 cents expected
Revenue: $16.65 billion vs. $16.58 billion expected

Pfizer reported revenue of $16.65 billion for the second quarter, down 6% from the same period a year ago, largely due to lower demand for its Covid vaccine and Paxlovid, an antiviral pill for the virus. 
The company booked net income of $3.54 billion, or 62 cents per share. That compares with net income of $4.47 billion, or 78 cents per share, during the same period a year ago. 

Excluding certain items, including restructuring charges and costs associated with intangible assets, the company posted earnings per share of 87 cents for the quarter.
Also on Tuesday, Pfizer said it’s on track to cut costs by about $7.7 billion by the end of 2027 as part of two separate initiatives. As part of that, the company said it will slash costs by $4.5 billion by the end of 2025.
The results come weeks after Pfizer became the first drugmaker to strike a deal with Trump to voluntarily sell its medications for less, as his administration pushes to link U.S. drug prices to cheaper ones abroad.
Under the deal, Pfizer has agreed to a three-year grace period during which the company’s products won’t face Trump’s threatened pharmaceutical-specific tariffs – as long as the drugmaker further invests in U.S. manufacturing. The company plans to invest $70 billion to reshore domestic drug manufacturing and research facilities.
Pfizer is slowly regaining its footing after a rapid decline in its Covid business over the last three years, with the company betting on new ways to boost revenue, including through cancer products from its $43 billion acquisition of Seagen and a proposed deal with the obesity biotech Metsera.
But the drugmaker is in a heated bidding war with Novo Nordisk for Metsera. Pfizer on Monday filed its second lawsuit against the two companies, alleging that Novo Nordisk’s attempt to outbid Pfizer to acquire Metsera is anticompetitive.
Shares of Pfizer are down 7% for the year.

Weaker Covid product sales

Pfizer said its Covid products weighed on third-quarter sales, as lower infection rates reduced Paxlovid demand and a narrower vaccine recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the U.S. shrank the eligible population for the shot, called Comirnaty. 
In September, advisors to the CDC recommended that everyone consult a health-care provider when deciding whether to receive a shot – softer guidance to receive the jab than in previous years. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine critic, has sought to rewrite the nation’s immunization policies through a series of far-reaching actions.
The company’s Covid shot booked $1.15 billion in revenue for the third quarter, down 19% from the year-earlier period. Analysts expected the shot to bring in $1.13 billion in sales for the quarter, according to StreetAccount estimates.
Pfizer’s antiviral Covid pill Paxlovid posted $1.23 billion in sales for the third quarter, down 55% from the same period a year ago. Analysts expected the shot to rake in $1.37 billion in sales for the period, StreetAccount estimates said.
The company said third-quarter sales were helped by higher revenues for several products, including its blood thinner Eliquis, which it shares with Bristol Myers Squibb. That drug drew $2.02 billion in sales, a 25% increase, topping analysts’ estimates for the period, according to StreetAccount.
Eliquis is among the first round of drugs that will face new negotiated prices in Medicare in 2026, due to a provision of the Inflation Reduction Act.
Pfizer said its Vyndaqel drugs, which are used to treat a certain type of cardiomyopathy, a disease of the heart muscle, and its migraine treatment Nurtec also saw higher sales. Vyndaqel medicines posted $1.59 billion in sales, while Nurtec drew $412 million in revenue, both surprassing analysts’ estimates for the period. More

Yum Brands reported growth in quarterly earnings and revenue.
Taco Bell’s same-store sales climbed 7% in the quarter.
The restaurant company also announced plans to review strategic options for Pizza Hut.

Signage is displayed outside a Yum! Brands Inc. Taco Bell and Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) restaurant in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S., on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020.
Luke Sharrett | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Yum Brands on Tuesday reported quarterly earnings and revenue growth, fueled by strong demand for Taco Bell and improved U.S. sales for KFC.
The restaurant company also announced plans to review strategic options for Pizza Hut. The embattled pizza chain has struggled to win over diners in recent years. In its home market, pizza fatigue after pandemic lockdowns have led to slumping sales, and rivals like Domino’s Pizza have stolen share from Pizza Hut.

Yum shares rose 2% in premarket trading.
Here’s what Yum reported compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

Earnings per share: $1.58 adjusted. May not compare to $1.49 expected.
Revenue: $1.98 billion vs. $1.97 billion expected

Yum reported third-quarter net income of $397 million, or $1.41 per share, up from $382 million, or $1.35 per share, a year earlier.
Excluding the cost of its strategic review of Pizza Hut and other items, the company earned $1.58 per share.
Net sales rose 8% to $1.98 billion.

Yum’s digital sales, which includes mobile, delivery and kiosk orders, reached $10 billion system-wide and accounted for roughly 60% of orders.
The company’s same-store sales increased 3%, lifted by Taco Bell and KFC.
Taco Bell’s same-store sales climbed 7% in the quarter, topping analyst estimates of 5.2% growth, according to StreetAccount. While other fast-food chains have seen their sales slump, the Mexican-inspired chain has bucked the trend. Its value perception, even among pinched low-income diners, and buzzy menu innovation have helped Taco Bell grow sales.
Yum announced that it is buying 128 Taco Bell locations in the Southeast U.S. The company franchises about 98% of its restaurants.
KFC reported same-store sales growth of 3%, beating StreetAccount estimates of 2.4%. In China, the brand’s largest market, system sales rose 6%. And in the U.S., where it has lost market share to new players like Raising Cane’s, KFC’s same-store sales increased 2%.
Only Pizza Hut saw same-store sales declines. The struggling pizza chain reported same-store sales fell 1% in the quarter, fueled by a 7% drop in sales at U.S. restaurants open at least a year. Analysts surveyed by StreetAccount were projecting same-store sales declines of just 0.3%. More

Starbucks will form a joint venture with Boyu Capital to operate the company’s locations in China.
The company will retain a 40% stake in the joint venture.
In recent years, the coffee giant has seen its sales in China plummet, first due to the pandemic and related government restrictions and later caused by increased competition.

Starbucks on Monday announced it is forming a joint venture with Boyu Capital to operate the company’s locations in China.
Under the terms of the deal valued at $4 billion, Boyu, an alternative asset management firm, will hold up to a 60% interest in the joint venture. Starbucks will hold a 40% stake and maintain its ability to license the brand and intellectual property to the joint venture.

The announcement comes after the coffee giant conducted a months-long review of options that included strategic partnerships. Starbucks values its China business at more than $13 billion, the company said. The valuation includes the sale of the controlling stake in the joint venture, combined with the value of both its retained interest and the ongoing licensing fees that will paid to the company in the future.
The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of fiscal 2026, pending regulatory approval.
Starbucks opened its first store in China in 1999. By 2015, it had grown to become the company’s second-largest market, trailing only the United States.
“Building on our positive business momentum, our partnership with Boyu will enable Starbucks China to fully unlock the vast market opportunity,” Molly Liu, CEO of Starbucks China, said in a statement.
Today, the company has roughly 8,000 locations in China, but Starbucks has big ambitions for the market. CEO Brian Niccol told CNBC’s Kate Rogers in September that the country could one day have 20,000 or even 30,000 locations nationwide.

But in recent years, Starbucks has seen its sales in China plummet, first due to the pandemic and related government restrictions and later caused by increased competition. Rival Luckin Coffee now has more stores in China than Starbucks and has won over customers with lower-priced drinks than the U.S. coffee chain.
On Wednesday, the company reported that its fiscal-fourth quarter same-store sales in China increased 2%, fueled by a 9% increase in traffic. However, as Starbucks has leaned into discounting to compete with local rivals, the average ticket at its Chinese cafes has fallen, weighing on the company’s profits.
While Starbucks executives have continually expressed optimism about the company’s long-term prospects in China, its weak performance in the country has weighed on Starbucks’ overall financial results.
For decades, China’s massive population and fast-growing economy have made it an attractive market for U.S. companies. But in recent years, an economic slowdown and greater competition from home-grown brands have made some companies rethink their strategies.
Earlier this year, Burger King’s parent company Restaurant Brands International bought its struggling China business from TFI Asia Holdings with the goal of selling it to another operator. On the other hand, McDonald’s increased its minority stake in its China business from 20% to 48% two years ago, aiming to benefit from the market’s growth. More

Quarterly earnings reports from consumer companies are increasingly showing how consumers are diverging in their spending.
Commonly called a “K-shaped” economy, companies are seeing wealthier Americans spend more while lower-income Americans are paring back.
With more companies preparing to report earnings this week, that trend could continue.

A Taco Bell restaurant in El Cerrito, California, US, on Tuesday, April 29, 2025.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

With more consumer companies preparing to report third-quarter earnings this week, Wall Street will be watching for signs of a bifurcated or “K-shaped” economy as consumers diverge in their spending behaviors.
There have been increasing signals that wealthier Americans are spending more while lower-income Americans are significantly paring back their spending. Lower-income consumers have been hit hardest by rising inflation and escalating prices on essentials, with September’s consumer price index report indicating a 0.3% increase on the month, putting the annual inflation rate at 3%.

Shortly after the CPI report was released, the Federal Reserve on Wednesday approved its second straight interest rate cut, lowering its benchmark overnight borrowing rate to a range of 3.75% to 4%.
Meanwhile, the country is entering the fifth week of the government shutdown, with many federal workers going without pay.
The Census Bureau estimated there were 35.9 million people in poverty in 2024, the most recent available data, with the weighted average poverty threshold for a family of four coming in at $32,130. The median household income, meanwhile was $83,730 last year, according to the bureau.
The top 10% of households saw their income increase 4.2% between 2023 and 2024, but there was no meaningful change for the bottom 10% of households, the bureau said in September. There were approximately 33 million households in the top 10% of earners and another 33 million in the bottom 10% of earners as of last year.
Consumers with the highest purchasing power have benefited from stock market rallies and rising home values. Data from JPMorgan’s Cost of Living Survey found that higher-income consumers reported stronger economic confidence readings for the next year.

Recent earnings reports from companies touching all corners of the economy have indicated the K-shaped trend is beginning to take hold. This week, companies like Yum Brands, McDonald’s, E.l.f. Beauty, Tapestry and Under Armour are preparing to release quarterly earnings reports and could report similar trends.
Last week, Chipotle reported it’s seeing consumers who make less than $100,000 a year, which represents roughly 40% of the company’s customer base, spending less frequently due to concerns about the economy and inflation. CEO Scott Boatwright said the company is seeing “consistent macroeconomic pressures” with a 0.8% decline in traffic for the quarter.
Coca-Cola said in its third-quarter earnings that pricier products like Topo Chico sparkling water and Fairlife protein shakes are driving its growth. Procter & Gamble reported similar results, saying wealthier customers are buying more from club retailers, which sell bigger pack sizes, while lower-income shoppers are significantly pulling back.
And some of the companies reporting this week have already indicated they may be seeing similar behaviors. In early September, McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that the chain’s expansion of its value menu was due to a “two-tier economy.”

“Traffic for lower-income consumers is down double digits, and it’s because people are either choosing to skip a meal … or they’re choosing to just eat at home,” he said.
The trend isn’t limited to just food and beverage, either. In the autos world, consumers who can afford to buy new vehicles are on a spree, while those who are more price constrained are sitting out. Defaults and repossessions are on the rise while the average price for a new vehicle is setting records.
And in the service industry, Hilton earlier this month reported that it saw a drop in revenue for its affordable brands while its luxury offerings performed exceedingly well. Still, CEO Christopher Nassetta told CNBC last month that he doesn’t expect bifurcation to last much longer.
“My own belief is that as we look into the fourth quarter and particularly into next year, we’re going to see a very big shift in those dynamics, meaning, I don’t think you’re going to continue to have this bifurcation,” Nassetta said. “That’s not to say I think the high end is going to get worse or bad. I just think the middle and the low end [are] going to move up.”
Correction: This article has been updated to correct the month of the CPI report. More