Raphael Stevens

Heading into the weekend, “Barbie” has tallied $916.1 million. It’s expected to hit the coveted billion-dollar benchmark before Monday.
In doing so, director Greta Gerwig will become the first solo female director to have a film cross $1 billion globally.
The bubblegum pink flick from Warner Bros. Discovery and Mattel shows that moviegoers are interested in leaving their couches for quality films and unique communal experiences.

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

“Barbie” is less than $100 million away from topping $1 billion at the global box office.
Heading into the weekend, the bubblegum pink flick from Warner Bros. Discovery and Mattel has tallied $916.1 million. It’s expected to hit the coveted billion-dollar benchmark before Monday.

“Joining the billion-dollar box office club is a watershed moment for ‘Barbie’ and Greta Gerwig as the latter will become the first solo female director to achieve that feat,” said Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at BoxOffice.com.
Anna Boden, co-director of Disney’s “Captain Marvel,” was the first female director to be attached to a billion-dollar film. “Captain Marvel” reached just shy of $1.13 billion during its theatrical run in 2019, according to data from Comscore.
When “Barbie” tops this mark, it will become the first billion-dollar film to do so for the newly minted Warner Bros. Discovery, which merged in 2022.
“Ultimately, ‘Barbie’ has become a global phenomenon in ways the industry perhaps didn’t see coming as it reignites cultural discussions about femininity,” Robbins said. “It’s launched an iconic brand onto the big screen in a way that fans feel is organic and embraces the right amount of nostalgia to tell a relatable and entertaining story in the modern world.”
The success of “Barbie” comes at a time when studios have struggled to connect with moviegoing audiences. A series of adult-aimed blockbusters have underperformed in recent months, leading many in the industry to question if consumer tastes have shifted away from Hollywood.

“Barbie” shows that moviegoers are still interested in leaving their couches for quality films and unique communal experiences. Movie theaters big and small announced record ticket sales in the month of July as pink-clad audiences packed theaters.
The movie’s financial and cultural success “was the result of a most unusual and unpredictable set of circumstances that combined a great release date, marketing campaign, a fun and irresistible movie theater experience,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.
Notably, “Barbie’s” marketing was not affected by the ongoing writers and actors strikes, which have shut down Hollywood and prevented stars from promoting their film and TV projects. The film was released one week after the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists initiated its strike and celebrity-based marketing efforts were halted.
Box office analysts don’t expect “Barbie” ticket sales to stall after this weekend, either. The film has limited competition throughout the rest of the summer season and is expected to continue to lure moviegoers to cinemas.
“‘Barbie’ reaching the $1 billion milestone is just another bold step on its ongoing path to even greater success,” said Dergarabedian. “As the film’s popularity and cultural resonance continues to attract moviegoers around the world, so too will its box office fortunes rise to even greater heights in the coming weeks.” More

Home prices are on a tear again across much of the nation, giving back to homeowners the equity they lost last year.
Home prices in June hit record highs in 60% of U.S. markets, according to a new report from Black Knight, set to be released Monday.
Home equity levels are now back to within 3% of last year’s peaks.
Per homeowner, that amounts to roughly $200,000 in cash sitting in the house.

Home prices are on a tear again across much of the nation after falling for much of last year. That means giving back to homeowners the equity they lost.
Home prices in June hit record highs in 60% of U.S. markets, according to a new report from Black Knight, set to be released Monday. Its national home price index hit a new high in June, up 0.8% from June of last year — a stronger annual growth rate than May.

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Nearly every major market saw gains month to month, with the overall index gaining 0.67% from May to June.
Home prices are rising again, because there is far too little supply to meet the current demand. Higher mortgage rates have been a huge deterrent for current homeowners to list their homes for sale because they don’t want to trade up to these higher rates on another purchase.
That home price growth has made homeowners wealthier again. Home equity levels are now back to within 3% of last year’s peaks.
Total equity hit over $16 trillion with tappable equity, which is the amount most lenders will allow you to take out while still leaving 20% equity in the home, rising to $10.5 trillion, just 4% off its 2022 peak. Per homeowner, that is roughly $200,000 in cash sitting in the house, ready for the taking.
As a result, negative equity, or so-called underwater borrowers, are nearly nonexistent in today’s market. Just 344,000 homeowners currently owe more on their homes than the properties are worth.

While that number is a 70% jump from this time last year, according to Andy Walden, Black Knight’s vice president of enterprise research strategy, “everything is relative.”
“There are less than half as many underwater homeowners than there were in 2019 before the onset of the pandemic, with only 3.9% having less than 10% equity, down from 6.6% in 2019,” Walden said.
Of course, all of this virtually destroys home affordability for today’s potential buyers: Affordability stands at a 37-year low.
As a comparison, current homeowners, most of whom carry mortgages with rates between 3% and 4%, need just 21% of the median household income to make the average monthly mortgage payment — principal and interest. Prospective homebuyers today are looking at paying more than 36% of their income on that payment thanks to higher home prices and higher rates.
The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage hit 7.2% on Thursday, according to Mortgage News Daily. Just two years ago it was around 3%.
“The small relative share of income needed for existing homeowners to meet their mortgage obligations, along with the strong credit quality of today’s mortgage holders and an acute focus on loss mitigation by the industry at large, are all contributing to today’s 16-year low in seriously delinquent mortgages,” Walden said.
Correction: Just 344,000 homeowners currently owe more on their homes than the properties are worth. An earlier version misstated the number. More

Florida State University is working with JPMorgan as its investment banker to explore raising funds from equity investors, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Investor Sixth Street Partners has been part of the discussions, which are still in early days, the person said.
The discussions come as FSU has been looking for opportunities to join other conferences and exit the Atlantic Coast Conference division of the NCAA.

The Westcott Building on the campus of Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida.
Education Images | Universal Images Group | Getty Images

Florida State University has been working with JPMorgan as it explores options to bring in funding from institutional investors, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The discussions have been ongoing in recent months, and Sixth Street Partners has expressed interest as an investor, the person said.

It’s unclear if the funding would be specifically for FSU’s athletic department or other parts of the university, although the university’s president reportedly told its Board of Trustees this week that they would have to seriously consider exiting the Atlantic Coast Conference division of the NCAA if the conference’s revenue distribution model didn’t change.
The discussions with potential equity investors are not tied to FSU’s potential push to leave the conference, according to the person familiar with the matter.
Sportico earlier reported that FSU was working with JPMorgan and that Sixth Street was part of the discussions.
Both JPMorgan and Sixth Street declined to comment. Representatives for FSU and the NCAA didn’t immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
It’s uncommon for public universities to take funding from institutional investors.

In 2019, the Pac-12 Conference had expressed interest in selling a stake in its media rights to private equity firms, but later didn’t move forward with it.
“That effort fell apart, mainly because it was a challenge to mesh private investors with the potential media rights for public schools,” said sports media consultant Lee Berke.
“With FSU, we’re only talking about one public school, but the challenges associated with the private investment still apply,” Berke said. “The potential investors may want a relatively quick and predictable return on their investment, but it may take years for FSU to extricate itself out of its grant of rights and strike a new, substantially larger media deal with the ACC or another conference.”
While other NCAA divisions such as the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference recently signed lucrative media rights deals, the ACC has been locked into an agreement with ESPN that runs until 2036.
Media rights deals are often a major source of revenue for teams and leagues in both professional and collegiate sports.
The ACC’s revenue distribution model has recently changed in a way that rewards those who are more successful when it comes to football and basketball. FSU has been vocal in pushing for a change to this model so it would instead reward schools that generate higher TV revenue. More

Pfizer is limiting the distribution of some drugs manufactured at its plant in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, after the facility was struck by a tornado last month, the company said in a letter to hospitals.
The letter listed 12 drugs that Pfizer will only distribute through emergency orders “due to their high medical need,” effective “immediately and until further notice.” 
Some injections on the list were already in short supply as of late last month, according to a database from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. 

The roof of a Pfizer facility shows heavy damage after a tornado passed the area in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, July 19, 2023.
ABC Affiliate WTVD | via Reuters

Pfizer is limiting the distribution of some drugs manufactured at its plant in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, after the facility was struck by a tornado last month, the company said in a letter to hospitals late Thursday. 
The letter listed 12 injection products that Pfizer will only distribute through emergency orders “due to their high medical need,” effective “immediately and until further notice.” 

Some injections on the list were already in short supply as of late last month, according to a database from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. 
That includes a type of sodium chloride injection, which is used to replenish water and salt lost as a result of certain conditions. It also includes an injection used to treat metabolic acidosis, or the buildup of excess acid in the body due to ailments like kidney failure. 
But the list also includes drugs that did not have supply issues as of last month, such as certain versions of heart failure injection dobutamine and dopamine, which is used to treat shock and low blood pressure caused by heart attack, infections or surgery.
Pfizer did not say how much supply of those products comes from its damaged plant.
The company previously said that the facility supplies 8% of all sterile injectable medicines used in U.S. hospitals, including anesthesia, analgesia, therapeutics, anti-infectives and neuromuscular blockers. 

The drugmaker also didn’t say whether it expects the new limits to exacerbate any existing shortages plaguing U.S. hospitals or lead to new ones — a concern for some health experts. 
The nation is already facing an unprecedented shortage of medicine, ranging from ADHD pills to pain medicine to injectable cancer therapies. 
Manufacturing quality-control issues and surges in demand, among other factors, have caused the supply problems.
Pfizer urged hospitals to check the availability of the 12 products with wholesalers or distributors and seek out alternatives before placing emergency orders.
The company added that all other products manufactured at the plant not included on the list are available in the distribution chain. 
“We believe this is the most responsible approach to enable equitable distribution of their remaining inventory as well as support continuity of patient care while we work to restart production,” Meera Bhavsar, Pfizer’s sterile injectables portfolio lead, wrote in the letter. 
CEO Albert Bourla said during an earnings call this week that the drugmaker is still assessing how long it will take to bring the plant back online.
Pfizer said last month that the tornado primarily damaged a warehouse facility, which stored raw materials, packaging supplies and finished medicines waiting for quality assurance.
The company added that there does not appear to be major damage to the drug-manufacturing areas of the plant. More

Electric truck maker Nikola said on Friday that its CEO, Michael Lohscheller, will step down effective immediately due to a “family health matter.”
The news came alongside Nikola’s second-quarter earnings report in which losses narrowed.
Production of Nikola’s latest model, a longer-range fuel-cell powered version of its Tre semitruck, began July 31; deliveries are expected to begin in September.

Nikola TRE FCEV2
Courtesy: Nikola

Electric truck maker Nikola said on Friday that its CEO, Michael Lohscheller, will step down effective immediately due to a “family health matter.” Nikola’s current board chair, former General Motors vice chairman Steve Girsky, will take over as CEO.
Lohscheller will remain in an advisory capacity until the end of September to support the transition, Nikola said.

The news came alongside Nikola’s second-quarter earnings report. Here are the key numbers, compared with Refinitiv consensus estimates:

Loss per share: 20 cents vs. 22 cents
Revenue: $15.36 million vs. $15.4 million

Nikola’s net loss for the quarter was $217.8 million, or 31 cents per share. That figure includes $77.8 million, or 11 cents per share, related to discontinued operations including the closure of the former Romeo Power battery-pack factory in California. Nikola acquired Romeo Power last year.
A year ago, Nikola lost $173 million, or 41 cents per share. Aside from the discontinued operations, Nikola had no adjustments in the second quarter of 2023; on an adjusted basis, it lost 25 cents per share in the year-ago quarter.
Revenue fell to $15.4 million from $18.1 million in the second quarter of 2022.
Shares of Nikola were down about 5% in premarket trading Friday.

The company raised $233.2 million in cash during the second quarter via sales of stock and some physical assets, and took steps to reduce its cash consumption going forward. It had $226.7 million in cash on hand as of June 30, up from $121.1 million as of March 31. The company on Aug. 3 won approval from shareholders to issue new stock, and is expected to raise additional cash later in the year.
It delivered 45 of its battery-electric semitrucks to dealers during the second quarter. Its dealers sold 66 of the battery-electric trucks to end customers during the period, the company’s best quarterly retail result yet.
Nikola said in May that it would temporarily suspend production of its battery-electric truck while it reconfigured the line to build both the battery-electric and fuel-cell trucks.
Production of Nikola’s latest model, a longer-range fuel-cell powered version of its Tre semitruck, began July 31; deliveries are expected to begin in September.
Nikola currently has orders for a total of 202 fuel-cell trucks for 18 fleet customers, it said earlier this week. More