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Warner Bros. Discovery is eyeing a “reset” of its DC cinematic universe and setting up a team with a 10-year plan for the franchise, CEO David Zaslav said Thursday.
The revelation comes two days after the company announced it would shelve its straight-to-streaming DC film “Batgirl.”
The decision surprised fans and offered a glimpse into the streaming strategy and new no-nonsense era under recently installed Zaslav.

Leslie Grace attends Warner Bros. Premiere of “The Suicide Squad” at The Landmark Westwood on August 02, 2021 in Los Angeles, California.
Axelle/bauer-griffin | Filmmagic | Getty Images

Warner Bros. Discovery is eyeing a “reset” of its DC cinematic universe and setting up a team with a 10-year plan for the franchise, taking a page from Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe, CEO David Zaslav said Thursday.
The revelation comes two days after the company announced it would shelve its straight-to-streaming DC film “Batgirl,” surprising fans and offering a glimpse into the streaming strategy and new no-nonsense era under recently installed Zaslav.

“We think that we could build a long-term, much stronger, sustainable growth business out of DC,” Zaslav said during an earnings call Thursday when asked about the decision to axe “Batgirl.” “And as part of that, we’re going to focus on quality.”
While Zaslav stopped short of commenting on the quality of “Batgirl” explicitly, his statements suggest the film didn’t fit the company’s new vision for Warner Bros. or the DC franchise. Part of that vision is reestablishing a commitment to theatrical-only releases for Warner Bros. films.
“We’ve seen, luckily, by having access now to all the data, how direct-to-streaming movies perform,” Zaslav said. “And our conclusion is that expensive direct-to-streaming movies … is no comparison to what happens when you launch a film in the motion picture, in the theaters.”
Zaslav took the helm at the newly merged Warner Bros. Discovery in April and has prioritized cost-cutting measures and sought to refocus the company’s content strategy, taking a vastly different direction than former WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar, who prioritized streaming and digital media.
“This idea of expensive films going direct to streaming, we cannot find an economic case for it,” Zaslav said. “We can’t find an economic value for it. And so we’re making a strategic shift.”

While “Batgirl” had a more modest budget than its theatrical counterparts — around $90 million after Covid protocols hiked costs — Warner Bros. Discovery, a newly minted merger between Warner Media and Discovery, has been combing its books for places to save money. Shelving the “Batgirl” film allows the company to take a tax-write off as part of a wider effort to pare down overall company debt.
The film completed production in March and was in the early stages of editing by the directing duo of Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (“Bad Boys for Life,” “Ms Marvel”), but it won’t be released on the company’s streaming service, premier in theaters or be sold to another studio if the company opts for the tax write-down.
Burying the film also saves Warner Bros. Discovery potential marketing costs and any back-end payouts in original film contracts that may have pre-dated the merger.
Big name actors are often compensated after a film’s release based on box office markers or viewership metrics. And “Batgirl” had some big names attached: Michael Keaton reprised his role as Batman, J.K. Simmons was cast as Commissioner Jim Gordon and Brendan Fraser was tapped to portray the villain Firefly.
“Although the stated explanation for the scrapping of ‘Batgirl’ concerns the changing strategies with regards to feature films being released directly to streaming platforms, this still seems to be a remarkable decision given how far along the production was,” said Robert Thompson, a professor at Syracuse University and a pop culture expert. “Like burning down your house just before you pay off the mortgage.”
The decision seems to pass “at least some judgement” on the quality of the film, Thompson said, since Warner Bros. Discovery sees no future for it in either streaming or theatrical release.
Still, with “Batgirl” in such early stages of post-production, further editing could have addressed issues with the film in time for its scheduled debut in late 2022.
While shelving the movie may make some financial decision, it comes at a social cost. Not only were fans of DC comics disappointed, but many questioned why the company had axed a project helmed by an Afro-Latina star, Leslie Grace.
Warner Bros. Discovery was already under fire for not openly addressing ongoing allegations against “The Flash” star Ezra Miller.
The decision to shelve “Batgirl” also raised questions about the future of other HBO Max film and television projects, with many subscribers taking to social media worried that their favorite programs could be next on the chopping block.

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AMC on Thursday said it plans to issue a dividend to all common shareholders in the form of preferred shares.
The company has applied to list these preferred equity units on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “APE.”
The new class of shares carries the same voting rights as the existing common shares, the company said.

The AMC 25 Theatres in Times Square in New York is seen on Tuesday, July 8, 2014.
Richard Levine | Corbis News | Getty Images

AMC Entertainment appears to have found a creative solution to boost its share count and raise funds after investors balked at a proposal to issue more shares last year.
AMC on Thursday said it plans to issue a dividend to all common shareholders in the form of preferred shares. The company has applied to list these preferred equity units on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “APE,” a nod to the retail investors who helped rescue the largest movie theater chain in the world from the brink of bankruptcy in early 2021, dubbed “apes.”

Shares of AMC fell roughly 6% in extended trading Thursday.
“Today we are rewarding and recognizing our passionate and supportive shareholders, both to our shareholders in the U.S. and internationally,” CEO Adam Aron said in a statement. “Shareholders will receive one AMC Preferred Equity unit for each company issued share of AMC common stock that they own.”
The company expects to issue a dividend of around 517 million APE units later this month. The shares will start trading on Aug. 22. The new class of shares carries the same voting rights as the existing common shares, the company said in a release.
AMC raised billions during the pandemic by selling new stock but ran out of shares to sell. Investors, fearing dilution, rejected the company’s efforts to issue additional stock.
These preferred equity units are a workaround, of sorts, and free AMC up to sell additional units of stock as it continues to revive its business after the pandemic. After offering the 517 million APE units, AMC will still have around 4.5 billion units remaining that it could sell to raise funds.

“With the creation of APEs, AMC is deeply and fundamentally strengthening our company,” Aron said in a separate shareholder letter issued Thursday. “Given the flexibility that APEs will give us, we likely will be able to raise money if we need or so choose, which immensely lessens any survival risk as we continue to work our way through this pandemic to recovery and transformation.”
While AMC pulled in nearly $1.2 billion in revenue during the quarter ended June 30, the company posted a net loss of $121.6 million, according to its second-quarter results Thursday.

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Beyond Meat lowered its 2022 revenue forecast and announced it will trim its workforce by 4%
The company cited inflation, rising interest rates and recession concerns for the revised outlook.
The company’s net sales also dropped 1.6% to $147 million and its net loss widened.

Vegetarian sausages from Beyond Meat Inc, the vegan burger maker, are shown for sale at a market in Encinitas, California, June 5, 2019.
Mike Blake | Reuters

Beyond Meat on Thursday lowered its revenue forecast for the year and announced it will trim its workforce by 4%, citing broader economic uncertainty and consumers trading down to cheaper proteins.
The El Segundo, California-based company also reported a wider-than-expected loss and weak sales for the second quarter. Its shares fell 1% in extended trading.

Here’s what the company reported compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:

Loss per share: $1.53 vs. $1.18 expected
Revenue: $147 million vs. $149.2 million expected

Net sales dropped 1.6% to $147 million. The company attributed the decline to changes in foreign exchange rates, increased discounts and sales to liquidation channels.
“We recognize progress is taking longer than we expected,” CEO Ethan Brown said in a statement, referring to the company’s push into mass market consumption with plant-based products that mimic meat.
Beyond’s meat substitutes are typically more expensive than traditional meat, but the company is seeking to achieve price parity in the near future. With consumers pressured by inflation, Brown said Beyond customers are switching to cheaper private label meat alternatives or back to traditional meat.
For 2022, Beyond now expects revenue of $470 million to $520 million, down from its prior forecast of $560 million to $620 million. The company said inflation, rising interest rates and growing concerns about a recession were among the factors that drove the revised outlook.

Beyond executives specifically pointed to weaker sales for Beyond Jerky, its broader U.S. grocery business and in Europe and the Middle East.
As part of a push to spend less of its cash, Beyond said it will lay off about 4% of its global workforce, which is expected to save about $8 million on an annual basis. However, the company will also spend roughly $1 million in separation costs that will impact its third-quarter results.
For the second quarter, Beyond Meat reported a net loss of $97.1 million, or $1.53 per share, wider than the net loss of $19.7 million, or 31 cents per share, a year earlier. The company said it spent more on ingredients and manufacturing this quarter. Moreover, its meatless Beyond Jerky, made through a joint venture with PepsiCo, weighed on profit margins for the second consecutive quarter.
U.S. grocery sales rose 2.2% in the quarter, offsetting a 2.4% decline of its restaurant business. Prior to the pandemic, restaurants accounted for more than half of its sales, but the business has struggled to bounce back.
Outside the U.S., grocery sales fell 17%, while restaurant sales increased 7%. The two international divisions generally contribute roughly equal revenue for Beyond.
Read the full earnings report here.

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Small rocket-builder Astra said it will not have any additional flights in 2022 as it reported another quarterly loss.
An investigation is ongoing into the company’s June mission, which failed mid-launch

The company’s LV0010 rocket stands on the launchpad at Florida’s Cape Canaveral ahead of the NASA TROPICS-1 mission.

Small rocket-builder Astra said Thursday it would not have any additional flights this year after the company reported another quarterly loss.
“Whether we’ll be able to commence commercial launches in 2023 will depend on the success of our test flights” for a new rocket system, Astra CEO Chris Kemp added during the company’s second-quarter conference call.

Shares of Astra fell about 3% in after hours trading from its close of $1.58, with the stock down more than 80% in the past 12 months.
Astra said it is moving away from its Rocket 3.3 system earlier than expected, and will now focus on the next version of its launch vehicle. The upgraded system, called Rocket 4.0, is more powerful and more expensive, with a price tag of up to $5 million per launch.
The switch comes after the company launch in June, with a Rocket 3.3 carrying a pair of satellites for NASA’s TROPICS-1 mission – the first of a set of three missions for the agency. But the TROPICS-1 mission failed mid-launch, with the company unable to deliver the satellites to orbit.
The Federal Aviation Administration is leading the investigation into the TROPICS-1 failure alongside Astra, with NASA having put the schedule on hold. The TROPICS-1 investigation is still ongoing, but Kemp on Thursday said that NASA remains to committed to flying the remaining two missions at an undetermined time.
For the three months ended June 30, Astra reported an adjusted EBITDA loss of $48.4 million, with revenue of $2.7 million. The company has $200.7 million in cash on hand, and recently announced a $100 million equity facility through B. Riley Principal Capital.
The company stressed that its line of products extend beyond rockets, with Astra saying it has 103 orders for its spacecraft engines.

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Altice USA confirmed it has kicked off a process to sell Suddenlink, the cable assets it acquired in 2015 for $9.1 billion.
Altice USA is focusing on private equity infrastructure funds as potential buyers, sources said.
Altice USA doesn’t yet have a target price in mind, sources said.

Dexter Goei, CEO of cable and mobile telecoms company Altice.
Benoit Tessier | Reuters

Altice USA, the fourth-largest U.S. cable company, is focusing on private equity infrastructure funds as potential buyers early in its Suddenlink sale process, according to people familiar with the matter.
Altice USA Chief Executive Officer Dexter Goei confirmed Wednesday the company has begun a sale process for Suddenlink, a cable provider that offers service to 17 states including Texas, Louisiana and West Virginia. Altice USA acquired Suddenlink for $9.1 billion in 2015. Bloomberg first reported the talks of a sale.

Altice USA’s financial advisers have reached out to more than a dozen private equity funds in hopes of finding a buyer, said the people, who asked not to be named because talks are private. There have been no discussions yet with Charter, the second-largest U.S. cable company and a potential suitor, given its lack of a geographical footprint in many of the places Suddenlink serves, the people said.
A spokesperson for Altice USA declined to comment on potential buyers.
The valuation of publicly traded cable assets Comcast and Charter have come down about 25% or more this year as broadband internet growth has slowed. Altice USA is interested in selling Suddenlink so it can focus on running the assets formerly called Cablevision, which is further along in its transition to fiber, a higher-speed network that can better compete with growing competition from wireless companies. Goei said Wednesday those assets will be “pretty fully fiberized” by the end of 2024.
Altice USA doesn’t have a set target price in mind for Suddenlink, the people said. The discussions to sell Suddenlink are still early and no deal is assured, the people said.
Some infrastructure funds specialize in making the shift from cable to fiber, which is why Suddenlink may be an appealing acquisition for a fund looking to invest in an asset it can sell later.

Blackstone Infrastructure Partners, EQT, and Stonepeak are among funds that have made cable or fiber network acquisitions in recent years. Stonepeak paid more than $8 billion of Astound Communications, the sixth-largest U.S. cable provider, in 2020.

WideOpenWest sale

Private equity infrastructure funds are also interested in acquiring WideOpenWest, which offers cable service to regions of the country that already have another cable operator with a license to offer internet, phone and TV service. Bloomberg reported in May that Morgan Stanley’s infrastructure investment arm was interested in buying the so-called cable overbuilder, which has a market valuation of $1.7 billion.
If a deal for WideOpenWest, or WOW, happens first, Altice USA can argue Suddenlink should trade at a higher multiple. Suddenlink is the lone cable provider in about 70% of the markets it serves, making it more valuable to a potential buyer that wants more pricing power and fewer competitors.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal, which owns CNBC.
WATCH: Comcast earnings beat Wall Street’s estimates, reports flat broadband subscribers.

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More customers at Burger King and its sister brands are redeeming coupons and loyalty program rewards as inflation pushes menu prices higher.
Restaurant Brands International CEO Jose Cil told CNBC that the company hasn’t seen any significant change to what diners are buying from its restaurants.
The company’s restaurant chains have raised menu prices this year to mitigate increased costs.

A Burger King Whopper hamburger is displayed on April 05, 2022 in San Anselmo, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

More customers at Burger King and its sister brands are redeeming coupons and loyalty program rewards as inflation pushes menu prices higher.
Restaurant Brands International CEO Jose Cil told CNBC that the company hasn’t seen any significant change to what diners are buying from its restaurants. Its chains, which include Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen and Tim Hortons, have raised menu prices this year to mitigate rising costs for key ingredients like chicken and coffee.

But Cil noted that the broader fast-food sector is seeing low-income consumers spend less of their money on burgers and fries, while higher income diners seem to be trading down from casual-dining or fast-casual restaurants. KFC owner Yum Brands, McDonald’s and Chipotle Mexican Grill all recently told investors that they’re seeing the trend emerge.
Instead of selling fewer combo meals, Restaurant Brands’ eateries are seeing an uptick in customers redeeming paper coupons and loyalty program rewards to bring the price of their meal down.
“It suggests people are looking for good value for money,” Cil said.
Burger King has been pulling back on paper coupons in recent months in an effort to push those consumers to download its mobile app and join its loyalty program. In exchange for redeeming their points for free menu items, the burger chain learns more about its customers and how to target them more effectively with promotions and deals.
The strategy is part of a broader turnaround for Burger King’s U.S. business, which has been struggling to keep up with rival burger chains in recent quarters. Restaurant Brands plans to unveil a plan to revive the business in September.
Shares of Restaurant Brands rose more than 6% in afternoon trading after the company reported improving demand for Tim Hortons coffee and international sales growth at Burger King.

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Nikola’s second-quarter revenue and loss were both better than Wall Street expected.
The company built 50 trucks in the quarter, 48 of which were shipped to dealers before quarter-end.
Nikola confirmed that it’s still on track to hit its 2022 deliveries guidance as production ramps.

Nikola Motor Company
Source: Nikola Motor Company

Nikola on Thursday reported revenue for the second quarter that beat Wall Street expectations as it delivered 48 of its electric heavy trucks. The company also reported a smaller-than-expected loss for the period.
Here’s what the company reported compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:

Revenue: $18.1 million, vs. $16.5 million expected.
Adjusted loss per share: 25 cents, versus vs. 27 cent per-share loss expected.

Nikola built 50 trucks during the second quarter, 48 of which were delivered to its dealers before quarter-end. All 50 of those trucks were battery-electric versions of its Tre semi. That was slightly below Nikola’s own forecast, which had called for between 50 and 60 deliveries in the period.
The company is in the process of ramping up production at its Arizona factory, and said it expects to be building trucks at a rate of five per shift by November.
Nikola confirmed its earlier guidance for 2022. It still expects to deliver between 300 and 500 of its battery-electric Tre trucks by year-end, and to complete testing of prototypes of its upcoming hydrogen fuel-cell truck with two fleet clients including Anheuser-Busch.
“Our momentum continued during the second quarter as we began delivering production vehicles to dealers and recognizing revenue from the sale of our Nikola Tre BEVs,” said CEO Mark Russell in a statement.
Nikola’s shares were up about 5% in premarket trading after the news was released

Nikola still has ample cash on hand. As of June 30, it had $529 million in cash and an additional $313 million remaining on its existing equity line of credit, for total liquidity of $842 million. That was up from $794 million in total liquidity as of the end of the first quarter.
Separately, Nikola announced that it has chosen locations for three hydrogen refueling stations in California, including one at the Port of Long Beach. The stations, which are expected to open in late 2023, will be used by Nikola’s upcoming fuel-cell-powered trucks.
Nikola has had a busy week. The company on Monday announced that it agreed to acquire one of its battery-pack suppliers, Romeo Power, for $144 million in stock. A day later, it won shareholder approval to issue new stock after spending two months working to get enough votes to overcome an objection by the company’s disgraced founder, Trevor Milton.
Milton left Nikola in September 2020 amid allegations of fraud, but he remains the company’s largest shareholder with control over roughly 20% of its stock.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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Embattled electric truck startup Lordstown Motors on Thursday reaffirmed plans to begin commercial production of its first vehicle this quarter and roll out the first customer deliveries by the end of the year.
Lordstown CEO Edward Hightower said production of the Endurance pickup will be slow and largely reliant on capital availability.
The company reported its first quarterly operating profit of $61.3 million for the period ended June 30, despite not delivering any vehicles, on gains related to the sale of its Ohio factory to contract manufacturer Foxconn.

Workers install door hinges to the body shell of a prototype Endurance electric pickup truck on June 21, 2021 at Lordstown Motors assembly plant in Ohio.
Michael Wayland | CNBC

Embattled electric truck startup Lordstown Motors on Thursday reaffirmed plans to begin commercial production of its first vehicle this quarter and roll out the first customer deliveries by the end of the year.
Lordstown CEO Edward Hightower said production of the Endurance pickup will be slow and largely reliant on capital availability. He said the company only expects to produce about 500 vehicles through early 2023 — an extremely slow production ramp-up by industry standards.

CFO Adam Kroll said the company will need to raise “substantially more capital” to produce the initial 500 Endurance electric pickups.
Lordstown, alongside its second-quarter results, said its cash balance of $236 million at the end of the first half of the year was above internal expectations and extends the cash-strapped company’s runway — but isn’t enough to fully fund production.
Lordstown’s stock was up about 9% in premarket trading Thursday to about $3.30 a share. The stock is down about 15% this year and off 63% from its 52-week high of $8.93 a share. The company’s market cap is roughly $600 million.
The company reported its first quarterly operating profit of $61.3 million for the period ended June 30, despite not delivering any vehicles, on gains related to the sale of its Ohio factory to contract manufacturer Foxconn. The profit included a $101.7 million gain from the sale as well as an $18.4 million reimbursement of operating expenses from Foxconn.
Lordstown and Foxconn announced in November plans for the Taiwan-based company to purchase the facility and an agreement for the company to manufacturer the struggling startup’s Endurance pickup. The deal was announced as Lordstown was in need of cash, delaying production of its pickup and engulfed in controversy after the resignation of its CEO and founder Steve Burns earlier in the year.
Lordstown, which went public in October 2020, was among a group of electric vehicle startups to go public through special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, since the beginning of the decade. The deals were initially hailed by Wall Street and investors but controversies, product delays, lack of financing and executive shakeups have sent shares of most of the companies plummeting.

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