Raphael Stevens

In this articleRIDEWorkers install door hinges to the body shell of a prototype Endurance electric pickup truck on June 21, 2021 at Lordstown Motors’ assembly plant in Ohio.Michael Wayland / CNBCLORDSTOWN, Ohio – Lordstown Motors’ new executive team wants to make one thing clear to the investors this week: The electric vehicle start-up has “real employees at a real plant.”That wouldn’t need to be said for most companies, but the aspiring EV manufacturer has been hemorrhaging money, it recently warned investors that it may not have enough cash on hand to survive the next 12 months and it ousted its top two executives. The Securities and Exchange Commission has also opened and inquiry looking into statements made by the company and executives about orders.The message is part of tours this week for media, analysts, investors and others the company is calling “Lordstown Week.” It’s meant to show that the embattled company has made progress as the new executive team seeks to raise funds to keep it afloat. Real investors haven’t been so convinced. Its shares tumbled 5.5% on Monday, the first day of the tour. They’ve recovered since then and are up by about 8% in midday trading Wednesday, but remain down by about 44% so far this year.Wall Street analysts who toured the facility noted the company’s progress in gearing up to produce its first EV, an electric pickup truck called the Endurance, in late-September. They also noted some parts of the plant still needed significant work and said the event didn’t change their concerns about the company’s finances or long-term prospects.”While we largely note constructive takeaways from the event, we still express the same concerns as before regarding liquidity, path to scale and especially the commercialization of the in-hub motors,” Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas wrote in a note to investors.RBC Capital analyst Joseph Spak said the firm believes “Lordstown has a long road ahead.” Spak noted the massive plant was “largely empty” but said it could be an important asset as collateral for a loan that could help short up its finances.’Value’ and experienceExecutives and employees at Lordstown’s plant on Monday consistently touted their experience as well as the value of GM’s former plant, which it bought for $20 million – a fraction of its overall value – in 2019.”I am very comfortable with the idea of change. And not only I, but this leadership team and the board of directors are very cognizant and understand the need for change in order to grow and establish a publicly traded company,” said Lordstown Chairwoman Angela Strand. Later adding, “The points to emphasize are decades of experience” in automotive, innovation and technology.Lordstown Motors gave rides in prototypes of its upcoming electric Endurance pickup truck on June 21, 2021 as part of its “Lordstown Week” event.Michael Wayland / CNBCStrand, who addressed media without taking questions, is leading Lordstown as the board searches for a permanent replacement for ex-CEO Steve Burns, a founder and former chairman of the company who was ousted last week.Strand said the company continues to evaluate “strategic partners” as part of its search for capital needed to stay in operation. The company on June 8 warned investors that it may not be able to continue as a “going concern,” citing “substantial doubt” about its ability to survive the next year.She said Lordstown is “continuing our due diligence” in seeking a loan from the U.S. Department of Energy. Burns last year said the company was seeking a $200 million loan from the Energy Department’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing loan program.Lordstown also gave test drives in “beta” pickup prototypes as well as a new military concept vehicle based on the Endurance platform. The rides in the prototype truck were limited to 45 mph since the truck isn’t finished yet and the test drives were on an uneven parking lot, an employee said.Unfinished plantLordstown was viewed by some as ahead of other EV start-ups, largely thanks to its massive assembly plant. The deal with GM included much of the plant’s machinery as well as assistance from the established automaker with suppliers and retooling the facility.The plant saved Lordstown billions of dollars and Burns previously described GM’s assistance as “invaluable.” But it’s easy to see that Lordstown does not need the entire 6 million-square-foot plant currently.Lordstown Motors has developed this electric vehicle based on the platform of its Endurance pickup truck for military applications, according to the company.Michael Wayland / CNBCDuring the tour, large areas of the plant appeared untouched since GM abandoned the facility two years ago while other production areas remained empty or unfinished.Most notably, the line and equipment to produce the company’s unique “hub motors” that fit into the wheels of the vehicle to propel it was not expected to be installed in August, a month before the start of production.Rajeev Lamba, director of hub motors for Lordstown, said the company is waiting for the equipment to be delivered from Malaysia. He said a month is “sufficient time” to go from delivery to production because the line has been tested overseas, however some have doubts.Sam Abuelsamid, principal analyst with researcher Guidehouse Insights, said such a tight timeframe “certainly is problematic.” He cited short timeframes by Tesla that led to CEO Elon Musk’s self-proclaimed “production hell.”Signage outside Lordstown Motors Corp. headquarters in Lordstown, Ohio, on Saturday, May 15, 2021.Dustin Franz | Bloomberg | Getty Images”The traditional approach is you install equipment and then you spend several months fine-tuning it and running parts down there, making sure all the processes are working correctly, you’re quality processes are in place and training the staff, all of that stuff,” Abuelsamid said. “It’s not a good sign that they tend to install motor line and go straight to production.”Traditional automakers regularly retool plans and reuse parts, but their lead up to real production can take months. For example, Ford Motor began building its new electric Mustang Mach-E crossover at a retooled plant in Mexico last February, roughly nine months before the vehicle went on sale for consumers.”There is a lot to be done, no question,” Ian Upton, Lordstown director of production control and a former GM employee of 22 years, told CNBC. “But I think [the motor line] will be ready. We will ramp slow this fourth quarter.”Burns last month said production of the Endurance would be half of the 2,200 vehicles previously expected without additional funding. The company has said it expects to begin customer deliveries in the fourth quarter.Questions remainThere was high interest by investors in Lordstown when the company went public in October. But the excitement fizzled this year following changes to business plans and executives. Not to mention, the SEC probe as well as Ford unveiling the electric F-150 Lightning pickup, a less expensive competitor than the Endurance.”While the market opportunity is large and Lordstown’s truck received decent initial interest from potential fleet customers, we see considerable uncertainty ahead,” Deutsche Bank analyst Emmanuel Rosner wrote Monday in a note. “In the near-term, the company has encountered large operational and supply chain challenges and material cost overruns in its aggressive ramp up towards production, and is now in urgent need of capital.”– CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report. More

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Wednesday called on billionaires in the U.S. to more vocally support reforms to the nation’s tax code in an attempt to stave off more-liberal legislative proposals from politicians in Washington.”This administration doesn’t like you, so come up with something proactively that makes it so you are not being taxed in the way [Sen.] Elizabeth Warren wants you to,” Cramer said, referring to the Massachusetts Democrat who, along with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has proposed a wealth tax for billionaires.”But … I think they’re very tone deaf,” Cramer said on “Squawk on the Street.” “I think that billionaires just kind of feel like, ‘Well, listen, we’re oligarchs, and we get to do what we want.'”Cramer said he believes that attitude is misguided, particularly under Democratic President Joe Biden, who has called for higher taxes on wealthy Americans but has not backed proposals to levy an annual tax on total wealth. Republicans slashed taxes on wealthy individuals and corporations during the administration of Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump.”I think we’re in an era where they don’t seem to realize that the pitchforks are coming. This administration is certainly not pro-capitalist, it’s pro-labor — much more, I think, than the Obama administration,” Cramer said. “A lot of the billionaires should be a little more on guard about what’s going to happen in Washington.””Elizabeth Warren is going to win this if the billionaires try to fight it too much,” he added.Cramer’s comments come on the heels of Warren Buffett’s announcement earlier Wednesday that he’s donating another $4.1 billion worth of his Berkshire Hathaway shares to five foundations.In a letter accompanying the move, the billionaire Berkshire Hathaway CEO acknowledged philanthropy has recently become a “hot topic” and said he believes it is “fitting” that Congress occasionally look at how charitable donations are treated by the tax code, “particularly in respect to donors who get ‘imaginative.'”The philanthropic pursuits of billionaires came into the spotlight again following a ProPublica report earlier in June that, using confidential IRS files obtained by the news organization, detailed the amount of income taxes paid in recent years by some of the world’s wealthiest people, including Buffett.Cramer on Wednesday did not detail specific tax reforms he believes billionaires should be willing to embrace. However, he said he thinks lawmakers “have to examine” strategies in which ultra-wealthy people pledge their stock holdings as collateral to take out a personal loan “to be able to create income even though they’re not selling the stock.”That kind of approach was discussed in the ProPublica story. The “Mad Money” host earlier this month said some of the information in the story made him “sick,” and he suggested the U.S. impose a surtax on billionaires as one potential way to combat widening inequality in the country.”Maybe you think it’s too blunt. But I’ve had it,” Cramer said on June 11, just days after the ProPublica bombshell. “We can’t let this go on anymore in a democracy.” More

In this articleGSBXMSEmployees fully vaccinated against Covid should embrace a return to the office rather than run away from it, LaSalle Network CEO Tom Gimbel told CNBC on Wednesday.”The challenge that we have is a mindset challenge of the employee,” said Gimbel, also founder of the Chicago-based national staffing and recruiting firm. “They’re viewing it as a punishment to come back into the office and they should be viewing it as a perk to be back in the office, both for social and emotional issues as well as career growth and income growth.”As many companies are putting their return-to-work plans together, some employees are pushing back against going back into the office after more than a year of remote work due to the pandemic.”If we’re going to be able to compete at a global level, or local level, we need to have our people together in the office, both for onboarding new employees and for camaraderie to make sure people stay around,” Gimbel said on “Squawk Box,” adding he believes bosses should mandate vaccinations in order to keep the majority of their workers safe from the coronavirus.Gimbel’s remarks follow Morgan Stanley’s recent decision to bar workers and clients who are not vaccinated from returning to its New York City and Westchester County, New York, offices, beginning July 12. Employees who are not fully vaccinated will have to continue working remotely, the company told staff.Other financial giants are also taking that approach: Goldman Sachs is requiring its U.S. employees to report their vaccination status, and Blackstone is asking fully vaccinated U.S. employees to return to the office full time beginning July 7. While it’s legal for companies to ask employees about their vaccination status, they must keep that information confidential.With the economy bouncing back and the labor market tight, Gimbel said: “It is an employee market but that’s going to change. And we’re seeing that.” He added, “Whether companies stay in business, go bankrupt, new ones emerge, there’s going to be a time where whether people are paid a little bit more to go into the office or they choose to work someplace else.”Freedom of choice for employees is the best thing about the post-Covid shift, Gimbel said, adding that “if you don’t like what your company’s doing, you can leave and work for another company.”The nation’s reopening efforts come against the backdrop of increasing concerns about the transmissible delta Covid variant, first identified in India. The delta strain now accounts for 20% of all new cases in the U.S., White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said during a news conference Tuesday. That’s up from 10% about two weeks ago.With some companies moving to require full vaccination, Dr. Scott Gottlieb told “Squawk Box,” in a later Wednesday interview, that it’s “unclear” why health-care settings are still treating the Covid vaccines differently than other mandated inoculations.”Health-care workers have to get a flu vaccine, a chickenpox vaccine, a hepatitis B vaccine, so it’s unclear to me why health-care settings are treating this differently given that it does put patients at risk if a health-care worker transmits it inside a health-care setting. So I think that that’s going to have to play out.” Gottlieb said.The former Food and Drug Administration chief said he believes that full FDA approval of Covid vaccines, which are currently cleared under emergency use authorization, won’t tip the scale on non-health-care businesses mandating it. He said larger corporations may be more reluctant than smaller ones to mandate vaccines as part of a return to work. More

[The stream is slated to start at 11 a.m. ET. Please refresh the page if you do not see a player above at that time.]A key Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel is holding a meeting Wednesday to discuss rare, but higher-than-expected, reports of heart inflammation in 16- to 24-year-olds after receiving their second dose of Pfizer’s or Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccines.The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meeting comes about two weeks after the agency said it has seen a higher-than-projected number of cases of myocarditis or pericarditis in 16- to-24-year-olds after their second Covid shot. Myocarditis is the inflammation of the heart muscle, while pericarditis is the inflammation of the membrane surrounding the heart.There were nearly 800 reported cases of heart problems to the vaccine safety monitor system as of last month, according to the U.S. agency. More

View of the headquarters of the British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline in west London.Ben Stansall | AFP | Getty ImagesLONDON — British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline faces a crunch meeting with investors on Wednesday after announcing a new strategy for the next decade centered on the splitting off of the company’s substantial consumer products arm.The new core drug and vaccine division, which CEO Emma Walmsley has dubbed “New GSK,” has set targets of 5% sales growth and 10% profit growth between now and 2026. The separation is expected to take effect in mid-2022.GSK is also aiming for more than £33 billion ($46.2 billion) worth of sales by the end of the decade, which it hopes will offset the loss of exclusivity over HIV medication dolutegravir in 2028.Investors have reacted positively to the plans thus far, with GSK shares up 3% by mid-afternoon trade in Europe.However, Walmsley will need the backing of investors at the company’s Capital Markets Day, having been under pressure of late from U.S. activist investor Elliott Management. The virtual session begins at 2 p.m. London time on Wednesday.Walmsley told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Wednesday that the separation of the business was a “step change in growth” and the culmination of a four-year transformational plan, aiming to address “perennial underperformance” in the business.”This growth is all about a quality vaccines and specialty medicines portfolio, and that is really core to the strategy of New GSK, being focused on prevention of disease as well as treatment,” she said.”It’s about setting out New GSK as a growth company with new ambitions for shareholders, but also our chance to impact positively the health of 2.5 billion people over the next decade.”The separate consumer health business, comprising brands like Panadol and Sensodyne, will be demerged with “at least 80%” of the value being returned to shareholders, while GSK plans to temporarily hold 20% to be sold at a later stage.New GSK will cut its dividend to 45 pence per share in 2023, compared to the 80 pence offered by GSK this year, while the new consumer arm will offer 55p. More

In this articleGPSNKEAllyson Felix is president of Saysh, while her brother, Wes, serves as CEO.Source: SayshAfter breaking up with Nike in 2019 and landing a sponsorship deal with Gap’s Athleta, the brand’s first, track and field star Allyson Felix is launching her own shoe business.On Wednesday, Felix debuted Saysh, which she pitches as a lifestyle brand designed with women in mind. Saysh’s first product, the Saysh One sneaker, retails for $150 and is currently available for preorder in three colors. Other products are in the works, according to the company’s website.Customers are also able to buy membership to the “Saysh Collective,” which comes with workout videos and occasional interactions with Felix. An annual membership costs $150, while a monthly pass goes for $10.The announcement comes after Felix finished second in the 400 meter at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field trials this past weekend, clinching her spot in the Tokyo Olympics. Felix is the most decorated female track and field star in U.S. history.Time first reported on Felix’s shoe launch. In an interview with the magazine, Felix said the women’s footwear market is underserved, and that the mentality has often been to “shrink it and pink it.””It’s really about meeting women where they are,” Felix said. “It’s for that woman who has been overlooked, or feels like their voice hasn’t been heard.”Felix departed a deal with Nike in 2019 after she said the company wanted to pay her 70% less following her pregnancy. She has since been invested in raising awareness around health-care inequities facing Black mothers.Felix serves as Saysh president, while her brother and business partner Wes holds the CEO title. The company has raised $3 million in seed money from a broad range of venture investors, according to Time.It’s unclear if Athleta, where Felix has a multiyear sponsorship deal to design clothing, will begin to carry the shoes in the future.Disclosure: CNBC parent NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics is the U.S. broadcast rights holder to all Summer and Winter Games through 2032. More

In this articleMRNAPFEThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.Tami Chappell | ReutersA key Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel is holding a meeting Wednesday to discuss rare, but higher-than-expected, reports of heart inflammation in 16- to 24-year-olds after receiving their second dose of Pfizer’s or Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccines.The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meeting comes about two weeks after the agency said it had seen a higher-than-projected number of cases of myocarditis or pericarditis in 16-to-24-year-olds following their second Covid shot. Myocarditis is the inflammation of the heart muscle, while pericarditis is the inflammation of the membrane surrounding the heart.The meeting was originally slated for June 18, but was rescheduled to account for the observance of the Juneteenth National Independence Day holiday.There have been nearly 800 reported cases of heart problems to the vaccine safety monitor system, according to the U.S. agency.The CDC said two-thirds of the cases were in young males, with a median age of 30. Symptoms, which include chest pain and shortness of breath, typically develop when a few days of receiving the shot, the CDC said. Some of the reported cases may not be verified or even related to the shots, though the number of cases is still concerning, Dr. Tom Shimabukuro of the CDC’s Immunization Safety Office said earlier this month.”We clearly have an imbalance there,” Shimabukuro said on June 10 at a meeting of the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee. The FDA advisory group met to discuss safety issues surrounding the use of Covid vaccines in children as young as 6 months old.Here’s what you need to know.When does the meeting start?The public meeting is scheduled to run from 11 a.m. ET to 4 p.m. ET, according to a draft of the agenda.During the meeting, U.S. officials will provide an update on the safety data on the mRNA vaccines, including any potential additional cases of heart inflammation. They are also expected to discuss whether the benefits outweigh the risks for use in adolescents and young adults and discuss potential recommendations for additional doses of Covid vaccines.A vote on a recommendation was not listed on the draft agenda.Are the vaccines causing the illness?Federal officials still don’t know whether the condition is being caused by the vaccines.The CDC’s vaccine safety group is looking into the heart inflammation conditions reported. It is coordinating its investigation with the Food and Drug Administration, which last month authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for adolescents ages 12 to 15.Moderna, whose vaccine is currently authorized for people age 18 and up, said on June 11 it had not found a link between its Covid-19 vaccine and the cases of a rare heart inflammation condition reported in young adults. The company said it is actively working with public health and regulatory authorities to further assess this issue.In a statement, Pfizer said it is aware of the reported cases and supports the CDC’s request for “careful assessment of suspected myocarditis and pericarditis cases.””All adverse events are regularly and thoroughly reviewed by Pfizer as well as by CDC. It is important to understand that a careful assessment of the reports is ongoing and it has not been concluded that the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines cause myocarditis or pericarditis,” it said.What are the symptoms?The CDC said people should be on the lookout for chest pain, shortness of breath or a pounding heart.Men make up the majority of the reported cases and most of the cases appear to be mild, CDC officials say. Of the 270 people who have developed the condition and have been discharged, 81% of them have fully recovered, according to a CDC presentation at the meeting earlier this month. As of May 31, 15 people were hospitalized, with three in intensive care, the agency said.It’s possible additional cases haven’t been recorded, former FDA chief Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC on June 11, but “we are probably capturing most of the severe cases.” He added, “When you look at the number of people who are having severe cases of pericarditis, it’s very small numbers right now.”Should young people still get vaccinated?The CDC and most health experts say yes.Though no link has been found between the vaccines and the condition, health experts say finding rare side effects once a vaccine or drug is administered to the general population is common. The U.S. has distributed millions of Covid vaccines, which have been helpful in driving down new cases and hospitalizations across the country.”CDC continues to recommend COVID-19 vaccination for everyone 12 years of age and older, given the risk of COVID-19 illness and related, possibly severe complications, such as long-term health problems, hospitalization, and even death,” the agency said on its website. More