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JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on Wednesday called the U.S. stock market inflated and said he felt more cautious than others in the business world.
He noted risks from deficit spending, inflation and geopolitical upheaval.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on Wednesday called the U.S. stock market inflated and said he felt more cautious than others in the business world because of the risks from deficit spending, inflation and geopolitical upheaval.
“Asset prices are kind of inflated, by any measure. They are in the top 10% or 15%” of historical valuations, Dimon told CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Dimon said that he was speaking specifically about the American stock market, which is in the midst of a multiyear bull run.
The S&P 500 had back-to-back annual gains of more than 20% in 2023 and 2024, the first time that has happened in over 25 years. Last year, Dimon even called the shares of his own company expensive.
On Wednesday, Dimon also noted that parts of the bond market, like sovereign debt, are “at all-time highs.”
“So yeah, they’re elevated, and you need fairly good outcomes to justify those prices,” Dimon said. “Having pro-growth strategies helps make that happen, but there are negatives out there, and they can tend to surprise you.”
Dimon, 68, is one of the most respected voices in finance after he built JPMorgan into the biggest American bank by many measures, including assets and market valuation.

He has been sounding a note of caution since 2022, when he said a “hurricane” was heading for the U.S. economy. That storm, however, has yet to arrive as the U.S. exceeded expectations in recent years, and the election of Donald Trump in November boosted hopes around what a pro-growth administration will do.
“I do have a little more caution around a bunch of subjects,” Dimon said Wednesday. “What I’m a little cautious about is the deficit spending; it’s a global issue, not just an American issue,” he said. “And the related [question], ‘Will inflation go away?’ I’m not so sure.”
The rising tide of global conflict, including the Ukraine war, tension in the Middle East and growing threats from China has “just got me very concerned how it’s going to affect our world for the next 100 years,” Dimon said.
In the wide-ranging interview, Dimon voiced support for tariffs on imports to the U.S. if they bolster national security, and said that he and tech entrepreneur Elon Musk have smoothed over a previously contentious relationship. Dimon also said he had no intention to run for office in 2028.
Later Wednesday, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon acknowledged that stock market valuations were high, while indicating that they could be justified by enthusiasm over the impact of both artificial intelligence and Trump’s expected moves to relax regulation for American companies.
“It’s hard to dispute the fact that equity multiples are high,” Solomon said. “Markets look forward, and we are coming off of a very, very tough regulatory environment across all industries.”
If Trump administration officials allow more mergers to happen, boosting capital markets activities, it could boost GDP growth by a half percentage point, Solomon said.

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Michelle Mack, the California “queenpin” accused of running a retail crime ring that targeted Ulta Beauty stores, will have to pay the company and other retailers millions of dollars in restitution.
Mack struck a plea deal with prosecutors last year and agreed to spend five years and four months in state prison.
As part of the deal, Mack was forced to sell her Bonsall, California, mansion, which will be used to pay off her restitution.

The California mom who pleaded guilty to running an organized retail crime ring that stole millions of dollars in beauty products from Ulta Beauty and Sephora to resell on Amazon will now have to pay those retailers back as part of her sentence.
Michelle Mack, who began her five-year prison sentence on Jan. 9 following her arrest outside of San Diego in December 2023, was ordered to pay $3 million in restitution to Ulta, Sephora and a number of other retailers after striking a plea deal with prosecutors last year. 

As part of the deal, Mack, 54, forfeited her 4,500-square-foot mansion in Bonsall, California, which was sold in December for $2.35 million, property records show. 
Any funds left from the sale, after bank debts were satisfied, will go toward restitution, while Mack and her husband Kenneth Mack, 60, will pay back the remainder “over time,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office said. 
It’s not clear if Mack had a mortgage on the property, but she originally purchased it for $2.29 million in 2021, according to property records.
It’s also not clear how the restitution will be divvied up among Mack’s victims. The crime ring she admitted to running primarily targeted Ulta stores, but it stole from other retailers, including Sephora.
When compared with the net income that retailers like Ulta bring in annually, the restitution is likely a drop in the bucket — but it would still be a small windfall. Ulta declined to comment on the restitution, including how it would use the funds or account for them in financial statements. The company did say it was proud to have partnered with law enforcement officials on the investigation and was grateful for their efforts. 

“This case demonstrates that through close partnerships between retailers, law enforcement and prosecutors, as well as legislative support, we can make a meaningful impact on organized retail crime and hold the criminals perpetuating this problem accountable,” Dan Petrousek, senior vice president of loss prevention at Ulta Beauty, said in a statement. 
Sephora didn’t return a request for comment. 
David Johnston, vice president of asset protection and retail operations at the National Retail Federation, said restitution is common for retailers, victimized by theft, but the amounts only recently started reaching the millions.
“The level of theft … has not been as substantial and as commonplace as we’ve seen over the last, you know, four years or so,” said Johnston. “This is going to be what we would expect to see when we start to get these organized retail crime groups through the judicial process. It is a substantial amount of loss, a complex organization, which involves a number of individuals, and then sentencing and restitution that meet the crime.” 
He cautioned that restitution rarely makes up for a retailers’ lost income in full, and it can take years for a defendant to pay back the fines entirely.
“Restitution is part of the judicial process, but it does not guarantee that the victim will receive all or any funds,” said Johnston. “It’s dependent upon the ability to obtain that restitution from the offender and the process in which that restitution is in fact paid and shared across multiple victims.” 
Last year, Bonta filed a slew of felony charges against Mack and her husband, alleging they ran what his office called a sprawling retail crime ring that led to an estimated $8 million in stolen beauty products, CNBC previously reported. The operation spanned at least a dozen states, CNBC reported.
Mack wasn’t accused of stealing the products herself. Instead, police said she recruited a crew of young women to take the items so she could resell the products on her Amazon storefront for a fraction of their retail price. 
The investigation, led by the California Highway Patrol, gained national attention and revealed the sophisticated nature behind some retail crime rings and how bad actors can use online marketplaces to sell stolen products. 
Last summer, Mack was sentenced to five years and four months in state prison, but was given a delayed sentence that began this month. Mack’s husband, Kenneth, was also sentenced in connection with the case, so the judge agreed to postpone her sentence so she could care for their children while Kenneth was incarcerated. 
Additional reporting by Scott Zamost and Courtney Reagan

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Procter & Gamble beat Wall Street’s estimates for its quarterly earnings and revenue.
The company’s volume rose 1% in its fiscal second quarter as demand for household staples like toilet paper and cleaning products rose.
P&G reiterated its fiscal 2025 forecast.

Pepto Bismol made by Procter & Gamble is displayed on a grocery store shelf on July 28, 2023 in Greenbrae, California. 
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

Procter & Gamble on Wednesday reported quarterly earnings and revenue that beat analysts’ expectations, thanks to growing demand for household staples like toilet paper and laundry products.
Shares of the company rose 3% in premarket trading.

Here’s what the company reported for the quarter ended Dec. 31 compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

Earnings per share: $1.88 vs. $1.86 expected
Revenue: $21.88 billion vs. $21.54 billion expected

P&G reported fiscal second-quarter net income attributable to the company of $4.63 billion, or $1.88 per share, up from $3.47 billion, or $1.40 per share, a year earlier.
Net sales rose 2% to $21.88 billion. The company’s organic revenue, which excludes currency changes and divestments, increased 3% in the quarter.
P&G’s volume grew 1% during the period. The metric excludes pricing, which makes it a more accurate reflection of demand than sales. Like many consumer companies, P&G has seen weaker demand for its products after several years of price hikes.
The company’s baby, feminine and family care division reported the biggest increase in volume, with a 4% jump. P&G credited its family care and feminine care brands, which include its Charmin, Puffs and Tampax products. But baby care organic sales slid by low-single digits, as fewer parents bought Pampers diapers.

P&G’s grooming segment, which includes Gillette razors, saw volume rise 2% in the quarter. The company said innovation fueled the increase in volume.
The company’s fabric and home care division reported a volume increase of 1%. The segment includes Tide, Swiffer and Cascade products.
P&G’s health care segment, which includes Pepto Bismol and Oral-B products, reported flat volume.
Only P&G’s beauty division posted shrinking volume for the quarter. The company said that volume for its hair care products declined in its Greater China market, and its skin care segment, which includes Olay products, saw global volume decrease. Overall, the company’s beauty division saw volume fall 1%.
P&G also reiterated its fiscal 2025 forecast. It anticipates core net earnings per share in a range of $6.91 to $7.05 and revenue growth of 2% to 4%. More

Netflix beat on the top and bottom lines for the fourth quarter and raised its 2025 revenue forecast.
The company surpassed 300 million paid memberships during the quarter, adding a record 19 million subscribers.
The fourth quarter was the last for which Netflix will report quarterly paid subscriber counts.

Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Shares of Netflix soared more than 14% Tuesday after the company posted fourth-quarter results that beat on the top and bottom lines.
The company surpassed 300 million paid memberships during the quarter, adding a record 19 million subscribers. Netflix said the growth was driven by its content slate, improved product and typical fourth-quarter seasonality.

The company also shared that including “extra member accounts,” its global audience is estimated to be exceed 700 million.
“We really have built the business on variety and quality across countries, across regions, across genres and really focused year-round on having a very strong slate of programming for our members,” Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said during an investor call.
Here’s how Netflix performed for its most recent quarter, ended Dec. 31, compared with Wall Street estimates:

Earnings per share: $4.27 vs. $4.20, according to LSEG
Revenue: $10.25 billion vs. $10.11 billion, according to LSEG
Paid memberships: 301.63 million vs. 290.9 million, according to StreetAccount

Net income for the period was $1.87 billion, or $4.27 per share, up from $938 million, or $2.11 per share, during the same quarter a year earlier.
Revenue in the fourth quarter jumped 16% year-over-year, reaching $10.25 billion, higher than the $10.11 billion Wall Street had predicted.

For the full year 2025, Netflix raised its revenue expectations to a range of $43.5 billion to $44.5 billion, around $500 million higher than its previous forecast to reflects improved business fundamentals and the expected carryover benefit of its stronger-than-expected fourth quarter performance.
The fourth quarter was the last for which Netflix will report quarterly paid subscriber counts, as previously announced. Instead, it will start reporting a bi-annual “engagement report” alongside its second- and fourth-quarter releases.
The streamer on Tuesday touted the success of its fourth-quarter slate, which included the release of season 2 of the hit series “Squid Game” as well as live sporting events like the record-breaking Jake Paul and Mike Tyson boxing match and National Football League games on Christmas Day.
“We are thrilled that some folks came in for the fight and some folks came in for the games, but they stuck around for ‘Squid Game’ and for ‘Carry On’ and for ‘Black Doves’ and for ‘Six Triple Eight’ … Nate Bargatze’s new comedy special,” Sarandos said. “All those things performed really well in the quarter and continue to in the days and weeks after the fight and after the games.
“And what’s really been most encouraging is the retention behavior of those folks who did come in for those events look a lot like the folks who come in for all of our other big titles,” he said.
This year, the company said it plans to improve its core business with more series and films, enhance its product experience and continue to grow its ads business. Netflix is expected to delve further into the live event space and games, as well.
The company also has the return of “Strangers Things” and “Wednesday,” two of its biggest hits, ahead for 2025. Additionally, the streamer will release a collection of new films from top directors and actors including Daniel Craig and Rian Johnson’s third “Knives Out” film, a Russo Brothers project called “The Electric State” starring Millie Bobby Brown, “Happy Gilmore 2” with Adam Sandler and a new take on Frankenstein from Guillermo del Toro.
“We’re fortunate that we don’t have distractions like managing declining linear networks and, with our focus and continued investment, we have good and improving product/market fit around the world,” the company said in its earnings report Tuesday.
Netflix also announced it would raise prices on some streaming tiers between $1 and $2 per month.
Netflix’s cheaper, ad-supported tiers accounted for more than 55% of sign-ups in countries where the option is offered, the company said. Netflix also noted that memberships on its ad-supported plans grew around 30% quarter-over-quarter.
“We’re on track to reach sufficient scale for ads members in all of our ads countries in 2025,” the company said. “A top priority in 2025 is to improve our offering for advertisers so that we can substantially grow our advertising.” More

Netflix is increasing the cost of its streaming plans in the U.S., including the cheaper, ad-supported tier.
The company said it will also hike most of its membership plans in Canada, Portugal and Argentina.
The company reported fourth-quarter earnings on Tuesday.

The word “Netflix” shines brightly at the presentation of the new season (3) of the Netflix series “Bridgerton” in the Flora.
Rolf Vennenbernd | Picture Alliance | Getty Images

Netflix is hiking the price of most of its U.S. plans.
The streaming giant announced on Tuesday that its standard plan without commercials will increase from $15.49 a month to $17.99. Its cheaper, ad-supported plan, which was more recently introduced to attract more subscribers, will increase from $6.99 per month to $7.99.

In addition, the monthly cost of Netflix’s premium plan will increase from $22.99 to $24.99.
The company, which reported fourth-quarter earnings on Tuesday, said it will also raise prices in Canada, Portugal and Argentina.
Consumers have been faced with numerous price hikes in recent years across major streaming services including Netflix and its competitors, including Disney’s apps and Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max. Streamers have increasingly turned to higher prices and ad-supported plans as they look to reach profitability.
“When you’re going to ask for a price increase, you better make sure you have the goods and engagement to back it up,” said Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos during Tuesday’s investor call, noting upcoming series and movies to be released in 2025.
During Tuesday’s call, co-CEO Greg Peters said that the recent price increases in international markets went “smoothly.”

Netflix last increased the cost of its standard plan without ads in 2022, while its premium plan last saw a hike in 2023. Meanwhile in 2023 the company discontinued its cheapest basic ad-free option. While the plan is no longer available to new customers, Netflix did increase the cost of it later that year.
Netflix had ditched the basic ad-free tier soon after it introduced its cheaper, ad-supported plan in November 2022 as a response to slowing subscriber growth at the time. In November, Netflix said it had reached 70 million global monthly active users on its ad plans. This is the first time Netflix has altered the price of the ad-supported plan.
The company has also been enforcing a crackdown on password sharing in a push to get more customers paying for its service.
As part of that change, Netflix has given subscribers the option to add “extra members” to their accounts. The streamer said Tuesday the cost of extra members on standard plans without commercials will rise from $7.99 per month to $8.99. The extra members on ad-supported plans won’t see a price change.
The crackdown appears to be paying off: Netflix reported on Tuesday that it added a record 19 million paid memberships during the fourth quarter to surpass 300 million subscribers. More

United Airlines forecast first-quarter adjusted earnings of 75 cents to $1.25 a share.
The company will hold a conference call with analysts Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. ET.
The carrier has been ramping up competition with Delta Air Lines for high-spending travelers.

A United Airlines airplane proceeds to a runway at Newark Liberty International Airport in front of the skyline of lower Manhattan and One World Trade Center in New York City on December 4, 2024, in Newark, New Jersey. 
Gary Hershorn | Corbis News | Getty Images

United Airlines forecast first-quarter earnings that surpassed analysts’ estimates as the carrier seeks to grow earnings again in 2025 thanks to strong travel demand.
The airline said Tuesday that it expects to earn an adjusted 75 cents to $1.25 in the first three months of the year, above the 54 cents analysts had expected, according to LSEG estimates.

United’s stock is up more than 180% over the past 12 months as of Tuesday’s close, more than any other U.S. carrier. United shares were up more than 3% in extended trading after it released results.
Here is what United reported for the fourth quarter compared with what Wall Street expected, based on estimates compiled by LSEG:

Earnings per share: $3.26 adjusted vs. $3.00 expected
Revenue: $14.70 billion vs. $14.47 billion expected

For full-year 2025, United expects to grow adjusted earnings to $11.50 to $13.50, in line with expectations of about $12.82, according to LSEG.
United and rival Delta have benefitted from strong demand for pricier seats like in business class, international travel and their massive loyalty programs. Delta’s CEO Ed Bastian earlier this month said he expects 2025 to be the carrier’s “best financial year in our history.”

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United reported a $985 million profit for the fourth quarter, up 64% over last year, on $14.70 billion in revenue, which was up about 8% from a year earlier. Adjusting for one-time items, United reported $3.26 a share for the fourth quarter, also ahead of expectations.
Loyalty-program revenue, as well as international, domestic and basic economy-class revenue all rose from a year earlier and unit revenue, which measures pricing power, turned positive over the same quarter of 2023. More