Raphael Stevens

In this articlePTONA Peloton Interactive Inc. Tread exercise machine for sale at the company’s showroom in Dedham, Massachusetts, U.S., on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021.Adam Glanzman | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesPeloton shares climbed about 6% Friday as investors realized the financial hit from the company’s treadmill recall isn’t as bad as some had feared.The exercise equipment maker said demand for its high-end cycles remains strong, despite people increasingly breaking free of stay-at-home routines and gyms seeing pandemic restrictions ease. Peloton is also still planning to launch in Australia later this year, and is ramping up marketing spending to try to reach new customers.”While the recall will hit financials in the short term, and push back Tread financials a quarter or two, we think this was the prudent decision in the long term,” Barclays analyst Mario Lu said in a note to clients. “We continue to view Peloton as the leading company in connected digital fitness.”When Peloton reported its fiscal third-quarter results on Thursday, it said fourth-quarter sales will be $165 million lower due to the recall. That puts fourth-quarter revenue at about $915 million, short of analysts’ estimates for $1.12 billion, according to Refinitiv data.The projected $165 million impact consists of a roughly $105 million dent from a lack of treadmills sales during the period, since all sales are halted, Peloton said. The company is also assuming about 10% of current treadmill owners will ask for a refund for their machines, which cost $4,300 apiece, and that would lower sales by an additional $50 million.Telsey Advisory Group analyst Dana Telsey had expected the recall to have a larger impact. She maintained her outperform rating on stock, but lowered her price target to $120 from $150, due to “uncertainty around the ultimate financial impact of the recalls and on Peloton’s brand name.” She noted, though, that demand for Peloton’s Bike and Bike+ machines is still solid. And the more expensive fix will be for Peloton’s Tread+ machine, rather than the less expensive Tread version, which represents a much smaller revenue stream overall, Telsey said.Peloton shares closed Thursday at $83.78. The stock is down about 45% year to date, bringing the company’s market cap to about $24 billion. Shares had tumbled nearly 15% on Wednesday, the day the company announced its voluntary recall, wiping $4.1 billion from Peloton’s market value.On a call, Chief Executive John Foley walked through the steps the company is taking with the U.S. Consumer Protection Safety Commission to launch the Tread in the United States later this year. It had been scheduled for May 27, but is being pushed back until Peloton and the CPSC can work on new safety protocols.That could potentially happen as early as July, Foley said.According to Telsey, that’s also earlier than many people were anticipating.”Somewhat lost amidst the Tread/+ recalls discussion was a very strong third quarter,” JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth said. “Peloton beat across all metrics.”—CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this reporting. More

In this articleAZN-GBSyringes are filled with Astrazeneca’s vaccine at the pharmacy.Christopher Neundorf | picture alliance | Getty ImagesLONDON — People under the age of 40 in the U.K. are to be offered an alternative to the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, as concerns over links to rare blood clots continue to weigh on its roll out.Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Professor Wei Shen Lim, chair of the U.K.’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), said the authority had updated its advice for adults under the age of 40.”Building on our previous advice, we now advise that unvaccinated adults aged 30 to 39, who do not have an underlying health condition that puts them at higher risk of severe Covid-19, should be preferentially offered an alternative to the AstraZeneca vaccine where this is possible,” he said, adding that this would only be the case where “no substantial delay to vaccination might arise.”He noted that the AstraZeneca vaccine was easier to transport and store than some of the alternative vaccines that had been approved for use, which would influence how the new advice for under-40s was applied.”In certain settings it may be the only vaccine practical to offer and in those circumstances, it should indeed be the preferred vaccine,” he explained, adding that the advice was also conditional on good Covid-19 infection control, good availability of alternative vaccines and a strong vaccination roll out in the United Kingdom.Rare blood clotsA very small number of people who have been inoculated with the AstraZeneca vaccine have suffered blood clots.The condition, described by health authorities as “extremely rare,” is characterized by blood clots accompanied by low platelet levels.Up until April 28, the U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) had received 242 reports of major blood clots coupled with low platelet counts occurring following a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.There were 10.5 cases of blood clots with low platelet counts per million first doses of the AstraZeneca shot, the medicines regulator said in its most recent report on Covid-19 vaccine side effects. Dr June Raine, chief executive of the MHRA, said on Friday that for second doses, the ratio fell to one in a million.The fatality rate of the rare blood clots was 20%.In early April, the U.K. said that people under the age of 30 would be offered an alternative to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which was approved for use in the country at the end of December.Benefits vs. risksRaine emphasized during Friday’s press conference that the authority had not altered its approval of the AstraZeneca vaccine, as the benefits continued to outweigh the risks for the vast majority of people.”The balance of benefits and risks are very favorable for older age groups, but they are more finely balanced for younger people,” she said.According to the MHRA’s report – which was updated on Thursday – there had been a higher incidence of such blood clots in younger adults. There were also more reports of blood clots occurring in women, although officials noted that this was not seen across all age groups and “the difference remains small.”An estimated 22.6 million first doses and 5.9 million second doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine had been administered in the U.K. up to April 28.Both the U.K. and the EU’s medicines regulators identified possible links between the vaccine and the rare blood clots last month. Officials from the European Medicines Agency said most cases had occurred in women under 60 within two weeks of having the shot.The World Health Organization and the International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis have all said that the benefits of administering the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine continue to outweigh the risks.Reported links to rare nervous disorderSeparately on Friday, the European Medicines Agency’s safety committee said it was analyzing data on cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) — a rare disorder affecting the nervous system — following inoculation with AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine.GBS causes inflammation of the nerves and can lead to pain, numbness, weak muscles and difficulty walking.The regulator said its safety committee had asked AstraZeneca for further detailed data on cases that had been reported following vaccination.A spokesperson for AstraZeneca was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC. More

The underbody of an ID.3. electric vehicle being worked on at a Volkswagen facility in Dresden, Germany, on January 29, 2021.Matthias Rietschel | picture alliance | Getty ImagesThe shift to electric vehicles could affect thousands of workers in Germany over the coming years, the Munich-based Ifo Institute said Thursday.The Ifo’s study, which was undertaken on behalf of the German Association of the Automotive Industry, illustrates some of the potential challenges ahead as governments attempt to phase out diesel and gasoline vehicles in favor of low and zero emission ones. In a statement issued alongside the report’s release, the research institution said an estimated 75,000 production workers in Germany’s autos sector would retire by the middle of this decade.”But if by 2025 the production of cars powered by combustion engines declines to the extent foreseen under current emissions regulations, then the switch to electric motors will affect at least 178,000 employees,” it added.This cohort, Ifo explained, would consist of “workers who manufacture product groups that depend directly or indirectly on the combustion engine, with 137,000 of them employed directly by the automotive industry.”Ifo President Clemens Fuest described the “transition to electromobility” as “a major challenge, especially for automotive suppliers, where medium-sized companies are dominant.””It’s important to maintain highly skilled jobs in the remaining production of combustion engines and in electric vehicles without putting the brakes on structural change,” he said.A significant transition does indeed appear to be on the horizon. Germany’s federal government wants 7 to 10 million electric vehicles to be registered in the country by the end of this decade. In January Reuters, citing Germany’s road-traffic regulator, said battery-electric vehicle sales were over 194,000 in 2020, a three-fold rise.Looking at the bigger picture, the EU’s executive branch, the European Commission, wants at least 30 million zero-emission cars on the road by 2030 as part of its “Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy.”According to the International Energy Agency, roughly 3 million new electric cars were registered last year, a record amount and a 41% rise compared to 2019.Oliver Falck, who is director of the Ifo Center for Industrial Organization and New Technologies, sought to emphasize the systemic shift that was already taking place. “Developments in production figures are already showing us that very different parts are needed for electric cars than for combustion engines,” he said, noting that “this transformation has yet to manifest to the same degree in headcount.” “The transformation that can be expected in headcount won’t be fully cushioned by the retirement of the baby boomers,” he went on to explain. “Since companies are already aware of this gap, they have the opportunity to take appropriate measures in good time, such as retraining and further training.” According to Reuters, the Ifo’s survey “did not take into account the potential creation of new jobs in EV manufacturing or battery cell production.” More

In this articleADS-DELONDON — Adidas is more confident about sales this year as it notes stronger-than-expected demand for its products across the world, despite a boycott by consumers in mainland China.The German sportswear retailer expects currency-neutral sales to rise at a “high-teens” rate this year, with a “significant” acceleration already seen in the second quarter, the company said on Friday.”This acceleration will be fueled by an array of innovative product releases,” Adidas said in a statement. It expects major sport events, such as UEFA Euro and the Copa America, to also support the business.The company reported net income of 502 million euros ($605 million) for the first quarter of this year, up from 26 million euros in 2020. Currency-neutral sales at the company rose 27% over the period.China boycottThe company said sales in China grew by 156% over the first three months of the year.This comes despite a boycott by some mainland Chinese consumers of international brands that have taken a stand against the treatment of one of China’s ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang region, where many cotton plantations are found.The ethnic Uyghurs, who live mostly in China’s west, have been identified by the United Nations, United States, United Kingdom and others as a repressed group.In March, Canada, the U.K, and the U.S. issued a joint statement expressing “deep and ongoing concern” about forced labor, mass detention in internment camps and other abuses committed against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang. The European Union in March imposed sanctions on Chinese officials it says are responsible for abuses against Uyghurs.China’s foreign ministry in March characterized such claims as “malicious lies” designed to “smear China” and “frustrate China’s development.”Adidas has previously said that it has a “zero tolerance approach to slavery and human trafficking.”In a statement from October 2019, it said that when “learning of allegations against several companies sourcing from Xinjiang, China, where ethnic minorities were reportedly subject to forced labor in spinning mills we explicitly required our fabric suppliers not to source any yarn from the Xinjiang region.”It added: “Adidas has never manufactured goods in Xinjiang and has no contractual relationship with any Xinjiang supplier.”Meanwhile, this year, the German retailer also joined the Better Cotton Initiative, a non-profit which opted to suspend its activities in Xinjiang last year on the back of concerns over human rights.Adidas and other Western brands, including Nike and H&M, faced a backlash on Chinese social media following their comments regarding the situation in Xinjiang. Some Chinese consumers have boycotted the brands and opted instead to buy products from domestic companies.Adidas did not explicitly refer to the issue in Friday’s earnings release, but did cite “adverse impacts” from issues including “the geo-political situation.”Kasper Rorsted, CEO of Adidas, told CNBC that he still expects “very strong growth” from China for the year overall.”So, we are still very confident we will continue to build our position in China, which is the single biggest market for us,” he told CNBC’s Squawk Box Europe Friday.”This is of course a sensitive topic and we are doing whatever we can to make sure human rights are protected.”However, despite the controversy, Rorsted said he does not think there will be a major shift in the company’s supply chains. More