Raphael Stevens

In this articleCMGChipotle’s quesadillaChipotle Mexican GrillChipotle Mexican Grill’s quesadillas were worth the wait.After years of tinkering with the recipe, the burrito chain launched the menu item as a digital exclusive in mid-March. So far, it looks like taking the time to figure it out has paid off for Chipotle. CEO Brian Niccol said Wednesday that about 10% of customers are ordering the quesadillas, which is its first new entree in 17 years.”We made sure we took the proper time to develop an excellent product that consumers love and also works well operationally,” he told analysts.Niccol also said that “a lot” of new customers are buying quesadillas, so they aren’t taking sales away from burrito bowls or tacos. Chipotle saw its highest rate of new customers in March, coinciding with the launch. Moreover, customers who order the quesadillas are creating a new eating occasion, like a mid-afternoon snack.The successful launch of quesadillas may have been a factor in Chipotle’s first-quarter digital sales growth. Online orders more than doubled during the quarter and accounted for 50.1% of total sales, overtaking in-person orders for the first time.Shares of Chipotle were up less than 1% in extended trading on Wednesday after the company reported its first-quarter results. The company crushed Wall Street’s earnings estimates and met its revenue expectations. More

In this articleWHRDemand for home goods and appliances is on the rise and the trend won’t go away anytime soon, according to Whirlpool CEO Mark Bitzer.”People have a strong orientation to the house and the home,” Bitzer told CNBC’s “Closing Bell” in an interview Wednesday. “If you listen to all the companies announcing their work policies, I would say many consumers will stay on average one or two days more at home. That just drives appliance consumption and that will not go away anytime soon.”Earlier Wednesday, Whirlpool announced it earned $433 million, or $6.81 per share, up sharply from earnings of $154, or $2.45 a share, a year ago. Excluding items, Whirlpool earned $7.20 a share. Sales rose nearly 24% to $5.36 billion from $4.33 billion a year ago.The company also raised its forecast for the year. It now expects sales to rise 13%, more than double its prior estimate of 6% sales growth. Earnings per share are expected to be between $23.10 and $24.10. Shares rose more than 2% in trading after the market closed on Wednesday.Bitzer said sales of its products will be further helped by the increased demand in the housing market, which will fuel the industry’s growth for years to come. In the short term, he said, Covid stimulus checks are helping to drive consumer spending.Recent cost inflation for raw materials such as steel, plastics and oil and freight has forced the company to raise prices, but that hasn’t deterred Bitzer’s optimism. “Obviously, we’re facing an environment where we just see cost inflation. I don’t think that cost inflation will go away overnight,” he said. “We saw a need to come up with price increases and … implemented price increases in the range of 5% to 12%.” More

In this articleDIS(Left to right) George Stephanopoulos, LaVar Burton, Robin RobertsHeidi Gutman | Walt Disney Television via Getty Images; Chris Weeks | WireImage | Getty Images; Paula Lobo | ABC via Getty ImagePopular game show “Jeopardy!” announced Wednesday its final slate of guest hosts for Season 37 as it continues its search for a permanent host.CNBC’s David Faber, ABC’s “Good Morning America” anchors George Stephanopoulos and Robin Roberts, actor LeVar Burton and Fox Sports’ Joe Buck have been added to the lineup.Faber, who is a co-anchor for “Squawk on the Street,” is a former “Celebrity Jeopardy!” champ.The game show had kicked off its series of guest hosts with another former contestant, Ken Jennings. He holds the record for the longest winning streak on the show and is the highest-earning game show contestant of all time.Other guest hosts this season have included Katie Couric, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Aaron Rodgers and Anderson Cooper. “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek died in November after being with the show for more than three decades.”Our goal has been to present a wide variety of guest hosts with different skill sets and backgrounds on our path to finding a permanent host,” “Jeopardy!” executive producer Mike Richards said in a press release. “All of the guest hosts have brought individualism, energy and an authentic love of our show to each of their episodes.”There has been a notable social media push to have Burton, a former “Star Trek” star and host of PBS’ “Reading Rainbow,” host the game show. A Change.org petition has collected more than 240,000 signatures on his behalf, and Burton has been actively expressing his interest in the role. More

The decline in Netflix shares after weak subscriber growth sent a chill through the market about a bull run for stay-at-home stocks that may have reached its peak and there is more pain to come in pandemic winners like Zoom and Peloton. More wealthy investors seem to be asking themselves this question — and it’s about more than just the pandemic’s biggest winners, not to mention answering it by selling stocks and going to cash.The percentage of investors with $1 million or more in brokerage accounts they self-manage that sold out of market positions and went to cash in the second quarter more than doubled, from 7% to 16%, according to a new survey of wealthy investors from Morgan Stanley’s E-Trade Financial shared with CNBC. Overall bullishness declined as well, with millionaire investors who say they are now bearish increasing by 6 percentage points, from 36% to 42%.That may not seem like a major uptick, and the majority (58%) of these investors remain bullish, with more of the wealthy saying they expect Q2 to end with a rise in the S&P 500 Index.Stocks were higher on Wednesday, even as Netflix’s big drop continued, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 316 points (about 1%) and gains led by the part of the market most closely tied to the domestic economy reopening, small-cap stocks represented by the Russell 2000, which was 7% off its 52-week high coming into trading and ended the day more than 2% higher.But the survey details do reveal notable, and increasing, worries about the market, inflation, and Fed policy, as well as a major decline in bullishness on the tech sector, and more appetite to move away from U.S. stocks. In all, the survey suggests that the pockets of bearishness are rising among the wealthy, even if the majority remain patient with a pricey, maybe overextended, U.S. stock market.The E-Trade survey was conducted from April 1 to April 12 among a broad universe of self-directed investors, with the results from 207 investors with $1 million or more of investable assets provided to CNBC exclusively.Short-term bearishness is backFor Mitch Goldberg, a New York-based investment advisor with ClientFirst Strategy who a year ago was convinced the bottom was in for stocks after the March 23 low and bought based on that conviction, there has been a change in sentiment to short-term bearishness that has led him to lighten up on some stock positions and park money in cash even with interest rates offering little.”In the very short term, I’m bearish, the next two months or so,” he said. “I’ve been raising some cash, not crazy defensive, I just think stocks have gone up a lot and I bought a lot, was very bullish when I had to be. Now it is time to take some off the table.”With bonds not an attractive alternative to stocks, at least not yet, even in a market where fears about inflation are up, “O.1% in cash is fine for now because it’s short-term preservation,” he said. “I don’t think we are going to have a 2001 or a 2008-2009. I still have money in stocks, just a little less,” he added, noting that he does not expect the U.S. stock market as a whole to end the year in the red.After the volatility experienced by stocks in the first quarter — which included double-digit moves down in tech and growth leaders, energy and small-caps before rebounds— there was “a little profit taking,” says Mike Loewengart, chief investment officer at E-Trade Capital Management. “Raising cash is consistent with a long-term view. … as we come off strong performance in 2020 and in Q1, taking profits is totally in line,” he said. “Over time we know that we see the market generally does move up, but in a small time period, volatility can be painful.” While many investors and market prognosticators remain concerned about a bigger pullback before the year is done, the S&P 500 has averaged a 6% growth rate over the past century and bull markets have a history of lasting for years.Top S&P 500 sectors see big declines in sentimentMillionaires in the E-Trade survey are looking more to international markets and real estate as conviction on S&P 500 sector bets drop. Both the information technology sector and health care sector saw 19% declines among wealthy investors when asked to rate the sectors with the most potential currently. Both had previously been the top picks of more than half — in the case of health care, two-thirds — of the wealthy investors in the survey. Meanwhile, interest in real estate as the best bet just about doubled, from 16% to 31%.”Real estate fits this market,” said Lew Altfest of Altfest Personal Wealth Management, whose firm is launching its first private real estate fund this quarter. “The core of what’s happening is that people are optimistic and at same time recognize optimism and spending could lead to inflation, and are rightly concerned as that leads to more competition for stocks from bonds as rates move up. Some will get off boat because of inflation,” he said.Fears about inflation as the No. 1 threat to portfolios rose from 5% to 18% in the E-Trade survey, quarter over quarter.More wealthy investors are going to cash and expressing doubts about the strongest parts of the market, including tech, but the bulls are still in the majority, according to a Q2 2021 E-Trade survey.Getty ImagesIt is not just the stay-at-home trade that ran too far, too fast for some, but the overall market.The rotation trade away from big tech and the pandemic winners and into the reflation stocks also “got way ahead of itself” in Goldberg’s view. The moves higher make sense when factoring in a U.S. economy that pulled a lot of second-half growth expectations into the first half of the year, but because it has been so strong that has led to fears it is fully priced into more stocks, and led Goldberg to not only reduce positions in some growth names but big cyclicals also, while not selling out entirely.A spillover effect from those biggest winners, whether a tech stock or a consumer staple that boomed, has the investment advisor on the defensive. And having lived and invested through multiple bull and bear markets in the past, Goldberg said when the biggest names in the market like Netflix begin to fail — the stocks in the market’s “first tier” — there is more reason to worry about more stocks crumbling, even if the Netflix issues are company-specific and in a stock with a long history of big swings on earnings. It is not necessarily time for investors to bail on their favorite blue-chips, like a Microsoft, but for investors who experienced previous market corrections to remember that the more speculative names in the market drop first and that leads investors to the bigger, safer stocks, but ultimately, that top tier becomes even pricier and is not immune from a market under pressure.More cautious millionaire investors”There’s no doubt they are more cautious,” said Loewengart. Overall, 68% of the wealthy in the survey say the market will rise this quarter, but 35% of those expect a gain of no more than 5%. “They see room for continued improvement although it will be a little different than what we’ve seen over the last year,” he said. “Fundamentals will matter again.”The millionaire view should be considered in the context of recent performance and the fact that so much has been priced into the reopening trade already, but balanced against the fact that there remains the accommodative backdrop of monetary policy from the Fed and the stimulus plan, and now the prospect of infrastructure spending, which creates “a highly conducive environment for further gains in the market,” Loewengart said.JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon recently noted there is $2 trillion in checking accounts that is pent up demand in the consumer economy “coiled” and ready to be spent.   That helps explain the majority expectation of a continued rise in equities, even amid the rising pockets of bearishness. “More people are getting vaccinated and business opening up and really just the economy coming back to life, back to work and more people spending,” Loewengart said.Consumer discretionary saw one of the biggest jumps among sectors with the most potential this quarter in the E-Trade survey, up from 17% to 31% of the wealthy saying it was their top S&P 500 bet.”There were a handful of very large companies in the tech sector that drive the overall market and now investors are focusing on the consumer and real estate which clearly benefit from reopening,” Loewengart said.The E-Trade survey does find investors bullish on the U.S. economy as a whole, with those grading the U.S. economy at a D or F declining from roughly one-third (34%) last quarter to 17% now and fears about the pandemic as the biggest risk to market portfolios declining significantly. It dropped from being the No. 1 risk in the first quarter to No. 6 overall.Altfest remains convinced in the U.S. economic outlook as a driver of corporate profits, but says it is difficult for investors to assess whether the growth projections of GDP at 6% or even reaching 10% can be sustained or the economy ends up back in a 2% GDP world, which would make the market a less attractive investment. “If we have a five-year run here then corporate profits can grow very rapidly. And that rapidly can offset a decline in P/Es caused by inflation and still come away with good returns,” he said.And even with the rest of the globe struggling with vaccine rollouts and rising cases, he is a believer in looking at international equities. “Even if the U.S. grows faster and corporate profits grow faster, these are cheap stocks overseas, much cheaper, and I have to believe the vaccine problems will be taken care of, just six months behind us or something.”Indeed, many wealthy remain in a risk-on stance. More taking the survey say their risk tolerance has increased, up from 24% to 30% in Q2, while the quarter-over-quarter reading on millionaires saying their risk tolerance had decreased was flat. Altfest sees investors looking to remain go-go, and looking at alternatives to large-cap stocks, though not always for the right reasons. And that troubles him more than any reasonable reassessment of valuations.”Some are on edge and looking for new investments. I’ve never had anyone call about bitcoin or crypto and now I am getting calls about them.”Amid the declining sentiment on S&P 500 leaders, the E-Trade survey found higher levels of interest in cannabis stocks, bitcoin and SPACs in Q2.Altfest has the same answer every time he gets one of these calls. “It’s not something you want to get involved with, that’s what I tell them.”He doesn’t view the interest as investors looking for an inflation hedge or analyzing the price-to-earnings ratio of stocks as being high, but more simply: “It speaks to greed. … ‘what goes up will continue to go up’ is still the philosophy of many people, when it should be the exact opposite.”That “exact opposite” view is one that more are coming to take — SPAC transactions, in fact, have hit a standstill as investor interest cools and regulatory scrutiny rises — and the E-Trade survey shows more millionaires, while still in the minority, are taking it as their current view, and acting on it. More

The chief medical officer of BioNTech told CNBC on Wednesday that people will likely need a third shot of its two-dose Covid-19 vaccine as immunity against the virus wanes, agreeing with previous comments made by Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla.Dr. Ozlem Tureci, co-founder and CMO of BioNTech, which developed a Covid vaccine with Pfizer, said she also expects people will need to get vaccinated against the coronavirus annually, like for the seasonal flu. That’s because, she said, scientists expect vaccine-induced immunity against the virus will decrease over time.”We see indications for this also in the induced, but also the natural immune response against SARS-COV-2,” she said during an interview with CNBC’s Kelly Evans on “The Exchange.” “We see this waning of immune responses also in people who were just infected and therefore [it’s] also expected with the vaccines.”Tureci’s comments come after Bourla said in an interview that aired April 15 that people will likely need a booster shot, or third dose, of the Covid-19 vaccine within 12 months of getting fully vaccinated. He also said it’s possible people will need to get additional shots each year.Pfizer said earlier this month that its Covid-19 vaccine was more than 91% effective at protecting against the virus and more than 95% effective against severe disease up to six months after the second dose. Moderna’s vaccine, which uses technology similar to Pfizer’s, was also shown to remain highly effective at six months.Researchers say they still don’t know how long protection against the virus lasts after six months of being fully vaccinated, though public health officials and health experts expect protection to wane after some time.Should Americans require booster shots, the U.S. government would likely need to make arrangements with the drugmakers to supply additional doses and make plans for vaccine distribution.On Friday, Andy Slavitt, senior advisor to President Joe Biden’s Covid response team, said the White House is preparing for the potential need for Covid-19 vaccine booster shots. He said the Biden administration has thought about the need to secure additional doses.”I can assure you that when we do our planning, when the president orders purchases of additional vaccines as he has done and when we focus on all the production expansion opportunities that we talk about in here we very much have scenarios like that in mind,” he said at a White House press briefing.Last week, the Biden administration’s Covid response chief science officer, David Kessler, said Americans should expect to receive booster shots to protect against coronavirus variants. He told U.S. lawmakers that currently authorized vaccines are highly protective but noted new variants could “challenge” the effectiveness of the shots.”We don’t know everything at this moment,” he told the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis.”We are studying the durability of the antibody response,” he said. “It seems strong, but there is some waning of that, and no doubt the variants challenge … they make these vaccines work harder. So I think for planning purposes, planning purposes only, I think we should expect that we may have to boost.”Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel told CNBC last week that the company hopes to have a booster shot for its two-dose vaccine available in the fall. More

People raise their fists and hold a portrait of George Floyd during a rally following the guilty verdict the trial of Derek Chauvin on April 20, 2021, in Atlanta, Georgia.Elijah Nouvelage | AFP | Getty ImagesIn tweets, corporate statements and letters to their employees, some of the nation’s top business leaders are expressing relief at the guilty verdict in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the murder of George Floyd. They are also calling for the country to continue to fight against systemic racism and for police reform.Chauvin was found guilty of all three charges, including second-degree murder and third-degree murder, on Tuesday.Last spring, Floyd’s murder catalyzed Black Lives Matter protests across the country and the globe. A video taken by a teenage bystander, Darnella Frazier, outside of a Minneapolis convenience store, showed Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for about nine minutes. In Floyd’s final moments, he struggled to breathe and called out for his mother.As protestors marched in the streets, companies faced scrutiny for their own records on racial equity. They were pushed to do more than simply put out statements — prompting a series of corporate commitments from overhauling how companies recruit and hire Black employees to backing mandatory deescalation training for police.Here is a round-up of reactions to the Chauvin verdict by business leaders and companies, in alphabetical order:American Airlines”There are countless examples of violence against Black men and women that don’t end this way. In the past year, a number of brutal and senseless murders of Black Americans – from Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor to Daunte Wright and many others – remind us of the stark reality and persistence of systemic racism in our country. They sparked anger, awareness and dialogue; but not the change needed to address injustice in our communities and institutions. As an airline, we bring people of all races, ethnicities and backgrounds together every day.””We believe Black lives matter. We know there is more work to do to achieve racial justice and equity in our society, and we remain committed to the journey.”— Excerpts from a letter sent to employees Tuesday night by American Airlines executives, CEO Doug Parker, President Robert Isom and Cedric Rockamore, vice president of global people operations and diversity and inclusionApple— Tim Cook, Apple CEO, said on his personal Twitter accountBest Buy”While this verdict in the murder of George Floyd symbolizes some measure of progress toward racial equity and accountability, it does not fully erase our nation’s history of systemic and institutional racism. We still have a long way to go in our fight for racial justice in this country, and Best Buy’s unwavering commitment to this work is as strong as ever.”— Statement from Best BuyBusiness Roundtable”Today’s verdict confirms that George Floyd was the victim of a senseless crime. Though today’s verdict is a step toward justice in this case, unarmed Black men and women continue to die in encounters with the police. To ensure true justice and healing, our country needs to take steps to address its long history of racial inequity in law enforcement. Business Roundtable will continue to work with Members of Congress and the Administration on bipartisan policing reforms that implement national policing standards, and greater accountability, training, community engagement and transparency.”— Statement by group of CEOs, which is led by its chairman, Walmart CEO Doug McMillonCisco— Chuck Robbins, Cisco CEO, said on his personal Twitter accountCitigroup”George Floyd’s murder almost one year ago sparked a much needed reckoning on racism in America. It rightly pushed us as individuals and as a company to examine what we can and should do — what we must do — to take action to create a more equitable society.The verdict in the trial today sparks a great deal of emotion for many of us. It feels like justice has been finally served, yet it doesn’t end the grief felt by so many. It underscores the EMT’s [executive management team’s] commitment — shared by so many of you — to be allies, to fight systemic racism at every level, and to support all those facing injustice. It also speaks to the importance of the work we’re doing through our Action for Racial Equity commitment to help close the racial wealth gap and increase economic mobility in the U.S.”— Excerpts from a LinkedIn post by Sara Wechter, Citigroup’s head of human resourcesFacebook”Right now I’m thinking of George Floyd, his family and those who knew him. I hope this verdict brings some measure of comfort to them, and to everyone who can’t help but see themselves in his story. We stand in solidarity with you, knowing that this is part of a bigger struggle against racism and injustice.”— Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder and CEO of Facebook, said in a post on the social media site”A small measure of justice was done today. But real justice would be for George Floyd to be alive and in the arms of his family. This brutal tragedy is one page in the much larger story of systemic racism, oppression, and injustice in our country.As we continue to regularly witness unarmed Black people in America killed by police, I stand with those demanding change. We can’t un-see what Derek Chauvin did to George Floyd. We can’t un-know the truth it exposed about racism in America today. And we can’t — mustn’t — ever forget. There can be no true justice in America until liberty and equality are real for everyone.My thoughts are with George Floyd’s family today, and with so many other families who are missing their loved ones today.”— Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook, said in a post on the social media siteFord”We are hopeful today’s verdict will allow a grieving family and a community to start to heal. However, the systemic racism and social injustice apparent in the killing of George Floyd and countless other terrible episodes in our country are deeply rooted. Together, we must remain thoughtful and determined in addressing this reality, including the unacceptable abuse of authority and power and the pain it causes – disproportionately for the Black community and other people of color. For our part, Ford and our UAW partners will continue to create a company culture where everyone feels they belong and our differences are truly valued.”— Bill Ford, executive chairman of Ford, and Jim Farley, CEO, said in a statement General Motors— Mary Barra, General Motors CEO, said on her personal Twitter accountIntel— Pat Gelsinger, Intel CEO, said on his personal Twitter account, echoing the company’s support of congressional action on police reform and advocacy for the passage of the George Floyd Justice in Policing ActJPMorgan Chase”Justice was served, it’s the beginning of a long path to fix some of these things.””We haven’t solved this racial inequality problem for hundreds of years, and in fact in some decades it’s gone backwards.”— Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase CEO, said Wednesday at a company eventRead moreJamie Dimon says `justice was served’ after Derek Chauvin found guilty for murder of George FloydBiden, Harris praise guilty verdict in Chauvin murder trial, but say more must be done to fight systemic racismSalesforce— Marc Benioff, founder and CEO of Salesforce and owner of Time, quoting from a story by Time journalist Janell RossStellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler):”Today’s verdict is a verdict against bias, against injustice; an important milepost on our collective journey. As communities, as leaders and as businesses, we must all continue to be part of the solution to shift our society, take a stand against racism and violence, and act as a catalyst of change.”— Mike Manley, Stellantis head of the Americas, said in a statementTarget”The murder of George Floyd last Memorial Day felt like a turning point for our country. The solidarity and stand against racism since then have been unlike anything I’ve experienced. Like outraged people everywhere, I had an overwhelming hope that today’s verdict would provide real accountability. Anything short of that would have shaken my faith that our country had truly turned a corner.Today’s guilty verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial is another sign of forward progress. As I think about the Minneapolis Police Department denouncing the brutality George Floyd faced, and the disgrace expressed by multiple witnesses, the jury’s verdict reassures me that we will not go backward.Sadly, this kind of tragedy did not end last May 25, and our country has a lot of work to do and a long way to go. I can’t imagine how difficult these months have been for the family and friends of George Floyd. They are very much in my thoughts, and I hope today’s verdict offers some measure of solace.I am also thinking about our Black team members in particular. I know this trial cannot erase the pain that comes from years of inequalities and inequities. What I want to offer today is my promise that we as a company will continue to use our values and actions to advance empathy and understanding and to confront individual bias and systemic racism. Today’s verdict does not mean that our work is done. There’s much more to do as we support healing in our hometown of Minneapolis and across the country. We have to keep moving forward, together, toward a safe and equitable future for all.”— Letter sent to employees Tuesday night by Target CEO Brian CornellTwilio— Jeff Lawson, co-founder and CEO of Twilio, said on his personal Twitter accountUber— Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber CEO, said on his personal Twitter accountWells Fargo”This has been an especially painful time in our nation, particularly for Black and African Americans and communities of color. We hope today’s verdict is an initial step towards justice and healing. Wells Fargo is committed to fostering a culture that supports diversity, equity and inclusion, both within our company and the communities we serve.  As we move forward, we are working to create meaningful change and will continue supporting our employees, partners and investing in our communities because it’s our responsibility as a corporate citizen and the right thing to do.”— Statement shared by a Wells Fargo spokespersonZoom— Eric Yuan, Zoom co-founder and CEO, said on his personal Twitter account, which included a copy of a letter sent to employees— CNBC’s Leslie Josephs, Phil LeBeau, Ari Levy, Hugh Son, Michael Wayland and Sarah Whitten contributed to this report.This story will be updated as new statements are released. More

People celebrate the UiPath IPO outside the New York Stock Exchange, April 21, 2021.Source: NYSEUiPath rose 23% in the company’s stock market debut on Wednesday after the software vendor and its investors reeled in $1.34 billion in the company’s IPO. The shares closed at $69.The company, whose software helps businesses automate repetitive tasks, sold shares Tuesday night at $56 apiece, above its expected price range of $52 to $54. At the closing price, UiPath had a market value of $35.8 billion.If underwriters buy their allotted shares, UiPath’s offering will be the third-biggest ever for a U.S. software company, behind only cloud database vendor Snowflake, which raised $3.9 billion in September, and Qualtrics, which pulled in $1.78 billion in January after spinning out of SAP. UiPath is hitting the market at a time of rapid growth, as businesses from health care to energy producers look for ways to automate operations in their finance, human resources and legal departments.Daniel Dines, CEO, UiPath at company’s IPO at the New York Stock Exchange, April 21, 2021.Source: NYSERevenue surged 81% last year to $607.6 million, and the company’s loss narrowed to $92.4 million from $519.9 million in 2019. UiPath’s gross margin of 89% is among the highest in software.While UiPath joins a long roster of high-growth cloud software companies to go public in the last three years, its debut comes amid a shift in investor sentiment. After more than doubling in value last year, the WisdomTree Cloud Computing Fund, consisting of 58 publicly traded cloud software vendors, has dropped 6.7% this year, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has climbed 11%, as of Tuesday’s close.One of UiPath’s greatest strengths is its ability to keep customers and encourage them to increase spending over time. In its last fiscal year, UiPath reported net revenue retention of 145%, meaning the average existing customer increased spending by 45% from the prior year.UiPath, which ranked 50th on CNBC’s 2020 Disruptor 50 list. was founded in 2005 in Romania by Daniel Dines, a former Microsoft engineer. Dines moved UiPath to the U.S. about a decade later and established a headquarters in New York. Roughly one-quarter of its 2,863 full-time employees are based in Bucharest, Romania.The stock is trading on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker symbol “PATH.” Dines controls 88% of voting shares and is the largest stakeholder, with over 110 million shares valued at over $7 billion, based on Wednesday’s closing price and including some shares sold in the offering.WATCH: UiPath CEO Daniel Dines on its public debut More