Business

President Joe Biden will sign an executive to help cover costs for women traveling to receive abortions in states where the procedure remains legal.
The order directs HHS to encourage states to write rules so their state Medicaid plans cover certain costs for women traveling to receive abortions.
A senior administration official said the White House hasn’t declared a public health emergency yet for abortion because it is worried it can’t protect physicians from prosecution.

Boxes of the medication Mifepristone used to induce a medical abortion are prepared for patients at Planned Parenthood health center in Birmingham, Alabama, March 14, 2022.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters

U.S. President Joe Biden will sign an executive order on Wednesday to help cover costs for women traveling to receive abortions, a senior administration official said.
He’s directing Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to encourage states to write rules so their state Medicaid plans could cover certain costs for women traveling to receive abortion in states where the procedure remains legal.

But groups such as Planned Parenthood have called on the Biden administration to use all the emergency powers at its disposal to protect access to abortion. The Center for Reproductive Rights has specifically called on HHS to use an emergency health law, called the PREP Act, to enable health-care providers in states where abortion remains legal to prescribe and dispense mifepristone for early abortions for women in states with bans.
The Biden administration has considered declaring a public health emergency to protect access to the abortion pill, but it worries physicians could potentially face prosecution in states that have banned the procedure, a senior administration official said.

CNBC Health & Science

Read CNBC’s latest global health coverage:

The White House hasn’t used those powers yet because officials worry that it might not be enough to protect physicians and women in the end, a senior administration official said.
The law gives the Health and Human Services secretary the authority to extend legal protections to anyone who manufactures or administers a drug that’s needed to respond to a public health emergency. It was widely used in March 2020 to protect Covid-19 vaccine makers, test manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer that were making therapeutic drugs like the anti-viral Paxlovid. It also protected physicians administering the shots and tests.
Under that authority, HHS Secretary Becerra could designate the abortion pill, mifepristone, as drug needed to prevent a health emergency caused by reduced abortion access. This would, in theory, pre-empt state abortion bans and make mifepristone available to women in those states, opening an avenue to early pregnancy abortions.

“One of the concerns we have about invoking the PREP Act is that we’re concerned that we might not be able to protect women and doctors from from liability, including criminalization. So that’s why we haven’t yet taken that action,” a senior administration told reporters on a call.
Legal experts have said Republican state officials would immediately sue the administration for using the PREP Act to protect medication abortion and a federal court could quickly block the action from taking effect. The issue could ultimately end up before the same conservative-controlled Supreme Court that overturned Roe v. Wade.
Many states that have banned abortion in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe. v. Wade have also barred physicians from administering drugs to terminate pregnancies, which would include mifepristone. The state bans in most cases make performing an abortion a felony that can carry years long prison sentences.
Women who receive abortions are generally exempt from prosecution under most of the state bans, but reproductive rights activists are worried that Republican state officials will ultimately try to prosecute patients who receive the procedure as well.
The Food and Drug Administration approved mifepristone more than 20 years ago as a safe and effective way to end a pregnancy before the 10th week. Mifepristone is taken in conjunction with misoprostol to induce contractions that end early pregnancies.
Medication abortions have become an increasingly common procedure to end pregnancies in the U.S. Mifepristone used in conjunction with misoprostol accounted for more than 50% of abortions in the U.S. in 2020, according to a survey of all known providers by the Guttmacher Institute.
In December, the FDA decided to permanently lifted a requirement that women obtain the pill in person, making it easier to dispense the pill by mail through telemedicine appointments.
But the physical location of the patient determines which state’s telemedicine laws apply. This means women in states where abortion has been banned cannot receive the procedure through telemedicine with providers in states where it is legal.

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

CVS Health on Wednesday lifted its earnings outlook for the year, after beating Wall Street’s expectations for the fiscal second quarter.
The health-care company said it now expects adjusted earnings per share for the full year to come in between $8.40 and $8.60.
Same-store sales increased by 8% compared with the year-ago period, as customers bought Covid at-home test kits and cough, cold and flu medications.

People walk by a CVS Pharmacy store in the Manhattan borough of New York City.
Shannon Stapleton | Reuters

CVS Health on Wednesday lifted its earnings outlook for the year, after beating Wall Street’s expectations for the fiscal second quarter.
The health-care company said it now expects adjusted earnings per share for the full year to come in between $8.40 and $8.60, compared with its earlier estimate of between $8.20 and $8.40.

Shares were up about 4% in premarket trading.
Here’s what the company reported for the three-month period ended June 30, compared with what analysts were expecting, based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:

Earnings per share: $2.40 adjusted vs. $2.17 expected
Revenue: $80.64 billion vs. $76.37 billion expected

On an unadjusted basis, CVS reported net income of $2.95 billion, or $2.23 per share, higher than the $2.78 billion, or $2.10 per share, a year earlier. Revenue of $80.64 billion likewise marked a year-over-year increase, up from $72.62 billion in the same period in 2021.
The results encompass CVS’s several different slices of the health-care business. It has a huge footprint of drugstores, owns insurer Aetna and pharmacy benefits manager CVS Caremark, and provides patient care through MinuteClinics inside of its stores.
CEO Karen Lynch said the company’s strategy of adding more health services is boosting sales and deepening customer relationships.

“Our team is delivering meaningful progress on our strategy as we’re striving to become the nations leading health solutions company,” she said on an earnings call. And she added that the company will “continue to build on this powerful momentum.”

Growing foot traffic, rising prices

Customers made more frequent visits to CVS stores and bought more when they did, the company said. CVS saw a mid single-digit increase in trips and a mid single-digit increase in average basket size during the quarter, Chief Customer Officer Michelle Peluso said on an earnings call.
Same-store sales increased by 8% compared with the year-ago period, as customers bought Covid at-home test kits and cough, cold and flu medications. That far exceeded an expected drop in same-store sales of 0.3%, according to StreetAccount consensus estimates.
In the pharmacy, same-store sales rose 7.6%. In the front of the store, same-store sales jumped 9.4%.
Some of those gains came from rising prices. CVS has been able to pass along inflation-related higher costs to shoppers in most cases, Peluso said. However, she said the company “wants to make sure there’s value on the shelf at all times for our customers.”
CVS’s private labels are among those budget-friendly options. She said its store brands on average are 20% to 40% cheaper than national brands.
With personalized coupons and its membership program, CarePass, customers can bring prices down even further, she said. The program, which offers discounts, free one- or two-day shipping and other perks, costs $5 a month or $48 on an annual basis.
CarePass membership is up 26% year over year, she said.
Total pharmacy claims processed gained 3.9% on a 30-day equivalent basis for the three months ended June 30 compared with the prior year. That was driven by an extended cough, cold and flu season compared with the same quarter in 2021.

Pandemic-related sales

While sales increased for the quarter, CVS said in a news release that growth was partially offset by a decline in Covid tests and vaccinations, the introduction of new generic drugs and pressure on pharmacy reimbursements.
CVS administered more than 4 million Covid tests and about 6 million Covid vaccinations in the three-month period, Lynch said on the earnings call. That’s down from more than 6 million tests and more than 8 million shots administered in the first quarter.
One aspect of Covid care has increased, however: Lynch said demand continues to rise for antiviral medications to treat Covid infections.
Pandemic-related services remain a big business for CVS, even as testing and vaccination volumes diminish.
Chief Financial Officer Shawn Guertin said the company anticipates it will administer nearly 20 million Covid vaccinations this year, with approximately 75% of those already administered. He said it expects to provide about 19 million tests and to sell more than 50 million over-the-counter test kits, more than double the number sold in the prior year.
In total, he said those three categories will drive nearly $3 billion of revenue — a drop of about 33% versus the prior year. He said CVS is prepared to spend more in the back half of the year as it prepares for a potential spike in Covid cases.
Plus, he said, pandemic-related items are driving foot traffic and sales in the front of stores. He attributed about 60% of the company’s outperformance in retail to “Covid categories.”
Read the company’s earnings release here.

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

The share of automobile transactions that involve leases fell in July to 18%, down from 27.2% a year ago, according to Edmunds.com.
Deals on leasing are minimal, pushing up the average monthly payment to $595 last month, an increase from $575 in June and the highest in Edmunds’ database.
Whether you’re a serial leaser or are considering a lease for the first time, here’s what to expect.

Maskot | Maskot | Getty Images

If you’re thinking about leasing a car, be aware that you may not save as much money as you anticipate by going that route.
With inventory limited amid ongoing supply-chain snags — meaning fewer choices and elevated prices due to demand outstripping supply — discounts on new vehicles are limited whether you buy or lease. The average purchase incentive among the deals offered is an estimated $894, down from more than $2,000 a year ago, according to a joint forecast from J.D. Power and LMC Automotive.

“One of the factors contributing to the reduction in incentive spending is the absence of discounts on vehicles that are leased,” said Thomas King, president of the data and analytics division at J.D. Power, in the report.
More from Personal Finance:Millennials’ average net worth more than doubled in pandemicGen Z is saving more for retirement than older generationsHere’s how social media ‘FOMO’ drives bad spending habits
July marked first time the average discount has fallen below $900 and the third consecutive month for it trending below $1,000, the research notes. Separately, the average monthly payment for new leases rose in July to $594 from $575 in June, according to data from car comparison site Edmunds.com. 
“Dealers aren’t getting the incentive programs from automakers that they used to … or even if there are programs, the dealerships aren’t participating,” said Ivan Drury, senior manager of insights for Edmunds.
“In years past, they did this left and right,” he said.

Inventory may not include cars eligible for discounts

Drury also said the limited manufacturer discounts being offered apply to very specific trim levels among certain models. So, even then, it doesn’t mean you’ll easily find the exact car that’s eligible for an incentive.
“If the dealership isn’t ordering those vehicles, how are you going to get that special?” Drury said.
The share of new-car transactions that involve leases fell in July to 18%, a level not seen since February 2009, according to Edmunds. A year ago, it was 27.2%.

‘You’ll just be paying more to lease right now’

Despite the dearth of incentives, if you are a serial leaser — for whatever reason — then it may still make sense for you, Drury said. Just be prepared to see few deals and monthly payments that may be much higher than they were three years ago. And, there may be less of a savings in those payments over traditional financing, depending on the car.
“Some people don’t like having a car that’s 4 or 5 years old,” he said. “You’ll just be paying more to lease right now.”

Meanwhile, if it’s your first time considering a lease, be aware that the cost of financing is expressed differently than it is with loans.
Leasing companies use a number called the “money factor.” The dealership should be able to convert that amount into an interest rate so you know what you’re paying.
By way of comparison: For new cars that are financed using a five-year auto loan, the average interest rate is about 4.84%, according to Bankrate. That figure could tick upward as the Federal Reserve continues adjusting rates upward in an effort to battle inflation.

Explore your lease-end options

Here’s why: With limited inventory among new vehicles, demand has continued spilling into the used-car market. For 1- to 3-year-old cars, prices are an average $13,145 above where they’d be if typical depreciation expectations were at play, according to CoPilot, a car shopping app. Leases typically are for about three years and come with mileage restrictions.
This means it may be worth looking into buying out the lease instead of turning in the car, for instance. If the buyout price (which is generally the residual value) in your agreement is lower than your vehicle’s current value, you’d be paying less for the car than if you were to purchase it from a dealership’s lot.

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

General Motors is expanding its Super Cruise hands-free driving system in the U.S. and Canada.
The company will introduce the feature for non-interstate roadways and highways such as Route 66 and the Pacific Coast Highway.
Super Cruise uses a system of sensors and cameras to control steering, braking and acceleration functions of the car without the driver’s input.

That green light means you can take your hands off the wheel. Just keep your eyes on the road!
Mack Hogan | CNBC

DETROIT – General Motors is expanding its Super Cruise hands-free driving system in the U.S. and Canada later this year, introducing the feature for non-interstate roadways and highways such as Route 66 and the Pacific Coast Highway.
With the additional roadways, the driver-assistance system will be usable across more than 400,000 miles of U.S. and Canadian roads, up from about 200,000 miles of strictly divided highway interstates.

“These are the main roads that connect the smaller cities and the townships across the U.S. and Canada,” David Craig, GM’s mapping specialist, said during a media briefing. “This is expanding Super Cruise’s availability to many, many millions more customers.”
Super Cruise uses a system of sensors and cameras to control steering, braking and acceleration functions of the car without the driver’s input. It also utilizes high-definition maps; a light bar to communicate with the driver; and an in-vehicle monitoring system to ensure drivers remain attentive while Super Cruise is operating.
The feature, even with the update, won’t make turns on behalf of the driver or operate in cities, towns and residential streets, like some of Tesla’s driver-assist systems. Super Cruise will also hand control of the vehicle back to drivers if they are approaching an intersection with a stop sign or traffic light.
Despite names like Super Cruise, or Tesla’s Autopilot and “Full Self-Driving” brands, these vehicles are not autonomous, or safe to use without a driver behind the wheel.
GM said the newest roadways for Super Cruise will be available via over-the-air, or remote, updates, beginning in the fourth quarter of this year for most of its eligible vehicles. GM will not charge for the update, however the optional add-on currently starts at $2,200 or $2,500, depending on the vehicle.

GM is expanding its Super Cruise hands-free driving system in the U.S. and Canada later this year to 400,000 miles of roadways,

GM has slowly increased the availability and capabilities of Super Cruise since it was launched in 2017. It plans to offer Super Cruise on 23 models globally by the end of next year. It’s also announced a new system called “Ultra Cruise,” which GM has said will be capable of handling driving in 95% of scenarios.
GM’s premium tier may make the company more directly competitive with Elon Musk-led electric vehicle maker Tesla. Driver-assistance systems from Tesla include the standard Autopilot, and premium option marketed as Full Self-Driving (or FSD), as well as, FSD Beta that lets drivers test out features on public roads before they go into widespread use.
Driver-assistance systems have seen an increase in regulatory attention, specifically around accidents involving Tesla vehicles.
Mario Maiorana, GM chief engineer of Super Cruise, said the company is in routine communication with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about the rollout of the additional roadways.
“We’re not going to put it out until we’ve fully tested it,” Maiorana said, taking a slight jab at Tesla, which has been offering in-development “Beta” systems to some owners.
GM’s Super Cruise hasn’t received as much attention or scrutiny as Tesla’s systems, partly due to additional safeguards and the company’s more conservative approach. GM has also only sold roughly 40,000 vehicles with Super Cruise, while Tesla offers some form of its systems on every vehicle it offers.
The NHTSA reported in early July that it had opened more than 30 probes since 2016 into collisions involving Tesla vehicles where driver-assistance systems like Autopilot were a suspected factor. The same report noted the federal vehicle watchdog was looking into two nonfatal incidents potentially involving Super Cruise.
Tesla crashes currently under investigation have resulted in 16 fatalities of vehicle occupants or pedestrians, according to the agency.
Automakers are required by law to report fatal and other serious collisions involving driver-assistance systems to the NHTSA.
– CNBC’s Lora Kolodny contributed to this report.

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

Yum Brands reported mixed results for its second quarter as KFC and Pizza Hut reported declines in global same-store sales.
Taco Bell was the company’s only chain to report same-store sales growth.
Yum also said it’s in the “advanced stages” of selling off its KFC business in Russia.

A woman walks past a Taco Bell Cantina on July 30, 2020 in New York City.
Alexi Rosenfeld | Getty Images

Yum Brands on Wednesday reported mixed quarterly results as Covid lockdowns in China weighed on KFC’s and Pizza Hut’s sales.
Taco Bell, however, reported stronger same-store sales growth in the U.S. It has a much smaller international presence than its sister chains.

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

Earnings per share: $1.05 adjusted vs. $1.09 expected
Revenue: $1.64 billion, in line with expectations

For the three months ended June 30, Yum reported a net income of $224 million, or 77 cents per share, down from $391 million, or $1.29 per share, a year earlier.
Excluding the impact of pulling out of Russia, refranchising gains and other items, the restaurant company earned $1.05 per share in the second quarter.
Since March, Yum has suspended any investment and development in Russia due to the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. The company has redirected any profits from the business to humanitarian causes as it searches for new owners for its Russian restaurants. In June, it completed the sale of its Russian Pizza Hut business to an operator that will rebrand the locations.
The company said Wednesday it’s in the “advanced stages” of selling off its KFC business in Russia. After that process is completed, Yum will have exited Russia entirely. The market accounted for 2% of Yum’s system-wide sales in 2021.

Net sales rose 2% to $1.64 billion. The company’s global same-store sales grew 1%, dragged down by Covid lockdowns in China. Excluding China, it reported same-store sales growth of 6%.
KFC reported its global same-store sales declined 1%. China is the fried chicken chain’s largest market, accounting for more than a quarter of its sales. In the United States, its second-largest market, same-store sales fell 7%.
Likewise, Pizza Hut also saw falling sales in the U.S. and China. The chain reported a global same-store sales declines of 3% as U.S. demand for its pizza softened and sales in China plummeted 14%, excluding foreign currency changes.
Taco Bell was the only Yum chain to report global same-store sales growth. Its restaurants saw same-store sales increase 8%, fueled in part by its popular Mexican Pizza promotion, which sold out earlier than expected. The chain plans to bring the menu item back in September as a permanent addition.
Moreover, Taco Bell’s margins were unchanged from the year earlier, showing that it has successfully mitigated inflation.
Yum’s total restaurant count fell by 702 locations during the quarter. The company eliminated 1,165 Russian locations from its system, offsetting the 463 net new units it opened.
Read the full earnings report here.

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

The cable industry’s dominance over high-speed broadband may be ending as fixed wireless from Verizon and T-Mobile eat into its customer base.
Charter and Comcast shares are trading near two-year lows.
Cable companies may need a new focus if investors give up on the broadband growth narrative.

Brian Roberts, CEO of Comcast (L), and Tom Rutledge, chief executive officer of Charter Communications
Drew Angerer | Getty Images

Comcast and Charter, the two largest U.S. cable companies, have a broadband growth problem.
As tens of millions of Americans canceled their cable TV subscriptions in the past decade, the cable industry focused on the more profitable business of selling broadband internet.

Now, the number of U.S. households paying Comcast and Charter for high-speed Internet is falling for the first time, with both companies reporting residential broadband declines in the second quarter. Comcast lost 10,000 residential customers and noted it’s down an another 30,000 in July. Charter dropped 42,000.
Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and Charter counterpart Tom Rutledge blamed macroeconomic trends and stronger than normal gains during the pandemic as primary reasons for the losses. Comcast specifically pointed to fewer people moving as the main reason for lower connections.
“There’s been a dramatic slowdown in moves across our footprint,” said Roberts during Comcast’s earnings conference call last month. In the first year of the pandemic, he noted the company added nearly 50% more customers than its prior annual average growth.
The abrupt end to the streak of broadband growth is a major concern for investors in Comcast and Charter, which are trading near two-year lows. Comcast shares are off about 25% year to date, while Charter is down about 33%.
And while pandemic and macroeconomic trends may ease with time, Roberts also acknowledged in the earnings call another reason for the broadband dip: new competition.

The rise of fixed wireless

For decades, cable companies enjoyed having little competition in many regions of the country for high-speed internet.
Then about three years ago, T-Mobile launched its fixed wireless product, a 5G high-speed broadband product that functions as an alternative to cable broadband. As of April, T-Mobile high speed internet is available to more than 40 million households across the country. Verizon said earlier this year it plans to have between 4 million and 5 million fixed wireless customers by the end of 2025.
In March, Roberts dismissed fixed wireless as “an inferior product.” T-Mobile has promised half the country will get speeds of at least 100 megabits per second by the end of 2024. Standard cable (and fiber) broadband can typically deliver speeds about twice as fast. Moreover, fixed wireless is constrained by congestion on 5G airwaves. Cable, which runs wires directly to the home, has no such limitation.
“We’ve seen lower price, lower speed offerings before. And in the long run, I don’t know how viable the technology holds up,” Roberts said at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference.
T-Mobile charges a flat $50 monthly fee for its fixed wireless service. New Street Research estimated average monthly cable broadband revenue per use is nearly $70, and will likely rise to more than $75 by 2025.
Just as T-Mobile grew in the wireless industry by offering lower prices, it appears to be doing the same to cable. In the second quarter, T-Mobile added a whopping 560,000 new fixed wireless customers as Comcast and Charter lost broadband subscribers. T-Mobile said more than half its new customers switched from cable.
“Demand continues to build from dissatisfied suburban cable customers to underserved customers in smaller markets and rural areas,” T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert said during the company’s earnings conference call. T-Mobile also noted that results of Ookla’s nationwide speed test in July that showed its 5G network (187.33 Mpbs) topped Comcast and Charter broadband (184.08 and 183.74, respectively) in terms of average speed.
Roberts disputed that customers are ditching Comcast for any fixed service, claiming T-Mobile’s growth is based on new customers.
“We are not seeing fixed wireless have any discernible impact on our churn,” Roberts said during Comcast’s earnings conference call July 28.
Still, if fixed wireless continues to eat into cable broadband growth, Comcast and Charter will need to convince investors there’s another reason to put their money in cable, said Chris Marangi, a portfolio manager at Gabelli Funds.
“There’s not an obvious catalyst,” said Marangi. “You’re probably not going to get reinvigorated broadband growth in the next six months.”
Gabelli Funds own Charter, Comcast, Verizon and T-Mobile.

The cable investment fear

The fear among cable shareholders isn’t just that Comcast and Charter may be at the end of an era where it comes to broadband growth. It’s also that new competition will lead to lower prices. The combination of promotional pricing and stalled growth may end up turning broadband into something that looks more similar to the wireless business, which has been stymied by price wars and low profit margins for years.
It’s too early to tell if fixed wireless will take market share away from cable companies in coming years or if congestion issues force wireless providers to constrain the number of users, said Craig Moffett, a telecom analyst at MoffettNathanson. Moffett noted that fixed wireless uses far more data than mobile wireless but only generates about 20% more revenue based on current pricing.
“Time will tell if this migration to fixed wireless is just a temporary opportunity,” Moffett said.
It’s possible that fixed wireless is simply having “a moment” and customers will reject the service over time as being too unreliable or lacking in speed, said Walt Piecyk, an analyst at LightShed Partners.
“Right now, it looks like it works. They’re taking cable customers,” said Piecyk. “We’ll see if this is sustainable two or three quarters from now.”
Cable’s technological advantages may swing investor sentiment back toward Comcast and Charter if fixed wireless growth subsides.
“While the narrative of slowing connects ahead of increasing competition does not bode well for sentiment, we believe cable’s network advantage across the majority of its footprint will drive sub growth,” JP Morgan analyst Philip Cusick wrote in a note to clients.

Cable moves to wireless

As TV declines and broadband growth slows, the next chapter for cable will be wireless, predicted Moffett.
Wireless has become cable’s new growth story, as Comcast and Charter have used a shared network agreement with Verizon to boost their own mobile services. Comcast’s wireless revenue grew 30% year over year in the second quarter and more than 80% from two years ago. Charter’s wireless quarterly sales grew 40% from the year-earlier period; two years ago, the company didn’t even break out wireless revenue because the business was so new.
Comcast and Charter have to share wireless with Verizon under the constructs of their network agreement, pushing margins lower. A well-run mobile virtual network operator still only has margins of about 10%, Moffett said. But that could grow over time, he said.
“Wireless may not be a better business than broadband, but it is a much bigger business,” Moffett said.
Charter Chief Financial Officer Chris Winfrey said during the company’s second-quarter earnings conference call that the potential of cable wireless is underestimated.
Given the push among wireless companies into broadband, along with the movement by cable companies into mobile service, some think it’s inevitable the two industries will merge.
“It just doesn’t make any sense not to, purely from an operational synergies, from a capital-allocation synergies, from a branding-synergies standpoint,” Altice CEO Dexter Goei told CNBC last year. Altice is the fourth-largest U.S. cable provider behind Comcast, Charter and Cox.
The more services customers have from the same provider, the less likely they are to leave, Goei said.

M&A as last resort

A merger between Comcast or Charter with T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T is unrealistic given the U.S. regulatory stance on market power, Moffett said. Still, different presidential administrations can have varied viewpoints on what is acceptable. For example, Sprint and T-Mobile were able to merge under the Trump administration after years of being told by government officials not to bother even trying.
“Never say never, right?” Goei said. “Strategic transactions where you have different services, I don’t understand why that should not be something that should be allowed by the antitrust division.”
If a wireless-cable merger isn’t in the cards, there are other potential ways deals could renew investor interest.
Regional cable operator WideOpenWest and Suddenlink, an asset owned by Altice USA, are both in talks with potential buyers, according to people familiar with the matter. A transaction could lift publicly traded cable stocks by resetting the valuation multiple on the companies higher, said Gabelli’s Marangi.
Charter or Comcast could also buy a non-cable asset to bring renewed investor excitement to their companies.
“It’s Management 101; when companies go ex-growth, they look to M&A,” said Piecyk of LightShed Partners.
It’s also possible investors would view an outside acquisition as a distraction rather than a new opportunity, however. Shareholders would likely resist deals for media assets, such as Comcast’s past acquisitions of Sky and NBCUniversal, Moffett said.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal, which owns CNBC.
WATCH: Comcast reports flat broadband subscribers

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

Under Armour on Wednesday cut its profit forecast for the fiscal year 2023.
More promotions on its athletic apparel ate into margins.
Still, Under Armour’s fiscal first-quarter results matched Wall Street expectations.

American multinational clothing brand Under Armour store seen in Hong Kong.
Budrul Chukrut | SOPA Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Under Armour on Wednesday cut its profit forecast for the fiscal year 2023 as more promotions on its athletic apparel ate into margins.
The company now expects earnings per share for the full year to come in between 61 cents and 67 cents, down from an earlier guide of between 79 cents and 84 cents. Gross margin is expected to be down 375 to 425 basis points, a worsened outlook from the previous range of 150 to 200 basis points.

Still, Under Armour’s fiscal first-quarter results matched Wall Street expectations.
Here’s what the company reported compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:

Earnings per share: 3 cents, adjusted, vs. 3 cents expected
Revenue: $1.35 billion vs. $1.34 billion expected

The company said revenue was driven in part by higher prices. The cost of goods sold increased from the same three months in 2021 to $718.9 million, making up 53.3% of net revenue compared with 50.5% of net revenue the year prior.
North America revenue during the period was flat year over year at $909 million, while international revenue declined 3.3% to $431 million, dragged lower by an 8% decrease in the Asia-Pacific region. On a currency neutral basis, international revenue rose 1.5%.
Gross margin for the period declined 280 basis points compared with the prior year. Net income before adjustments was $7.68 million, or 2 cents per share.

Under Armour reported $10 million in legal expenses tied to ongoing litigation. Last week, Under Armour agreed to settle a lawsuit with UCLA for $67.49 million over a terminated apparel contract.
The company said it expects the litigation costs to continue to weigh on profits, citing a 2 cent negative impact on EPS for the full year.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

Moderna beat Wall Street’s quarterly earnings and revenue expectations.
The Boston biotech company generated $4.7 billion in sales for the quarter, a 9% increase over the same period last year.
Moderna posted adjusted earnings of $5.24 per share, an 18% drop from the second quarter of 2021.
But the company took a nearly $500 million hit on write-downs for vaccine inventory that has expired or is expected to expire before is can be used.

Illustration of a vial of Moderna vaccine for coronavirus treatment.
Marcos Del Mazo | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Moderna on Wednesday reported second quarter results that beat earnings and revenue expectations driven $4.5 billion in sales from its Covid -19 vaccine, but it’s still the company’s only commercially available product and it took a big hit on expiring shots.
The Boston biotech company’s costs rose to $1.4 billion, or 30% of the revenue generated from its vaccine. Moderna took a nearly $500 million hit on write-downs for vaccines that have expired or are expected to expire before they can be used.

Moderna also lost $184 million in vaccine purchase commitments and had $131 million in expenses for unused manufacturing capacity. These charges are due to substantial reductions in expected vaccine deliveries to Covax, an international alliance that purchases shots for poorer countries. Deliveries have also been deferred for major customers such as the European Union.
The Boston biotech company generated $4.7 billion in sales for the quarter, a 9% increase over the same period last year. Moderna maintained its 2022 Covid vaccine sales guidance of $21 billion.
Moderna posted adjusted earnings of $5.24 per share, an 18% drop from the second quarter of 2021. The company’s net income came in at $2.2 billion, a 20% drop from the same period in 2021.
Moderna has a cash pile of $18 billion, and said it’s going to buy back $3 billion of its shares with some of that money.
Here’s how the company performed compared with what Wall Street expected, based on analysts’ average estimates compiled by Refinitiv:

Adjusted EPS: $5.24 per share, vs. $4.55 expected
Revenue: $4.7 billion, vs. $4.1 billion expected

Moderna last week announced a $1.74 billion agreement with the U.S. to supply 66 million doses of its updated Covid vaccine that targets the omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants. The agreement includes an option to purchase another 234 million doses.

CNBC Health & Science

Read CNBC’s latest global health coverage:

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More