Raphael Stevens

More stories

  • 113 Shares119 Views

    in Finance

    China urges U.S. cooperation as Trump trade threat looms

    “The Chinese side is willing, on the basis of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, to increase communication with the U.S., expand cooperation and resolve differences,” a China’s Ministry of Commerce spokesperson said Thursday.
    She was responding to a question about China’s views and planned countermeasures given the potential for increased U.S. tariffs and restrictions on high-end tech.
    Washington turned tougher on Beijing under Donald Trump’s first four-year term. While campaigning this year for his second term, the president-elect threatened additional tariffs on Chinese goods.

    U.S. President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping at the G20 leaders summit in Japan on June 29, 2019.
    Kevin Lamarque | Reuters

    BEIJING — China emphasized the need for greater cooperation with the U.S., a day after it became clear President-elect Donald Trump would become the next leader of the White House.
    “The Chinese side is willing, on the basis of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, to increase communication with the U.S., expand cooperation and resolve differences,” He Yongqian, spokesperson at China’s Ministry of Commerce, told reporters Thursday in Mandarin, according to a CNBC translation.

    She was responding to a question about China’s views and planned countermeasures, given the potential for increased U.S. tariffs and restrictions on high-end tech.
    “Together [we can] push China-U.S. economic and trade relations toward a stable, healthy and sustainable direction, for the benefit of both countries and the world,” the commerce spokesperson said.
    Her comments echoed those of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who earlier in the day noted the benefits of bilateral cooperation in a congratulatory message to Trump, according to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs readout.

    Washington turned tougher on Beijing under Trump’s first four-year term that began in 2017. This year, the president-elect threatened additional tariffs on Chinese goods while campaigning for his second mandate.
    Yue Su, principal economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit, said Trump will likely impose such tariffs in the first half of next year. She added that the Whiote House leader could speed up the process by invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act or Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the president to impose tariffs of up to 15% in response to a serious balance-of-payments deficit.

    Other analysts are less concerned about a significant increase in U.S. tariffs targeting China.
    “Trump’s current tariff proposal is likely the worst-case scenario,” David Chao, Global Market Strategist, Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) at Invesco, said in a note Thursday. “I suspect the new administration will hold off imposing these tariffs in order to win concessions, whether that may be more purchases of American soybeans or even geopolitical ones.”
    He added, “More so, I don’t think Trump’s proposed 60% tariff policy on China will significantly impact [multinational corporations’] confidence or sentiment.”
    Chao nevertheless said that a potential 10% tariff on all exports to the U.S. would likely have a bigger impact, weakening global demand and hitting China and the rest of Asia. More

  • 163 Shares189 Views

    in Business

    Moderna posts surprise profit as Covid vaccine sales impress, cost cuts take hold 

    Moderna on Thursday posted a surprise profit for the third quarter, smashing Wall Street estimates, as its cost-cutting efforts took hold and sales of its Covid vaccine came in higher than expected. 
    Moderna said Thursday its newest Covid vaccine saw benefits after winning approval in the U.S. three weeks earlier than the last iteration of the shot did in 2023.
    It is the first quarter that includes sales of Moderna’s vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus, its second-ever commercially available product. 

    Empty bottles of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine.
    Fred Tanneau | AFP | Getty Images

    Moderna on Thursday posted a surprise profit for the third quarter, smashing Wall Street estimates, as its cost-cutting efforts took hold and sales of its Covid vaccine came in higher than expected. 
    The biotech company posted a net income of $13 million, or 3 cents per share, for the third quarter. That compares with a net loss of $3.63 billion, or $9.53 cents per share, reported for the year-ago period.

    Shares of Moderna rose almost 9% in premarket trading Thursday.
    Moderna is slashing expenses, with a recently announced goal of achieving $1.1 billion in savings by 2027, as it tries to recover from the rapid decline of its Covid business. It is the first quarter that includes sales of Moderna’s vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, its second-ever commercially available product. 
    Before year end, the company plans to file for approval of its experimental “next-generation” Covid vaccine and combination shot targeting Covid and the flu. Moderna this year also expects to apply for expanded approval of its RSV vaccine, targeting high-risk adults ages 18 to 59. 
    Moderna said Thursday its newest Covid vaccine saw benefits after winning approval in the U.S. three weeks earlier than the last iteration of the shot did in 2023, which allowed the biotech company to “meet demand more effectively.” The company was able to ship out doses to pharmacies and healthcare providers and reach the arms of more patients sooner. 
    “I think the earlier launch and a steeper ramp drove a much higher sales number” for the Covid vaccine, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in an interview. During the first week of the vaccine’s launch, the company shipped twice as many products globally than it did in 2023, Bancel noted. 

    He added that “this was a big cost reduction quarter, and we’re going to continue to do that.” 
    Here’s what Moderna reported for the third quarter compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

    Earnings per share: 3 cents vs. an expected loss of $1.90
    Revenue: $1.86 billion vs. $1.25 billion expected

    Moderna booked third-quarter sales of $1.86 billion, only slightly higher than the $1.83 billion in revenue it recorded during the same period a year ago. The vast majority of that total came from its Covid shot, including $1.2 billion in U.S. sales and roughly $600 million from international markets. 
    The company’s third-quarter revenue also included $10 million in U.S. sales of its RSV shot, which won approval in May. Moderna said that sales of that shot were lower than expected since it was approved and recommended by regulators later in the contracting season, when many vaccine distributors had already completed their orders. 
    Analysts had expected sales of $132 million for the RSV vaccine, according to estimates compiled by StreetAccount. Moderna’s RSV shot is so far approved in the U.S., European Union, Norway, Iceland and Qatar. 
    The company reiterated its full-year 2024 product sales guidance of roughly $3 billion to $3.5 billion. Last quarter, Moderna slashed its outlook on lower expected sales in Europe, a “competitive environment” for respiratory vaccines in the U.S. and the potential for deferred international revenue into 2025. 
    Shares of Moderna are down almost 50% this year as investors mull over its path forward after Covid. The company is betting on a pipeline built around its messenger RNA platform, which is the technology used in its Covid vaccine and RSV shot. 
    The biotech company currently has 45 products in development, and expects to bring 10 of them to the market over the next three years. 
    Moderna is developing a standalone flu shot, a personalized cancer vaccine with Merck and shots for latent viruses, among other products.
    Cost of sales for the third quarter was $514 million, down 77% from the same period a year ago. That includes $214 million in write-downs of unused doses of the Covid vaccine and $27 million in charges related to the company’s efforts to scale back its manufacturing footprint, among other costs. 
    Research and development expenses decreased by 2% to $1.1 billion compared with the same period in 2023. Moderna said that decline was primarily due to lower clinical development and manufacturing expenses, citing decreased spending on clinical trials, among other factors.
    Meanwhile, selling, general and administrative expenses for the period fell by 36% to $281 million compared with the third quarter of 2023. SG&A expenses usually include the costs of promoting, selling and delivering a company’s products and services. More

  • 163 Shares129 Views

    in Business

    Warner Bros. Discovery adds 7.2 million Max subscribers, the streamer’s largest single-quarter jump

    Warner Bros. Discovery said streaming platform Max added 7.2 million global customers during the third quarter, bringing its total subscriber base to 110.5 million.
    The media giant’s streaming service has been growing its subscriber base at a fast clip since launching in international markets earlier this year.
    Warner Bros. Discovery reported third-quarter earnings before the bell on Thursday.

    Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty Images

    Warner Bros. Discovery said Thursday its streaming platform Max added 7.2 million global subscribers in the third quarter.
    It marked the biggest quarterly growth for the streaming platform since its inception. Max now has 110.5 million subscribers as of Sept. 30. Warner Bros. Discovery’s flagship streaming service has been growing its subscriber base at a fast clip this year since expanding internationally during the first half.

    The streaming business has become a bright spot for Warner Bros. Discovery as its traditional TV networks have been pressured by cord cutting and a soft advertising market. Last quarter, Warner Bros. Discovery reported a $9.1 billion write down on its TV networks.
    On Thursday, Warner Bros. Discovery reported third-quarter results that showed revenue decreased 4% to $9.62 billion compared to the same period last year. Total adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization were down 19% to $2.41 billion.
    TV networks revenue rose 3% to $5.01 billion compared to last year, despite declines in both distribution and advertising revenue for the segment. Studios segment revenue dropped 17% to $2.68 billion, with theatrical revenue falling 40%, excluding the impact of foreign currency exchange, due to the lower box office performances of “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” and “Twisters” compared to that of “Barbie” last year.
    However, the streaming business’s revenue increased 8% to $2.63 billion, driven by an increase in global subscribers, higher advertising revenue and global average revenue per user. Adjusted EBITDA for the segment was $289 million, an increase of $178 million compared to last year.

    Subscriber growth

    While Wall Street has turned its attention to streaming profits in favor of subscriber growth, media companies have been nonetheless been reporting customer additions so far this quarter.

    In October, streaming giant Netflix reported 5.1 million subscribers additions during the quarter, propelled by its ad-supported plan and beating Wall Street expectations. In total, Netflix now has 282.7 million memberships.
    However, beginning in 2025, Netflix will no longer update investors on its subscribers numbers as it shifts focus toward revenue and other financial metrics as performance indicators.
    Comcast’s streaming platform Peacock added 3 million subscribers during its third quarter — spurred by the Summer Olympics in Paris — bringing its total to 36 million as of Sept. 30.
    In August, Disney reported that Disney+ Core subscribers — which excludes Disney+ Hotstar in India and other countries in the region — increased by 1% to 118.3 million, despite the company’s earlier guidance that it wouldn’t add new customers during the fiscal third quarter.
    Disney’s Hulu saw subscribers increase 2% to 51.1 million. Disney reports its next quarterly earnings on Nov. 14.
    Paramount Global’s streaming division swung to an unexpected profit last quarter. Still, its Paramount+ streaming platform dropped 2.8 million subscribers to 68 million as it unwound a Korean partnership deal. Paramount reports quarterly earnings on Friday.
    Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC. Comcast is a co-owner of Hulu. NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics is the U.S. broadcast rights holder to all Summer and Winter Games through 2032. More

  • 125 Shares99 Views

    in Finance

    Adyen shares slide as payments giant’s transaction volume growth slows

    Adyen, whose technology allows businesses to accept payments online and in-store, reported third-quarter net revenue of 498.3 million, up 21% year-on-year.
    Despite the bumper sales number, shares of Adyen fell more than 6% Thursday off the back of a slowdown in transaction volume growth.
    Last August, Adyen shares tanked nearly 40% in a single day on the back of worse-than-expected sales and declining profits.

    Adyen reported a big miss on first-half sales Thursday. The news drove a $20 billion rout in the company’s market capitalization .
    Pavlo Gonchar | Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

    Adyen shares sank Thursday after the company reported a slowdown in the growth of its transaction volumes in the third quarter.
    Shares of Adyen fell nearly 6% Thursday after the company’s third-quarter report, paring losses of as much as 11% during earlier in the trading session. The stock initially failed to trade when markets opened in Amsterdam.

    Adyen’s sales growth came off the back of a rise in total processed volume (TPV), which climbed 32% year-over-year to 321 billion euros. In the first half, Adyen posted a 45% jump in TPV, after previously reporting 46% year-over-year growth in the first quarter.
    Analysts at Citi said in a research note that “weaker” transaction volume was likely to attract most of the focus from investors Thursday, amid concerns over end-market weakness.
    “Either way, the take rate on the processed volume is comfortably higher than expected and, if sustainable, should support sales growth acceleration in 2025/26, while the lower run-rate of hiring should support continued margin uplift,” they wrote.

    Digital processed volumes grew 29% year-over-year, Adyen said, lower than in the previous quarter due to impacts from a single large-volume customer, Block’s Cash App.
    The company otherwise reported a jump in sales in the third quarter as the Dutch payments firm gained wallet share and added new customers, diversifying its merchant mix. Adyen, whose technology allows businesses to accept payments online and in-store, reported third-quarter net revenue of 498.3 million euros ($535.5 million), up 21% year-on-year on a constant currency basis.

    The firm observed stronger traction from in-store payments in the third quarter, with its “unified commerce” point-of-sale terminals seeing 33% year-over-year growth, as it installed base of physical payment devices increased by 46,000 to 299,000.
    Adyen also said that it expanded hiring slightly, adding 35 new people in the quarter. The firm has been slowing hiring in the past year following concerns over its pace of investment.

    Last year, the Dutch payments giant’s shares tanked nearly 40% in a single day on the back of worse-than-expected sales and declining profits in the first half of 2023

    .
    Payments firms saw a boost from an increase in online shopping during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
    But in recent years, companies such as Adyen have faced pressure from lower consumer spending.
    Adyen, however, has benefited from significant growth from partnerships with its North American clients, such as Cash App in the U.S. and Shopify in Canada.
    Adyen kept guidance unchanged Thursday, saying it expects to achieve net revenue growth between the low to high-twenties percent, up to and including 2026.
    The firm added it expects to improve its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization to levels above 50% by 2026. Capital expenditure will remain consistent at a level of up to 5% of net revenues, Adyen said. More

  • 125 Shares149 Views

    in Finance

    What betting markets got right and wrong about Trump’s victory

    THE RISE of political polling and subsequent crackdowns on sports gambling drove political betting markets in America underground after the second world war. They remained in the shadows until last month, when a federal court cleared Kalshi, a betting exchange, to offer political bets to Americans. More than $400m has since been wagered on the site. The sums bet globally on other prediction sites reportedly tot up to several billion dollars. How did the speculators fare in America’s election? More

  • 113 Shares129 Views

    in Finance

    Big Macs, strawberry jam and the wealth of nations

    WHEN CHINA entered the Korean war in 1950, America was keen to take the measure of its new adversary. The government asked William Hollister to estimate the size of its GDP, relative to America’s own. Economists are often accused of giving two answers to any question. Hollister gave three. More

  • 88 Shares99 Views

    in Finance

    India is undergoing an astonishing stockmarket revolution

    It is the largest-ever experiment in participatory capitalism. As India’s stockmarket has surged, households have scrambled to stake a claim in its success. With barriers to entry falling, roughly 100m people not far above the poverty line have become capitalists, owning tiny stakes in publicly traded companies. One in five households today holds shares, up from one in 14 just five years ago. The number is set to rise further. According to India’s financial regulator, a new mutual fund with a minimum monthly contribution of 250 rupees ($3) will soon be launched. More

  • 50 Shares199 Views

    in Finance

    Barbarians on the porch

    Two private-equity bros walk into a Nobu. One thinks ordinary people investing in private markets is a swell idea. Stockmarkets are so concentrated that buying the S&P 500 index is just a bet on a handful of giant technology firms, he says. Everyone needs diversification. Private credit is here to stay and the bond market isn’t even that liquid. That corners of finance previously open only to institutions and the very rich are now accessible to more individuals is a good thing. Imagine the fees. More