Raphael Stevens

A judge sided with Paramount over some claims in Warner Bros. Discovery’s lawsuit over “South Park” streaming rights.
Warner paid $500 million in 2019 to put the back catalogue of “South Park” episodes on its streaming service.
The company said Paramount breached that contract by streaming “South Park” specials on Paramount+.

Stan And Kyle From The Episode “Clubhouses.”
Getty Images | Hulton Archive | Getty Images

A judge on Tuesday sided with Paramount Global on certain claims after Warner Bros. Discovery sued earlier this year over streaming rights to long-running animated series “South Park.”
New York state Supreme Court Justice Margaret Chan said that Paramount did not violate state consumer protection laws after its streaming platform, Paramount+, hosted “South Park” specials. The decision follows a February lawsuit, where Warner alleged that Paramount deceptively withheld the specials and other “South Park” content to bolster Paramount+ offerings.

Representatives for the companies didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Warner paid $500 million to Paramount in 2019 for the rights to the over-20-season back catalogue of “South Park” episodes to stream on HBO Max, which is now known as Max. Paramount proposed sharing the rights between each of the company’s streaming platforms at the time, which Warner rejected. The series is a staple of Paramount’s Comedy Central channel.
Paramount would later release “South Park: Post Covid” in 2021 and “South Park: The Streaming Wars” in 2022, exclusively on Paramount+. The releases triggered the lawsuit, in which Warner is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars. Warner also alleged that Paramount caused it to overpay under the agreement.
Paramount countersued in April, seeking $50 million in unpaid fees from Warner and denying allegations that the company breached the agreement. The counterclaim would later be dismissed by Chan in October, ruling that Paramount did not make false statements in its description of specials in the original 2019 agreement.
Warner also alleged in its suit that Paramount’s conduct misled customers and created confusion over which streaming platform had rights to the animated series.

Chan threw out this claim by Warner on Tuesday and said the allegation was merely a “private contract dispute” and did “not harm consumers.” Chan added that the complaint or materials offered by Warner failed to prove “deceptive practices” by Paramount.
Warner’s claims of breach of contract, tortuous interference and unjust enrichment are still in play.
Chan ordered a preliminary conference between the two parties on Dec. 13. More

The United Auto Workers’ tentative agreement with General Motors is back on track for ratification.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the deal had the support of about 54% of the roughly 30,700 autoworkers whose votes had been finalized by the union.
The broad approval marks a swing in voting after several major assembly plants voted against the deal.

United Auto Workers (UAW) members strike at a General Motors assembly plant that builds the U.S. automaker’s full-size sport utility vehicles, in another expansion of the strike in Arlington, Texas, October 24, 2023.
James Breeden | Reuters

DETROIT — The United Auto Workers’ tentative agreement with General Motors is back on track for ratification after a handful of large plants voted against the pact in recent days, according to ongoing voting results published Wednesday by the union.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the deal had the support of about 54% of the roughly 30,700 autoworkers whose votes had been finalized by the union. Results were still pending at several small facilities and a crossover plant in mid-Michigan, which a local chapter reported voted 60% against the pact.

The broad approval marks a swing in voting after several major assembly plants in Michigan, Indiana, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee — representing more than 19,000 of GM’s roughly 50,000 union employees under the tentative agreement — voted against the deal and spurred uncertainty about its prospects.
Later Wednesday morning, GM’s Arlington Assembly plant in Texas, which represents 4,900 autoworkers, voted in support of the deal, with roughly 60% of production workers and 65% of skilled trades union workers voting in favor. A joint venture battery plant now included under the tentative agreements also had 96%, or 1,313 votes, in support of the pact.
Both the UAW and GM declined to comment on the results until they’ve been finalized.
UAW members with Ford Motor and Chrysler parent Stellantis also are continuing to vote; those results have largely been in favor of the deals. Voting is expected to conclude by Friday. The union has not confirmed when votes will be finalized.
The UAW reached tentative deals with each of the automakers individually, so each is voted on separately. They are not contingent on one another to be ratified.

The record deal at GM, like those at Ford and Stellantis, includes 25% wage increases, restoration of cost-of-living adjustments and other benefits.
But UAW members, especially veteran workers, have voiced disapproval for the deal, citing inflated expectations created by Fain, who called for and ultimately failed to secure a 32-hour workweek and better retirement benefits.
GM has the highest number of traditional workers on a percentage basis, followed by Ford and then Stellantis. Stellantis also leans more heavily on temporary workers, who will largely be converted to full-time employees and become eligible for top wages by the end of the deals.
A rejection at GM would be a black eye on the negotiations for UAW President Shawn Fain. Although he has said union members have the final say on contracts, he and other union leaders have praised the historic deal, saying they bargained for every penny out of the automakers.
Correction: This story has been updated to correct that United Auto Workers members at General Motors’ SUV plant in Arlington, Texas, voted in favor of the tentative contract agreement. More

Lower turkey costs will bring down the average cost of a Thanksgiving dinner this year, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.
Cranberry prices are down about 18%
While Thanksgiving food costs less than it did a year ago, it’s still much more expensive than it was before the pandemic.

Food inflation has been on a tear, with prices for food at home up 2.1% year-over-year in October, according to the consumer price index.
But not everything costs more.

A Thanksgiving dinner this year will gobble up less of your wallet, thanks in large part to lower turkey prices. According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, the average cost of a dinner for 10 people will be $61.17, down 4.5% from last year’s record of $64.05.
The findings come from a survey conducted Nov. 1 to 6, with the agricultural advocacy group’s members checking prices at grocery stores in the 50 states and Puerto Rico.
Almost everything on the Thanksgiving menu is lower – prices for cranberries have dropped 18%. But the main reason for the decrease is due to the star of the show — the turkey. This year, a 16-pound turkey is averaging $27.35, down 5.6% from a year ago.
“Consumers who have not yet purchased a turkey may find additional savings in the days leading up to Thanksgiving,” the advocacy group said.
This is especially welcome news, as turkey prices shot up 50% between 2020 and 2022 – though they remain 30% higher than 2019, before the pandemic, which many consider a baseline.

Why are turkey prices dropping? There’s plenty of demand, but there’s even more supply.

Thanksgiving 2023

The average cost of a Thanksgiving dinner for 10 people, by region:

Northeast: $64.38
South: $59.10
Midwest: $58.66
West: $63.89

Source: American Farm Bureau Federation

“Last year, avian influenza devastated our industry, we lost six to seven million turkeys,” said Heidi Diestel of Diestel Turkey Ranch in Jamestown, California. Her family raises up to 300,000 turkeys a year for higher-end customers who shop in stores like Whole Foods.
As we spoke this week in one of her barns housing hundreds of large tom turkeys — often gobbling in unison — she told me that last year’s flu infected some of her family’s flock.
“We had to kill some birds, unfortunately,” she said.
So her farm, like many other turkey operations, raised a lot of extra turkeys this year to beef up supplies. They did it in case there was another round of the flu. But the avian flu this year hasn’t been too bad — at least not yet — so farmers are stuck with an abundance of birds. “We’re heavy on supply,” Diestel said.
At the same time, she’s discovered that some grocery stores have been cautious in ordering turkeys after a year of high inflation.
“Retailers have definitely been much more conscientious about what they’re purchasing — they’re purchasing a bit more lean —to ensure that they don’t have a lot of leftover,” she said. “Everyone is trying to cut their costs and operate as efficiently as possible.”

She thinks Diestel Turkey Ranch revenues will be higher this year than they were back before the pandemic, but profits will be lower. Things like feed cost a lot more now. “We have margin erosion,” Diestel said.
New Jersey turkey farmer Ronnie Lee has planned for the possibility that consumers might pull back on spending.
“This year we started our turkeys later than we’ve ever started them before, because I’m predicting that the size is just going to be a little smaller than last year,” he says. “People are starting to feel the pinch.”
Lee says one of the upsides of producing smaller birds is that they’re easier for workers to carry during processing. That helps, because he struggles to find workers, and he’s having to pay them more.
“Labor is up, no two ways about it,” he said. Employees at his farm make at least $20 an hour. Even so, he added, “finding people to do it can be difficult.”
At least for consumers, though, the news is all good. And it may get better. Turkey prices could go even lower if supplies continue to increase. Heidi Diestel says that while the latest round of avian influenza has not made much of impact, even the hint of flu could shut down export markets.
“We may have even more turkeys,” she said, before adding with a smile: “Just enjoy turkey dinner more than once a year.” More

Target is riffing off the playbook of rivals like Walmart this holiday season.
On the company’s earnings call, Target leaders used the word “value” 17 times.
Already, shoppers are hit with Black Friday discounts on Target’s website.

A customer shops the holiday section at a Target store in Clifton, N.J.
Adam Jeffery | CNBC

Target’s goal this holiday season: be more like Walmart.
The retailer’s leaders said customers will see thousands of gift ideas under $25, store displays that highlight affordability and low-priced Thanksgiving ingredients.

But the discounter will do it with a Target twist.
The company will try to stand out with its exclusive brands and fresh items, such as a new line of jewelry from Kendra Scott, Chief Growth Officer Christina Hennington said on an earnings call Wednesday.
“If there’s one thing that we’ve seen, is in an environment where people are making choices and they might have constraints with their budget, the motivation to buy is really ‘Is this going to add value to my life? Is this something intriguing and feels relevant or fashion forward or is really for me?'” Hennington said.
Target is trying to play into customers’ hunger for deals, which it stressed to investors on the call. The company’s executive team used the word “value” 17 times. Altogether they used the words “affordable,” “affordability” or “affordably” seven times.
Target has struggled to improve sales as shoppers focus more on essentials while being choosier when buying clothing, electronics and more. The Minneapolis-based retailer posted a strong earnings beat on Wednesday, but its sales declined year over year and it said it expects that to continue in the holiday quarter.

At stores, Target has increased the number of displays at the end of aisles that focus on just a couple of price points, Chief Operating Officer John Mulligan said on the call. Going into the holiday season, nearly two-thirds of those displays meet that standard. They send an “easy to understand value message,” he said.
And more than a week before Thanksgiving, online shoppers have already been hit with a wall of Black Friday discounts on the company’s website, such as 50% off artificial Christmas trees.

Rivalry with Walmart

Target’s performance has sharply diverged from Walmart, which draws more than half of its annual revenue from groceries and is known for its low prices.
Walmart, already the biggest retailer, has also become more of a competitive threat for Target and other rivals, especially during an inflationary period. Walmart has used its grocery department to attract a growing number of higher-income shoppers. It has debuted a sleeker store design, which it’s rolling out to more locations. And it is adding popular and upscale brands through its third-party marketplace.
Walmart is scheduled to report its fiscal third-quarter earnings before the bell Thursday. Investors expect the company to post higher earnings and revenue than a year ago.
The stock performance of the two big-box retailers has looked very different, too. As of midday Wednesday, Target’s shares were down about 13% so far this year. Before it reported fiscal third-quarter earnings, they were down nearly 26%.
Shares of Walmart, on the other hand, have shot up 19% so far this year. That’s ahead of the approximately 17% year-to-date gains of the S&P 500. Its stock hit an all-time high Wednesday.
It’s not just Walmart. Other retailers with a value reputation have seen stronger sales, too. On Wednesday, TJX Cos., the parent company of T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, beat Wall Street’s expectations for sales and earnings.
On an earnings call, TJX CEO Ernie Herrman said the off-price retailer is “set up extremely well” for the holidays, especially as it competes in “an environment where consumers’ wallets are stretched.”

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Target is fighting theft at its stores in part by locking up everyday items.
CEO Brian Cornell claimed customers are saying “a big thank you” because merchandise is in stock.
Target has repeatedly said theft is cutting into its profits, at a time when it has struggled to grow sales.

As Target tries to fight theft at its stores, it has left customers frustrated to find many everyday items locked up.
Still, the retailer’s CEO, Brian Cornell, claimed many shoppers are actually grateful to see their body wash, toothpaste and deodorant behind a glass panel.

On a media call with reporters discussing Target’s fiscal third-quarter earnings, CNBC asked Cornell if the retailer can quantify the sales lost from shoppers who are frustrated with waiting for employees to unlock cases in-store. He said the shopper response to the policy has been “positive.”
“Courtney, just in the last week I’ve been on the East Coast and on the West Coast in many of those stores that you’ve talked about where, items have been locked up,” he said. “And actually what we hear from the guests is a big thank you, because we are in stock with the brands that they need when they’re shopping in our stores. And because we’ve invested in team member labor in those aisles and make sure we’re there to greet that guest, open up those cases and provide them the items they’re looking for.”

Target CEO Brian Cornell.
Scott Mlyn | CNBC

CNBC again asked Cornell to confirm that Target hasn’t seen a measurable drop in sales or traffic in those stores because of the inconvenience of having to wait for items.
“Courtney, in many cases, it’s just the opposite. The fact that we’re in stock is what’s most important for the guests,” he said. “And they understand the fact that we’ve had to make some changes to ensure the safety of the product and the fact that they have product in stock when they’re shopping the stores.”

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Theft continues to pressure Target’s financial results, company executives have said. The retailer has repeatedly said stolen items have hurt its profits, at a time when sales have stagnated and the company struggles to recapture the growth it saw during the Covid pandemic.

Target blamed theft for its decision to close nine stores during the third quarter in New York City, the Bay Area in California, Seattle and Portland, Oregon.
Like other retailers, Target has put many items in locked cases in stores where theft is a bigger problem. 

Locked up merchandise, to prevent theft in Target store, Queens, New York.
Lindsey Nicholson | Universal Images Group | Getty Images

The move comes after Target invested billions to improve the shopper experience and make stores more convenient. It has remodeled locations and launched programs like “Drive Up” where orders, including a fresh Starbucks beverage, are loaded directly into shoppers’ cars, without them ever having to get out.
Twenty-six percent of consumers surveyed by Coresight Research in August said they would shop elsewhere, and 26% said they would move online, if their local store put items under lock and key.
A number of shoppers have expressed frustration on social media platforms about the inconvenience of waiting for store employees to unlock a case in order to get a product off a shelf. 
Kurt Jetta in Delray Beach, Florida, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Hey .@Target! You can’t lock stuff up to prevent theft, and then not have a sales person anywhere within shouting distance to get it out. How many electronics and shaving sales have you lost because of that? Definitely lost a $300+ basket from me.”
In a response on the platform, the retailer said it aims to “provide our guests with an easy shopping experience” and for the date and location of the incident to review it further.
Target executives said on the media call and in its earnings conference call with analysts that its merchandise in-stock levels are the best in four years. Inventory fell 14% year over year, with a 19% reduction in apparel, a category where Target has seen soft sales for several quarters.
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Red Bull Racing’s dominance in Formula 1 this year is translating directly to higher sales of the energy drink, the team’s principal and CEO, Christian Horner, told CNBC.
Red Bull has trounced the grid this season, winning 19 of the 20 Grand Prix weekends so far, led by its world champion driver, Max Verstappen.
Red Bull is the second-most popular energy drink brand in the world with 13% market share, trailing only Monster Beverage.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen celebrates after winning the Brazilian Grand Prix on Nov. 5, 2023.
Amanda Perobelli | Reuters

Red Bull Racing’s dominance in Formula 1 this year is translating directly to higher sales of its namesake energy drink, the team’s principal and CEO, Christian Horner, told CNBC.
“There’s an old adage of, ‘Win on Sunday and sell on Monday.’ Well, what we do for the Red Bull brand, for the energy drink in advertising the product globally for 23 race weekends a year, we’re the biggest marketing impact that the beverage company has,” Horner told CNBC’s Sara Eisen in the documentary “The Inside Track: The Business of Formula 1,” debuting Thursday at 8 p.m. ET.

The Red Bull team, which also counts tech giant Oracle as a title sponsor, has trounced the grid this season, winning 19 of the 20 Grand Prix weekends so far. Its world champion driver, Max Verstappen, has taken the checkered flag on 17 of those wins, with his teammate Sergio Perez collecting wins in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan.
Verstappen already clinched the 2023 drivers title — his third world championship — in early October during the 17th Grand Prix weekend of the season, in Qatar. The Red Bull team secured the constructors championship the weekend prior, in Japan.
The drivers will take to the track again on Sunday in Las Vegas before the season wraps at the end of this month in Abu Dhabi.
Red Bull declined to share specific sales metrics, but a company spokesperson reiterated the F1 “uplift” and said it’s particularly noticeable in corresponding race markets.
“They see it, they can measure it. It’s incredible the amount of consumption of Red Bull that is happening,” Horner told CNBC.

Red Bull is the second-most popular energy drink brand in the world, with 13% market share, according to Euromonitor International data. It trails only Monster Beverage’s namesake brand, which holds 16.4% of the global market share.
But the market for energy drinks has grown more crowded, putting pressure on Red Bull. The company’s market share has slipped from 13.5% in 2021 to 13% this year as newer players, such as PepsiCo, enter the category.
In recent years, beverage giants Coca-Cola and Pepsi have both set their sights on the fast-growing energy drink category — with varying degrees of success. Soda consumption has decreased over the last two decades, but sugary energy drinks have bucked the trend because of their caffeine content and related effects.
Coke launched its own energy drink in the United Kingdom in 2019. But Coke Energy failed to gain a foothold with U.S. consumers; the company discontinued the drink in North America in 2021, roughly a year after it launched.
Coke rival Pepsi has found more success through deal-making. It bought Rockstar Energy for $3.85 billion in 2020, gaining ownership of both the company’s namesake energy drink and fast-growing Sting Energy.
Last year, Pepsi took a $550 million stake in Celsius, which markets itself as a healthier energy drink that boosts workouts. Those deals are on top of efforts such as shifting Mountain Dew into the energy drink category and adding caffeine to Gatorade.
Tune in to CNBC on Nov. 16 at 8 p.m. ET for the premiere of “The Inside Track: The Business of Formula 1.” More

TJX Cos. raised its full-year guidance for the third time this year and said it expects a robust holiday shopping season.
The off-price giant, which runs HomeGoods and Marshalls, posted quarterly results that beat Wall Street’s estimates.
TJX is taking share from competitors as inflation-weary consumers hunt for a deal.

A HomeGoods shopping cart area in front of a T.J. Maxx store in Pinole, California, US, on Wednesday, May 3, 2023.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

TJX Cos. on Wednesday raised its full-year guidance and said it expects a strong holiday season after inflation-weary consumers drove another quarter of sales gains. 
The off-price giant, which runs T.J. Maxx, Marshall’s and HomeGoods, beat Wall Street’s estimates on the top and bottom lines and topped expectations for comparable sales. 

Here’s how TJX Companies did during its fiscal third quarter ended Oct. 28, compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:

Earnings per share: $1.03 vs. 99 cents expected
Revenue: $13.27 billion vs. $13.09 billion expected

The company reported net income of $1.19 billion, or $1.03 per share, for the quarter, compared with $1.06 billion, or 91 cents a share, a year earlier. Sales rose to $13.27 billion, up about 9% from $12.17 billion a year earlier. 
For the third time this year, TJX Cos. raised its full-year guidance. It now expects comparable store sales to rise 4% to 5%, compared with previous guidance of up 3% to 4%, which is the range analysts had expected before quarterly results were announced, according to StreetAccount.
TJX now anticipates earnings per share will be in the range of $3.71 to $3.74, compared with a previous range of $3.66 to $3.72. The raised profit guidance is in line with the $3.73 earnings per share that analysts had expected, according to LSEG. 

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During the quarter, comparable store sales climbed 7% at Marmaxx, or the combination of T.J. Maxx and Marshall’s, and 9% at HomeGoods, both better than analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount. Analysts had expected comparable sales to be up 4% at Marmaxx and up 6% at HomeGoods.

Overall, comparable store sales rose 6%.
The company’s shares were down more than 3% in midday trading. The stock was up more than 16% year to date as of Tuesday’s close.
TJX has been cruising through its fiscal year as it lapped up the benefits of being an off-price retailer during a tough macroeconomic period. 
The company has been able to entice shoppers with a wide array of premium, branded merchandise because so many of its suppliers had high inventories over the last year and relied on TJX to help clear that glut. Its low-price assortment has also brought in deal-hungry customers who are choosing TJX over companies like Macy’s and Target to save money as persistent inflation weighs on their bank accounts. 
Both Macy’s and Target, as well as other industry peers, have consistently reported soft sales in their apparel and home goods categories. But the opposite has been true at TJX. During the quarter, apparel sales “remained very strong” while home goods sales were “outstanding,” CEO Ernie Herrman said in a news release.  
“Across our geographies and wide customer demographic, our values and exciting, treasure-hunt shopping experience continued to resonate with consumers,” the chief executive said. 
Target also reported earnings Wednesday and easily beat Wall Street’s profit estimates. But the better-than-expected report came from improvements in its bottom line, as sales again fell year over year.
The holiday shopping season is just getting started, but TJX is already expecting it to be a successful one, Herrman said.
“The fourth quarter is off to a strong start, and we are pursuing the plentiful deals we are seeing for great brands and great fashions in the marketplace,” said Herrman. “We are strongly positioned as a shopping destination for gifts this holiday selling season and are convinced that our values and fresh shipments to our stores and online throughout the season will be a major draw again this year.” 
In comparison, Target CEO Brian Cornell said it was too early to weigh in on early holiday sales, saying only it was “watching the trends carefully.”
Read the full earnings release here.

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