Raphael Stevens

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced Thursday that the company’s Starlink satellite internet business “achieved breakeven cash flow.”
Musk did not specify whether the milestone was hit on an operating basis or for a different specified time period.
SpaceX’s valuation has soared to about $150 billion, with Starlink seen as a key economic driver of the company’s goals.

The upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket deploys a stack of Starlink “V2 Mini” satellites in orbit.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced Thursday that the company’s Starlink satellite internet business “achieved breakeven cash flow.”
“Excellent work by a great team,” Musk said in a post on his social media platform, X, formerly known as Twitter.

Musk did not specify whether that milestone was hit on an operating basis or for a specified time period.
Earlier this year, SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell said Starlink “had a cash flow positive quarter” in 2022, and the overall SpaceX company reportedly turned a profit in the first quarter of 2023.
SpaceX’s valuation has soared to about $150 billion, with Starlink seen as a key economic driver of the company’s goals. Two years ago, Musk emphasized that making Starlink “financially viable” required crossing “through a deep chasm of negative cash flow.”
Musk has discussed spinning off Starlink to take it public through an initial public offering once the business was “in a smooth sailing situation.” But timing of a Starlink IPO remains uncertain. Last year, Musk told employees that taking the business public wasn’t likely until 2025 or later.
“Being public is definitely an invitation to pain,” Musk told SpaceX employees in 2022. “And the stock price is just distracting.”

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Starlink is the global communications network that Musk’s company has been building, with more than 5,000 satellites launched and counting.
It began offering Starlink service about three years ago, initially targeting the consumer market. Most recently, SpaceX has said Starlink has upward of two million subscribers, having expanded into other markets — including national security, enterprise, mobility, maritime and aviation — and disrupted the existing satellite communications sector.
Last month, SpaceX announced the opening of a new satellite antenna manufacturing facility in Bastrop, Texas, which is near Austin.

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Holiday shoppers are expected to spend more this year, but their eagerness for value and hunger for deals is likely to push that growth to pre-pandemic levels, according to the National Retail Federation.
Even as inflation cools, many gift-giving items and food cost more.
NRF Chief Executive Matt Shay said the major industry group expects higher wages and job security to give shoppers confidence to spring for gifts and decorations. But he acknowledged challenges.

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Holiday shoppers are expected to spend more this year, but their eagerness for value and hunger for deals is likely to push that growth back down to pre-pandemic levels, according to the National Retail Federation.
The major trade group expects sales in November and December to rise by 3% to 4% year over year. That would translate to between $957.3 billion and $966.6 billion in spending during the shopping season. The NRF’s forecast excludes spending at automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants.

Over the past decade, holiday sales have grown roughly 5% year over year on average, according to the NRF. They spiked during the Covid pandemic, with sales surging by 9.3% in 2020 and 13.5% in 2021.
Before the pandemic-related spending boom, average sales growth between 2010 and 2019 was 3.6%, according to the NRF’s chief economist, Jack Kleinhenz.
The closely watched holiday spending forecast marks the latest prediction about how the crucial season may play out as contradictory factors — including low unemployment, cooling inflation, dwindling savings accounts, and the higher costs of mortgages and credit cards — shape U.S. consumers’ spending.
Even as inflation cools, many gift-giving items and food cost more. As of September, inflation is up 3.7% compared with a year ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistic’s consumer price index.
Elevated prices are driving the reported sales growth, too. The NRF’s holiday forecast is not adjusted for inflation, which means the actual sales gains may not be as large as they seem.

Kleinhenz, however, said the forecast still calls for true growth. He said based on the personal consumption expenditures price index, another government metric, inflation for retail and food services was up only 1.3% year over year. When gas and food services are taken out, prices are a half a percent to 1% higher than a year ago.

That dynamic, combined with higher wages and job security could give shoppers confidence to spring for gifts and decorations, NRF Chief Executive Matt Shay told reporters on a call Thursday. Still, Shay acknowledged the challenges of still elevated prices, higher interest rates and geopolitical threats, such as the risk of a government shutdown.
“Our sense is that the cumulative effect of all of these things is going to show some moderation in consumer behavior relative to the last several years of holiday spending,” he said.
Despite the NRF’s expectations for sales growth, major retailers including Target and Macy’s have tempered expectations for the holidays. Instead of hyping up the season, companies have adopted a more cautious approach, placing smaller orders of merchandise and emphasizing value in circulars, TV ads and signs in stores, for example.
Target CEO Brian Cornell said in an interview that aired Thursday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that shoppers aren’t just spending less on discretionary purchases. He said they’re also buying fewer groceries, as the company gears up for the peak shopping season.
Target, Walmart, Home Depot and others will share updates on sales trends and outlooks as part of quarterly earnings reports in mid-November.
In the year-ago holiday season, retail sales rose 5.3% compared with 2021 and reached $936.3 billion, according to the NRF. That fell short of its forecast for 6% to 8% growth, as inflation and higher interest rates dampened spending. The holiday total was not adjusted for inflation, so it included increases from many groceries, decorations and gifts costing more than the year prior.
Consumers expect to spend more this year, but also hunt for deals, according to the NRF’s latest consumer survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics. According to the survey, which was conducted in early October, shoppers plan to spend $875 on average on holiday items, an increase of $42 compared with a year ago and roughly in line with the average holiday budget in the past five years.
Nearly 2 out of 3 people said sales and promotions are even more important to them this holiday season than the last one, according to the survey. And nearly 40% said they are cutting back in other areas to cover the cost of holiday items, such as trimming back what they buy for themselves or including fewer people on the gift-giving list.
Correction: This story has been updated to correct that the National Retail Federation expects 2023 holiday spending to come in between $957.3 billion and $966.6 billion, reflecting more specific estimates released by the NRF after a call with reporters.
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Ferrari on Thursday said its third-quarter profit jumped 46% from a year ago.
The luxury automaker again boosted its guidance for the full year following the results.
Ferrari in recent years has greatly extended its options lists, offering its customers a huge range of choices in paint finishes, interior materials and other details, which it calls “personalizations.”

The Ferrari original factory entrance.
Courtesy: Ferrari

Ferrari on Thursday said its third-quarter profit jumped 46% from a year ago as its wealthy customers continued to choose expensive “personalization” options for their new cars.
As it did last quarter, Ferrari again boosted its guidance for the full year following the results.

Ferrari now expects 2023 revenue of about 5.9 billion euros, or $6.3 billion, and per-share profit of at least 6.55 euros, with an adjusted EBIT — earnings before interest and tax — margin of at least 26.5%. In August, the luxury automaker guided investors to full-year revenue of about 5.8 billion euros and per-share profit between 6.25 euros and 6.40 euros, with an adjusted EBIT margin of at least 26%.
CEO Benedetto Vigna said in a statement that a richer product mix — meaning more sales of the company’s higher-end models — and “the continuing appeal of personalizations” led Ferrari to boost its outlook.
“The order book remains at highest levels reflecting strong demand across all geographies, covering the entire 2025,” Vigna said.
Ferrari in recent years has greatly extended its options lists, offering its customers a huge range of choices in paint finishes, interior materials and other details, which it calls “personalizations.” Those extended options can add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the price of a new Ferrari, considerably increasing the company’s profit per car sold.
Here are the key numbers from Ferrari’s third-quarter earnings report:

Earnings per share: 1.82 euros vs. 1.60 euros expected by Wall Street analysts polled by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv
Revenue: 1.54 billion euros vs. 1.47 billion euros expected, per LSEG

Ferrari reported a net profit of 332 million euros, or 1.82 euros per share, an increase of 46% over net profit of 228 million euros, or 1.23 euros per share, in the third quarter of 2022. Its EBIT margin rose to 27.4% in the third quarter of 2023 from 23.9% a year ago.
Revenue increased 24% year over year to 1.54 billion euros.
Ferrari shipped 3,459 vehicles in the third quarter, up 9% from a year ago. The company said the increase was simply a function of its “geographic and product allocation plans by quarter” and emphasized that its order book remains very strong.
On a year-over-year basis, deliveries were up in Europe and North and South America, lower in China and roughly flat in the rest of the Asia-Pacific region.

A Ferrari NV SF90 hybrid vehicle on the opening day of the Paris Motor Show in Paris on Oct. 17, 2022.
Nathan Laine | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Ferrari said it continued ramping up production of its SUV-like Purosangue model during the quarter and that allocations of its limited-run seven-figure Daytona SP3 sports car continued “as planned.”
Ferrari also noted that its four hybrid models — coupe and convertible versions of the six-cylinder 296 and eight-cylinder SF90 sports cars — accounted for 51% of its total shipments during the period.Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO: More

Nikola reported a wider quarterly loss following a costly recall.
The company will have to spend $61.8 million to replace battery packs in more than 200 trucks.
But it now has more cash and nearly 300 orders for its latest model.

Nikola TRE FCEV 2.
Courtesy: Nikola

Electric truck maker Nikola said Thursday that it has received nearly 300 orders for its new hydrogen fuel cell semitruck — but it’s facing what will be a costly recall of its earlier battery-electric trucks.
Nikola recalled all of its Tre battery-electric trucks, 209 in total, in August following a fire caused by a coolant leak in a truck’s battery pack. It said on Thursday that after an investigation into the causes, it has decided to replace the battery packs on all 209 trucks at an estimated cost of $61.8 million.

It expects to resume delivering battery-electric trucks to customers in the first quarter next year. Despite the recall, a dealer ordered 47 battery-electric trucks during the third quarter, Nikola said.
Nikola said it currently has 277 “non-binding” orders for its new fuel-cell truck from 35 different fleet customers. It shipped a total of three trucks during the third quarter, versus 63 in the year-ago quarter.
Here are the key numbers from Nikola’s third-quarter earnings report.

Adjusted loss per share: 30 cents vs. 14 cents expected by Wall Street analysts polled by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv
Revenue: Negative $1.7 million vs. Wall Street’s estimate of $13.3 million, according to LSEG

Nikola’s net loss was $425.8 million, or 50 cents per share. On an adjusted basis, excluding stock-based compensation, it lost 30 cents per share. A year ago, Nikola lost $236.2 million, or 54 cents per share.  
Nikola reported negative revenue of $1.7 million in the third quarter, after it paid out about $2.4 million to buy back seven trucks from former dealers as new CEO Steve Girsky refocused the company’s sales efforts on California. Its revenue was $24.2 million in the third quarter of 2022.

Nikola raised $250 million during the third quarter. As of Sept. 30, it had $362.9 million in cash, up from $226.7 million as of June 30 and just $121.1 million as of March 31.Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO: More

Moderna posted a loss for the third quarter as demand for its Covid shots declined. 
Still, Moderna’s total revenue for the period topped Wall Street’s expectations. 
Moderna will hold an earnings call with investors at 8:00 a.m. ET.

Moderna on Thursday posted a steep loss for the third quarter as it recorded a large write-down due to unused doses of its Covid vaccine, its only marketable product, and unveiled plans to scale back production of the shot. 
Moderna’s total revenue for the period topped Wall Street’s expectations, even amid plummeting demand for its shot. Its outlook for next year, however, came in lower than what analysts were projecting.

Here’s what Moderna reported for the third quarter compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:

Loss per share: $9.53. That may not be comparable to the $1.93 per share expected by analysts. 
Revenue: $1.83 billion vs. $1.40 billion expected

Shares of Moderna fell more than 15% in premarket trading Thursday. Moderna’s stock is down more than 57% for the year as of Wednesday’s close, putting the biotech company’s market value at roughly $29 billion.
Moderna posted a net loss of $3.63 billion, or $9.53 per share, for the quarter. That compares with net income of $1.04 billion, or $2.53 per share, reported during the year-ago period. 
The company said the loss was primarily driven by $3.1 billion in mostly non-cash charges related to tax allowances and changing its manufacturing footprint. The resizing, which resulted in $1.4 billion in charges during the third quarter, aims to make the company’s Covid vaccine profitable in 2024 and beyond, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a statement. 
The effort involves reducing manufacturing capacity and commitments with several third-party vendors and cutting back on purchase commitments for raw materials for products, Moderna CFO Jamey Mock said during an earnings call Thursday.

“During the pandemic, we were obsessed about scaling up manufacturing to make as many doses as we could to help as many people as we could. And now that we’re moving into an endemic setting, it is important to resize the company,” Bancel said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Thursday.
Cost of sales for the quarter came in at $2.2 billion. That included a $1.3 billion charge for vaccines that have exceeded their shelf life and a contract manufacturing wind-down cost of $500 million, among other costs.
The biotech company generated third-quarter sales of $1.83 billion, with sales of its Covid shot dropping 44% from the same period a year ago. Total revenue plummeted from the $3.36 billion Moderna recorded in the third quarter of 2022, when Covid cases still trended higher in the U.S. 
Moderna reiterated its current full-year outlook of at least $6 billion in Covid vaccine sales, but did not provide a range for that forecast. In August, Moderna said it expected its shot to rake in $6 billion to $8 billion in revenue in 2023. 

Covid vaccine questions

Nikos Pekiaridis | Lightrocket | Getty Images

The company said its guidance assumes Covid vaccine trends will be consistent with last fall, but noted that U.S. vaccination rates are still the “largest remaining variable to sales for the year.” 
“We believe that this season seems to be – and we have to be careful with December – but seems to be on track with last year. A little bit ahead of last year if you look at the weekly data,” Bancel told CNBC.
Notably, Moderna said its Covid vaccine has won 45% of the U.S. market share so far this fall, up from the 36% market share it captured in 2022.
Bancel added that company expects the U.S. market for Covid shots to be at least 50 million doses this fall, which is consistent with last year and is “something we repeat again in 2024.”
“Our assumption is everyone who has gotten their booster in 2023 will at least get their booster also in 2024 and beyond,” Moderna CCO Arpa Garay said during the earnings call. Garay added that the company expects to see “some increase in the overall Covid market” as patients become more understanding of annual vaccine recommendations.
Moderna expects roughly $4 billion in sales in 2024, mostly in the second half of the year, mainly due to global Covid shot sales and the launch of its vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. Wall Street analysts had expected $6 billion next year.
Mock said the company expects 2024 sales to be the “low point” for the company. Moderna expects to return to organic sales growth by 2025.
Moderna and its rivals Pfizer and Novavax have all seen sales of their Covid-related products plummet as much of the world moves on from the pandemic and depends less on protective vaccines and treatments. 
Moderna is hoping to shift investor focus away from Covid toward a pipeline of new vaccines. The company is developing shots targeting other respiratory diseases and has said it hopes to offer a slew of new jabs targeting cancer, heart disease and other conditions by 2030.
“We’re talking up to 15 products in the next five years and quite a number of them in ’24 and ’25,” Bancel told CNBC. “That’s how we drive growth again, the products.”
The lineup includes Moderna’s experimental vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. The company in July filed for full approval of the shot for adults ages 60 and older and expects a decision from regulators in 2024. 
Moderna is also hoping to win approval for its combination vaccine targeting Covid and the flu in 2025. That shot recently showed positive initial results in a mid-stage clinical trial and is expected to deliver greater convenience to patients and health care providers.  
The pipeline also includes Moderna’s personalized cancer vaccine, a highly anticipated shot being developed with Merck to target different tumor types, along with a flu vaccine.  More

Eli Lilly reported third-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings that topped expectations, lifted by $1.4 billion in sales from its blockbuster diabetes drug Mounjaro. 
But the company slashed its full-year profit guidance due to charges primarily related to its recent acquisitions.

Eli Lilly and Company, Pharmaceutical company headquarters in Alcobendas, Madrid, Spain.
Cristina Arias | Cover | Getty Images

Eli Lilly on Thursday reported third-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings that topped estimates on strong demand for its diabetes drug Mounjaro, but slashed its full-year profit guidance due to charges primarily related to its recent acquisitions.
Here’s what Eli Lilly reported for the third quarter compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:

Earnings per share: 10 cents per share adjusted vs. 13 cents loss per share expected
Revenue: $9.50 billion vs. $8.95 billion expected

For the quarter ended Sept. 30, Eli Lilly posted a loss of $57.4 million, or 6 cents a share, compared with a profit of $1.45 billion, or $1.61 a share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, the company posted a per-share profit of 10 cents.
The pharmaceutical giant generated third-quarter revenue of $9.50 billion, up 37% from the same period a year ago. That increase was primarily driven by growth from Mounjaro and other treatments, including breast cancer pill Verzenio and diabetes medication Jardiance, and the sale of one of its drug portfolios.
Eli Lilly recorded pretax “in-process research and development” charges of $2.98 billion, which are primarily related to a slew of recent buyouts, including Dice Therapeutics, Versanis Bio and Emergence Therapeutics. That compares with charges of $62.4 million in the third quarter of 2022.
“This is essentially the future value of business development deals we have done,” Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks said Thursday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
The company lowered its 2023 adjusted earnings guidance to a range of $6.50 to $6.70, from a previous range of $9.70 to $9.90 per share.

But Eli Lilly reiterated its full-year revenue forecast of between $33.4 billion and $33.9 billion. 
Shares of Eli Lilly rose more than 1% in premarket trading Thursday.
With a market cap of roughly $526 billion, Eli Lilly is the largest pharmaceutical company based in the U.S. The company’s stock has been on a tear this year, with shares up nearly 52% through Wednesday’s close. 

Mounjaro, other drugs

Mounjaro, the company’s Type 2 diabetes injection, posted $1.41 billion in sales for the quarter. The drug was first approved in the U.S. in May 2022 and had just $97.3 million in sales in the year-ago period. 
Analysts had expected the drug to bring in $1.28 billion in worldwide sales, according to estimates compiled by FactSet.
The lion’s share of Mounjaro revenue came from the U.S., where it raked in $1.28 billion, reflecting increased demand and higher realized prices due to decreased use of savings card programs.
Eli Lilly noted that it experienced “intermittent delays” fulfilling orders of certain Mounjaro doses due to significant demand, which negatively affected volume.

More CNBC health coverage

Investors have pinned high hopes on Mounjaro’s potential mega-blockbuster potential beyond diabetes, with initial studies suggesting that it may be even more effective at reducing weight than Novo Nordisk’s popular Wegovy and Ozempic injections. Last month, Eli Lilly filed for Food and Drug Administration approval of the injection for chronic weight management.
Ricks told CNBC that the company expects the FDA to make a decision in the fourth quarter.
Revenue growth was also driven by sales of breast cancer pill Verzenio, which rose 68% to $1.04 billion for the quarter. Sales of Jardiance, a tablet that lowers blood sugar in Type 2 diabetes patients, climbed 22% to $700 million for the third quarter.
Eli Lilly also sold the rights to its olanzapine drug portfolio during the quarter, which brought in $1.42 billion. Olanzapine, marketed under the brand name Zyprexa, treats psychotic conditions like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Meanwhile, the company’s other diabetes medicine, Trulicity, had $1.67 billion in revenue, down 10% from the same period a year go.
The company also reported no sales from its Covid antibody treatments, compared with $387 million in the second quarter of 2022. The Food and Drug Administration rescinded its approval of the company’s antibody bebtelovimab in November.
Notably, Eli Lilly said it now expects the FDA to make a decision on whether to approve its Alzheimer’s treatment, donanemab, in the first quarter of 2024. The company in July applied for full approval of the drug and previously said it expected the agency to decide by the end of the year.
Ricks said the FDA asked for a short extension to its review period to “get through all the data,” so the company isn’t concerned about a later decision date.
“It is more about the procedures taking a little longer from their end,” Ricks told CNBC. More