Raphael Stevens

In this articleNBANOAHHead coach Nick Nurse of the Toronto Raptors looks on during the first quarter against the Denver Nuggets at Amalie Arena on March 24, 2021 in Tampa, Florida.Douglas P. DeFelice | Getty ImagesNational Basketball Association coach Nick Nurse of the Toronto Raptors is the newest board member of sports data analytics firm Noah Basketball.The company was formed in 2002 under CEO John Carter and analyzes shooting arcs and performances of basketball players. Noah’s basketball tracking systems are used by various NBA teams, including the Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors.The company said Nurse would use his NBA experience to help convey “the relevance” of its shot tracking systems for “evaluation and improvement.” Philadelphia 76ers forward Anthony Tolliver is also on Noah’s board.Noah’s shooting systems range from $2,600 and $4,800. The company makes money selling the systems, activation and data subscription fees. It also raised $5 million in funding this year.Carter said Noah collected data from roughly 300 million shots from middle school games to NBA teams to strengthen the tech’s efficiency, detecting shots using enhanced sensors. Carter said data has shown attempts with a 45-degree arc are most effective.”We measure the arc, depth, and the left-right position of the ball as it enters the rim.” Carter said. From these three entry metrics, we can tell you precisely what a player needs to work on to maximize their shooting percentage.”In an interview with CNBC on Wednesday, Nurse said Noah’s systems appeared on his radar in 2017 when the company emerged at the annual MIT Sloan Sports Analytics conference in Boston.The Raptors pull Noah’s shooting data to analyze players’ performance and help fix shooting slumps should they arise. During the Raptors championship run in 2019, Nurse noted guard Kyle Lowry’s shooting arc was “flatter than it normally was when he makes a successful shot.”He said Lowry practiced his shooting using Noah to correct the problem. The system “verbalizes the degree of arc” of each shot, “so Kyle would do his workouts with it on and listen. I think it puts it into the front part of his mind to concentrate on [the shooting arc], and he’s getting immediate feedback. A game or two later, he was back to normal.”Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors goes up for a shot on Pascal Siakam #43 of the Toronto Raptors at Chase Center on March 05, 2020 in San Francisco, California.Ezra Shaw | Getty ImagesThe Steph Curry eraCarter said the NBA used Noah systems at its 2019 NBA Combine in Chicago, and the company plans to return to the event.With the rise of NBA sharpshooting star Stephen Curry, developing shooters is more of a focus in today’s game, especially three-point shooters. Hence, more teams are investing in shooting systems like Noah.”To me, Curry has changed the world of shooting,” Nurse said. “Young kids go out there and say, ‘This is where Steph shoots from,’ and they start finding a way to make their bodies work more efficiently so they can make the ball travel.””It changes spacing. It changes defense,” Nurse added. “It’s changed the game, and I think Steph and the Warriors had a lot to do with that along with the Rockets and their analytics.”Kyle Lowry #7 of the Toronto Raptors shoots the ball against the Detroit Pistons on March 29, 2021 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan.Chris Schwegler | National Basketball Association | Getty ImagesRaptors playing like zombies Though the Raptors are sitting 12th in the NBA’s Eastern Conference playoff race, the team is one of the better clubs overall in three-point shooting, ranking at No. 13. The Raptors have been plagued by injuries trades and playing games in Tampa Bay due to Covid-19. There’s speculation about the future status of team president Masai Ujiri.Before entering Wednesday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets, Nurse joked joked that this season has been “tumultuous.” But the Raptors have won three straight games as they look to stay alive in the postseason race. After the Nets contest, the Raptors will travel to New York to play the Knicks on Saturday.”I would say we’re zombie-like,” Nurse added. “We’re not going away yet. There is still basketball to be played. We’ve had everything thrown at us this year, but we’re hanging around.” More

In this articleNFLXNetflix’s story is far from over, according to a smattering of stock market analysts.Shares of the streaming giant fell nearly 7.5% on Wednesday following the company’s first-quarter earnings report. Though Netflix beat earnings and revenue estimates, a large drop in subscribers put a crimp on the stock.However, market watchers including CNBC’s Jim Cramer largely say this isn’t the end-all quarter for Netflix.Here are some of their takes:Tom Rogers, a longtime media mogul who is now executive chairman of Engine Media, said Netflix still has the upper hand in its industry:”I don’t particularly buy the notion that their programming was thin. They’ve done much better in terms of having new programming out there during the pandemic than anybody else. They had some very big shows out there at that point — ‘Bridgerton,’ ‘Lupin.’ But look, it was a surprise that they slowed a little bit. Does it derail the Netflix thesis? No. Remember, two years ago, they missed by over 2 million [subscribers] in the quarter, the stock went down by 10%, and [subscribers] soared from there. Valuations soared from there. Even last year, they had a quarter of only 2 million [subscribers]. This quarter they hit 4 million [subscribers]. So, look, [subscribers] are going to be lumpy. It does suggest it’s not so easy to build subscribers in the streaming world. I think others are going to struggle some with sluggishness even more than Netflix does. But if I had to say would I prefer Netflix’s hand to anybody else’s in the streaming world? Absolutely.”Rich Greenfield, partner and media and technology analyst at LightShed Partners, advised against getting caught up in the Netflix negativity:”This quarter was disappointing. There’s no way around … the guidance even for Q2 being more disappointing than the Q1 results. That said, I want to remind everyone that’s watching today: This has happened before, many times, actually. The reality is forecasting Netflix on a quarterly basis has become increasingly more challenging as the subscriber base has grown. The size of the beats and the size of the misses have grown pretty notably. I mean, if you go back, I remember being on ‘Squawk’ in the middle of 2019 after that Q2 print. We tend to all have a habit of overextrapolating any one quarter and trying to change the entire future of where the world is going. I think if you take a step back, though … the reality is what’s going on? Everyone is shifting to streaming. You’ve seen, obviously, [Comcast] jump in with Peacock. You’ve seen Discovery. You’ve seen Paramount+, part of Viacom. Everyone is moving towards streaming. All of the best content is moving towards streaming. Cord cutting is accelerating, and Verizon just reported. … They are 7% lower in video subscribers year over year. That’s a pretty crazy rate of decline in video subscribers. Your parent company Comcast is talking about losing upwards of 2 million video subscribers in 2020. So, the underlying trend of the shift from linear to streaming is just beginning, and remember, on a global basis, just keep this one stat in mind: In all of Asia-Pacific, Netflix has 27 million subscribers. It’s a market with hundreds of millions of potential subscribers over time. So, again, it’s very easy to get caught up in the negativity and being upset about Q1 numbers. The reality is there’s a long way to go and we’re still pretty early in the transition to streaming television.”Cramer, host of CNBC’s “Mad Money,” said he could see the $508 stock falling to around $490 a share:”I do believe they de-risked it. I do believe that they created … an outlook that basically can be beaten and is not necessarily the correct one. These guys have not been that great at forecasting. I think the most important line in the whole call was [Netflix CEO] Reed [Hastings] saying, listen, there’s 800 million TVs at the top other than China, so, that’s a lot of room to grow. I agree with that and I think that they were constrained by what they were showing. I don’t know, I mean, I think that this is an opportunity. I really do. I mean, maybe they can take it down to 490, but … I do very strongly believe that these guys are so confident and it’s not made up. Five billion dollar buyback. They’re fixing the balance sheet. There’s so much that’s good that I still think they’re having a great time. One day, there’ll be a conference call where they literally say, ‘OK, maybe things have run out.’ That’s not this one. I mean, this one was just basically pull through and don’t worry about it, and I agree with them. I think that this is a very good story.”Will Power, senior research analyst at Baird, saw the drop as a chance to buy:”We think there’s still a lot of runway ahead. And look, you’ve got to keep in mind this was a business with 200 million-plus subscribers, and so, whether you add 4 million or 6 million in a given quarter really doesn’t move the needle all that much. And I think a couple areas where we take a lot of comfort is the fact that engagement, according to the company, is still up year over year and that speaks to the long-term opportunity and the pricing power of the model. And churn remains fairly low, and lower than I think folks would’ve expected probably coming out of the pandemic. And so, as we look at the long-term opportunities, the penetration, the upside, we do like this as a buying opportunity.”Heather Moosnick, CEO of Moosnick Media Consulting Group and a former Hulu executive, had her eye on the competition in Hollywood:”In many ways, this Q1 story is a story of major Hollywood studios winning the battle. It remains to be seen if they’re going to win the war. Now, I agree that there’s a huge amount of headroom still for Netflix and the other streamers as well. With 200 million subscribers worldwide, they’re really going after the linear TV space. So, there are nearly 800 million TV subscribers worldwide outside of China and that leaves a lot of headroom still for that. But in Q1, we’re seeing some really interesting trends happening with the Hollywood studios launching their services, Disney+ reaching over 100 million [subscribers], and over 95% of the new subscribers in the U.S. to video streaming services were not Netflix in Q1. So, that speaks to the rise of these Hollywood direct-to-consumer services.”Mark Mahaney, senior managing director and head of internet research at Evercore ISI, also suggested buying the dip:”Every time you go through a Netflix earnings, you should ask yourself: Are you more or are you less confident on [subscriber] growth, margin expansion and RPU, the revenue they can get per user? And I thought the big question mark really was the [subscribers] that came out of last quarter. They showed record-high margins. … There was RPU growth despite the fact that they’re mid shifting towards lower-paying markets or economies. So, you’ve got two out of three things right, and our view on those [subscriber] numbers is you are going to have pull-forwards. It is impacted by the content slate. The stronger the content slate, the better the [subscriber] numbers. The weaker the content slate, the softer the [subscriber] numbers. But long term, this market, the entire entertainment market, is moving towards streaming and it’s moving towards a streaming bundle and Netflix is almost certainly going to be part of that. So, if I’m going to be soft in some place, I think they can make up for it later on with [subscribers]. That’s why we like this as an entry point. This isn’t the back-up-the-truck price, but it’s a back-up-the-minivan.”Disclosure: Peacock is the streaming service of NBCUniversal, parent company of CNBC. Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal.Disclaimer More

The Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday a Baltimore plant that ruined millions of Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine doses was unsanitary and unsuitable to manufacture the shots.The FDA asked Emergent BioSolutions, which runs the plant, to temporarily stop producing materials for Covid-19 vaccines earlier this month as the U.S. agency initiated an inspection.”The firm has failed to adequately train personnel involved in manufacturing operations, quality control sampling, weigh and dispense, and engineering operations to prevent cross-contamination of bulk drug substances,” the FDA investigators wrote in the report.The inspection, which was conducted earlier this month over a period of 8 days, revealed a raft of alarming quality issues found throughout the facility.In a 13-page report, inspectors wrote that the facility used to manufacture the vaccine was “not maintained in a clean and sanitary condition” and was “not of suitable size, design, and location to facilitate cleaning, maintenance, and proper operations.”FDA inspectors said paint was observed to be peeling in multiple areas and walls were damaged that could impact the plant’s “ability to adequately clean and disinfect.” They also noted that employees did not follow standard operating procedures in handling waste or vaccine manufacturing materials to ensure they weren’t contaminated.The facility has not been authorized by the FDA to manufacture or distribute Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine, and none of the doses manufactured at this plant has been distributed for use in the United States. Emergent has agreed to pause production of materials until the issues the FDA identified are resolved, the agency said.In a statement, J&J said it has increased “its oversight of drug substance manufacturing at the Emergent BioSolutions Bayview facility, including additional controls and personnel, to ensure the quality standards of our company and the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) are met.””Johnson & Johnson will exercise its oversight authority to ensure that all of FDA’s observations are addressed promptly and comprehensively,” it said.Emergent said it was committed to working with the FDA and J&J to fix the problems.”While we are never satisfied to see shortcomings in our manufacturing facilities or process, they are correctable and we will take swift action to remedy them,” it said in a statement.Robert Califf, the former commissioner of the FDA under the Obama administration, said that while the issues at the Baltimore plant appear “distressing,” manufacturing problems do happen and are a reason why FDA oversight is so important.”Supply chain and manufacturing is really a complicated set of issues, but that’s why you need an FDA and you need inspections, and it’s really a joint responsibility of the FDA and the companies themselves,” he told CNBC in a phone interview.Earlier this month, the Biden administration put J&J in charge of the Baltimore plant after U.S. officials learned that Emergent, a contract manufacturer that had been making vaccines for J&J and AstraZeneca, mixed up ingredients for the two shots. Officials also stopped production of the AstraZeneca vaccine.Pausing production of new materials is the latest setback for J&J. Last week, the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised states to temporarily stop using J&J’s vaccine “out of an abundance of caution” after six women developed a rare but potentially life-threatening blood-clotting disorder that left one dead and one in critical condition. A key CDC panel is scheduled to meet Friday to make a recommendation on the use of the vaccine.The FDA said Wednesday its actions on the Baltimore plant are unrelated to the ongoing evaluation of the blood-clotting cases. More

In this articleYUMTaco Bell is testing the Cravetarian TacoSource: Taco BellTaco Bell has begun testing its own meat alternative, giving its vegetarian customers yet another reason to come back to its restaurants.The Yum Brands chain has previously been hesitant to add plant-based meat to its menu, citing the array of vegetarian options, like potatoes and beans, that are already available as substitutes. In January, it changed course, announcing that it would test a Beyond Meat alternative this year.But first, customers will be able to try Taco Bell’s own plant-based option, made in the chain’s test kitchen. Its Cravetarian Taco, a vegetarian version of the Crunchy Taco Supreme, features a meat substitute made from a blend of peas and chickpeas. The taco also comes with shredded cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and sour cream in a crunchy shell.For now, the Cravetarian Taco is available only at one Taco Bell location — in Tustin, California. The chain plans to test the item until April 29. Customers can also swap the meat alternative into other menu items, like burritos or chalupas, for no extra cost.Shares of Yum, which also owns KFC and Pizza Hut, have risen 44% over the last year, giving the company a market value of $35.1 billion. Yum is expected to report its first-quarter earnings on April 28. The Mexican-inspired chain has largely bounced back from the coronavirus pandemic, but it’s still missing out on late-night and morning sales as consumers stay home. More

[The stream is slated to start at 1:15 p.m. ET. Please refresh the page if you do not see a player above at that time.]President Joe Biden is set to unveil a tax credit for small- and medium-sized businesses that offer their employees paid leave to get vaccinated for Covid and recover from possible side effects.Biden will also announce that the U.S. this week is set to hit 200 million Covid shots administered since he took office.Biden will also call on employers to use their resources to encourage and incentivize more people to get inoculated. The U.S. vaccination rate appears to have slightly dipped in recent days.The White House has maintained a tone of urgency around vaccinations, stressing that Covid remains a serious threat — especially as highly contagious variants spread through the U.S.Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube.  More

In this articleYELPKevin Kahovec and Mary Kate McGovern chat at Rizzo’s Bar & Inn in Wrigleyville as coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions are relaxed in Chicago, Illinois, March 6, 2021.Eileen T. Meslar | ReutersMore than 500,000 new businesses opened across the United States in the past year, new data from Yelp showed, as the economy recovered from the depths of the Covid pandemic.In its Economic Average Report, released Wednesday and compiled from the listings on its service, Yelp saw 516,754 new business openings from April 1, 2020, through March 31, remarkably down only 11% year over year. About 28%, 146,486, were in the first three months of 2021, down just 2% from a year earlier.”Our data shows that more new businesses opened in the U.S. during the first quarter of 2021 than at any other period over the last 12 months, providing an optimistic outlook that local economies are back on solid ground after a tumultuous year,” Yelp data science vice president Justin Norman told CNBC. “After a challenging year, 2021 is off to an encouraging start for the local economy.”Yelp’s data found that more than 69,000 new restaurants and food businesses opened in the past year. While that’s down 14% from the prior year, it’s still strong given those businesses were among the hardest hit by the coronavirus lockdowns in the early days of 2020 and the subsequent virus mitigation measures.”It seems like the year-over-year rise in new business openings mirrors the current housing market frenzy,” Norman said. “People are inspired to take advantage of low rents and create new jobs by putting their personal savings towards starting a new business venture.”Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsAcross the country, different states have seen different rates of reopening in the first quarter. But Yelp data found that every state except North Dakota saw a higher number of openings in Q1 than they did in the fourth quarter of last year. Not surprisingly, the states with the highest number of business openings were among those that eased restrictions throughout March or earlier, such as Michigan, Mississippi and South Carolina.Business reopenings reached summer highsSince March 1, 2020, nearly 258,200 businesses have reopened, with over 50,000 of them in the first quarter of this year, reaching the highest levels since last summer.Yelp has been publishing economic reports since the start of the pandemic, which caused the temporary or permanent shutdown of hundreds of thousands of businesses across the country. Yelp measures reopened businesses by counting U.S. businesses that were temporarily closed and opened again through March 31, 2021, and each reopened business is counted on the most recent day of its reopening.”Business reopenings also rose across the country and even spiked in Q1 2021,” Norman said.The types of businesses that have reopened strongly in Q1 mostly reflect sectors that were adversely impacted by the shutdowns, including bars, coffee houses, and breakfast and brunch spots.Tax services in particular saw a huge increase in reopenings. “In Q1, more banks and tax services have reopened to provide in-person assistance — that, coupled with an especially confusing 2020 tax season, helps explain why we’ve seen a spike in reopenings for tax professionals and banks,” Norman said.Again, Yelp data showed that certain states experienced an increased level of businesses reopenings, based on their easing of Covid restrictions. Some states, including Arkansas, Delaware and Mississippi, experienced over 65% of their total reopenings in just the last three months.Consumers show interest in home improvement, fitness and PickleballIn addition to measuring the number of new businesses and business reopenings, Yelp’s data also shows how consumer interests are changing and how demand was starting to return for some pre-pandemic activities in the first quarter. Yelp measures consumer interest by counting actions that users take on the site in order to connect with businesses. The real estate and home improvement trends continued to look strong, with Yelp data showing that states saw a 90% increase in interest in real estate brokers, and a 100% increase in junk removal services. In most states, demand for handymen and electricians was also up.”I think the trend we’re seeing with rising consumer interest in home and local services will be dependent on where you live and how flexible companies are with allowing employees to work from home,” Norman said.”With recent headlines that more than half of all U.S. adults have received at least one Covid vaccine, it makes sense that people are still improving their homes,” he added. “Americans are getting ready to get back to dinner parties, hosting indoor events, and a summer that will hopefully be better than the last.”Yelp also saw quarterly upticks in interest for some unique experiences and businesses. Interest in wineries increased over 300%. Some states saw a more than 700% increase in interest in international grocery stores. Certain states saw a 2,000% increase in interest in horseback riding. Missouri and Kansas saw a 200% uptick for interest in pickleball.Yelp data also shows an 18% increase in consumer interest in fitness and exercise in Q1, Compared with a baseline of December 2020, interest in nail salons, motorcycle rentals and driving schools saw brief spikes but have leveled out. Yelp also saw interest in guns and ammunition spike in January, followed by a leveling out in later months in the quarter. More