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    in Finance

    China’s Xiaomi unveils its first EV as it looks to compete with Porsche, Tesla

    Chinese consumer electronics company Xiaomi on Thursday detailed plans to enter China’s oversaturated electric vehicle market and compete with automaker giants Tesla and Porsche with a car model it says it spent more than 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) to develop.
    The company’s car model, known as Xiaomi SU7, “is in trial production and it will hit the domestic market in a few months,” CEO Lei Jun said in a Tuesday post on the X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter. “The price has not been finalized yet.”
    Pronounced “Sue Qi” in Mandarin, the Xiaomi SU7 beats Porsche’s Taycan and Tesla’s Model S on acceleration and other metrics, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun said during a three-hour presentation on Thursday.

    Chinese smartphone company Xiaomi revealed on Dec. 28, 2023, its forthcoming electric car, the SU7 sedan.
    CNBC | Evelyn Cheng

    BEIJING — Chinese consumer electronics company Xiaomi on Thursday detailed plans to enter China’s oversaturated electric vehicle market and compete with automaker giants Tesla and Porsche with a car model it says it spent more than 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) to develop.
    The company’s car model, known as Xiaomi SU7, “is in trial production and it will hit the domestic market in a few months,” CEO Lei Jun said in a Tuesday post on the X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter. “The price has not been finalized yet.”

    Pronounced “Sue Qi” in Mandarin, the Xiaomi SU7 beats Porsche’s Taycan and Tesla’s Model S on acceleration and other metrics, Lei said during a three-hour presentation on Thursday.
    He laid out bold ambitions to become an industry leader, including in autonomous driving and noted that the SU7 design team previously worked at BMW and Mercedes Benz.
    Sales are due to begin in 2024, after more than three years of development— during which electric vehicles have taken off in China’s highly competitive market, and domestic automakers have begun to differentiate their products through ambitious offerings of car-compatible tech.
    This is an area of potential advantage for Xiaomi, which is best known for its smartphones and home appliances and previously said it wants to create a “‘Human x Car x Home’ smart ecosystem.”
    The SU7 is integrated with Xiaomi’s smartphones and internet-connected home appliances, Lei announced Thursday. He emphasized the company’s efforts to ensure data privacy among the devices and create a car that surpasses U.S. safety standards for rear-end collisions.

    Lei said the vehicle will also be compatible with Apple’s iPhone, iPad, CarPlay and AirPlay. The U.S. giant has yet to release a car despite widespread speculation of such plans.

    Stock chart icon

    Two Xiaomi SU7 models appeared on a list of tax-exempt new energy vehicles published by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Tuesday.
    The document described the cars as purely battery powered, with driving range of 628 kilometers (390 miles) to 800 kilometers. The ministry listed a subsidiary of state-owned BAIC Group as the manufacturer for the Xiaomi SU7.
    While the car isn’t yet available, Xiaomi has started selling its flagship smartphone and smart watch in the “aqua blue” and “olive oil green” colors of the SU7 sedan.
    A price for the SU7 has yet to be revealed, but Lei hinted the purchase would not be cheap and dismissed rumors of a 99,000 yuan or 140,000 yuan price tag.

    Read more about China from CNBC Pro

    The Xiaomi car tech event comes as several domestic EV players have recently revealed new electric vehicles.

    Nio on Saturday debuted its 800,000 yuan ($113,090) ET9, set to begin deliveries in the first quarter of 2025.
    Huawei’s Aito brand on Tuesday unveiled its M9 SUV — starting at 469,800 yuan and due to begin mass deliveries in late February 2024.
    Zeekr, backed by Geely, on Wednesday announced its 007 sedan would start at 209,000 yuan with deliveries beginning on Jan. 1.

    Xpeng, which Xiaomi backed in 2019, is set to launch its X9 vehicle on Jan. 1, 2024. Ahead of the Thursday event, Lei shared pictures on popular Chinese social media platform Weibo which showed buildings lit up with messages of Xiaomi saying it salutes BYD, Nio, Xpeng, Li Auto and Huawei.
    Xiaomi shares closed 0.25% lower in Hong Kong trading on Thursday. The company’s Hong Kong-traded shares are up by more than 40% so far this year. The business claimed record sales of more than $3 billion across various e-commerce platforms during this year’s Singles Day shopping festival.
    Xiaomi has said it expects to spend 20 billion yuan ($2.8 billion) on research on development this year, up by 25% from 2022 and more than double the amount spent in 2020. More

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    in Business

    From ‘Barbenheimer’ to Taylor Swift, here are the most important films of 2023 and why they worked

    From big blockbusters to independent, shoestring-budget indies, the 2023 box office saw great improvements over last year.
    Most industry analysts don’t expect a full return to pre-pandemic ticket sales until 2025, especially after months of production shutdowns due to Hollywood labor strikes.
    Here’s a look at some of the most important theatrical releases of 2023 and why they worked.

    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

    Call 2023 an explosive comeback at the box office.
    There were blonde bombshells in “Barbie,” actual bombs in “Oppenheimer” and small-budget blockbusters — each of them aiding the theatrical industry in bolstering ticket sales and drawing relapsed customers back to the big screen.

    With one week left in the year, the 2023 box office has tallied $8.8 billion in ticket sales, about 20% down from the same period in 2019 but up 21% over last year.
    Much of that haul was due to Warner Bros. Discovery’s “Barbie” and Universal’s “Oppenheimer” and “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.” Together, those three films contributed more than $1.5 billion to the domestic box office, according to data from Comscore. Globally, the films have generated more than $3.7 billion in ticket sales.
    This year’s box office wasn’t just buoyed by big-budget content. Several lower-budget films sparked public interest, driving moviegoers away from their couches and toward cinemas. These films filled gaps in the calendar created by Hollywood labor strikes and challenged the status quo of how the industry operates.
    There’s still room for improvement in 2024, and most industry analysts don’t expect a return to form until 2025 after months of production shutdowns.
    But in the meantime, here’s a look at some of the most important theatrical releases of 2023 — and why they worked.

    ‘Barbenheimer’

    The historic box office combination of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” dubbed “Barbenheimer” by the public, arrived at a time when even the most dependable franchise movies had failed to lure in audiences.
    Their shared July 21 release date inspired double features, not direct competition. Together, the films generated $244.5 million during their first three days in theaters — $162 million for “Barbie” and $82.5 million for “Oppenheimer.” The two films accounted for nearly 80% of the total haul that weekend, which ended up being the highest grossing of the year with $311.3 million in ticket sales, Comscore reported.
    What set “Barbenheimer” weekend apart was fresh storytelling, a fear of missing out on a cultural moment and a desire to experience movies on the biggest screen possible.
    “Barbie” director Greta Gerwig recalled lines of audience members in New York dressed in Barbie’s signature pink to celebrate the film’s opening weekend.
    “Men, women, kids — everyone dressing up in pink, and no one told them to do that. That was a spontaneous thing,” she told Variety in a taped interview published last week. “It was this overwhelming feeling of like, ‘Oh, it belongs to them. It doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to them. And they wanted to dress up.'”

    A scene from “Barbie.”
    Courtesy: Warner Bros.

    Moviegoers who bought tickets to “Oppenheimer” donned suits and fedoras to see Christopher Nolan’s latest feature. The three-hour biopic about J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, was event cinema, boasting specialty screenings of the film in 70mm.
    The meme-worthy trend of seeing both in the same day drove hundreds of thousands of people to cinemas over the opening weekend.
    Domestically, “Barbie” tallied $636.2 million during its run in theaters and “Oppenheimer” snared $326 million. Globally, “Barbie” secured $1.44 billion, and “Oppenheimer” scored $952 million worldwide.

    ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’

    Chris Pratt and Charlie Day voice Mario and Luigi, respectively, in Universal and Illumination’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.”

    The success of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which reached $574.9 million domestically, is part of an impressive streak of animated box-office hits for Universal. Last year, “Minions: The Rise of Gru” generated nearly $940 million globally and “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” snared nearly $500 million worldwide.
    Meanwhile, Disney has seen its animated content lag at the box office in the wake of the pandemic. Neither Pixar nor Walt Disney Animation has seen a film top $480 million globally since 2019’s “Frozen 2.”
    Some analysts have blamed the sluggish ticket sales on confusion in the marketplace over which Disney films were streaming exclusives and which had wider theatrical releases. Others said Disney has done a poor job of marketing its animated films to the public.
    Meanwhile, Universal is looking to capitalize on its goodwill with parents and kids as “Migration” continues to play in theaters and ahead of the 2024 debuts of “Kung Fu Panda 4” and “Despicable Me 4.”

    The Taylor Swift effect

    Taylor Swift changed the music industry — and then she came for cinemas.
    In October, the multi-hyphenate pop star debuted her filmed Eras Tour concert in theaters. The nearly three-hour event drove millions to theaters at a time when the actors strike forced many would-be blockbusters to flee the calendar.
    The opening broke records for a theatrical concert release and became the second-highest film opening in the month of October.
    In the excitement, movie theaters designed specialty popcorn buckets, crafted boutique cocktails and even set up friendship bracelet-making tables for Swift fans, recreating a staple experience of attending the live concerts.
    In total, Swift’s film generated nearly $180 million domestically and nearly $250 million worldwide. That global figure is just shy of the record $262.5 million that Michael Jackson’s concert documentary “This Is It” secured back in 2009.

    Taylor Swift singing at her The Eras Tour.
    Buda Mendes/tas23 | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images

    Perhaps the most shocking part of Swift’s trip to movie theaters was her distribution partner: cinema chain AMC.
    Swift bypassed Hollywood studios, many of which had tried to bid on the rights to release the film under their banner, and inked a rare deal. The singer reportedly split 57% of ticket sales with AMC, while 43% remained with theaters. Still, Swift is expected to have kept a large chunk of that share, according to industry insiders.
    The deal is likely what led Beyoncé to work with AMC to distribute the documentary of her “Renaissance” album and tour.
    The theater industry is no stranger to alternative content. Cinemas often show taped concerts, plays and musicals, as well as live sports from organizations such as the National Football League and Ultimate Fighting Championship. Then there are showings of classic films, anime screenings and live-broadcast Dungeons and Dragons games.
    But none have ever come close to generating the fervor of Swift’s Eras Tour film.

    A new Hollywood model

    “Sound of Freedom” also broke the Hollywood mold this summer.
    The film came from a relative Hollywood newcomer called Angel Studios, which uses a Kickstarter-style method of generating funds. In this case, the studio raised $5 million to distribute the film after 20th Century Fox, which previously held the rights to it, was bought by Disney and shelved its release. “Sound of Freedom” wrapped filming in 2018 and tells the story of Tim Ballard, a character inspired by a real-life government agent who quits his job to rescue a young girl from sex traffickers in Colombia.
    The Jim Caviezel-led thriller shook up norms in an industry still trying to find its footing after Covid lockdowns. It snared more than $180 million at the domestic box office during its run, outpacing big studio films such as Warner Bros.’ “The Flash,” on a budget of just $14.5 million. It made nearly $250 million worldwide.
    Part of the film’s box-office success was the result of a unique campaign by filmmakers to encourage ticket sales: Moviegoers could pay for and essentially donate tickets to be claimed online by those who may not be able to afford them. Angel Studios calls the model “pay it forward.”
    The studio rose to prominence in 2019 when, under the name VidAngel, it crowdfunded and released the hit biblical series “The Chosen.” However, the July release of “Sound of Freedom” raised the studio’s profile even further.

    Jim Caviezel stars in Angel Studios’ “Sound of Freedom.”
    Angel Studios

    “Sound of Freedom” isn’t the only Angel Studios title to exponentially overperform its budget. “His Only Son,” a biblical drama released in early 2023, cost $250,000 to make and generated $12.4 million at the box office. A crowdfunding campaign in partnership with Angel Studios raised more than $1.2 million for prints and advertising costs. The small-budget-big-returns formula is reminiscent of what Blumhouse is doing for the horror genre.
    Coming in 2024 from Angel Studios is “Cabrini,” a film about the Roman Catholic missionary and future Saint Francesca Cabrini, and “Bonhoeffer,” which tells the true story of German theologian and pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who stood up to the Nazis during the Third Reich.

    Universal-Blumhouse tag team

    The combined efforts of horror studio Blumhouse and Universal were in full swing in 2023, starting with the January release of “M3GAN.”
    With a modest budget of $12 million, not including marketing costs, the flick about a fashionable, murderous doll powered by artificial intelligence snared $180.7 million at the global box office. It’s the latest success in a string of lucrative theatrical runs for the horror genre.
    While Hollywood’s big-budget blockbusters typically get the most attention, the consistently strong performance of scary movies at theaters is good news for the cinema industry.

    A lifelike doll programmed to be a child’s greatest companion and a parent’s greatest ally turns murderous in Universal Studios and Blumhouse’s “M3GAN.”

    The horror genre continues to be a major driver of foot traffic for cinemas, as its fans aren’t as preoccupied with the star power behind the films, but rather how scary and bloody — and fun — they are.
    The tag-team of Blumhouse and Universal also released a film based on the horror video game “Five Nights at Freddy’s” in late October, just in time for Halloween.
    While the film followed the same distribution path as the last two installments in the Halloween franchise and was made available on Comcast-owned streaming platform Peacock the same day it arrived in theaters, it still generated significant buzz and ticket sales.
    With a budget of $20 million, not including marketing costs, “Five Nights at Freddy’s” tallied $137.2 million domestically and $289.3 million worldwide.
    Both “M3GAN” and “Five Nights at Freddy’s” also had the distinct honor of becoming cultural memes. A particular dance sequence in “M3GAN” was spoofed across social media as well as on “Saturday Night Live.” Meanwhile, “Five Nights at Freddy’s” saw video and audio clips go viral on TikTok.
    Blumhouse has four films slated for release in 2024 and three so far for 2025, including sequels to “M3GAN” and 2021’s breakout hit “The Black Phone.”
    Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC.Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO: More

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    Does the tax on your year-end bonus check seem high? Here’s why

    Companies often withhold federal taxes from a bonus check at a flat 22% rate.
    As a result, anyone in a marginal income tax bracket below 22% would likely see a smaller sum than expected, experts said.
    Bonuses are also generally subject to state and local taxes, and payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare.
    Taxpayers may get overpaid taxes back as a refund during tax season.

    Jgi/tom Grill | Tetra Images | Getty Images

    Does your year-end bonus look smaller than expected?
    Tax withholding is a likely culprit, but Uncle Sam may pay some back when you file an annual tax return, experts said.

    Bonuses are treated as taxable income, like wages in a typical paycheck.
    However, unlike wages, the IRS treats them as “supplemental” income, which is generally subject to different tax withholding rules.

    Why the tax may seem high

    Most often, employers withhold tax from bonuses at a flat 22% federal rate, according to tax experts.
    As such, bonus tax withholding “will look like a big number” for any taxpayer whose federal marginal income tax rate is less than 22%, said Jeremiah Barlow, head of wealth solutions at Mercer Advisors.
    More from Personal Finance:Here’s when you can visit a national park for free in 20243 year-end investment tax tips from top-ranked financial advisorsAnnuity sales are on track for a record year. What to know before buying

    Many taxpayers fall into that category. In 2023, that group includes single individuals with a taxable income up to $44,725, and married couples who file a joint return with income up to $89,450.
    In 2020, 49% of individual tax returns — roughly 81 million — were in a marginal income tax bracket below 22%, according to IRS statistics. That figure includes taxpayers in the 10% and 12% tax brackets but excludes those in the 0% bracket.

    Bonuses may have additional tax withheld

    A bonus may be subject to other withholding, too, such as state and local income taxes.
    Employers in California, for example, withhold supplemental wages at a 10.2% state rate — meaning residents’ bonuses would likely be withheld at a combined 32.2% state and federal rate, Barlow said.

    In addition, bonuses are also typically subject to Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes, of 6.2% and 1.45%, respectively.
    “Very quickly someone might find themselves where [roughly] 40% is withheld,” said Matthew Fleming, a certified financial planner and senior wealth advisor at Vanguard.
    Employers must also withhold a flat 37% from any bonus amounts that exceed $1 million.

    Companies also have a second withholding option: Instead of issuing a separate bonus check, they can lump a bonus in with your typical paycheck. Workers would pay tax at their usual income tax rates.

    You may get some of that tax back

    For those whose checks appear small, there’s a silver lining. “Luckily, this means you could be due for a [tax] refund,” which would be equal to the extra amount your employer withheld, wrote Fidelity Investments. You’d receive any refund owed to you when filing an annual tax return.
    Of course, the opposite could also be true. Higher earners, such as those in the 24%, 32%, 35% or 37% federal income brackets, may wind up owing the IRS more money at tax time if their bonus was withheld at a flat 22%, Barlow said.
    A large bonus — say, $200,000 — could easily push someone into the 32% or 35% bracket, he added.
    “Don’t assume that bonus amount they took out was enough,” Barlow said.Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO: More

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    The five biggest market surprises of 2023

    Financial markets will always produce surprises. After all, by the time a consensus has formed, people will have bought or sold accordingly. The move has already happened; the future has something else in store.Even accounting for this, investors have had an unusually difficult time in 2023. The year started with broad agreement that 2022’s soaring interest rates would cause recessions in much of the world. Not only was this baked into asset prices—it also turned out to be wrong.Yet it was not just economic assumptions that were overturned. Here are the other big market surprises of 2023.Rates went higher. And bond yields rose by even more…The year began with the Federal Reserve’s credibility in question. Rate-setting officials had spent nine months tightening monetary policy each time they met. Jerome Powell, their chairman, took every opportunity to make hawkish noises. The market was not buying it, however, expecting that the central bank would relent and start cutting within a matter of months, before it accidentally broke something.That “something” turned out to be a clutch of American regional banks, the first of which—Silicon Valley Bank—collapsed in March. By continuing to raise rates even amid the turmoil, the Fed at last convinced investors that it was serious. The market accepted officials’ projections for where their benchmark rate would finish the year, whereas longer-term yields on government bonds marched ever higher. Ten-year American Treasuries, which hit a low of 3.2% in April, breached 5% in October, their highest since 2007. “Higher for longer” became the market’s mantra. Huw Pill of the Bank of England compared the future path of rates to Cape Town’s flat-topped Table Mountain, contrasting it with the triangular Matterhorn.…until both reversed course harder than anyone expectedWithin weeks of Mr Pill’s comments, yields had begun a distinctly Matterhorn-like descent (see chart). Those on ten-year American, British and German government debt are now around a percentage point below their peaks—amounting to a party in the bond market, since prices rise as yields fall. The festive mood took hold as one data release after another spurred hopes that inflation was fading and central bankers might not need to be so hawkish after all.image: The EconomistOnce upon a time, this would have prompted a rebuttal from Mr Powell, anxious that falling borrowing costs might stimulate the economy and undo his inflation-fighting work. Instead, the Fed’s chairman spiked the partygoers’ punch. On December 13th he announced that officials were already discussing rate cuts, which he envisaged taking place “well before” inflation hit its target of 2%. Bond investors turned the music up a notch.Other markets shrugged off the interest-rate ructionsFew things matter more to the financial system than the “safe” yields available on government bonds and their implications for everyone else’s borrowing costs. So the wide swings in these yields throughout the year might have been expected to leave all sorts of asset classes looking wobbly. Instead, most showed remarkable resilience.Investors had worried that rising interest rates might leave indebted borrowers unable to meet obligations. Yet after two years of such increases, the annual default rate on the riskiest “high-yield” American bonds was just 3.8%—below its long-term average of 4.5% and nowhere near peaks reached during crisis years such as 2009 or 2020. Investors in such debt therefore had an excellent year, with Bank of America’s high-yield index returning 13%.The story in other supposedly rate-sensitive markets was similar. Global house prices began to climb again after only the briefest of blips. Gold rose by 12%. Even bitcoin—the poster-child of the cheap-money era—soared.America’s stockmarket got high on artificial intelligenceThe recovery of America’s stockmarket was less spectacular than that of bitcoin, but in some ways more surprising. Having fallen by 19% over the course of 2022, the S&P 500 share index has clawed back nearly all of its losses, returning to within touching distance of its all-time peak.Two aspects of this recovery have taken many investors aback. The first is that, despite their previous losses, American stocks started the year looking pricey and then became much pricier. Measured by the excess return expected from their earnings, over and above the “risk-free” yield on government bonds, they are now more expensive (and hence yield less) than at any time since the swelling of the dotcom bubble (see chart).image: The EconomistThe second aspect is that this exuberance—essentially an assumption that shares have grown less risky and earnings growth more assured—took place amid a mania for AI. America’s tech giants provided the lion’s share of the gains, with investors judging them best placed to benefit from the new technology. Profits to be made from novel and yet-to-be-commercialised inventions are inherently uncertain. Nevertheless, equity investors are going all in on them.IPO bankers are still at a loose endSadly, not everyone is feeling bullish. The market for initial public offerings remains moribund. Dealogic, a data firm, estimates that companies going public raised some $120bn globally in 2023. That is less than the $170bn raised in 2022 and a fraction of the amount raised in 2021, of more than $600bn. The high-profile firms that did go public—including Arm, a chip designer, and Instacart, a grocery-delivery group—failed to spark a broader revival.Confusion over where long-term interest rates will settle did not help. But in other respects the dearth of new listings is a puzzle. Volatility has fallen, economic headwinds have died down and equity investors are throwing caution to the wind. That private firms are cautious might mean they see reasons to worry which the rest of the market is missing. Or perhaps they are merely getting ready to join the party in 2024. After months of twiddling their thumbs, bankers will be hoping for the latter. ■ More

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    AI boom fails to propel China’s cloud market growth

    “The Chinese cloud services market remains conservative, relying heavily on government and state-owned enterprises to drive growth,” tech market analysis firm Canalys said in a report Wednesday.
    Growth in China’s cloud market has slowed significantly over the last two years after a 45% surge in 2021, Canalys data showed.
    Training AI models on the cloud, following a surge of interest in the potential of ChatGPT-like services, has been expected to drive the industry’s growth.

    An AI sign is seen at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on July 6, 2023.
    Aly Song | Reuters

    BEIJING — Excitement over artificial intelligence isn’t yet fueling a boom in cloud services spending in mainland China.
    “The Chinese cloud services market remains conservative, relying heavily on government and state-owned enterprises to drive growth,” tech market analysis firm Canalys said in a report Wednesday.

    Training AI models on the cloud, following a surge of interest in the potential of ChatGPT-like services, has been expected to drive the industry’s growth.
    Alibaba’s cloud business, with the country’s largest market share at 39%, reported just 2% year-on-year revenue growth in the quarter ended Sept. 30. The tech giant in November also scrapped plans to publicly list its cloud operations.
    Huawei, which isn’t publicly traded and is the second largest cloud player, didn’t separately state its cloud revenue for the third quarter, nor did Hong Kong-listed Tencent.
    The three largest cloud players in China held the same market share in the third quarter as they did in the prior one, while the segment’s overall growth slowed to 10% in 2022 and is expected to be at 12% in 2023 — sharply lower than the 45% surge in 2021, the Canalys report showed.

    Domestic spending on cloud services grew by 18% year-on-year in the third quarter to $9.2 billion, according to the report.

    However, it slowed drastically to 5.7% from 13% in the second quarter, according to CNBC analysis of Canalys data.

    The mainland Chinese cloud market accounted for 12% of the global cloud spend in the third quarter, Canalys said. Third-quarter global cloud spending rose 1.5% from the previous quarter, CNBC analysis found.

    Read more about China from CNBC Pro

    The research firm pointed out the industry has been investing “heavily” in AI and looking to monetize AI offerings via the development of “partner ecosystems.” That includes a network of developers, software companies and experts, the report said.
    This, however, is yet to translate into meaningful growth for the cloud segment.
    “The innate complexity of AI technology presents challenges in terms of adoption and deployment,” Canalys said, “yet simultaneously unlocks opportunities for a broader AI ecosystem.”
    Alibaba, Huawei and Tencent have each released AI models and products this year, as have Baidu and other companies in China. More

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    ‘The Color Purple’ wins the holiday box office with second-highest Christmas debut of all time

    With $18.15 million in box office receipts, Warner Bros. Discovery’s “The Color Purple” had the highest Christmas Day opening since 2009.
    It is also the second-largest Christmas Day opening of all time.
    Adding ticket sales from “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” and “Wonka,” the studio held the top three spots at the box office over the holiday.

    Taraji P. Henson stars in Warner Bros. “The Color Purple.”
    Warner Bros. Discovery

    It was a very Merry Christmas for Warner Bros. Discovery.
    With $18.15 million in box office receipts, the studio’s newest film “The Color Purple” had the highest Christmas Day opening since 2009 and the second-largest Christmas Day opening of all time.

    The film outpaced 2012’s “Les Misérables,” which snagged $18.1 million on its Christmas debut, and fell just short of the 2009 holiday opening of “Sherlock Holmes” at $24.6 million, according to data from Comscore.

    Top Christmas day openers at the domestic box office

    “Sherlock Holmes” (2009) — $24.6 million
    “The Color Purple” (2023) — $18.15 million
    “Les Misérables” (2012) — $18.1 million
    “Daddy’s Home” (2015) — $15.7 million
    “Unbroken” (2014) — $15.4 million
    “Into the Woods” (2014) — $15.08 million
    “Django Unchained” (2012) — $15.01 million
    “Marley and Me” (2008) — $14.3 million

    Source: Comscore

    Adding ticket sales from “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” and “Wonka,” Warner Bros. Discovery held the top three spots at the box office over the holiday.
    Warner Bros.’ collection of December releases runs the spectrum of genres and demographics, offering a diverse slate of entertainment for almost every moviegoing audience.
    “The lineup … reflects a perfectly orchestrated staggered release of these titles over the course [of] the all-important holiday frame, and the results are most impressive,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.

    “The Color Purple,” whose producers include Oprah and Steven Spielberg, is based on the Broadway musical adaptation of the book-turned-movie of the same name.
    The film caters to an older audience, who have been reluctant to return to cinemas in the wake of the pandemic. More

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    October home prices post biggest gain of 2023, despite higher mortgage rates, says S&P Case-Shiller

    Home prices rose 4.8% nationally in October compared with October 2022, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller home price index.
    That’s a jump from the 4% annual increase in September and marks the strongest annual gain seen in 2023.
    Among the top 20 cities, Detroit reported the largest year-over-year gain in home prices at 8.1% in October.

    A “sale pending” sign is posted in front of a home for sale on November 30, 2023 in San Anselmo, California.
    Justin Sullivan | Getty Images News | Getty Images

    Home prices rose 4.8% nationally in October compared with October 2022, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller home price index. That’s a jump from the 4% annual increase in September and marks the strongest annual gain seen in 2023.
    The 10-city composite rose 5.7%, up from a 4.8% increase in the previous month. The 20-city composite rose 4.9%, up from a 3.9% advance in September.

    The strength in home prices came despite a sharp rise in mortgage interest rates in October. The average rate on the 30-year fixed loan crossed 8% on Oct. 19, according to Mortgage News Daily. That was the highest level in more than two decades. Rates, however, dropped steadily through November and more sharply in December, with the 30-year fixed rate now hovering around 6.7%.
    “Home prices leaned into the highest mortgage rates recorded in this market cycle and continued to push higher,” said Brian Luke, head of commodities, real & digital assets at S&P DJI, in a release. “With mortgage rates easing and the Federal Reserve guiding toward a slightly more accommodative stance, homeowners may be poised to see more appreciation.”
    Among the top 20 cities, Detroit reported the largest year-over-year gain in home prices at 8.1% in October. San Diego followed with a 7.2% increase and then New York with a 7.1% gain. Home prices in Portland, Oregon, fell 0.6%, the only city in the index showing lower prices in October versus a year ago.
    “Home price gains in the CoreLogic S&P Case-Shiller Index have increased by 7% since the beginning of the year and are 1% higher than at the peak in 2022, recovering all losses recorded in the second half of 2022,” said Selma Hepp, chief economist at CoreLogic. “Given the stronger seasonal gains seen in early 2023, annual home price appreciation should accelerate this winter before slowing again next year.”
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    2024 is shaping up to be the year of the streaming bundle

    Media companies re-embraced the bundle this year as pay TV weathered the storm of cord cutting.
    Deals such as Disney and Charter’s could set a framework for bundles in the next year, and media executives predict 2024 could be the year of the bundle.
    Streaming-cable TV bundles are a win-win for both parties, says analyst.

    The atmosphere at the Disney Bundle Celebrating National Streaming Day at The Row in Los Angeles on May 19, 2022.
    Presley Ann | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images

    This year proved to be yet another tough one for pay TV, as more people cut the cable cord.
    But it wasn’t exactly kind to streaming services, either, as platforms dealt with subscriber declines, slumping ad revenue and stubborn losses while Netflix continued to assert its dominance.

    Still, the age of the cable bundle is giving way to the era of a new kind of bundle that could give both streamers and cable providers a path forward. Media executives told CNBC this month that 2024 could finally be the year that media companies get serious about the bundle.
    “The Charter-Disney deal was a sign of the times,” said Macquarie analyst Tim Nollen.
    Disney and cable giant Charter Communications battled over fees during the lead-up to the National Football League season, with Charter CEO Chris Winfrey saying it wasn’t “a typical carriage dispute.” Disney-owned channels, including ESPN, ceased broadcast for millions of customers of Charter’s Spectrum service for nearly two weeks.
    The blackout ended in September, hours before “Monday Night Football” was set to kick off on ESPN, with a deal that gave Spectrum TV Select Plus subscribers access to the ad-supported tier of Disney+, as well as ESPN+.
    Similar arrangements could well emerge in 2024, given the broad subscriber bases and positive revenue implications for pay TV and broadband companies, Nollen added. Liberty Media Chairman and cable TV pioneer John Malone, who’s also on the board of Warner Bros. Discovery, earlier this year predicted more integration of streaming services into cable bundles.

    Mergers and acquisitions would also lead to more bundling. Paramount CEO Bob Bakish and Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav met last week to discuss a possible merger of the two companies, although talks are in early stages.
    Despite the demand for a streaming bundle, top players have historically been apprehensive to make such a deal. Companies would have to navigate the calculus of average revenue per user, or ARPU, and subscriber growth when offering their services at a discount.

    A discounted bundle could shrink ARPU, but if subscribers grow leaps and bounds due to the bundle, it could offset that loss. Media companies that also house cable networks could be concerned that a streaming bundle would cannibalize their cable plans.
    Top streaming platforms already made some big moves in 2023. Disney agreed to buy Comcast’s remaining one-third stake in Hulu in a long-expected move. Disney also began rolling out its combined Disney+ and Hulu platform earlier this month, with a full release coming in March 2024. Disney already offers a three-way bundle of Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu.
    Paramount Global and Apple earlier this month were reported to be considering a bundle of Apple TV+ and Paramount+. Verizon, which offers cellphone and home internet plans, was reportedly gearing up to offer a bundle of the ad-supported tiers of Max and Netflix to Verizon customers for $10 a month, $7 less than subscribing separately.
    The integration of streaming into the pay TV bundle could shape up to provide some much-needed upside for the industry. Ad revenue has slipped considerably for pay TV and is on pace to face an 18% decline this year, according to media investment firm GroupM. The ad-supported tiers of streaming platforms, which are often included in bundles, drive higher ARPU for cable companies due to the ad revenue generated, Nollen said.

    Much similar to pay TV providers, streaming platforms have had to contend with subscriber losses over the past year, albeit at a slower pace. Streaming leader Netflix, for example, has pivoted to raise the price of its plans while also rolling out ad-supported tiers to offset subscriber losses.
    Zaslav warned last month of a “generational disruption” and pointed to the company’s streaming service Max, which he said at one point was “losing billions of dollars.” Warner Bros. Discovery did, however, turn a profit in its streaming segment, according to the company’s most recent quarterly earnings report.
    The Disney-Charter deal offered a framework for cable companies to transition their business models into the streaming era and stabilize subscriber trajectories, according to Ampere Analysis.
    “Charter gets to protect and hopefully grow pricing on its subscriber base,” Nollen said. “Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery have the most potential upside” from the bundling trend “given the breadth of content on their combination of services and the fact that they’re beginning to bundle those together already.”
    Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount, Netflix and Apple didn’t immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
    — CNBC’s Alex Sherman contributed to this report.Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO: More