Raphael Stevens

More stories

  • 125 Shares179 Views

    in Business

    Bally Sports regional networks go dark for Comcast cable customers

    Bally Sports regional networks went dark for Comcast cable customers early Wednesday, a month into MLB’s regular season, as carriage negotiations broke down with the channels’ bankrupt operator Diamond Sports Group.
    Comcast’s Xfinity pay-TV customers will automatically receive $8 to $10 a month in credits, the cable company said.
    The carriage spat presents another pain point for Diamond Sports — which is looking to emerge from bankruptcy this year — as well as for the beleaguered regional sports network industry.

    A Bally Sports display is shown in the eighth inning of the game between the Houston Astros and Minnesota Twins at Target Field on April 9, 2023 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Astros defeated the Twins 5-1.
    David Berding | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

    Comcast customers on Wednesday lost access to Bally Sports’ regional networks a month into MLB’s regular season.
    Fans of 11 MLB teams, including the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins, lost access to the networks that air local games early Wednesday. With the NBA and NHL postseasons in full swing, fans of teams in those leagues won’t feel the effect until next season if the blackout continues until then.

    Negotiations between Comcast and Bally Sports’ operator Diamond Sports Group, which has been under bankruptcy protection since last year, broke down following a dispute over terms. Comcast provides cable and internet services under the Xfinity brand.
    The blackout marks another pain point for the regional sports network business, which has faced pressure as consumers cut pay-TV subscriptions in favor of streaming.

    MLB teams no longer available to Comcast customers

    Detroit Tigers
    Miami Marlins
    Cincinnati Reds
    St. Louis Cardinals
    Tampa Bay Rays
    Texas Rangers
    Atlanta Braves
    Los Angeles Angels
    Kansas City Royals
    Minnesota Twins
    Milwaukee Brewers
    *Note: Comcast is not a provider in all of these teams’ markets.

    A Diamond spokesperson said in a statement on Tuesday that Comcast “refused to engage in substantive discussions” despite Diamond offering terms similar to those reached with other distributors.
    “We are a fans-first company and will continue to seek an agreement with Comcast to restore broadcasts, and at this critical juncture for Diamond, we hope that Comcast will recognize the important and mutually beneficial role Diamond and RSNs play in the media ecosystem,” a Diamond spokesperson said in the statement.
    Diamond’s agreement with Comcast expired in the fall, but the two companies agreed to a six-month extension at the time. A Comcast spokesperson said in a statement that Diamond had the right to extend the deal by another year, “which they opted not to exercise.”
    “We’d like to continue carrying their networks, but they have declined multiple offers and now we no longer have the rights to this programming,” the statement said. Comcast said it will provide affected customers with $8 to $10 per month in credits.
    Late Tuesday, Diamond said Comcast “rejected a proposed extension that would have kept our channels on the air.” The offer would have been open-ended and kept the networks on the air while negotiations continued with the aim of inking a multiyear agreement, a person familiar with the matter said.
    Conversations broke down primarily over how quickly Comcast could shift the Bally Sports networks into a tiered model, meaning customers would have to opt into packages that include the channels at a higher rate rather than having them included in broader cable packages.
    Pay-TV distributors have been losing customers at a fast clip in recent years as customers opt for cheaper streaming options. Comcast had more than 13.6 million pay-TV customers as of March 31, after losing 487,000 subscribers during the first quarter.
    Some regional sports networks have begun offering streaming options to customers at a price point that doesn’t upend the pay-TV model. Diamond has the streaming rights to five of the MLB teams that lost service on Comcast.
    Carriage deals with distributors are considered key to ensuring a viable business plan and future for Diamond. In addition to Comcast, Diamond has held negotiations in recent weeks with Charter Communications — which provides pay-TV services under the Spectrum brand — DirecTV and Cox Communications.
    Diamond has so far signed multiyear deals with Charter and Cox. On Wednesday, DirecTV said it also reached a deal with Diamond to continue carrying the networks. The deals extend the terms of the current agreements, with a shift to a tiered model over time, people close to the situations said.
    While Diamond and internet-TV bundle FuboTV also signed a multiyear deal in December, the Bally Sports networks are absent from other major internet-TV providers, such as Google’s YouTube TV and Disney’s Hulu+ Live TV.
    Diamond filed for bankruptcy last March. In the time since, it has rejected rights agreements with some teams, including MLB’s San Diego Padres and the NBA’s Phoenix Suns, which signed a deal to air games through local broadcast stations.
    The largest operator of regional sports networks is looking to emerge from bankruptcy in the coming months under the ownership of its creditors and has a hearing to confirm its reorganization plan scheduled in June.
    Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC.

    Don’t miss these exclusives from CNBC PRO More

  • 100 Shares119 Views

    in Finance

    Here’s what changed in the new Fed statement

    U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell holds a press conference following a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee on interest rate policy in Washington, D.C., on March 20, 2024.
    Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters

    This is a comparison of Wednesday’s Federal Open Market Committee statement with the one issued after the Fed’s previous policymaking meeting in March.
    Text removed from the March statement is in red with a horizontal line through the middle.

    Text appearing for the first time in the new statement is in red and underlined.
    Black text appears in both statements.

    Arrows pointing outwards More

  • 88 Shares159 Views

    in Finance

    Working from home and the US-Europe divide

    When it comes to economic growth, America comfortably beats Europe. Many factors have fed America’s outperformance, from tech innovation to vast oil reserves. But there is one explanation that seems almost too simplistic: that “Americans just work harder”, as the head of Norway’s oil fund put it in an interview with the Financial Times on April 24th.The numbers do in fact bear out this assertion—a rare case of national stereotypes being empirically provable. On average Americans work 1,811 hours per year, according to data from the OECD, a club of mostly rich countries. That is 15% more than in the EU, where the average is 1,571 hours. And it is not just that Europeans spend a few extra weeks on the beach. The typical working day in Britain, France and Germany is half an hour shorter than in America, according to the International Labour Organisation. More

  • 138 Shares129 Views

    in Finance

    Why hundreds of U.S. banks may be at risk of failure

    Hundreds of small and regional banks across the U.S. are feeling stressed.”You could see some banks either fail or at least, you know, dip below their minimum capital requirements,” Christopher Wolfe, managing director and head of North American banks at Fitch Ratings, told CNBC.
    Consulting firm Klaros Group analyzed about 4,000 U.S. banks and found 282 banks face the dual threat of commercial real estate loans and potential losses tied to higher interest rates.

    The majority of those banks are smaller lenders with less than $10 billion in assets.
    “Most of these banks aren’t insolvent or even close to insolvent. They’re just stressed,” Brian Graham, co-founder and partner at Klaros Group, told CNBC. “That means there’ll be fewer bank failures. But it doesn’t mean that communities and customers don’t get hurt by that stress.”
    Graham noted that communities would likely be affected in ways that are more subtle than closures or failures, but by the banks choosing not to invest in such things as new branches, technological innovations or new staff.
    For individuals, the consequences of small bank failures are more indirect.
    “Directly, it’s no consequence if they’re below the insured deposit limits, which are quite high now [at] $250,000,” Sheila Bair, former chair of the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., told CNBC.

    If a failing bank is insured by the FDIC, all depositors will be paid “up to at least $250,000 per depositor, per FDIC-insured bank, per ownership category.”
    Watch the video to learn more about the risk of commercial real estate, the role of interest rates on unrealized losses and what it may take to relieve stress on banks — from regulation to mergers and acquisitions. More

  • 213 Shares149 Views

    in Business

    Pfizer beats revenue estimates, raises profit outlook on cost cuts and smaller-than-feared drop in Covid drug sales

    Pfizer reported first-quarter revenue that beat expectations and hiked its full-year profit outlook, benefiting from its broad cost-cutting program and strong sales of its non-Covid products.
    The pharmaceutical giant’s quarterly results also benefited from a smaller-than-feared drop in sales for its Covid antiviral pill Paxlovid.
    The results come as Pfizer tries to regain its footing after the rapid decline of its Covid business.

    Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty Images

    Pfizer on Wednesday reported first-quarter revenue that beat expectations and hiked its full-year profit outlook, benefiting from its broad cost-cutting program, a smaller-than-feared drop in sales of its Covid antiviral pill Paxlovid and strong non-Covid product sales.
    The company now expects to book adjusted earnings of $2.15 to $2.35 per share for the fiscal year, up from its prior guidance of $2.05 to $2.25 per share. Pfizer reiterated its previous revenue forecast of $58.5 billion and $61.5 billion, which it first outlined in mid-December. 

    The pharmaceutical giant said its new profit guidance accounts for its “confidence” in its business and its ability to slash costs. Pfizer said it is on track to deliver at least $4 billion in savings by the end of the year.
    The results come as Pfizer tries to regain its footing after the rapid decline of its Covid business. Demand for those products has plunged to new lows, and they transitioned to the commercial market in the U.S. last year. As revenue suffers, the company is trying to improve its bottom line and shore up investor confidence through its cost cuts and a renewed focus on treating cancer after its $43 billion acquisition of Seagen last year. 
    Here’s what Pfizer reported for the first quarter compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG: 

    Earnings per share: 82 cents adjusted, it was not immediately clear if it is comparable to the 52 cents expected.
    Revenue: $14.88 billion vs. $14.01 billion expected.

    Pfizer recorded first-quarter revenue of $14.88 billion, down 20% from the same period a year ago, primarily because of the plunge in sales of its Covid products.
    For the first quarter, Pfizer booked net income of $3.12 billion, or 55 cents per share. That compares with net income of $5.54 billion, or 97 cents per share, during the same period a year ago. 

    Excluding certain items, the company posted earnings per share of 82 cents for the quarter. 
    Notably, the company said its adjusted and nonadjusted profit got an 11 cents per share boost from a $771 million final adjustment to the estimated $3.5 billion revenue reversal recorded in the fourth quarter, reflecting 5.1 million courses of Paxlovid returned by the U.S. government by Feb. 29. 
    Paxlovid booked $2 billion in revenue for the quarter, down 50% from the same period a year ago. That decline was mainly because of lower deliveries around the world as the product transitioned to commercial market sales, along with lower demand in China. 
    Meanwhile, Pfizer’s Covid vaccine generated $354 million in sales, down 88% from the year-earlier period. That drop was also driven by lower contract deliveries and demand in international markets, as well as lower U.S. volumes, partly reflecting the seasonality of demand for vaccinations.
    Shares of Pfizer fell roughly 40% in 2023 as demand for Paxlovid and its vaccine against the virus dried up, causing the company to dramatically slash its full-year revenue forecast and record multibillion-dollar charges related to inventory write-offs. Pfizer also disappointed the Street with an underwhelming launch of a new RSV shot and a twice-daily weight loss pill that fell short in clinical trials. 

    Non-Covid product strength

    Excluding Covid products, Pfizer said revenue for the first quarter rose 11%.
    The company said that growth was partly fueled by Seagen’s products, which brought in $742 million in revenue for the quarter. That includes a targeted treatment for bladder cancer called Padcev and another drug that treats certain lymphomas. 
    Pfizer completed its acquisition of the drugmaker in December. 
    The company said revenue also got a boost from strong sales of Vyndaqel drugs, which are used to treat a certain type of cardiomyopathy, a disease of the heart muscle. Those drugs booked $1.14 billion in sales, up 66% from the first quarter of 2024.
    Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected that group of drugs to rake in $909.1 million for the quarter. 
    Pfizer also said its blood thinner Eliquis, which is co-marketed by Bristol Myers Squibb, helped drive revenue growth. The drug posted $2.04 billion in revenue for the quarter, up 9% from the same period a year ago. 

    More CNBC health coverage

    Analysts had expected Eliquis to take in $1.95 billion in sales, according to FactSet.
    A group of shots to protect against pneumococcal pneumonia brought in $1.69 billion in sales for the first quarter, up 6% from the year-ago period. That growth was driven by uptake among children in the U.S. and government purchases, among other factors. 
    Analysts had expected that group of shots to book $1.63 billion in sales for the quarter, FactSet estimates said.
    Meanwhile, Pfizer’s new vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, saw $145 million in revenue, primarily driven by uptake among older adults. The shot, known as Abrysvo, entered the market during the third quarter for seniors and expectant mothers who can pass on protection to their fetuses. 
    The vaccine fell short of analysts’ estimate of $360 million in revenue for the first quarter, according to FactSet.
    Pfizer’s medication for certain breast cancers, Ibrance, generated $1.05 billion in revenue for the period, down 8% from the same period a year ago. The decline came as the drug faced competitive pressure and price decreases in certain international markets.  
    Revenue from that drug was roughly in line with what analysts were expecting. 

    Don’t miss these exclusives from CNBC PRO More

  • 150 Shares119 Views

    in Business

    CVS posts big earnings miss, cuts profit outlook on higher medical costs

    CVS Health on Wednesday reported first-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings that missed expectations.
    The company also lowered its full-year profit outlook, citing higher medical costs that are dogging the broader U.S. insurance industry.
    Insurers have been seeing medical costs spike as an increasing number of Medicare Advantage patients return to hospitals to undergo procedures they had delayed during the pandemic.

    CVS Health on Wednesday reported first-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings that missed expectations and slashed its full-year profit outlook, citing higher medical costs that are dogging the U.S. insurance industry.
    Shares of the company dropped 10% in premarket trading.

    The drugstore chain expects 2024 adjusted earnings of at least $7 per share, down from a previous guidance of at least $8.30 per share. Analysts surveyed by LSEG were expecting full-year adjusted profit of $8.28 per share. 
    CVS also cut its unadjusted earnings guidance to at least $5.64 per share, down from at least $7.06 per share. 
    The company said its new outlook assumes that higher medical costs in its insurance business during the first quarter will persist throughout the year. CVS owns health insurer Aetna. 
    Still, CVS CEO Karen Lynch said in a statement that the “the current environment does not diminish our opportunities, enthusiasm, or the long-term earnings power of our company.” CVS is confident “we have a pathway to address our near-term Medicare Advantage challenges,” she added.
    Insurers such as Humana and UnitedHealth Group have seen medical costs spike as more Medicare Advantage patients return to hospitals for procedures they delayed during the pandemic, such as joint and hip replacements. 

    Medicare Advantage, a privately run health insurance plan contracted by Medicare, has long been a key source of growth and profits for the insurance industry. But investors have become more concerned about the runaway costs associated with those plans, which cover more than half of all Medicare beneficiaries. 
    Here’s what CVS reported for the first quarter compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG: 

    Earnings per share: $1.31 adjusted vs. $1.69 expected
    Revenue: $88.44 billion vs. $89.21 billion expected

    CVS reported net income of $1.12 billion, or 88 cents per share, for the first quarter. That compares with net income of $2.14 billion, or $1.65 per share, for the same period a year ago. 
    Excluding certain items, such as amortization of intangible assets and capital losses, adjusted earnings per share were $1.31 for the quarter.
    CVS booked sales of $88.44 billion for the quarter, up nearly 4% from the year-earlier period. That increase was driven by its pharmacy business and insurance unit. 
    Meanwhile, CVS said sales in its health services segment, which includes the pharmacy benefit manager Caremark, declined during the period. That was mainly due to the loss of a large unnamed client, the company noted. 
    In January, Tyson Foods said it had dropped CVS’ Caremark and instead chose PBM startup Rightway to manage drug benefits for its 140,000 employees starting this year. That came months after Blue Shield of California, one of the largest insurers in the nation’s most populous state, also dropped Caremark and instead partnered with Amazon Pharmacy and Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs company. 
    Those decisions add to an upheaval in the health-care industry, as startups promising lower costs and transparency challenge the largest PBMs and pressure them to change their own business models. 
    The first-quarter results come as CVS pushes to transform from a major drugstore chain into a large health-care company. CVS deepened that push over the last year with its nearly $8 billion acquisition of health-care provider Signify Health and a $10.6 billion deal to buy Oak Street Health, which operates primary-care clinics for seniors.

    Pressure on insurance unit

    CVS’ health insurance segment generated $32.24 billion in revenue during the quarter, a more than 24% increase from the first quarter of 2023. The division includes plans by Aetna for the Affordable Care Act, Medicare Advantage and Medicaid, as well as dental and vision.
    Sales blew past analysts’ estimate of $30.69 billion for the period, according to StreetAccount. 
    But the insurance division reported adjusted operating income of just $732 million for the first quarter. That is well below analysts’ expectation of $1.19 billion, according to FactSet. 

    More CNBC health coverage

    The segment’s medical benefit ratio — a measure of total medical expenses paid relative to premiums collected — increased to 90.4% from 84.6% a year earlier. A lower ratio typically indicates that the company collected more in premiums than it paid out in benefits, resulting in higher profitability.
    Analysts had expected that ratio to be 88.4%, according to FactSet estimates. 
    CVS said the rise was mainly driven by increased utilization of Medicare Advantage and the “unfavorable impact” of the company’s Medicare Advantage star ratings. Those ratings help Medicare patients compare the quality of Medicare health and drug plans. 
    CVS added that an additional day in 2024 due to the leap year also contributed to the higher medical benefit ratio. 

    Health services, pharmacy businesses miss

    A workers stocks the shelves in a CVS pharmacy store on February 07, 2024 in Miami, Florida. 
    Joe Raedle | Getty Images

    The company’s health services segment generated $40.29 billion in revenue for the quarter, a nearly 10% drop compared with the same quarter in 2023. 
    The division includes CVS Caremark, which negotiates drug discounts with manufacturers on behalf of insurance plans, along with health-care services delivered in medical clinics, through telehealth and at home.
    Those sales were in line analysts’ estimate of $40.29 billion in revenue for the period, according to FactSet. 
    CVS said the decline was driven in part by the loss of the unnamed client and “continued pharmacy client price improvements.” The decrease was partially offset by growth in Oak Street Health, Signify Health and specialty pharmacy services, which help patients who are suffering from complex disorders and require specialized therapy. 
    The health services division processed 462.9 million pharmacy claims during the quarter, down from the 587.3 million during the year-ago period. 
    CVS’ pharmacy and consumer wellness division booked $28.73 billion in sales for the first quarter, up almost 3% from the same period a year earlier. That segment dispenses prescriptions in CVS’ more than 9,000 brick-and-mortar retail pharmacies and provides other pharmacy services, such as diagnostic testing and vaccination. 
    Analysts had expected the division to bring in $29.5 billion in sales, according to FactSet. 
    The company said the rise was primarily driven by heightened prescription volume, including increased contributions from vaccinations. Pharmacy reimbursement pressure, the launch of new generic drugs and decreased front-store volume, among other factors, weighed on the division’s sales. 

    Don’t miss these exclusives from CNBC PRO More

  • 175 Shares169 Views

    in Finance

    NYCB shares jump after new CEO gives two-year plan for ‘clear path to profitability’

    New York Community Bank on Wednesday posted a quarterly loss of $335 million on a rising tide of soured commercial loans and higher expenses, but the lender’s stock surged on its new performance targets.
    The first-quarter loss, equal to 45 cents per share, compared to net income of $2.0 billion, or $2.87 per share a year earlier.
    When adjusted for charges included merger-related items, the loss was $182 million, or 25 cents per share, deeper than the 15 cents per share loss estimate from LSEG.

    A New York Community Bank stands in Brooklyn, New York City, on Feb. 8, 2024.
    Spencer Platt | Getty Images

    New York Community Bank on Wednesday posted a quarterly loss of $335 million on a rising tide of soured commercial loans and higher expenses, but the lender’s stock surged on its new performance targets.
    The first-quarter loss, equal to 45 cents per share, compared to net income of $2.0 billion, or $2.87 per share a year earlier. When adjusted for charges included merger-related items, the loss was $182 million, or 25 cents per share, deeper than the 15 cents per share loss estimate from LSEG.

    “Since taking on the CEO role, my focus has been on transforming New York Community Bank into a high-performing, well-diversified regional bank,” CEO Joseph Otting said in the release. “While this year will be a transitional year for the company, we have a clear path to profitability over the following two years.”
    The bank will have higher profitability and capital levels by the end of 2026, Otting said. That includes a return on average earning assets of 1% and a targeted common equity tier 1 capital level of 11% to 12%.
    Otting took over at the beleaguered regional bank at the start of April after an investor group led by former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin injected more than $1 billion into the lender. NYCB’s troubles began in late January with a disastrous fourth-quarter earnings report when it shocked analysts with its level of loan loss provisions. The bank’s stock plunged amid multiple management changes and rating agency downgrades.
    Shares of the bank jumped 20% in premarket trading.
    NYCB has “identified an opportunity” to sell $5 billion in assets to boost the company’s liquidity levels, Otting told analysts during a conference call. That transaction could close within 60 to 70 days and may be announced soon, he added.
    This story is developing. Please check back for updates. More

  • 213 Shares149 Views

    in Business

    Johnson & Johnson will pay $6.5 billion to resolve nearly all talc ovarian cancer lawsuits in U.S.

    Johnson & Johnson said it will pay $6.5 billion to settle nearly all of the thousands of lawsuits in the U.S. claiming its talc-based products caused ovarian cancer.
    The deal would allow J&J to resolve the lawsuits through a third bankruptcy filing of a subsidiary company, LTL Management. 
    J&J said the remaining pending lawsuits relate to a rare cancer called mesothelioma and will be addressed outside of the new settlement plan. 

    Johnson & Johnson on Wednesday said it will pay $6.5 billion to settle nearly all of the thousands of lawsuits in the U.S. claiming its talc-based products caused ovarian cancer.
    The deal would allow J&J to resolve the lawsuits through a third bankruptcy filing of a subsidiary company, LTL Management. 

    More CNBC health coverage

    It will begin a three-month voting period for claimants, in hopes of reaching a consensus on a settlement of all current and future ovarian cancer claims. About 99% of the talc-related lawsuits filed against J&J and its subsidiaries stem from ovarian cancer. 
    J&J said the remaining pending lawsuits relate to a rare cancer called mesothelioma and will be addressed outside of the new settlement plan. 
    The pharmaceutical giant said it has already resolved 95% of mesothelioma lawsuits filed to date.

    Don’t miss these exclusives from CNBC PRO More