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    Don’t let this passport quirk upend your next vacation. It ‘trips a lot of people up,’ expert says

    Many countries require U.S. citizens to have a few months of validity remaining on their passport in order to travel.
    For example, Europe’s Schengen Area (which encompasses 27 European nations) requires at least 90 days of validity, and many nations in Asia and the Middle East require at least six months.
    Passport processing times have returned to their pre-pandemic norm after lengthy delays in 2023.

    Fatcamera | E+ | Getty Images

    Passport processing times are back to normal after big delays in 2023, making it less likely travelers will miss a trip because of a stalled renewal.
    However, another common passport snafu threatens to upend your trip overseas — and it involves passports that haven’t yet expired but are close to doing so.

    Many countries require that Americans have at least a few months of validity remaining on their U.S. passport in order to travel there, or to secure a visa to that country.
    More from Personal Finance:2024 is the ‘year of globetrotting.’ Here are some hot spotsNew Europe travel requirement delayed again, to 2025A controversial hack to save on airfare carries ‘super big risk’
    For example, the Schengen Area, which encompasses 27 European nations, requires a U.S. passport be valid for at least 90 days beyond the end of your trip (i.e., your return date), according to the State Department.
    Many countries in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions require at least six months of validity for permission to enter. Other areas like Hong Kong require one month.
    What this means: Gatekeepers like border officials will deny travel if your passport doesn’t have a certain amount of validity remaining. Some airlines won’t even let you board the flight. In these cases, your nonexpired passport would cost you a vacation.

    The requirement “trips a lot of people up,” said Charles Leocha, president and co-founder of Travelers United, a nonprofit advocacy group.  

    Don’t forget visas, too

    Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
    Christian Adams | The Image Bank | Getty Images

    Here’s the reason for the rule: When traveling to Europe, for example, a valid U.S. passport allows tourists to stay for up to 90 days without a visa. Border officials “often assume you will stay the maximum 90 days, even if this is not your intention,” according to the State Department.
    It’s important to remember that certain countries may require travelers to secure a separate visa for entry — typically at an additional cost, Leocha said. Brazil, for example, is reinstating a visa requirement for Americans on April 10. (It costs U.S. citizens $80.90 and lasts for 10 years.)
    Travelers can find passport-validity and visa requirements for specific countries on the State Department website.

    When to renew your passport

    “It’s just really important to plan ahead,” said Sally French, a travel expert at NerdWallet.
    She recommends applying for a new passport if it will expire within a year.
    A traditional passport — a passport book — costs $130 for adults. First-time applicants must pay an additional $35 acceptance fee. Travelers can also pay more for faster service: Expedited passport processing costs an extra $60.
    Passports are generally valid for 10 years. (They’re only valid for five years if the traveler was under age 16 when it was issued.)

    Passport processing times are back to normal

    Passport processing delays stymied many travelers last year as a historic volume of applications stressed government resources. The U.S. State Department issued more than 24 million passport books and cards during the 2023 fiscal year (from October 2022 to September 2023), a record high.
    Processing times ballooned to 10 to 13 weeks for a routine passport application, and seven to nine weeks for an expedited passport.
    By comparison, it took six to eight weeks for routine service and two to three weeks for expedited service before the Covid-19 pandemic. The State Department has returned to that pre-pandemic norm, it announced Dec. 18.

    Processing times don’t account for mailing. It can take the government up to two weeks to receive an application, and another two weeks for travelers to get their new passport.
    Almost half, 48%, of Americans have a passport, up from 5% in 1990, the State Department said. There are more than 160 million valid U.S. passports in circulation, nearly double the amount from 2007. More

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    Best-picture Oscar nominees ‘Barbenheimer’ account for 88% of the slate’s box-office haul

    The tag-team of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” represented 88% of the cumulative box office haul generated by best-picture Oscar nominees prior to their nomination.
    The 10 best-picture films together tallied $1.09 billion at the domestic box office ahead of Tuesday’s announcement, the fifth-highest haul for the slate of nominees since the academy began nominating 10 titles for best picture in 2009.
    That could boost viewership for the Oscars awards ceremony on March 10.

    Movie posters for “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” are pictured outside the Cinemark Somerdale 16 and XD in Somerdale, New Jersey, in 2023.
    Hannah Beier | The Washington Post | Getty Images

    “Barbenheimer” strikes again.
    It’s no surprise that Warner Bros.’ “Barbie” and Universal’s “Oppenheimer” were among the 10 best-picture nominees announced Tuesday for this year’s Academy Awards ceremony. The duo exploded into cinemas in July, generating big box-office bucks and enchanting critics and audiences alike.

    Helmed by academy darlings Greta Gerwig and Christopher Nolan, respectively, the dichotomous films have been on Oscar prediction lists for months. Although Gerwig missed out on a best director nomination, both filmmakers received nods for their screenplays.
    Altogether, “Oppenheimer” led the pack with 13 nominations, while “Barbie” tallied eight.

    Best Picture nominees for the 2024 Academy Awards

    “American Fiction” (MGM/Amazon)
    “Anatomy of a Fall” (Neon)
    “Barbie” (Warner Bros. Discovery)
    “The Holdovers” (Focus Features)
    “Killers of the Flower Moon” (Apple Original Films/Paramount)
    “Maestro” (Netflix)
    “Oppenheimer” (Universal)
    “Past Lives” (A24)
    “Poor Things” (Searchlight Pictures)
    “The Zone of Interest” (A24)

    The tag-team of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” also represented 88% of the cumulative box-office haul generated by best picture nominees prior to their nomination, according to data from Comscore.
    The 10 best picture films together tallied $1.09 billion at the domestic box office ahead of Tuesday’s announcement, the fifth-highest haul for the slate of nominees since the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences began nominating 10 titles for the top award in 2009.
    “Barbenheimer” accounted for $963.1 million of this year’s figure.

    Read more: ‘Oppenheimer’ and ‘Poor Things’ lead the Oscars nomination pack — See the full list
    Last year, the 10 best-picture nominees generated $1.57 billion at the domestic box office before their nominations, the highest-grossing class of nominees on record. The 2023 films benefited from $718 million in ticket sales from Paramount’s “Top Gun: Maverick” and nearly $600 million in receipts from Disney and 20th Century’s “Avatar: The Way of Water.”

    The box-office collection from nominated pictures can fluctuate greatly from year to year, depending on which films make the cut.
    “Best picture Oscar nominees are ostensibly chosen based on their artistic and filmmaking excellence and not their box office revenues,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. “Thus there are some years where the cumulative theatrical revenues for the films in contention are not reflective of their sheer popularity among moviegoers.”
    In some years, nominated films were released later in the year, meaning they collect smaller box-office receipts prior to getting a nod from the academy. Traditionally, Oscar-bait films are released in the last quarter of the year, with the majority hitting cinemas in November and December.
    For this year’s nominees, only three best-picture nominees arrived in theaters during that time — Searchlight’s “Poor Things,” MGM and Amazon’s “American Fiction” and A24’s “The Zone of Interest.” Together those three features generated less than $30 million at the domestic box office ahead of Tuesday’s announcement.
    Additionally, nominated films from Netflix do not count toward the box-office haul, as the streaming studio does not report what it makes from its limited theatrical runs. This year Netflix had only one best picture nominee, “Maestro.”
    According to Dergarabedian, those box-office dollars could translate to higher viewership for the Oscars awards ceremony on March 10.
    “Thanks to ‘Barbenheimer,’ this year, as we also saw in 2023, the combined box office of the best picture nominees pre-nomination is in excess of $1 billion in domestic revenue,” he said. “This is the dream scenario for the telecast and movie fans for whom the allure of rooting for their favorite film makes viewership more essential and in turn a presumed ratings boost for the network.”
    Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. More

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    GM unveils 2025 Chevy Equinox with new rugged design, standard heated seats

    General Motors is redesigning its gas-powered Chevrolet Equinox crossover to look more rugged than its predecessors in an attempt to move the vehicle upmarket and attract new buyers.
    The 2025 Equinox, which GM revealed Tuesday, will include additional standard safety and convenience features such as heated seats and a steering wheel.
    GM declined to disclose pricing for the next-generation Equinox. The vehicle’s current pricing starts around $28,000.

    The 2025 Chevrolet Equinox RS.

    DETROIT — General Motors is redesigning its gas-powered Chevrolet Equinox crossover to look more rugged than its predecessors in an attempt to move the vehicle upmarket and attract new buyers.
    The 2025 Equinox, which GM revealed Tuesday, will feature additional standard safety and convenience features.

    Brad Franz, director of Chevy car and crossover marketing, said the changes to the Equinox are meant to boost the appeal of the vehicle, which GM introduced about 20 years ago. The compact crossover has grown to be among GM’s best-selling vehicles.
    “It’s critically important for us to be introducing this product right now. We feel it’s going to be just as important, if not more, than [before],” he said. “We still expect it to be the No. 2 Chevy volume vehicle and, frankly, it plays in the biggest segment in the industry at 22% [market share]. We don’t see that declining.”
    Sales of the Equinox have been level the past two years at more than 212,000 units. The sales remain far below pre-Covid pandemic levels of nearly 350,000 units in 2019.

    The 2025 Chevrolet Equinox RS.

    The 2025 model will have heated seats and a heated steering wheel standard on all models — a first for the Equinox and many mainstream brands. Some automakers have implemented or discussed including such features in monthly or annual subscription fees rather than offering them as standard or optional features. GM said about 90% of owners surveyed wanted the features.
    Franz declined to disclose pricing for the next-generation Equinox, which is expected to arrive in dealer showrooms midyear in three trims: LT, RS and Activ. He said the company has “no intention of deviating too far from our current pricing.”

    Pricing for the 2024 Equinox ranges between $28,000 and $35,000, including mandatory destination fees.
    Among the reasons to buy an Equinox, customers most often cite price and value, according to GM. The entry-level LT is expected to account for about 60% of sales, Franz said.
    “Even though we are intending to push this vehicle upmarket like we have with some of our other executions we’ve announced, we are still highly focused on value,” he said.

    Design changes

    The exterior design of the next-generation Equinox is similar to other recently redesigned Chevy vehicles. It features a large hour-glass grille, a more sculpted design and slim front and rear lights. The design is similar but different than an all-electric Equinox that’s expected to go on sale this year after being delayed in 2023.
    On the interior, GM made changes to the compact crossover to make it roomier for the driver and passengers, including moving the gear shifter to the steering wheel column rather than between the passenger and driver or as buttons or knobs on the instrument panel.

    The 2025 Chevrolet Equinox Activ.

    For drivers who have used column shifters before, this is not like the ones of the past. It’s a growing technology in the auto industry called “shift by wire” that removes many manual components and allows the car to change gears with ease. With traditional column shifters, the driver needs to pull the lever forward and manually shift the vehicle into gears.
    The new Equinox features a new 11 inch diagonal configurable driver information center and 11.3 inch diagonal infotainment screen in front of the driver.
    “The first thing you’re going to notice when you get in there is the technology, the screens — it just doesn’t feel like an Equinox,” Franz said.
    The vehicle will be produced at a plant in Mexico, where Franz says GM has room to increase production, if needed.
    The 2025 Equinox will continue to be powered by a 1.5 liter, four-cylinder turbocharged engine that produces up to 175 horsepower and 203 foot-pounds of torque. The vehicle is standard with front-wheel drive and available in all-wheel drive.Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO: More

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    Markets ‘complacent’ about the risks of a Trump win, strategist says

    The former president’s tax reform bill in 2017 cut the top corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, and he has vowed on the campaign trail to lower it further to 15% if he is elected to a second term.
    Felices said that the market is “fairly complacent about the risks associated with a Trump win, fiscal expansion (e.g. tax cuts, defence budgets) and military conflict escalation.”

    Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump holds a rally in advance of the New Hampshire presidential primary election in Rochester, New Hampshire, U.S., January 21, 2024. 
    Mike Segar | Reuters

    Markets are “fairly complacent” about the risks of a second Donald Trump presidency, which could trigger a “tantrum” in long-duration bond markets, according to Guillermo Felices, principal and global investment strategist at PGIM.
    Wall Street has enjoyed a remarkable rally since November last year, culminating in both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 hitting record highs on Monday.

    Much of the market focus remains on short-term economic data and on what it means for the Federal Reserve’s potential interest rate cutting path this year.
    Bullishness in risk assets is driven largely by the consensus that the Fed will begin cutting rates rapidly in the early part of the year, and that the U.S. economy will manage a “soft landing” — bringing inflation back to the Fed’s 2% target without triggering a recession.

    Some analysts are also looking ahead through a fiscal and geopolitical lens to November’s U.S. presidential election and beyond.
    Trump’s tax reform bill in 2017 cut the top corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, and he has vowed on the campaign trail to lower it further to 15%, if he is elected to a second spell in the White House.
    Risk of a ‘duration tantrum’ in bond market
    In an email to CNBC on Monday, Felices said one of the developments that limited PGIM’s optimism versus the market consensus for an economic “soft landing” in the U.S. was that the market has been “fairly complacent about the risks associated with a Trump win, fiscal expansion (e.g. tax cuts, defence budgets) and military conflict escalation.”

    “A Trump presidency we think would be positive for the economy in the sense that there would be probably more fiscal stimulus through state tax cuts — the question is what that stimulus does to the bond market, and what’s the backdrop for the economy?”
    He explained, “If the economy is still very strong and it doesn’t really require that further fiscal stimulus, the bond market could start getting nervous about debt sustainability and higher interest rates, and therefore we could see higher yields, a bit of a duration tantrum, and risky assets wouldn’t like that.”

    The U.S. economy has proven surprisingly resilient in the face of a steep increase in interest rates to combat high inflation over the last two years, with growth and employment remaining robust. Thursday’s fourth-quarter GDP growth estimate will offer further insight into how activity is faring, as the Fed tries to wrestle price increases back to target.
    “If the backdrop is one where the economy is a lot weaker, and it deserves that extra fiscal push, then I think the market would be okay and would handle that in a good way — it would be supported. But it really depends on the economic backdrop that the U.S. economy is facing at that time.”
    ‘Fiscal risk’ at a time of high deficit
    The crucial point, Felices acknowledged, is America’s deteriorating fiscal position in recent decades. The U.S. government deficit is projected to run at between 6% and 8% through to the end of the decade, and Fitch projected on Monday that this shortfall would exceed 8% of GDP annually from 2023 to 2025.
    This would mean that whoever occupies the White House from January 2025 would have little room for either big government spending pledges or the type of tax cuts Trump is promising, he suggested.
    “The market at the moment is not really seeing that two-sided risk. At the moment, the market is pricing in ‘Oh, central banks will save the day again, they will cut rates, and if there is some weakness in the economy, they will cut by more’,” said Felices, a former senior economist at the Bank of England.
    “The market is not really focusing too much on the potential upside risks to yields that are associated with this potential repricing of term premia. [Having] fiscal risks with the sort of deficit that the U.S. is running is a really, really important one that the market will have to come to terms with again.”

    As such, he suggested that both risk assets and fixed income face a “much choppier” period ahead than investors have experienced over the last year.
    As well as the tax cuts, analysts have also flagged risks associated with Trump’s proposed 10% tariff on all U.S. imports, widely criticized as a net negative for the U.S. economy and consumers.
    Along with a very different macroeconomic environment, particularly much higher interest rates, the broader geopolitical landscape is also unrecognizable since Trump was last in office.
    Felices joined several strategists over the past week, who have argued that the former president’s famously erratic approach to foreign policy decisions carries an added risk to markets and to the economy in the current environment.
    Dan Boardman-Weston, CEO of BRI Wealth Management, told CNBC on Monday that Trump’s tendency to “change his mind” on geopolitical alliances — in a world of simmering tensions between China and Taiwan alongside Russia’s war in Ukraine — would lead to “heightened risks” and an added level of uncertainty that would impact market valuations. More

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    United Airlines forecasts first-quarter loss due to Boeing 737 Max 9 grounding

    The FAA grounded Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft earlier this month after a door plug blew out during an Alaska Airlines flight.
    United said it expects a quarterly loss of at least 35 cents a share due to the grounding.
    The first-quarter warning from United comes after a relatively strong holiday period.

    A United Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft lands at San Francisco International Airport on March 13, 2019.
    Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

    United Airlines on Monday forecast a first-quarter loss due to the Federal Aviation Administration’s grounding of Boeing 737 Max 9 planes this month after a part blew out during an Alaska Airlines flight operated with that type of aircraft.
    United expects to post an adjusted loss of between 35 cents and 85 cents a share for the first three months of the year, it said in a filing. The forecast is the first indication for investors of the financial damage caused by the FAA’s grounding of the planes, issued a day after the incident on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 on Jan. 5.

    United has 79 of the aircraft in its fleet, more than any other carrier, followed by Alaska. United said Monday it expects the planes to remain grounded through Jan. 26, though its forecast assumes it won’t be able to fly the planes at all this month.
    Both airlines have canceled hundreds of flights this month while the planes remain grounded for inspection. The more common Boeing 737 Max 8, which is in fleets at United, American and Southwest, isn’t affected by the grounding order.
    United said it expects unit costs, excluding fuel, to be up mid-single-digit percentage points in the first quarter from last year, three points of that impact coming from the Max grounding. It forecast flat unit revenues for the first three months of the year.
    The first-quarter warning from United comes after a relatively strong holiday period, though airlines have faced several winter storms in the first few weeks of January.
    United shares were up more than 6% in after-hours trading.

    For the last three months of 2023, United posted net income of $600 million, down nearly 29% from a year ago. Revenue came in at $13.63 billion, which was up almost 10% from a year earlier and ahead of analysts’ estimates. Adjusting for one-time items, United’s fourth-quarter earnings of $2 a share fell from $2.46 a year earlier.
    Here’s what United reported in the fourth quarter compared to what Wall Street expected, based on average estimates compiled by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:

    Adjusted earnings per share: $2.00 vs. an expected $1.69
    Total revenue: $13.63 billion vs. an expected $13.54 billion

    United hit its full-year adjusted earnings target of between $10 and $12 a share, posting $10.05 for the full-year 2023.
    “Despite unpredictable headwinds, we delivered on our ambitious EPS target that few thought possible — and set new operational records for our customers,” said United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby in an earnings release.
    The airline touted strong travel demand late last year and solid bookings so far this year. For the full-year 2024, United forecast adjusted earnings of between $9 and $11 a share, within analysts’ estimates.
    United executives are holding an earnings call at 10:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday when they are likely to face questions about compensation from Boeing for the grounding. Alaska reports before the market opens on Thursday, and Boeing is scheduled to report results Jan. 31.Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO: More

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    United CEO casts doubt on 737 Max 10 order after Boeing’s recent problems

    United is considering fleet plans without the Boeing 737 Max 10.
    CEO Scott Kirby expressed frustration with delays and manufacturing issues at Boeing.
    Kirby said the Max 9 grounding after a door plug blew on an Alaska Airlines flight is the “straw that broke the camel’s back.”

    United Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 passenger aircraft as seen taxiing at Chicago International Airport O’Hare ORD preparing for a departure flight. The modern and advanced Boeing 737M is a new commercial airplane, flying less than half year, with the registration tail number N77543, ETOPS certified and is powered by 2x CFMI jet engines. 
    Nicolous Economou | Nurphoto | Getty Images

    United Airlines is weighing plans without the Boeing 737 Max 10 after a series of delays and most recently, the grounding of a smaller variant of the plane, the carrier’s CEO said Tuesday.
    The Max 10 is the largest model of the plane and hasn’t yet been certified by the Federal Aviation Administration.

    United CEO Scott Kirby said the plane is already “best case” about five years delayed and expressed frustration at Boeing for the most recent problem in which a door plug blew out during an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 flight on Jan. 5, prompting the FAA to ground those planes.
    United has 79 of the 737 Max 9 aircraft in its fleet, more than any other carrier, and the ongoing grounding will drive a first-quarter loss, the airline said Monday while reporting its fourth-quarter earnings.
    “I think the Max 9 grounding is probably the straw that broke the camel’s back for us,” Kirby said in an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Tuesday. “We’re going to at least build a plan that doesn’t have the Max 10 in it.”
    Last week, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian told CNBC he was confident moving forward with his airline’s order of Boeing Max 10s.
    Boeing didn’t immediately comment.
    This is breaking news. Check back for updates. More

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    Netflix to stream WWE’s Raw starting next year in its biggest jump into live entertainment

    Netflix and TKO Group Holdings said Tuesday that the streaming platform will air the WWE’s flagship program Raw starting next year.
    Netflix is trying to drive revenue by cutting down on subscription sharing and pushing viewers toward its ad-tier membership.

    Source: WWE

    Netflix and TKO Group Holdings said Tuesday that the streaming platform will air the WWE’s flagship program Raw starting next year, in Netflix’s first major foray into live sports.
    The deal 10-year deal is valued at more than $5 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter.

    Netflix, which is trying to drive revenue by cutting down on subscription sharing and pushing viewers toward its ad-tier membership, has made few attempts at live programming in its history but has never struck a long-term sports rights deal before this. Adding Raw, which currently airs on USA Network, to its programming lineup will be a boon to the platform.
    For TKO, the parent company of WWE, striking a deal with Netflix brings WWE wrestling to more than 250 million global subscribers.
    Raw has been the top program on NBCUniversal’s cable network USA, drawing 17.5 million unique viewers per year, the companies said.
    Separately Tuesday, the WWE’s parent company TKO announced actor and former wrestling superstar Dwayne Johnson would join its board of directors.
    TKO shares jumped more than 10% in premarket trading following the announcements.

    Disclosure: Comcast NBCUniversal, CNBC’s parent company, owns USA Network.
    This story is developing. Please check back for updates.
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    Procter & Gamble price hikes boost revenue while Gillette write-down weighs on earnings

    Procter & Gamble on Tuesday reported mixed quarterly earnings and revenue for its fiscal second quarter.
    The company narrowed its outlook for full-year adjusted earnings per share, although its forecast for unadjusted earnings fell due to its plans to write down Gillette and restructure certain markets.
    After roughly two years of higher prices on their Charmin toilet paper and Downy fabric softener, consumers have pulled back on their purchases of P&G products.

    A Procter & Gamble (P&G) logo is seen during the 6th China International Import Expo (CIIE) at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai) on November 7, 2023 in Shanghai, China.
    VCG | Getty Images

    Procter & Gamble on Tuesday reported mixed quarterly earnings and revenue for its fiscal second quarter of 2024 as price hikes helped boost revenue 3%.
    The company also narrowed its outlook for full-year adjusted earnings per share to a range of $6.37 to $6.43, although its forecast for unadjusted earnings fell due to its plans to write down Gillette and restructure certain markets.

    Shares of the company rose about 1% in premarket trading.
    Here’s what P&G reported compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:

    Earnings per share: $1.84 adjusted vs. $1.70 expected
    Revenue: $21.44 billion vs. $21.48 billion expected

    P&G reported fiscal second-quarter net income attributable to the company of $3.47 billion, or $1.40 per share, down from $3.93 billion, or $1.59 per share, a year earlier.
    The Tide detergent owner wrote down the value of razor brand Gillette by $1.3 billion, following through on an announcement it made in December. The company previously said it would record up to $2.5 billion in charges over the next two fiscal years related to Gillette impairment charges and restructuring its business in some markets, like Argentina and Nigeria.
    Excluding the impacts of restructuring and intangible impairment, the company earned $1.84 per share.

    Net sales rose 3% to $21.44 billion. P&G’s organic revenue, which strips out the impact of acquisitions, divestitures and foreign exchange, rose 4% in the quarter.

    Product volumes

    After roughly two years of higher prices on their Charmin toilet paper and Downy fabric softener, consumers have pulled back on their purchases of P&G products. The company’s volume was flat overall for the quarter, and only its grooming business reported volume growth. The metric excludes the impact of currency and pricing changes to reflect demand.
    The grooming division, which includes Gillette, saw volume grow 1% in the quarter.
    P&G’s beauty segment reported flat volume for the quarter as sales of its pricey SK-11 skincare brand continued to struggle. Its fabric and home care business also reported flat volume.
    The company’s health care division reported volume declines of 3%. P&G said the market for respiratory products, like its brand Vicks, shrank during the quarter.
    P&G’s feminine, baby and family care business saw its volume fall 2% in the quarter, fueled by shrinking demand for its diapers and tampons. Of that division, only its family care segment, which includes Bounty paper towels, saw volume increase.
    For fiscal 2024, the company now anticipates core earnings per share growth of 8% to 9%, narrowing its prior range of 6% to 9%. However, it now expects unadjusted earnings per share to be flat to down 1%, significantly lower than a prior range of 6% to 9% growth.
    P&G reiterated its forecast for fiscal sales growth of 2% to 4%.
    This story is developing. Please check back for updates. More