Raphael Stevens

In this articleMRNAA medical worker from Parrish Medical Center holds a vial of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at a drive through vaccination clinic for employees of Port Canaveral, workers at local hotels and restaurants, and residents of the Port Canaveral community.Paul Hennessy | LightRocket | Getty ImagesThe U.S. government is in negotiations with Moderna to potentially secure additional Covid-19 vaccine doses to supply to the world, according to a person familiar.The discussions may lead to a similar number of doses purchased as a deal revealed Wednesday with Pfizer, said the person, who declined to be named because the negotiations aren’t public.CNBC Health & Science Read CNBC’s latest global coverage of the Covid pandemic:U.S. is in discussions with Moderna on buying Covid vaccine doses for other nationsFauci blasts ‘preposterous’ Covid conspiracies, accuses his critics of ‘attacks on science’ Top international health officials worry about new Covid variants that may be able to evade vaccines  J&J CEO says people will need Covid vaccine with annual flu shot for next several years as variants spreadHalf of Americans 12 and older are fully vaccinated as daily Covid case counts remain low    President Joe Biden is expected to announce at the G-7 summit that the U.S. has bought 500 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to share through the global Covax alliance for donation to 92 lower-income countries and the African Union over the next year, according to another person familiar. The news was first reported by The Washington Post and The New York Times.The Pfizer doses will be purchased at a not-for-profit price, the person said. The terms of a potential Moderna deal weren’t immediately clear. More

Shoppers wear protective masks inside the Glendale Galleria shopping mall in Glendale, California, on Thursday, May 6, 2021.Bing Guan | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesOne of the country’s largest retail trade groups, the National Retail Federation, boosted the industry’s outlook for the year on Wednesday, saying it anticipates “the fastest growth that we’ve seen in this country since 1984.”Retail sales are expected to grow between 10.5% and 13.5% to an estimated total of $4.44 trillion to $4.56 trillion in 2021, as the economy rebounds from the coronavirus pandemic and customers spend money they have socked away, the NRF’s chief economist, Jack Kleinhenz, said at a virtual event. That forecast includes store and online sales, but excludes automobile dealers, gas stations and restaurants. That compares with $4.02 trillion in total retail sales in 2020 and $3.76 trillion in 2019.The industry group had forecast in February that retail sales would rise between 6.5% and 8.2%, amounting to more than $4.33 trillion in sales for the year.The NRF also increased its projection for full-year GDP growth to about 7%, compared with the 4.4% to 5% it expected earlier this year. It said it anticipates pre-pandemic levels of output to return in this fiscal quarter.Kleinhenz said government stimulus has flowed through the economy and into consumers’ wallets. That’s fueled shoppers’ appetite for spending and a quicker-than-expected recovery, he said.”We are seeing clear signs of a strong and resilient economy,” he said, adding that households “are ready to resume some normalcy of living, working and playing.”Despite the rosy forecast, the retail industry still faces challenges, including inflation, congested ports and a shortage of workers. U.S. retail sales stalled in April, after soaring by 10.7% in March, according to the Commerce Department. Retail sales in May have not yet been announced.It is also unclear how much of consumers’ wallets will shift to services and other spending priorities, such as hotel stays, plane tickets and dining out, instead of on consumer goods.Many retailers, including Walmart, Levi’s and Macy’s, recently reported strong first quarters and raised their own forecasts for the year. Company leaders have said they see consumers who are getting out of the house, planning social gatherings, and trading in their loungewear for denim and dresses.Macy’s CEO Jeff Gennette said on a May earnings call that the company expects “pent-up demand opportunities” to continue as shoppers buy luggage, shoes, new outfits and makeup.”We don’t see this as a short-term pop,” he said. More

In this articleRHJason Kempin | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty ImagesShares of the high-end furniture retailer RH surged in extended trading Wednesday after the company beat analysts’ profit and sales estimates for the fiscal first quarter.RH also hiked its full-year outlook, building on the momentum it’s seeing in the luxury home category, and gave a stronger-than-expected sales forecast for the second quarter.In a letter to shareholders, Chief Executive Officer Gary Friedman said the remainder of this year “will surely be a tale of two halves” for the retail industry. But he said that “the un-masking of the general public could lead to a Roaring Twenties type of consumer exuberance.”The company’s stock was last up more than 7%.Here’s how RH did in the quarter ended May 1 compared with what analysts were anticipating, using Refinitiv estimates:Earnings per share: $4.89 adjusted vs. $4.10 expectedRevenue: $861 million vs. $758 million expectedRH’s net income for the fiscal first quarter grew to $130.7 million, or $4.19 per share, compared with a loss of $3.2 million, or 17 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time adjustments, it earned $4.89 per share, topping expectations for $4.10.Revenue surged 78% to $861 million from $483 million a year earlier. That also beat expectations for $758 million.Friedman said that a strong housing and renovation market, a record stock market, low interest rates, and the reopening of the U.S. economy all bode well for the company in the quarters ahead.RH hiked its fiscal 2021 outlook for revenue growth to a range of 25% to 30%, compared with a prior range of 15% to 20%. Analysts had been looking for a 19.7% increase year over year.For its fiscal second quarter, RH expects revenue to grow 35% to 37%. Analysts had been looking for a 27.2% jump.The company is preparing to kick off its global expansion in the spring of 2022, starting with England. To drive future growth, it is also considering expanding into new services, potentially into areas such as landscape architecture. It currently offers interior design consulting.RH shares are up roughly 37% year to date. The company has a market cap of about $13 billion.Find the full earnings press release from RH here. More

CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Wednesday that trading meme stocks is more like gambling than investing.”It’s exciting. It’s fun, and it’s real,” Cramer said on “Squawk Box.” However, he added, “If you’re going to play it, I think that you can, I don’t know, go to the casino. These should be offered at the casino. … Why are they offered at the New York Stock Exchange?” The “Mad Money” host’s comments came as shares of new meme-trader target Clover Health soared again in Wednesday’s premarket, and popped nearly 30% at the open, extending the recent wild ride for the insurance company that offers Medicare Advantage plans. However, the Reddit-fueled enthusiasm waned in early trading, and Clover turned negative on the session. It closed down more than 23%. The trading frenzy that began in January with GameStop as its most prominent target has returned to focus recently. AMC Entertainment in particular has been a favorite of Reddit traders. Other meme stocks that have seen varying levels of interest include Bed Bath & Beyond and BlackBerry — and a new one Wednesday, Clean Energy Fuels, which jumped more than 30%.Reddit traders have flocked to stocks that have larger-than-normal short positions, which creates the potential for a so-called short squeeze if shares are pushed higher. Short-selling is a bearish strategy in which investors can profit when a stock declines in price. If the stocks rise, short sellers must buy back their borrowed shares at a higher-than-intended price, raising the value of the company.”They’re going for anything. … You have to try to figure out which one is next,” said Cramer, who has previously criticized short-sellers betting against GameStop and AMC.Interactive Brokers founder and Chairman Thomas Peterffy on Monday also warned shorts about the risks of being involved with meme stocks, saying they can soar to “unimaginable highs” before coming back to Earth. But he added that, in the meantime, traders might have to cover their bets at big losses.While newcomers to the stock market are welcome, Cramer said, he hopes young people focus on investing based on fundamentals. He pushed back against the notion that the best way to learn about the markets is by getting burned on trades.”We’ve got young people coming into the market. We’ve got 10 million people and Reddit. They need to be educated. That’s the solution,” Cramer said. “I know that it’s old fashioned, but I think it would really help because I know some people feel a lot of money has to be lost. I like people to make money, as long as they understand that it’s not a game.” More

Chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson Alex Gorsky speaks during an event at the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building March 10, 2021 in Washington, DC.Alex Wong | Getty ImagesJohnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky reiterated Wednesday that people will likely need to receive additional doses of the Covid-19 vaccines alongside the annual flu shot for the next “several years.”People will need to get the Covid booster shots until herd immunity is achieved on a global level and world leaders and scientists are able to limit the spread of highly contagious variants, Gorsky said during The Wall Street Journal’s Tech Health conference.”We could be looking at this tagging along with the flu shot, likely over the next several years,” he said, referring to the Covid vaccines.CNBC Health & Science Read CNBC’s latest global coverage of the Covid pandemic:U.S. is in discussions with Moderna on buying Covid vaccine doses for other nationsFauci blasts ‘preposterous’ Covid conspiracies, accuses his critics of ‘attacks on science’ Top international health officials worry about new Covid variants that may be able to evade vaccines  J&J CEO says people will need Covid vaccine with annual flu shot for next several years as variants spreadHalf of Americans 12 and older are fully vaccinated as daily Covid case counts remain low    His comments come a day after U.S. health officials urged Americans to get vaccinated to keep the Delta variant, first identified in India, from proliferating across the country.J&J’s vaccine requires just one jab, unlike Pfizer’s and Moderna’s Covid vaccines, which currently require two doses given three to four weeks apart. All three vaccines have been shown to be highly effective against Covid, though executives now say they expect that strong protection to wane over time.As a result, most drugmakers and some scientists now say people will likely need a booster shot of the Covid vaccines and possibly additional shots each year, just like for the seasonal flu.BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin told CNBC in a recent interview that researchers are seeing a decline in antibody responses against the virus after eight months.Gorsky has previously stated that people will likely need to get Covid shots annually.During the Journal’s event Wednesday, Gorsky said the company is looking for new partners as it develops vaccines that target variants. More