Business

Things have never looked rosier for foreign firms in China—at least according to the country’s Council for the Promotion of International Trade. The body, which is controlled by the commerce ministry, claims that 90% of foreign companies rate their experience in China as satisfactory or better. According to a recent survey by the council, foreign firms say the economy is strong, local markets are attractive and their outlook is bright. Following years of isolation during the covid-19 pandemic, China’s government insists that the country is open again for business, and that reforms have made life easier for foreign companies. More

Ulta Beauty beat Wall Street’s revenue and sales expectations for the fiscal third quarter.
The retailer fended off fears of heightened competition with rivals and cooling demand for makeup and skin-care items.
The company hiked its full-year outlook slightly to reflect better-than-anticipated results.

Beauty products on the shelves at Ulta Beauty.
Brian Cassella | Tribune News Service | Getty Images

Ulta Beauty on Thursday beat Wall Street’s fiscal third-quarter expectations, fending off fears of fiercer competition and slowing demand for makeup and skin care.
The retailer hiked its full-year outlook slightly to reflect the better-than-expected results. For the fiscal year, it said it now expects net sales to range from $11.1 billion to $11.2 billion, compared with its previous guidance for $11 billion to $11.2 billion.

It said it now expects full-year earnings per year to range from $23.20 to $23.75, up from $22.60 to $23.50. For the full year, the comparable sales forecast ranges from a decline of 1% to flat. The comparable sales metric tracks sales at Ulta stores open at least 14 months, along with online sales.
Despite the raised outlook, the company expects holiday-quarter comparable sales to decline by the low single digits.
In a news release, CEO Dave Kimbell said he’s “proud of the progress” the company’s made and “encouraged by early signs that our efforts to reinforce our market position and drive improved performance are gaining traction.”
Here’s what the beauty retailer reported for the three-month period ended Nov. 2 compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

Earnings per share: $5.14 vs. $4.54 expected
Revenue: $2.53 billion vs. $2.50 billion expected

Ulta shares rose more than 10% in after-hours trading.

Beauty has been a strong category for many retailers, holding up over the past couple of years even as inflation stretched families’ budgets and many shoppers pulled back on discretionary purchases. The category’s resilience caused companies including Target, Walmart, Kohl’s and Macy’s to expand their offerings of makeup and skin-care products.
Yet Ulta began to hint at potential troubles in April, with Kimbell warning of cooling beauty demand at an investor conference.
In recent quarters, Ulta’s results have reflected discerning shoppers and heightened competition. The company missed earnings results and cut its full-year outlook in August after a drop in same-store sales. It marked the first time that the retailer missed Wall Street’s expectations in about four years.
Shares of the company have fallen, too. As of Thursday’s close, Ulta’s stock is down about 19% so far this year, trailing the S&P 500’s approximately 28% gains during the same period.
For the fiscal third quarter, the retailer reported net income of $242.2 million, or $5.14 per share, compared with $249.5 million, or $5.07 per share, during the year-ago quarter.
Revenue rose from $2.49 billion in the year-ago period.
Comparable sales increased 0.6% year over year, as the retailer saw a tiny uptick in traffic and average ticket.
Customer transactions across its website and stores grew 0.5% year over year, and average ticket, the amount spent by shoppers during those visits, rose 0.1% year over year.
On the company’s earnings call, Kimbell said the launch of new brands, rollout of digital tools and in-store events helped drive Ulta’s better performance in the quarter.
For example, he said, Ulta is selling an exclusive line of makeup tied to the release of Universal’s “Wicked” movie. It also added new features for online, including virtual try-on enhancements and new digital buying guides. And it had in-store events, including workshops where customers received coaching from Ulta’s stylists on how to get “salon-worthy blowouts.”
For beauty retailers, including Ulta, the holidays are a critical time of year. Kimbell said the company is “encouraged by our performance through Cyber Monday.”
However, he hinted of a still-challenging backdrop. He said the company is ready for the shopping season, even as “our insights suggest that economic concerns are driving a greater focus on value.”
On the earnings call, CFO Paula Oyibo said the company continues to take a “cautious view of the consumer and operating environment” and factored that into its forecast. She said the compressed holiday season, which has five fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, could also hurt sales.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. NBCUniversal is the distributor of “Wicked.” More

Lululemon beat Wall Street’s expectations on the top and bottom lines.
The athletic apparel retailer, best known for its yoga pants and belt bags, offered holiday guidance that was in line with expectations.
The company’s sales have started to slow in the Americas, its largest market, but are growing internationally.

A customer exits a Lululemon store in New York on Aug. 22, 2024.
Yuki Iwamura | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Lululemon’s U.S. growth is continuing to slow, but the athletic apparel retailer is making big gains abroad, leading to a 9% increase in sales year over year.
The yoga pants company on Thursday beat Wall Street’s expectations on the top and bottom lines and said it’s “pleased” with the start to the holiday season. Still, on a call with analysts, CEO Calvin McDonald took a cautious tone when discussing the company’s fourth quarter outlook.

“While we feel good about the start of the holiday season, we still have large volume weeks in front of us,” said McDonald. “Given the shorter holiday shopping season, we continue to be thoughtful in our planning for quarter four overall.”
Here’s how Lululemon performed in its fiscal third quarter compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

Earnings per share: $2.87 vs. $2.69 expected
Revenue: $2.40 billion vs. $2.36 billion expected

Shares climbed about 8% in extended trading Thursday.
The company’s reported net income for the three-month period that ended Oct. 27 was $352 million, or $2.87 per share, compared with $249 million, or $1.96 per share, a year earlier
Sales rose to $2.40 billion, up about 9% from $2.20 billion a year earlier.

For the all-important holiday shopping quarter, Lululemon is expecting revenue to be between $3.48 billion and $3.51 billion, representing growth of 8% to 10% from the prior year. Analysts were expecting revenue of $3.50 billion, or growth of 9.1%, which is roughly in line with the midpoint of the guidance, according to LSEG.
It’s expecting earnings per share to be between $5.56 and $5.64, the high end of which is ahead of the $5.59 analysts had expected, according to LSEG.
On a call with analysts, finance chief Meghan Frank said the company is planning the business “prudently” given the shortened holiday shopping season and the “uncertain macro environment.”
For the full year, Lululemon tightened its revenue guidance and raised it by just a hair. It now expects fiscal 2024 revenue to come in between $10.45 billion and $10.49 billion, compared to previous guidance of between $10.38 billion and $10.48 billion. The outlook would top the $10.44 billion that Wall Street had expected, according to LSG
It’s expecting earnings per share to be between $14.08 and $14.16, ahead of the $13.97 that analysts had expected.
Lululemon has hit a rough patch over the last year. It’s still growing, but at a slower pace than it was previously, and the competitive environment has gotten more intense. Lululemon has always competed with legacy giants like Nike, Gap’s Athleta and Levi’s Beyond Yoga, but newer disrupters such as Vuori and Alo Yoga are also taking share from the Canadian retailer. 
The company has turned to China for growth, which so far is lifting sales across the overall business. Company-wide comparable sales grew 4% during the quarter, ahead of the 3.2% growth Wall Street was anticipating, according to StreetAccount.
Behind that number is a 2% slowdown in comparable sales in the U.S., but a 25% increase internationally. Overall revenue grew 2% in the Americas during the quarter and 33% internationally. Still, the Americas remains Lululemon’s largest market, and international is still a fraction of its overall revenue. 
Lululemon has also had a few self-inflicted challenges. It fumbled a high-profile product launch earlier this year and missed out on sales in the U.S. when it failed to offer the colors and sizes that its core customers desired.
When the company reported earnings in August, McDonald insisted that the brand remains strong in the U.S., but its women’s business had slowed because it didn’t have enough new styles to entice customers. 
All of these issues coincided with the departure of Lululemon’s longtime chief product office Sun Choe, who resigned in May and joined V.F. Corp. In the wake of her departure, McDonald unveiled a new reporting structure on the product side of the house that merges together Lululemon’s brand and merchandising teams under chief brand and product activation officer Nikki Neuburger. McDonald said the new structure makes the company more efficient and said it’s “on track” to increase new product releases in time for the spring selling season.
“Our teams have been agile and have been chasing into seasonal colors, prints and patterns. I’m sure you’ve seen several examples across our key franchises,” said McDonald. “These efforts have contributed to the sequential improvement in newness within our assortment in the back half of the year … we continue to see significant potential for growth in the U.S.”
In a note, GlobalData managing director Neil Saunders said it looks like Lululemon’s product struggles are behind it.
“Across the third quarter the women’s range felt fresh and interesting and there was more than enough to grab the attention of shoppers,” the retail analyst said. “This both improved the conversion rate and helped with average basket sizes. In our view, Lululemon deserves praise for the quick course correction which underlines that it is a merchant-led organization.”
Lululemon’s struggles also came at a time when consumers, reeling from persistent inflation and an economy that feels worse than perhaps it actually is, are choosier than ever and less forgiving when a brand makes a mistake. 
Amid its rough patch, Lululemon has turned to stock buybacks to keep Wall Street happy. It approved a $1 billion increase to its stock repurchase program this month. As of Thursday, it had approximately $1.8 billion remaining in the program.
Lululemon has also focused on boosting profitability amid uncertain demand. During the third quarter, gross margin grew more than expected, increasing by 1.5 percentage points to 58.5%, ahead of the 57.5% that analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount. More

A federal judge rejected Boeing’s agreement to plead guilty to a criminal fraud charge tied to two crashes of its 737 Max aircraft, citing concerns the Justice Department’s diversity, equity and inclusion policies would affect the selection of an independent monitor.
Boeing agreed to plead guilty over the summer after the DOJ said the manufacturer violated an earlier agreement.
Lawyers for victims’ family members had criticized the earlier agreement and sought more input in the selection of a monitor.

Nadia Milleron, whose daughter Samya Stumo was killed in the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, holds a sign with photos of the crash victims during a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing on aviation safety and the future of the Boeing 737 Max aircraft, in the Hart Building in Washington, D.C., Oct. 29, 2019.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images

A federal judge on Thursday rejected Boeing’s plea deal tied to a criminal fraud charge stemming from fatal crashes of the manufacturer’s 737 Max aircraft.
U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas expressed concern in his decision that the selection process for a government-appointed monitor, a condition of the plea deal, would be affected by diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

He wrote that “the Court is not convinced in light of the foregoing that the Government will not choose a monitor without race-based considerations and thus will not act in a nondiscriminatory manner. In a case of this magnitude, it is in the utmost interest of justice that the public is confident this monitor selection is done based solely on competency.”
In October, O’Connor ordered Boeing and the Justice Department to provide details on DEI policies that might affect the selection of the monitor.
The court gave Boeing and the Justice Department 30 days to decide how to proceed, according to a court document filed Thursday.
In July, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to a criminal charge of conspiring to defraud the U.S. government by misleading regulators about its inclusion of a flight-control system on the Max that was later implicated in the two crashes — a Lion Air flight in October 2018 and an Ethiopian Airlines flight in March 2019. All 346 people on the flights were killed.
Boeing and the Justice Department didn’t immediately comment.

Victims’ family members had taken issue with a government-appointed monitor as a condition of the plea agreement, which they called a “sweetheart deal,” and sought to provide more input on the monitor’s selection.
Erin Applebaum, an attorney representing one of the victims’ family members, applauded the deal. “We anticipate a significant renegotiation of the plea deal that incorporates terms truly commensurate with the gravity of Boeing’s crimes,” Applebaum said in a statement. “It’s time for the DOJ to end its lenient treatment of Boeing and demand real accountability.”
The deal was set to allow Boeing to avoid a trial just as it was trying to get the company back on solid footing after a door panel on a 737 Max 9 blew out in midair during an Alaska Airlines flight on Jan. 5.
The new plea deal arose after the Justice Department said in May that Boeing violated a previous plea agreement, which was set to expire days after the door panel incident.
O’Connor said in his decision Thursday that it “is not clear what all Boeing has done to breach the Deferred Prosecution Agreement.”
Under the new plea agreement, Boeing was set to face a fine of up to $487.2 million. However, the Justice Department recommended that the court credit Boeing with half that amount it paid under a previous agreement, resulting in a fine of $243.6 million. More

More people are living at American malls as real estate developers knock down department stores and construct apartment buildings in their place.
At least 192 U.S. malls planned to add housing to their footprint as of January 2022, and at least 33 had constructed apartments since the pandemic began. Dozens more apartment projects are currently underway in California, Florida, Arizona and Texas. 
The trend not only helps to chip away the housing shortage in the U.S., but also brings people closer to the remaining retail and restaurant spaces in shopping centers.

Say hello to life at the mall. 
The classic American mall is undergoing a dramatic transformation as real estate developers swap out dying department stores for apartments, ushering in an era where living at the mall could soon become a new norm.

Some U.S. developers are knocking down department stores like Macy’s or JCPenney and using the spaces and their parking lots to put up apartment buildings next to the mall or connected to it via walkways and green spaces. In other cases, they’ve built apartments inside of shuttered storefronts and other shopping center properties or gutted them altogether to make way for a mix of housing, retail, restaurants, outdoor spaces and experiences. 
“The mall is becoming cool again,” said Jacob Knudsen, the vice president of development for Macerich, which is currently redeveloping the FlatIron Crossing Mall in Broomfield, Colorado to add housing. “So being able to live by it, work by it, play by it, go to restaurants by it, we’re definitely seeing this as a trend.” 

Rendering of the redeveloped FlatIron Crossing
Source: Macerich

Rendering of the redeveloped FlatIron Crossing
Source: Macerich

This new version of the American mall comes as shopping centers across the country fight for survival and look to transformation to avoid extinction. It’s clear that consumers still enjoy shopping in person after the Covid pandemic, but the traditional anchor department store has been in decline since 2001 and is no longer the draw it once was.

As companies like Macy’s, JCPenney and Sears shrink or cease to exist altogether, real estate developers have been forced to get creative to repurpose those spaces, which typically take up at least half of a mall’s footprint. 
Amazon distribution centers, pickleball courts and even an NHL training facility have all replaced big-box stores at American malls. But as the country contends with a housing crisis, the fastest growing use of these spaces is apartment complexes, real estate developers said. As of January 2022, at least 192 U.S. malls planned to add housing to their footprint, and at least 33 had constructed apartments since the pandemic began, according to Realogic, a real estate consulting firm. At least a dozen more apartment projects are underway at malls across the country, including in California, Florida, Arizona and Texas. 

“There’s just too much retail in the U.S,” said Oscar Parra, the principal of Pacific Retail Capital Partners’ Special Situations Group. “[It’s] like four times higher than any other nation … I don’t know of a market that needs a million square foot mall.”

A U.S. shopping mall with 1 million square feet could hold more than 17 football fields

Parra, whose firm is building housing at the site of a former Carson’s department store at a mall outside of Chicago, pointed to a similar project underway at Westfield’s Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey — one of the largest and most lucrative malls in the U.S.
“They have excess land, instead of using it for retail, they’re putting in apartments,” said Parra. “They didn’t see value in adding more retail to one of the most productive malls on the planet and that’s a signal.”
For mall owners, the numbers make sense. While top-tier malls continue to be in high demand, nearly 34 million square feet of U.S. mall space is vacant and off the market. Most Americans live within an hour of a mall with a high vacancy rate or low consumer traffic — or is abandoned altogether.

A vacant escalator in the Shops at Sunset Place mall on April 07, 2021 in Miami, Florida.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images

Add in the nationwide housing deficit of 4.5 million homes and it makes a trend that experts say is poised to continue. For developers, adding apartments can not only fill a need, but also bring people closer to their remaining retail stores and restaurants.
“Malls are an opportunity,” said Knudsen. “This is an opportunity to find land and have a built in customer base to get people into the mall.”
While living at the mall is a unique opportunity, it comes with challenges and hurdles. Construction costs are high, and developers need to navigate a maze of zoning laws and antiquated lease agreements to get projects off the ground because malls aren’t typically zoned for multifamily developments. Plus, the shape of a typical mall and department store almost always requires a complete teardown to bring in housing.
It might seem easy enough to transform an old Macy’s store into a few dozen apartments, but given the shape of the building, it’s difficult to do in a way that gives every apartment access to natural light and air.
“What we’ve learned is it’s better to disconnect it from the mall, not in every case, right? If you’re very dense urban retail, then you might want to integrate [apartments] into the property itself and we’ve seen some examples of that,” said Parra. “But mostly the idea is, tear the box down… scrape it, get rid of it, and then create a little bit of a buffer between the mall and the [apartment building].”

What’s it like to live at the mall? 

Apartments at U.S. malls aren’t everywhere yet. Many of the housing developments are still under construction and will start renting over the next few years, while others are just now opening their doors.
The Lafayette Square Mall in Indianapolis is slated to open 1,200 apartment units, including affordable housing in a former Sears building, beginning in 2025. The Paradise Valley Mall in Phoenix just opened up 400 luxury units on Nov. 15. 
While apartment development has picked up in recent years, housing at the mall has been around for at least a decade. Take The Arcade in Providence, Rhode Island – the oldest indoor shopping mall in the country. The shopping center, which had long been a focal point of Providence’s bustling downtown, fell on hard times after the Great Recession. By the end of the 2000s, it was completely vacant. 

Passers-by walk through the the newly renovated Arcade mall, in Providence, R.I., Monday, Oct. 21, 2013.
Steven Senne | AP

However, rather than letting the historic building fall into ruin, developers came in and built 48 micro units on the second and third floors. Dozens of tenants now live there, and real estate investors have bought other units to rent on Airbnb.
“It’s cool to be part of such a historic building and knowing that every single one of these units used to be a shop of some kind,” said Amy Henion, a 33-year-old graphic designer who moved into The Arcade two years ago. “You have access to amenities that you don’t get if you’re just living in a home in a suburb, like, if I want to get my hair cut, I can walk downstairs and get my hair cut. If I want to pick up lunch, I don’t even have to leave the building, even if the weather outside is awful.”

Amy Henion, a graphic designer, said living at a mall is both unique and convenient 

Scott Sheehan, a 31-year-old tax advisor and real estate investor, purchased an apartment inside the mall for $250,000 in October so he can rent it out on Airbnb. He chose the space because of its proximity to the train station, airport and nearby Brown University, along with major employers like big financial firms.
He estimates he can earn between $25,000 and $45,000 in revenue annually by renting the unit out to tourists. 
“At the end of the day, it’s a unique experience,” said Sheehan. “It’s a great alternative to a hotel room.”

Scott Sheehan purchased an investment property at The Arcade and is renting it out on AirBnB

The Grand Avenue Mall in Milwaukee, Wisconsin went through a similar renovation to add apartments that began in 2017. The once bustling shopping center in Milwaukee’s downtown was half empty by the end of the Great Recession and was later sold to developers, who began converting the space in the late 2010s. Dozens of apartments were opened up for rent in the last few years, and tenants now have access to amenities like a pickleball court, a “doggy wellness center” and a gym.

Shops Of Grand Avenue on September 20, 2014 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 
Raymond Boyd | Michael Ochs Archives | Getty Images

“We’re on the fourth floor. It used to be the YMCA. So where our apartment unit is was like the weight room of the YMCA and our hallway that goes around the whole building used to be the track,” said John Borchardt, 40, who moved into the former Grand Avenue Mall three years ago with his wife and dog Rodger. “It still kind of looks like a mall on the second floor.”
On that level, apartments were built inside of former storefronts. The units are unique but they also come with quirks. For example, they all have elaborate foyers with floor-to-ceiling windows, but those front rooms are also on full display to the public, which can create privacy concerns. Plus, some of the units don’t have windows because developers had to work with the storefront’s originally layout, said Borchardt.

Some apartments were built inside of former storefronts, which make for unique foyers that are on full display to the public.
Courtesy: John Borchardt

He said his unit, which does have windows, is in a different part of the complex and doesn’t have the same architectural challenges.
Downstairs, he has access to a TJ Maxx and Foot Locker — the only remaining storefronts from the original mall — which he said is “super convenient” when he wants to take his dog shopping for new toys at the off-price store.
“He’s like a celebrity in the building. Everyone knows our dog. So it’s a very dog friendly space,” he said. “If it’s cold outside, or if it’s snowing or raining, we can walk the dog around, you know, like mall walkers back in the 90s or whatever, we can just walk around like five city blocks without ever going outside. It’s very cool.”

John Borchardt’s dog Rodger enjoys going for walks inside of the former Grand Avenye Mall and visiting TJ Maxx.
Courtesy: John Borchardt

The former Grand Avenue Mall in Milwaukee is now home to dozens of apartments and a few retail shops
Courtesy: John Borchardt

A Kohl’s recently moved in and renovations are underway at different parts of the complex, said Borchardt. Plus, there’s the new food court, which has more than a dozen restaurants and is a draw for tourists, locals and building residents alike. Borchardt said the “very busy” area boasts separate dining areas and a self-serve beer tap with rotating brews.
While the renovated food court is convenient, Bordchardt said easy access is also “a little bit of a problem” because of how easy it is to avoid cooking. 
“We can just order online, pick it up. There’s ice cream down there. So it’s just a little too easy to get takeout,” he said. “But it’s really convenient to have, like, if we were ever snowed in we can survive without ever leaving the building for quite a while.”

The 3rd St. Market Hall is a modern day food court, open to building residents, locals and tourists
Courtesy: John Borchardt

Najla Kayyem, Pacific Retail’s executive vice president of marketing, said the ease of access is kind of the point. 
“It’s really services and amenities based so creating convenience for our residents at every corner, so that they don’t have to leave, and so that they can get all of their daily needs done within that shopping experience,” said Kayyem.
While it could take years to get there, Kayyem said living at the mall could one day be similar to vacationing at a resort, where everything is charged to one account using a centralized system. 
“It’s tough when you have a mix of ownership groups, but ideally, you’re living somewhere and you have an account, and you can shop and dine and eat and buy things on your account,” said Kayyem. “That would be real, true, seamless integration to make it frictionless for someone to live there.”
— Additional reporting by DeLon Thornton and Shawn Baldwin More

Flau’jae Johnson has signed a name, image and likeness deal with women’s basketball league Unrivaled.
While she still can’t play in the league, she will get an equity stake.
Johnson is amongst the top earning women’s college basketball players.

BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA – NOVEMBER 9: Flau’jae Johnson #4 of the LSU Tigers in action during a game against the Northwestern State Demons at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on November 9, 2024 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Kristen Young/LSU/Getty Images)
Reagan Cotton/lsu | University Images | Getty Images

Flau’jae Johnson has a lot going on at the moment.
The 21-year-old star basketball player, rapper, student and aspiring businesswoman has just inked her latest deal with the new women’s 3-on-3 basketball league Unrivaled.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Johnson will receive an equity stake in the league.
“I wanted to be involved in something that is pushing the women’s game forward,” Johnson told CNBC.
Unrivaled, which kicks off its inaugural season in January, looks to offer female athletes another option to play basketball in the U.S. during the WNBA offseason. In addition to giving players equity in the league, Unrivaled aims to offer the highest average salary in women’s pro sports league history. In October, the Unrivaled signed a broadcast deal with TNT Sports.
“When I heard about the money, that was big for me. … These women are getting paid what they deserve,” Johnson said.
NCAA rules prevent Johnson, a junior at Louisiana State University, from committing to play in the league until she turns professional. Unrivaled signed a similar deal with University of Connecticut star Paige Bueckers in August.

In addition to being a league owner, Johnson will collaborate with Unrivaled on content throughout the season, and the league plans to support her music.

Star power

In just two years playing college basketball, Johnson has become marketing gold.
She led LSU to the 2023 national championship and quickly became a top prospect for WNBA teams.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 18: JBL ambassador, basketball player and rapper Flau’jae Johnson sets the stage ablaze at JBL FEST to celebrate the launch of the JBL PartyBox series on May 18, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for JBL)
Ilya S. Savenok | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images

Off the court, she’s not only marketable as an athlete but as a rapper. Johnson signed with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation in 2021 and released a song with Lil Wayne in June.
She also has more than 3.5 million followers across her Instagram, TikTok and Twitter accounts.
Brands have taken notice. Johnson has signed deals with companies from Meta, to Puma, Powerade, the Athlete’s Foot and Amazon.
On Tuesday, she made the Forbes “30 Under 30” list, which estimated her net worth at $7 million.
She’s also ranked No.1 by On3 as having the highest name, image and likeness, or NIL, valuation of college women’s basketball players.
Johnson said her mother currently handles her finances and she doesn’t really splurge on anything, but she spends a lot of money at Chipotle.
“I’m trying to get that Chipotle deal so I don’t spend all my money on bowls,” she joked.
Despite all her sports and extracurriculars, Johnson said she still takes time to learn about business whether it’s by meeting with CEOs, watching YouTube videos or studying, noting she’s reading “Investing 101” by Michele Cagan at the moment.
While the top rookie salary in the WNBA is $76,535, Johnson said she hasn’t decided yet when she’s going to enter the WNBA draft but she isn’t worried about her brand diminishing.
“NIL is big but it’s really just a gateway to the pros,” she said. “The opportunities that I get from college are still going to roll over and it’s not like my followers are going to disappear.”
When asked who she looks up to as a role model, Johnson says she looks to the King: LeBron James.
“He’s the ultimate businessman,” she said.
“The way that he leverages his business opportunities, the way he carries himself, and he’s done so many things [like building a school] to help other people,” she added.
With so many different balls in the air, Johnson said it takes discipline, consistency and time management to fit everything in.
“I don’t like sitting in the house watching Netflix. … I like getting stuff done,” she said. More

Dollar General said it is testing same-day delivery from about 75 of its stores.
On an earnings call, CEO Todd Vasos said the company ultimately expects it will expand the offering to “thousands of stores.”
The discounter has felt pressure as Walmart, Amazon, Temu and others offer convenient digital ways to shop, along with low prices.

The exterior of a Dollar General convenience store on August 30, 2024 in Austin, Texas. 
Brandon Bell | Getty Images

Dollar General is testing same-day delivery to customers’ homes as the deep discounter tries to fend off fiercer competition with Walmart.
On an earnings call Thursday, Dollar General CEO Todd Vasos said the retailer “soft launched” the delivery program in September. Now it offers same-day delivery at about 75 stores, he said. It is offered through a third-party company, which he did not name.

“We’ve always said here, ‘We’re going to do delivery our way when it’s time,'” Vasos said. “We believe it’s time.”
He said the company expects it will ultimately expand the offering to “thousands of stores.”
With same-day delivery, the Tennessee-based dollar store is acknowledging the pressure from other retailers like Walmart, Amazon and Temu that offer convenience along with low prices. Walmart, for instance, has significantly grown its online business, posting 10 quarters in a row of double-digit e-commerce gains in the U.S., as it offers curbside pickup and speedier home deliveries.
Dollar General, on the other hand, typically does not share updates or specific figures about its e-commerce business in quarterly earnings reports because of its heavy reliance on brick-and-mortar sales.
Yet over the past year, Dollar General has felt the pinch from both economic challenges and its own strategy. Consumers, particularly low-income households, have pulled back on discretionary purchases because of the cumulative effect of high inflation. Dollar General also has paid millions of dollars of fines for sloppy stores and blocked fire exits that became both workplace safety hazards and potential turnoffs for its shoppers.

In recent months, Dollar General’s CEO has spoken about losing market share to Walmart. Vasos said at a Goldman Sachs retail conference in September that “the guys in Bentonville [the Arkansas home of Walmart’s headquarters] took a little bit larger piece” of the retailer’s middle-income customer base.
Vasos said the company launched its own program after learning from its DoorDash deliveries, which are available at about 16,000 of its stores.
The new offering, DG Delivery, is available for customers at select stores, according to Dollar General’s website. Customers place orders through Dollar General’s app and can get the same store prices and delivery in as little as an hour. The program also accepts digital coupons and offers cash back rewards.
DG Delivery does not appear to charge a fee or have a minimum order requirement, according to the website.
On Dollar General’s earnings call on Thursday, Vasos said Dollar General is still working on its business model for the online offering, but said it relies on labor from a third party rather than using store employees or company-employed delivery people. He said same-day delivery is an opportunity to grow the retailer’s advertising business, too, since customers would engage with the app more frequently when placing orders.
But the option is still available at only a tiny fraction of Dollar General’s stores. It has more than 20,000 stores across the country, including many in rural parts of the U.S. More

American Airlines and Southwest Airlines forecast better-than-expected revenue in the fourth quarter.
Shares of both airlines rose on the news.
Southwest also said it expects to seal a sale-leaseback deal early in 2025.

A Southwest Airlines plane takes off from Hollywood Burbank Airport in Burbank, California, July 25, 2024.
Mario Tama | Getty Images

Southwest Airlines and American Airlines raised their fourth-quarter forecasts on Thursday, citing strong demand and higher fares, sending shares in the carriers higher.
Southwest said in a securities filing that fourth-quarter unit revenue will likely rise between 5.5% and 7% from last year, up from a previous forecast of an increase of no more than 5.5%. The airline said its network changes aimed at culling unprofitable flights are paying off and that demand into next year appears solid.

“The Company is encouraged by recent revenue trends and forward bookings, including fourth quarter holiday travel, and currently expects strong revenue trends and tactical initiative performance to carry into 2025,” Southwest said.
Southwest also said it would complete its first sale-leaseback of aircraft in the first quarter.

Read more CNBC airline news

American Airlines said in a filing that it expects unit revenue in the last three months of the year to be on par to up as much as 1% over the same period of 2023, compared with an earlier estimate for unit revenue to be down as much as 3% from last year. American also raised its adjusted earnings estimate to 55 cents to 75 cents, up from 25 cents to 50 cents a share.
American also said Thursday that it has picked Citi as its sole credit-card provider, dropping Barclays, in a long-awaited deal.
A day earlier, JetBlue Airways raised its revenue forecast for the quarter and told staff it would further cut unprofitable routes and make tweaks to its summer 2025 Europe schedule later this week. More