Raphael Stevens

Halloween is the biggest day of the year for candy makers such as Mars.
The National Retail Federation predicts consumers will spend $3.6 billion on Halloween candy this year.
Mars’ candy portfolio includes Snickers, Twix, Three Musketeers and M&M’s.

Snickers and Mars candy bars, produced by Mars Inc., sit on display.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

For 11 months of the year, Tim LeBel is Mars Wrigley’s president of sales. But for the month of October, he dons a new title: chief Halloween officer.
For decades, the fall holiday has been the biggest day of the year for candy makers. In recent years, Halloween has also stretched to become a three-month season for Mars and rivals such as Hershey, Ferrero and Mondelez, and the retailers who stock their candy.

The National Retail Federation predicts consumers will spend $3.6 billion on Halloween candy this year, up from $3.1 billion last year, even as many shoppers pull back spending elsewhere.
“We know that during difficult economic times, consumers are particularly interested in enjoying kind of the simple things in life … like Halloween,” Hershey CEO Michele Buck told investors in July on the company’s quarterly conference call.
Unlike Hershey, family-owned Mars doesn’t report its financial results, but disclosed nearly $45 billion in annual revenue in 2021. While best known for a candy portfolio that includes M&M’s, Snickers, Three Musketeers and Twix, Mars also makes ice cream, chewing gum and pet food.
With the stakes so high for Halloween, Mars starts planning for the holiday two years in advance. LeBel said he sits down with key retailers to discuss trends across flavors, packaging and sustainability.
“A lot of those things take two years to develop and execute to bring to market,” LeBel told CNBC. “So the things we looked at in 2021, you’re starting to see this year in 2023.”

Tim LeBel, Mars Wrigley’s president of sales.
Source: Mars Wrigley

That’s phase one of planning. The next stage happens in the three weeks of November after last Halloween. Mars once again sits down with retailers, this time for a post mortem on its candies’ performance.
“What items did we not make enough of? What items maybe went off trend?” LeBel said.
This year, Mars has a couple of tricks up its sleeve, such as Skittles Shriekers. Each bag includes classic Skittles with a few sour-flavored ones that look the same as the rest of the bag.
The company is also leaning into online shopping. Last year, roughly a third of consumers bought Halloween items online. This year, Mars has teamed up with digital convenience store goPuff to make sure everyone has enough candy to pass out on Halloween. Consumers whose stash is running low can visit MarsWrigleyHalloween.com and receive a delivery of a free backup supply of Mars candy in under an hour in participating locations, while supplies last.
But Mars’ Halloween plans will always include the classics, such as its Snickers bars, which are the second best-selling Halloween candy, trailing only Hershey’s Reese’s cups. Three of Mars’ variety bags cracked the top 10 for most popular assortments, according to the company.
Retailers’ insights may lead Mars to pivot its plans for the next Halloween season, which starts just nine months later, before temperatures cool and pumpkin spice lattes return to Starbucks’ menu.
“[Retailers] realize that having our portfolio on display from August through October captures multiple consumer occasions,” LeBel said.
Those moments include picking up a variety pack of candy during back-to-school shopping, snacking during spooky movie nights and the all-important trick-or-treating on Halloween.
Still, 48% of Halloween candy sales happen during the last week of October, according to LeBel. Those last-minute shoppers mean that candy manufacturers and retailers need to be ready to meet that demand.
All of Mars’ planning has paid off this year. The company exceeded its production targets this Halloween season.
“I actually still have some in our warehouses, ready to ship,” LeBel said. More

Pharmacy staff from Walgreens are laying the groundwork for a nationwide walkout and multiple rallies at the end of October to protest unsatisfactory working conditions, and are in talks with employees from other retail pharmacies about joining them, CNBC has learned.
Those potential plans, which some CVS employees are considering joining in, reflect years of growing discontent among retail pharmacy staff.
One organizer sees nationwide walkouts across several retail pharmacy chains as the “next step” in the fight against current working conditions for pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and other support staff. 

A woman walks near a Walgreens pharmacy on March 09, 2023 in New York City. 
Leonardo Munoz | Corbis News | Getty Images

Pharmacy staff from Walgreens are laying the groundwork for a nationwide walkout and multiple rallies at the end of October to protest unsatisfactory working conditions, and are in talks with employees from other retail pharmacies about joining them, CNBC has learned.
Those efforts, which are still in the planning stages, reflect the growing discontent among retail pharmacy staff, who have complained for years about having to grapple with understaffed teams and increasing work expectations imposed by corporate management. The Covid pandemic only exacerbated those issues, as new duties like testing and vaccination stretched pharmacists and technicians even thinner. 

Those frustrations came to a head in recent weeks, as some pharmacy staff from Walgreens locations around the country and CVS stores in the Kansas City area engaged in separate walkouts. Those demonstrations – and the planning for a broader work stoppage – add to what has been one of the most active years for the labor movement in recent U.S. history.
A Walgreens organizer, an employee of the chain who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, said the walkouts are scheduled for Oct. 30 to Nov. 1. Another organizer named Shane Jerominski, an independent pharmacist who used to work for Walgreens, confirmed those dates. Jerominski is a pharmacy labor advocate who has been actively involved in organizing recent walkouts. 
The Walgreens organizer said they have been in talks with pharmacy staff from other retail chains about participating in the group walkout. The person sees nationwide walkouts across several retail pharmacy chains as the “next step” in the fight against current working conditions.
A Walgreens spokesperson redirected CNBC to the company’s earlier statement in response to the walkouts pharmacy staff held this week.
The spokesperson touted the company’s pharmacy teams in that statement, noting that they work “tirelessly to serve our communities” at nearly 9,000 store locations across the U.S. The spokesperson also acknowledged that the “last few years have required an unprecedented effort from our team members.”

Walgreens is engaged and listening to the concerns of pharmacy staff, the spokesperson said in the statement. In particular, the company said it has been making significant investments in wages and hiring bonuses in order to retain pharmacists in hard-to-staff locations.
Walgreens pharmacists make $57.45 an hour on average, according to employment website Indeed. The company has more than 86,000 health-care service providers, including pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and other health-related professionals.
Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians work under the company’s U.S. retail pharmacy segment. That division contributes the most sales by far of its business segments, raking in $110 billion in fiscal year 2023.
A CVS employee, who was the main organizer of the Kansas City area walkouts, confirmed that they have been in contact with the Walgreens organizer about getting the CVS pharmacy staff they represent to join the nationwide effort. That employee, who also asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, represents CVS pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in the Kansas City area.
But the CVS employee said whether those employees join will depend on the outcome of a meeting the person has with Prem Shah, the company’s chief pharmacy officer and president of pharmacy and consumer wellness, on Friday.
During that meeting, the employee will assess what CVS has done so far to execute a series of changes it committed to – including adding staff and paid overtime – after the Kansas City area walkouts ended last month. 
The CVS employee said if the meeting goes poorly, the person will reach out to the Walgreens organizer and tell them that the pharmacy staff they represent will be “100% behind” the nationwide walkout effort.
A CVS spokesperson said the company is “not seeing any unusual activity” regarding unplanned pharmacy closures or pharmacist walkouts. The spokesperson added that the company is working with pharmacists to directly address any concerns they might have.  
Pharmacy staff participating in the nationwide effort would also hold demonstrations outside the stores that workers walk out of, according to the people who spoke to CNBC.
Jerominksi said organizers are planning to hold rallies in areas that will see the “largest scale” of participation in the walkout, but no specific store locations have been finalized. He added that rallies were the biggest thing that was missing from the recent Walgreens and CVS walkouts. 
In addition to those rallies and the walkouts, Jerominski and the Walgreens organizer said they are considering pushing for unionization for pharmacy staff not currently represented by one. The vast majority of pharmacists and technicians from Walgreens and CVS have no union representation, while pharmacy staff from a handful of grocery retailers such as Kroger do, according to Jerominski. 
Organizers are in talks with multiple existing unions, but there is no concrete agreement yet, according to Jerominski. He said the organizations include IAM Healthcare, a union representing thousands of professionals in the health-care industry, and the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, which represents food, retail and health-care workers across the U.S. and Canada.
IAM Healthcare did not immediately respond to a request for comment. UFCW directed CNBC to a statement released Thursday in support of the recent walkouts staged by Walgreens and CVS pharmacy staff.

Main concerns of pharmacy staff

Retail pharmacy staff are concerned that companies like Walgreens and CVS are placing unreasonable demands on employees, without providing enough staffing or resources for them to safely and responsibly execute tasks such as filling prescriptions. The staff believes those working conditions ultimately put patients at risk of serious harm. 
“What we’re doing in our stores is not safe for our customers,” the CVS employee told CNBC. “Improve our working conditions so we can improve the safety and the confidence of our customers that come into our stores.”
In addition to filling and verifying prescriptions, pharmacy employees often have to juggle patient phone calls, administer a growing number of vaccines, work with insurance companies on issues such as copays and reimbursements, perform rapid Covid and flu testing and deal with frustrated customers who are seeing longer wait times due to understaffing.

New vaccine COMIRNATY® (COVID-19 Vaccine, mRNA) by Pfizer, available at CVS Pharmacy in Eagle Rock, CA. 
Irfan Khan | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images

One Walgreens pharmacy technician in Minnesota, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, likened work shifts to running a marathon. They told CNBC that pharmacy staff always go home “completely overworked and exhausted” after a day of juggling dozens of different tasks.
Walgreens pharmacy employees are asking the company to offer more transparency around how staff hours are assigned to stores, dedicate training time for each new hire and allocate job tasks in a way that matches the staffing levels of a given store location, according to the Walgreens organizer.
Currently, the company sets task expectations based on the number of team members each pharmacy should have instead of how much staff the locations actually have, the organizer said. 
Walgreens said it does not set task-based metrics for staff, noting that the company eliminated it last year.
Pharmacy staff across different chains are also hoping that company management can address their concerns in a more timely fashion, Jerominski said. 
“Pharmacists are kind of on an island where you don’t feel much support,” Jerominski said. “It feels like yelling into the void. You might call a supervisor or a district manager, but you might get a response a week later.” 
A survey from last year shows that pharmacy workers who bring complaints to management sometimes get little response. The survey, conducted by the American Pharmacists Association and the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations, noted that there are “no open mechanisms” for pharmacists and other pharmacy staff to discuss workplace issues with supervisors and management.

Vaccine appointments, tensions with customers

Some Walgreens pharmacy staff told CNBC that the rollout of new vaccines this fall, including shots for Covid, flu and respiratory syncytial virus, has made their workload heavier than usual. 
One pharmacist, who requested anonymity for fear of retribution, said it is difficult to handle the recent influx of vaccine appointments, especially since those respiratory virus shots all arrived in the U.S. around the same time. The pharmacist described having appointments every 10 minutes, with some patients getting several shots at once.
The pharmacist also described a recent work shift where they were the only immunizer on staff, which made it nearly impossible for them to fill prescriptions and complete other tasks. 
Jerominski, the organizer and pharmacy labor advocate, claimed that immunizations have become a priority for Walgreens and CVS since the margins on vaccines are significantly higher than the average prescription.

A sign advertises COVID-19 (coronavirus) vaccine shots at a Walgreens Pharmacy in Somerville, Massachusetts, August 14, 2023.
Brian Snyder | Reuters

One Walgreens pharmacist from Colorado, who also requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, also highlighted how staff increasingly have to deal with frustrated customers. 
That pharmacist said the lack of staffing and resources at some locations can lead to medication delays and errors or longer wait times for appointments, which sets employees up for negative interactions with patients.
The Colorado pharmacist said patients are “rightfully upset” when they can’t pick up critical medications in a quick and seamless way. But it can get emotionally taxing for employees when patients target all of their anger and frustration on staff, the pharmacist said.
Patients can get aggressive or even violent in rare cases, and it’s a “very long process” to get those customers banned from a store to protect employees, the Colorado pharmacist said. More

A shift in strategy by the United Auto Workers union this week has some analysts wondering if the parties are — perhaps, counterintuitively — getting closer to a deal.
The union initiated a surprise strike of 8,700 workers at Ford Motor’s Kentucky Truck Plant, the most crucial plant affected by the disruptions so far.
The thinking is that to convince members to ratify a potential new contract, UAW President Shawn Fain and the union’s leadership will need to convince autoworkers that the union has fought as hard as possible

United Auto Workers members strike the General Motors Lansing Delta Assembly Plant on September 29, 2023 in Lansing, Michigan. 
Bill Pugliano | Getty Images

DETROIT – A shift in strategy by the United Auto Workers union this week has some analysts wondering if the parties are — perhaps, counterintuitively — getting closer to a deal.
On Wednesday the union initiated a surprise work stoppage at Ford Motor’s Kentucky Truck Plant. The strike involves 8,700 workers and affects the most crucial plant, by far – responsible for $25 billion in revenue annually – that the union has walked out on since the strikes began Sept. 15. It’s expected to quickly have a ripple effect on other Ford plants and suppliers.

It also ushered in what UAW President Shawn Fain characterized as a “new phase” of strikes and contract negotiations with Ford, General Motors and Chrysler-parent Stellantis, giving the union the element of surprise to keep the automakers on edge during the ongoing negotiations, Fain told members in a Friday presentation.
“We’re entering a new phase of this fight and it demands a new approach,” Fain said Friday. “We’re done waiting until Fridays to escalate our strike.
“We are prepared at any time to call on more locals to stand up and walk out,” he said.
Until this week, Fain had announced all of the union’s new strikes on Fridays, during what has become a weekly livestreamed update for union members.
Some Wall Street analysts and industry experts think this week’s shift in strategy could be a sign that UAW leaders feel a deal with Ford is close, and that they’re increasing pressure as a tactic to get the deal over the finish line — and to help sell a potential tentative deal to their members.

“We continue to believe the escalation at [Ford] this week is a sign the talks may be coming to an end. KY Truck is likely Ford’s most profitable plant, and therefore the strike is the highest level of escalation, aside from a national strike,” Wells Fargo analyst Colin Langan wrote in a Friday note. “This escalation would likely be done to push for final terms.”
But the UAW’s leaders may be looking one more step ahead, to the process of selling a tentative deal with Ford to their members. The thinking is that to convince members to ratify a potential new contract, UAW President Shawn Fain and the union’s leadership will need to convince autoworkers that the union has fought as hard as possible to have their demands met. Striking Ford’s most profitable factory might be one way to do that.
Wolfe Research’s Rod Lache argued the Kentucky strike may allow UAW leadership to claim that they did all that could be done, especially if it leads to one or two more concessions from Ford.
“In another week or two, Fain should be able to credibly announce that he has forced Ford into one last capitulation (battery plants?), and that UAW members have secured the last few ounces of wage, benefits, and job protection concessions that they can get,” Lache wrote Thursday to investors.

Factory workers and UAW union members form a picket line outside the Ford Motor Co. Kentucky Truck Plant in the early morning hours on October 12, 2023 in Louisville, Kentucky.
Luke Sharrett | Getty Images

Winning over workers

Only about 34,000 U.S. automakers with the companies, or roughly 23% of UAW members covered by the expired contracts with the Detroit automakers, are currently on strike.
“Hitting a very high-dollar, high-profitable plant, it certainly gets Ford’s attention very quickly,” said Art Wheaton, a labor professor at the Worker Institute at Cornell University. “It also sends a huge message to Stellantis and General Motors.”
Wheaton argues the escalation in Kentucky may just be the beginning. There are plenty more plants the union could hit for each of the automakers, including the full-size pickup truck plants owned by all three and large SUV plants at GM and Stellantis.
GM avoided a strike at its most profitable SUV plant in Texas last week with a last-minute offer to include battery cell plant workers under the company’s national agreement, however details regarding how that will be done are believed to be still being negotiated.
While Fain declined to expand strikes against GM and Stellantis Friday, Wells Fargo’s Langan thinks that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re spared.
“The lack of GM & STLA strike today, even though both have not matched F’s offer, would be consistent with the UAW holding out the most profitable plants for a final push,” he wrote in a Friday note.

Other outcomes?

All of that tea-leaf reading aside, rapid escalation-turned-resolution is just one potential outcome.
Another includes the automakers holding out for the union to deplete its resources, specifically its strike and defense fund. Or, the UAW could continue rotating strikes or filing additional unfair labor practice charges against the companies. Yet another outcome could see the sides seeking mediation or legal resources.
“I think they’ve got to be getting close to some sort of an agreement, or you just have to conclude a reasonable deal is not in the making — and that this is really more a matter of a test of will than anything else,” said Marick Masters, a business professor at Wayne State University in Detroit who specializes in labor issues.
An automaker also could submit what’s known as a “last, best and final offer,” which, as it states, is typically a final proposal when bargainers have reached an impasse.
Ford may be close to that point. An executive said Thursday the automaker was “at the limit” of what it can offer UAW in terms of economic concessions.

The Detroit automakers have largely given into many of the union’s demands, but not all of them.
The companies haven’t waved the white flag on demands for a 32-hour workweek — which was always a nonstarter for the companies and which has largely fallen out of union talking points — and a 40% wage increase.
Ford was up to a record 23% wage increase in its recent contract proposal, with the others not far behind.
Then there’s the outstanding issues of benefits for retirees as well as a return to traditional pension plans and future battery plant jobs and workers.
Industry experts and sources familiar with the talks believe regardless of the outcome, the contracts will have ripple effects on the companies potentially in the way of reorganizations, cost cuts and future investments and jobs.
A former high-ranking bargainer for one of the automakers told CNBC that it’s nearly guaranteed that the companies will cut union jobs through product allocation, plant closures or other means to offset increased labor costs once the contracts are set.
“They’re going to have to pay up. The question is how much,” said the longtime bargainer, who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity. “This ends up with fewer jobs. That’s how the automakers cut costs.” More

The U.S. has one of the highest maternal mortality rates of any high-income country, with Black and Hispanic women experiencing some of the worst outcomes.
Latinas with private insurance have 22% more pregnancy complications than non-Hispanic white women, according to Blue Cross Blue Shield, and the rates are even worse for low-income Hispanic women on Medicaid.
Nonprofits such as the Hispanic Health Council of Hartford, Connecticut, are focused on helping immigrant and low-income Latinas with pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum support.
Increasingly, health insurers and large employers such as Walmart are investing in doula and pregnancy-support programs to try to reduce financial and emotional costs.

Zaza Cristina Robles worked as a pregnancy coach in her native Peru, so when she arrived in the U.S. at 16 weeks pregnant, the first thing she did after settling in with her in-laws was to seek medical care.
“When they showed us the bill, it was so expensive, my husband and I thought, ‘If this is just for the doctor’s visit, imagine what the delivery will be?’ It scared us,” she said.

Her sister-in-law put her in touch with the Hispanic Health Council, a nonprofit in Hartford, Connecticut. The organization’s Comadrona — or midwife — program helps Latina immigrants and low-income pregnant women navigate the complications of the U.S. health-care system.
“They really helped clear up a lot of my fears,” Robles said.
The program helped Robles gain health-care coverage as she and her husband seek asylum in the United States. Her comadrona helped her find a doctor who treats low-income patients and connected her with other services.
“One of the things that we do here at Hispanic Council is provide birthing classes, in their own language,” said Bianca Noroñas, the Comadrona program manager.
Noroñas said coaching and social services have helped the mothers in the nonprofit’s program avoid medical complications during childbirth.

“If you don’t receive education and support, that is going to affect you directly in your life,” Noroñas said.
In the U.S., the rate of maternal morbidity — medical complications in childbirth — and maternal mortality is nearly twice as high as in other developed nations.
“We’ve been paying a lot more attention to try to understand why these differences persist and why our numbers are so high,” said Marie Thoma, a professor at the department of family science at the University of Maryland School of Public Health. “A lot of investment has been going into addressing some of these factors around the health before, during and after pregnancy that we can improve on in the U.S.”

Latina maternal morbidity and mortality

U.S. maternal mortality worsened during the pandemic, especially for Latinas. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. saw 23.8 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2020, up 18.4% from 2019. For Black women, the maternal mortality rate jumped 25%, while for Hispanic women it surged 44%.
While researchers are not clear on why Latinas saw such disproportionately higher mortality rates in 2020, the overall trend in the U.S. has been that women of color have had poorer outcomes in childbirth.
Latinas with private insurance plans have a 22% higher rate of severe pregnancy complications than non-Hispanic white women, according to a Blue Cross Blue Shield Association study. Low-income Hispanic women on Medicaid have a 28% higher rate of complications.  
Higher rates of obesity and chronic conditions such as diabetes among women of color can play a role in maternal morbidity. Financial barriers to getting proper care also contribute to poorer outcomes for Black and Hispanic women, as well as cultural barriers in health care, said Hispanic Health Council board member Dr. Yvette Martas.
“It is the issue of being listened to,” said Martas. She said the health-care system needs to support mothers beyond the delivery room, “creating the culture where this is not a disease model, but it’s a very natural course of how we reproduce.” 

High costs spur investments  

An analysis by the Commonwealth Fund calculated that the cost of maternal and child morbidity for U.S. births in 2019 reached $32.3 billion from conception through the child’s fifth birthday. That amounts to an additional $8,624 for each mother-child pair, according to the researchers.
Health insurers and large employers such as Walmart have taken note of the problem. This year, Walmart expanded coverage for pregnancy-support programs to workers in four states by providing up to $1,000 for doula services. 
Through its pregnancy-support initiative, Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina has seen maternal and infant morbidity rates decline substantially. The insurer’s Centering Pregnancy program has cut the rate of newborns needing to go into the neonatal intensive care unit from 13.9% to 3.5% — at an average savings of $67,000 on NICU costs.
“I think offering doula programs and offering paid leave — there’s a lot of things that I think our companies can do … that could really support moms during and then just as they return to work,” Thoma said. “It will give back to the company as well.”
Beyond pregnancy, the Comadrona program also offers postpartum support. Robles said she got help with diapers and lactation coaching. 
“Thank God … It turned out well for us and they cared for us so well,” said Robles, whose delivery had no complications. More

Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour concert film tallied $2.8 million in last-minute Thursday night previews.
Expectations are that Swift could tally between $40 million and $60 million on Friday, on her way to an opening weekend draw of as much as $150 million.
AMC Entertainment, which is distributing the film, reported last week that presales for its theaters had already exceeded $100 million for the full run of Swift’s film.

Popcorn buckets are pictured during the “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” concert movie world premiere at AMC The Grove in Los Angeles on Oct. 11, 2023.
Valerie Macon | AFP | Getty Images

Taylor Swift fans had just eight hours to buy tickets for last-minute Thursday night previews of her The Eras Tour concert film.
The result was $2.8 million in ticket sales.

While the figure is low in comparison to blockbuster releases from Marvel, DC and Star Wars, it reflects the fact that film wasn’t originally slated for a Thursday release. In fact, fans weren’t told screenings were available early until late Wednesday night, and tickets for 6 p.m. showings weren’t available for purchase until 10 a.m. local time Thursday.
Box office analysts don’t see the small Thursday night haul as any indication of the potential success of Swift’s film.
“A storm is brewing,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. “The 11th hour announcement of the availability of Thursday night pre-shows produced an early box office number that belies the true potential for the film. Pre-sales and incredible fan enthusiasm portend a blockbuster style weekend.”
Expectations are that Swift could tally between $40 million and $60 million on Friday, on her way to an opening weekend draw of as much as $150 million. Any figure over $96 million for the weekend will make it the highest opening film in the month of October, beating out 2019’s “Joker.”
“It’s a wild one to try and project,” said Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at BoxOffice.com. “Everything comes down to how much walk-up business she can bring in outside her dedicated fans who already bought tickets weeks ago, on top of the average ticket price.”

Swift’s film is on pace to open in about 3,850 theaters, making it the widest domestic release of a concert film. It is also set to have the highest opening weekend for a concert movie, surpassing Miley Cyrus’ “Best of Both Worlds Concert” from 2008, which snared $31.1 million during its domestic debut, according to data from Comscore.
Should the film top $263 million globally during its limited run in theaters, which many box office analysts expect, it will also become the highest-grossing concert film worldwide, surpassing “Michael Jackson’s This Is It.”
AMC Entertainment, which is distributing the film, reported last week that presales for its theaters had already exceeded $100 million for the full run of Swift’s film.
Aiding Swift’s box office haul are average ticket prices that are more than 40% higher than typical releases this year. Base prices for tickets for standard formats start at $19.89 for adults and $13.13 for kids. The numbers reflect Swift’s birth year and her lucky number, 13. Tickets for premium format screens such as IMAX and Dolby come at a higher cost.
Additionally, cinemas are also expected to get a big bump in concession sales. Specialty popcorn buckets, drinkware and boutique cocktails should grab the attention of moviegoers. Many locations also have plans to set up friendship bracelet-making tables and other in-person events to make the occasion bigger and more memorable than just a trip to the movies. More

Novo Nordisk raised its outlook for its full-year sales and operating profit on soaring demand for its blockbuster weight loss drug Wegovy and diabetes treatment Ozempic. 
The revised forecast only confirms the frenzy for those weekly injections.
Novo Nordisk is slated to report third-quarter earnings Nov. 2.

Novo Nordisk on Friday raised its outlook for its full-year sales and operating profit due to soaring demand for its blockbuster weight loss drug Wegovy and diabetes treatment Ozempic. 
The revised forecast only confirms the frenzy for those weekly injections, which patients seek for their ability to help them lose significant weight over time. Ozempic and Wegovy have propelled Novo Nordisk to become Europe’s most valuable company.

The Danish drugmaker now expects 2023 sales growth in local currencies of 32% to 38%, from a previous outlook of 27% to 33%, according to a press release. 
Novo Nordisk also expects operating profit growth of 40% to 46%, from 31% to 37% previously.

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The new sales outlook for this year primarily reflects higher expectations for Ozempic sales in the U.S. and “gross-to-net sales adjustments for Ozempic and Wegovy in the U.S.,” according to the release.
Novo Nordisk is slated to report third-quarter earnings Nov. 2.
The company’s U.S.-listed shares rose about 1% and touched a new 52-week high Friday.

An Ozempic injection pen is seen on a kitchen table in Riga, Latvia, on Aug. 6, 2023.
Jaap Arriens | Nurphoto | Getty Images More

Two new immunizations could protect babies from RSV, the leading cause of hospitalization in infants.
Pfizer’s maternal vaccine, Abrysvo, and Sanofi’s monoclonal antibody, Beyfortus, were approved for use in expectant mothers and infants in the U.S. earlier this year.
But logistical hurdles with cost and insurance coverage are complicating the rollout.

A doctor vaccinates an infant against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in a treatment room of her paediatric practice.
Swen Pförtner | Picture Alliance | Getty Images

Two new immunizations promise to protect babies from respiratory syncytial virus – if people can find them.Providers are scrambling to offer Pfizer’s vaccine, Abrysvo, to pregnant patients and Sanofi’s monoclonal antibody, Beyfortus, to babies. The immunizations, both of which protect infants from complications of RSV, were recently approved and are starting to roll out just as the respiratory virus season gets underway. 
The tight timeline leaves little room to resolve logistical hurdles like insurance coverage, and the steep price for the immunizations is making some providers wary of stocking up without a guarantee they’ll get paid for administering them.

These hurdles threaten to prevent babies from receiving protection this winter and to hinder the launches of both drugs. 
“We want to start protecting babies now,” said Michael Chamberlin, a doctor at Pediatric Associates of Mt. Carmel in Cincinnati, Ohio, adding the provider hasn’t received answers from insurers about whether they’re covering Beyfortus — and at what rate.
“We need this information now, and when we contact insurance companies, we’re just not getting that information,” Chamberlin said.
RSV typically feels like a cold for adults but can be dangerous for newborns, seniors and adults with chronic medical conditions. Complications from the virus are the leading cause of hospitalization among newborns. 
Until now, the only preventative treatment was another monoclonal antibody called Synagis that’s given once a month during RSV season, which generally runs from fall through spring. It costs about $1,000 a dose and is recommended only for babies at high risk for severe illness. 

The two new options work a little differently from one another but are both meant to protect more newborns from RSV. Pfizer’s Abrysvo is a vaccine given during pregnancy to stimulate an immune response that’s then passed onto the fetus. Sanofi’s Beyfortus is a monoclonal antibody that’s given directly to babies and provides them with immediate protection. Both cut the risk of severe disease or hospitalization by more than 50%.
“Whether it’s a neighbor, or a friend, or an older sibling that was hospitalized, everybody knows what [RSV] is,” said Erin Bakke, whose 4-month-old son Graham received a Beyfortus shot this week. “I know that [RSV]’s a threat to little babies, and so to have an opportunity to prevent illness in the first place is really exciting.”

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Laura Riley, chair of obstetrics and gynecology at Weill Cornell Medicine and New York-Presbyterian, originally wasn’t planning to administer Abrysvo in her office. The shot carries a list price of $295, making it more expensive than other maternal vaccines like one for whooping cough, for example, that costs about $50.
“It’s not an inexpensive endeavor,” Riley said.
But Riley said she heard from patients struggling to get vaccinated at pharmacies that were already administering the shot to seniors. And once she realized how difficult the process could be, she decided people clearly weren’t going to get vaccinated unless she made it easy for them and offered it right in the office.Pfizer said any access issues are likely due to the quick turnaround from when Abrysvo was recommended for use during pregnancy. The vaccine was formally recommended for use during pregnancy earlier this month, the final step that some pharmacies and insurers wait for before administering or paying for new shots. Abrysvo was approved for use in people 60 and older in May.
Health insurers have one year from when the CDC’s advisors recommend an immunization to start paying for it. Sanofi said more than 90% of infants are already covered by health plans, and Pfizer said it’s seeing early positive momentum. But insurers acknowledge that people may still face delays as they update their policies. 
“Coverage during the one-year implementation period will vary from plan to plan as system, technical and coding issues may arise,” Kelly Parsons, a spokesperson for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, said in a statement.
Pediatricians of Dallas, where Graham Bakke received his Beyfortus shot, bought about 200 doses of the monoclonal antibody to see if insurers would accept the claims before ordering enough for the roughly 1,000 babies it ultimately expects to immunize against RSV this season, said James Watson, a doctor at the office.
Insurers are reimbursing the office, Watson said, albeit at a lower rate than the shot costs. It’s a price the office is willing to pay. 
“It’s the important thing to do,” Watson said. “If we lose a little money, we’ll see you for other things, and that’s just part of the game.”— CNBC’s Patrick Manning contributed to this report. More

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SpaceX’s powerful Falcon Heavy rocket successfully launched on Friday morning, carrying a NASA mission bound for a distant asteroid.

Targeting the asteroid Psyche, the eponymous NASA mission is flying a spacecraft — about the width of a tennis court — on a journey of almost six years and about 2.2 billion miles, arriving at the planetary body in July 2029.
The launch took off at 10:19 a.m. ET from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

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NASA wants to study the composition of the asteroid, which the agency describes as “an unusual object likely rich in metal.” The Psyche spacecraft is armed with a variety of scientific tools, such as instruments for studying the asteroid’s magnetic field and chemical makeup.

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with the Psyche spacecraft launches from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on October 13, 2023.
Chandan Khanna | AFP | Getty Images

The agency expects to spend about $1.2 billion on the Psyche mission, including the costs of development and operations. Of that total cost, NASA awarded SpaceX a contract of about $131 million to launch the mission.
The mission marks SpaceX’s eighth launch of its Falcon Heavy rocket, the company’s most powerful in operation. It landed the rocket’s pair of side boosters, to recover and reuse them for future launches. More