Raphael Stevens

In this articleHSYPeople love their sweets, and they’re not just indulging in them at home during the pandemic, Hershey CEO Michele Buck said.”We’re seeing this unique period where there is both a continuance of that at-home consumer behavior, as well as increasing away-from-home behavior,” Buck said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.””Consumers are participating in seasons, they are telling us they’re doing more movie nights at home, they’re making more s’mores at home [and] at the same time, we’re seeing growth in our food service and our own retail businesses, which are away from home.”With both of these trends in its favor, Hershey raised its sales forecast for the year to a range of 4% to 6%, up from 2% to 4%. Earnings, meanwhile, should climb between 9% and 12% to a range of $6.64 to $6.86 per share.On Thursday, the chocolatier said its first-quarter net income rose to $395.8 million, or $1.90 per share, on revenue of $2.3 billion. On an adjusted basis, its earnings per share were $1.92.The company’s stock closed up 3.4% at $164.22 on the news, putting its market value at nearly $34 billion. Since the start of the year, Hershey shares have gained 8%. On Thursday, its stock hit an intraday high of $165.50. Buck also said it has put two price increases in place this year on its seasonal candy business and its non-chocolate and grocery business. Buck attributed these price hikes to higher costs for packaging and freight. This past winter’s storms in Texas led to higher resin prices and limited availability, she said.Buck added that Hershey had one of its strongest Easters in history as consumers are hanging onto traditions and rituals during the pandemic, strengthening sales of seasonal items. She expects this upcoming Halloween will follow a similar pattern.”It was a strong Halloween last year, despite the environment, and the early signals that we’ve seen this year with our retail partners is that there’s a lot of belief that consumers will be interested in a strong Halloween this year,” she said, citing how well vaccine distribution is going so far as one factor driving the trend. More

In this articleNCLHCCLRCLRoyal Caribbean CEO Richard Fain on Thursday cheered the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s updated coronavirus policies for resumption of cruises from U.S. ports.”We’re really very pleased and very excited because it really does set forth a pathway that we think is achievable, practical and safe,” Fain said on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.”Asked specifically if the CDC guidance means Royal Caribbean and other cruise operators will be back sailing from the U.S. this summer, Fain replied, “I think it may.”In a letter to the industry Wednesday, a CDC official said that while cruising “will never be a zero-risk activity,” the health agency is “committed” to getting passenger operations in the U.S. restarted by midsummer.The industry has been pressuring the Biden administration and the CDC for months to provide more specifics on a path back to departing from American ports. The state of Florida earlier this month sued the federal agency over the cruise halt, as well.While cruises have started back up in other parts of the world, they have been paused in the U.S. since March 2020 over coronavirus concerns. Ships were home to high-profile Covid outbreaks in the early days of the global health crisis.Among the most critical components to the CDC’s new guidance is around vaccination levels for passengers and crew. In order to restart sailing, the CDC had said previously that cruise operators would need to complete a simulated trip to demonstrate their Covid safety protocols. However, the CDC now says that test trip can be skipped if a ship shows that 95% of its passengers and 98% of its crew have been fully vaccinated against Covid. That likely represents the simplest way to return to the water.”Eighty percent of our guests already say they intend to get the vaccines regardless, so one way or the other, we think this provides a route — actually two routes,” Fain said, referring to the option of doing a simulated cruise. Both pathways, he added, “are feasible to be done by July, so yeah, feeling no pain today.”The CDC also said it will modify testing and quarantine requirements related to restarting sailing to “closely align” with the agency’s latest policies for people who have been vaccinated, as well as for those who have not.As cruise operators look to ramp up sailings in the months, experts say a labor shortage could challenge the industry. About 15% of crew comes from India, a country dealing with a horrific Covid surge. Fain told CNBC he doesn’t see India’s coronavirus situation resulting in a staffing shortage, at this time, but conceded it will make it more challenging.Earlier this year, Fain told CNBC that Royal Caribbean was surprised by the strength of its early booking data. “Some of the things we thought [were] going to happen aren’t happening. They’re better than we thought,” he said in late February.Shares of Royal Caribbean closed down 2.9% Thursday afternoon, giving up earlier gains in the session. Rival cruise operator Carnival’s shares fell 2.1%, while Norwegian Cruise Line closed modestly higher. All the cruise stocks were up double-digit percentage points in 2021 as investors bought in on hopes for resumptions of U.S. cruising. More

In this articleFGetty ImagesDETROIT – Ford Motor easily beat Wall Street’s expectations for the first quarter despite an ongoing global semiconductor chip shortage causing low inventories and factory closures. So why did shares of the automaker fall by as much as 10.4% during intraday trading Thursday?The negative reaction by investors is a mix of issues related to the chip problem following Ford reporting its results after the closing bell Wednesday.While analysts were thoroughly impressed with the company’s performance in the first quarter, which included a record $4.8 billion in adjusted pretax profits, they were far less impressed, if not confused, with its guidance for the year.”Let’s just put it like this: Ford’s 1Q was far ‘too good’ to extrapolate while the remainder of the year is ‘too challenged’ to extrapolate,” Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said in a note to investors.Ford’s stock closed Thursday at $11.26 a share, down 9.4%. Shares remain up 28.1% in 2021. The company’s market cap is more than $44 billion.Here are five key takeaways from Ford’s first-quarter results and its 2021 guidance that investors should know about.GuidanceAt least three analysts described Ford’s outlook for the year, which it reaffirmed Wednesday, as confusing or puzzling.”While Ford’s 1Q:21 results were impressive, the company somewhat confusingly … communicated its 2021 financial outlook, which we believe is creating some investor concern,” Bank of America Global Research analyst John Murphy said in a note.RBC Capital’s Joseph Spak reiterated those comments, adding the guidance was “confusing” and it’s a “bit unclear” whether the depth of problems from the chip shortage is exclusive to Ford. Barclays analyst Brian Johnson described Ford’s operational turnaround being “dented” by its “puzzling” guidance.Ford said the chip shortage would slash full-year earnings by about $2.5 billion – the high end of a previous guidance – before interest and taxes to $5.5 billion-$6.5 billion. In February, Ford initially set guidance of $8 billion-$9 billion without factoring in an expected $1 billion-$2.5 billion impact from the shortage.But the reaffirmed guidance after a better-than-expected first quarter implies weaker results through the remainder of the year outside of the chip shortage, according to analysts.Ford CFO John Lawler also described the $8 billion-$9 billion guidance before interest and taxes as a “launching pad” for 2022.Underlying businessOutside of impacts from the chip shortage, results for the company were solid, assisted by vehicle pricing increases related to the chip shortage.The Detroit automaker reported net income of $3.3 billion, which was its best since 2011, and a record adjusted pretax profit of $4.8 billion.Its adjusted earnings per share was 89 cents compared with Wall Street expectations of 21 cents based on average estimates compiled by Refinitiv. Its automotive revenue was $33.55 billion versus $32.23 billion expected.Lawler said Ford was able to offset earnings losses from its lower production in the first quarter through reduced incentives on vehicles sold, prioritizing production of more profitable vehicles and lower manufacturing costs, among other cost reductions. The automaker also benefited from higher profits from its financing arm Ford Credit.Comments from analysts regarding the first quarter included “too good,” “very impressive” and a “blowout.”Notably, Ford’s earnings outside of North America, by far its strongest market, were $454 million, $980 million better than same quarter a year ago. Its North American operations recorded a 12.8% operating profit margin and earnings of nearly $3 billion to start the year.”Aided by higher prices, our results benefited from the industry-wide imbalance of supply and demand given the semiconductor shortage,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said. “However, we also delivered improvements that will persist over time, including our global redesign in our overseas operations which contributed to the largest swing in year-over-year profitability for those operations that we’ve seen.”The company’s warranty costs, which have been extremely troublesome is recent years, also improved by more than $400 million from a year agoWorst to comeThe company believes that the semiconductor issue will bottom out during the second quarter, with improvement through the remainder of the year, but the impacts may continue into 2022.”There are more whitewater moments ahead for us that we have to navigate,” Farley told investors Wednesday. “The semiconductor shortage and the impact to production will get worse before it gets better.”The company said it now expects to lose 1.1 million units of production this year due to the chip shortage. It also has partially produced about 22,000 vehicles without chips, including its Ford F-150 pickups, and will complete and ship the vehicles at a later date.Farley’s promiseSomething Wall Street will likely continue to watch is whether or not Farley can keep his promise to maintain low vehicle inventories in North America, which assist profits. A roughly 60 days’ supply is typically considered healthy for the industry, while highly configurable vehicles such as pickups are typically higher than that.Farley told investors Wednesday that the company will run leaner vehicle inventories in the future: “I want to make it extremely clear to everyone. We are going to run our business with a lower days’ supply than we have had in the recent past, because that’s good for our company and good for customers.”Jim Farley, Ford CEOFordWhile that may sound as simple as producing fewer vehicles, it’s not. Automakers have to balance supply and demand with dealers, many of whom are begging for popular truck and SUV models, as well as its workers.Recent contracts between the Detroit automakers and United Auto Workers provide more flexibility regarding production but having tens of thousands of plant workers laid off can be costly. There’s also a matter of retaining workers and maintaining plants, which can take weeks to restart after being shut down.Large trucks and SUVs have among the lowest supplies in the U.S., according to Cox Automotive. To end the first quarter, full-size pickup trucks had a below industry average inventory of 48 days’ supply, down significantly from 61 days in February. The Ford F-150 was down to 56 days’ supply, according to Cox.EVsMorgan Stanley’s Jonas believes the possibility of a rerating of Ford will hinge on its plans to move from vehicles with internal combustion engines, or ICE, to battery-electric vehicles, or BEVs.”We believe that the potential for re-rating for Ford (and its OEM peers) will come down to execution of the strategy to pivot to BEV development while managing the run-out of the ICE liability,” he said in a note.Whether or not Ford can deliver on increasing investor confidence in its EV plans is expected to come during an investor day on May 26.Farley promised investors that the company will lay out how the automaker plans to “lead the electric vehicle revolution in areas that we’re strong at Ford.”All-electric Ford Mustang Mach-ESource: FordDeutsche Bank on Thursday reiterated a short-term catalyst call buy rating on Ford heading into the capital markets day. It also raised 2022 earnings per share for Ford to close to $2.Ford earlier this year announced plans to increase its investment in EVs by $10.5 billion to $22 billion through 2025. That excludes potential spending on any battery plants.The company announced plans Tuesday to “eventually” manufacture its own batteries and battery cells. However, the company declined to discuss a timeline to do so.– CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report. More

In this articleMCDDPZA family’s stimulus check from the U.S. Treasury for coronavirus (Covid-19) aid arrived in the mail in Milton, Massachusetts, U.S., March 25, 2021.Brian Snyder | ReutersDomino’s Pizza and McDonald’s both reported that government stimulus checks boosted their first-quarter results, but the two companies disagree on the longer-term impact of extra cash in consumers’ wallets.The federal government began sending out the second round of Covid stimulus checks of up to $600 to eligible individuals at the end of December, just before the first quarter started. A third round of checks, worth up to $1,400 to qualifying individuals, were sent at the end of March. The IRS is still sending out stimulus checks to taxpayers whose payments never arrived or were too small.Restaurant companies, ranging from Outback Steakhouse owner Bloomin’ Brands to Taco Bell parent Yum Brands, have been calling out the checks as a contributing factor to their first-quarter sales growth. A report from Rabobank and Earnest Research estimated that consumers spent 10% to 15% more money in restaurants in the four weeks following the first two stimulus checks. But it’s still unclear if the payments are actually driving momentum in the economy or just providing a temporary jolt to restaurant spending that will dissipate.Domino’s presented one potential theory.”We’re certainly still — you know, not just at Domino’s but across the economy — still riding a bit of the wave of government stimulus,” Domino’s CEO Ritch Allison told analysts Thursday.The pizza chain told investors that the higher sales stemming from the stimulus checks prompted the company to not run any aggressive boost week promotions during the quarter. Even without the promotions, Domino’s reported U.S. same-store sales growth of 13.4%.McDonald’s, on the other hand, downplayed the impact of the checks. CEO Chris Kempczinski told analysts on Thursday that there was no question that they benefited the business, but the chain’s 13.6% same-store sales growth in the quarter was “way beyond” just the checks. McDonald’s credited other company initiatives, like promotions around the favorite orders of celebrities, the launch of its Crispy Chicken Sandwich and higher digital sales, for the strong U.S. performance.”I think you can also argue that the stimulus checks are now wearing off, generally, but we’re seeing continued momentum in our business,” Kempczinski said.McDonald’s CFO Kevin Ozan said the U.S. consumer is still fairly healthy and ready to return to the chain’s dining rooms as they reopen.”I don’t think we have a big concern right now about consumer ability to be able to spend,” Ozan said.Like the rest of the fast-food sector, McDonald’s U.S. sales have bounced back quickly during the coronavirus pandemic, luring consumers with its convenient drive-thru lanes and cheap prices. Domino’s has been seeing surging demand throughout the crisis, creating concerns about potential pizza fatigue as the pandemic subsides.Shares of McDonald’s were up more than 1% in afternoon trading after the company topped Wall Street’s estimates for its earnings and revenue and raised its full-year outlook for systemwide sales. At $180 billion, its market value is more than 10 times that of Domino’s. The pizza chain’s shares were up nearly 3% in afternoon trading after it reported mixed first-quarter results. More

A 16-year-old gets a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine from a registered nurse at UCI Health Family Health Center in Anaheim, CA on Wednesday, April 28, 2021.Paul Bersebach | MediaNews Group | Orange County Register via Getty ImagesThe United States is reporting an average of 2.7 million Covid-19 vaccinations per day over the past week, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, a high daily rate but down from peak levels two weeks ago.At the same time, the rate of daily new coronavirus infections is on the decline in the majority of states.U.S. vaccine shots administeredFollowing 2.2 million doses reported Wednesday, the seven-day average of daily reported vaccinations — which is used to smooth day-of-week fluctuations in the data — is 2.7 million.Daily reported vaccinations peaked at an average of 3.4 million on April 13.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsThe slowdown comes as states are once again able to administer the Johnson & Johnson vaccine since U.S. health regulators have lifted a pause on its use. The Food and Drug Administration and CDC had temporarily asked states to halt using the single-dose vaccine on April 13 “out of an abundance of caution” following reports of rare blood clots.Losing the third vaccine option for a period may partly explain the country’s declining vaccination pace, as J&J was being used for an average of 425,000 reported shots per day in mid-April. But counting Pfizer and Moderna shots alone, the downward trend still holds true. The combination of those two vaccines peaked at an average of 3 million reported daily shots on April 16 and has declined 12% since.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsIt may take days for the renewed use of J&J shots to appear in CDC reports.U.S. share of the population vaccinatedMore than 40% of Americans have received at least one shot and three in 10 are fully vaccinated, CDC data shows.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsOf those age 65 and older, 82% are at least partially vaccinated and 68% are fully vaccinated.U.S. Covid casesThe U.S. is reporting an average of 52,500 daily new cases over the past seven days, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Daily case counts have fallen by 5% or more in 34 states and the District of Columbia over the past week, including in Michigan, which has been experiencing the country’s most severe outbreak.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsThough cases have been on the decline recently, the latest nationwide trend is being obscured by a reporting adjustment from the state of New Jersey. State officials announced they removed about 10,000 duplicate cases, according to Hopkins and local media reports. Although these may have been counted toward the state’s total of nearly 1 million at various points over the course of the pandemic, the removal of cases is being reported for April 26. That may be adjusted in the future.U.S. Covid deathsThe seven-day average of daily U.S. Covid deaths is 682 as of Wednesday, according to Hopkins data. Nearly 575,000 deaths from the virus have been reported since the start of the pandemic.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwards More

Jeff Bezos drives a Rivian R1T electric truck around Blue Origin’s launch facility in Texas.Blue OriginJeff Bezos’ space venture Blue Origin said in a video released Thursday it will soon begin selling tickets for rides on its space tourism rocket called New Shepard.”Guys, how exciting is this – come on!” Bezos said in the video.Blue Origin did not reveal how much tickets will cost, only saying that more details will come on May 5 to those who submit their name and email on a form on the company’s website.”Sign up to learn how you can buy the very first seat on New Shepard,” according to the company’s website.The announcement’s video features Bezos going out to the capsule of New Shepard after the company’s test flight earlier this month. It shows him driving across the Texas desert, the remote location of the New Shepard launch facility – notably at the wheel of a Rivian R1T electric truck, which is emblazoned with Blue Origin’s signature feather.Blue Origin launches a New Shepard rocket from its facility in Texas.Blue Origin | gif by @thesheetztweetzNew Shepard is designed to carrying as many as six people at a time on a ride past the edge of space, with the capsules on previous test flights reaching an altitude of more than 340,000 feet (or more than 100 km). The capsule, which has massive windows to give passengers a view, spends as much as 10 minutes in zero gravity before returning to Earth.The rocket launches vertically, with the booster detaching and returning to land at a concrete pad nearby. The capsule’s return is slowed down by a set of parachutes, before softly landing in the desert.Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket booster lands after its eleventh successful mission.Blue OriginShares of Virgin Galactic fell more than 3% after Blue Origin posted its video, as Bezos’ company will compete with Sir Richard Branson’s in the niche space sector of suborbital tourism.To date, Virgin Galactic has sold tickets to about 600 passengers at a price between $200,000 and $250,000 each, although the company expects it could increase its prices substantially for the first commercial flights. In the past, Bezos has said Blue Origin will price New Shepard flights similarly to its competitors.Virgin Galactic’s leadership has previously emphasized it expects demand for space tourism flights to outpace supply in the next decade, leaving enough room for both of the companies to succeed. More

Tyson Fury (L) punches Deontay Wilder during their Heavyweight bout for Wilder’s WBC and Fury’s lineal heavyweight title on February 22, 2020 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.Photo by Al Bello | Getty ImagesTyson Fury has exchanged challenges with Francis Ngannou, the UFC’s new heavyweight champion.Fury exclaimed on social media: “You want some of this Gypsy King money? You know where to find me!”You want some of Gypsy King power? I’ll give it to you!”Any time, any place, anywhere!”Ngannou replied: “I’ll take care of [Jon Jones] first then come after Fury.”The Cameroonian won the UFC heavyweight championship this month and has long been linked with a crossover into the boxing ring.Dillian Whyte recently told Sky Sports about Ngannou: “I believe I can beat him in both styles. I can beat him in MMA and in boxing. I don’t think he’s anything special, whichever they want.”The guy is scared, so if doing MMA makes him feel better. If we have a fight in the cage first, he might take it, but if we offer him a boxing fight, then he might say, ‘No, no, no.’Fury is expected to face Anthony Joshua to decide an undisputed heavyweight champion this summer.He labelled Joshua: “A big useless dosser. Not a real fighting man. A hype job, crossfit, bodybuilder.”AJ let’s make this fight happen!Read more stories from Sky SportsEmery back in his element at VillarrealWhere could each PL team finish?Can Solskjaer crack semi-final conundrum?”I’ll smash your face and there’s nothing you can do about it.”AJ, if you go past three rounds with me, I’ll quit in the corner because that’s how confident I am.”Derek Chisora has been backed to beat Joseph Parker by Bellator MMA star Michael ‘Venom’ Page.”I’ve sparred with him,” Page told Sky Sports. “You’ve got to love Derek!”He wanted to experience what it would be like [to be kicked]. He didn’t like it so I think he will stick to boxing!”I don’t think Parker will want to go toe-to-toe with him. Similar to his Anthony Joshua fight, I think he will be backpedalling.”So it’s down to Derek to cross his feet and pin him down to land shots.”Derek hits hard and Parker won’t want to be there for those shots.”If you get sucked into a war with Derek, he will win that battle.” More