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Procter & Gamble reported revenue that came in above expectations.
But the consumer products giant reported earnings that came in shy of Wall Street expectations as it faced rising commodity costs.

Bottles of Tide detergent, a Procter & Gamble product, are displayed for sale in a pharmacy on July 30, 2020 in Los Angeles, California.
Mario Tama | Getty Images

Procter & Gamble on Friday reported mixed quarterly results as the consumer products giant faced rising commodity costs and warned that it expects “significant headwinds” to persist for its fiscal 2023.
The Cincinnati-based maker of products including Pampers, Pantene and Tide said higher pricing during its fiscal fourth quarter offset a slip in sales volume, which it attributed primarily to pandemic-related lockdowns in China and reduced operations in Russia.

Shares of the company were down about 4% in premarket trading.
Here’s what the company reported compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:

Earnings per share: $1.21 adjusted vs. $1.22 expected
Revenue: $19.52 billion vs. $19.4 billion expected

For the three months ended June 30, P&G reported a net income of $3.05 billion, or $1.21 per share. In the year-ago period, it reported a net income of $2.91 billion, or $1.13 per share.
Net sales rose 3% to $19.52 billion.
In both its health care and fabric and home care units, organic sales rose 9% on higher pricing, despite flat and negative volumes, respectively.

During a media call, P&G Chief Financial Officer Andre Schulten said he was confident that the “consumer is holding up well” as the company raised prices. He attributed flat and negative volumes to reduction of business in Russia.
For its fiscal 2023, the company said it expects organic sales to be up 3% to 5% and earnings per share to be flat to up 4%. P&G expects headwinds of $3.3 billion due to foreign exchange rates, higher commodity costs and higher freight costs.
Read the entire earnings release here.

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Google is just one of dozens of companies recently making its stock more affordable. The tech giant’s parent company, Alphabet (GOOGL), split its two classes of shares (GOOG) by a 20-to1 ratio in July.
Amazon (AMZN) made the same 20-for-1 move in June while Tesla (TSLA) announced around the same time that it’s going with a 3-for-1 stock split. Apple (AAPL) has split its stock five times since the company went public.

Watch this video as CNBC’s Emily Lorsch explains what a stock split is and why companies do it.

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A floorhand operates a Chevron oil drilling rig near Taft, California.
Chip Chipman | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Exxon and Chevron posted record profits during the second quarter of 2022 as high commodity prices boost operations, and as the oil giants keep their spending in check.
Chevron reported earnings of $11.62 billion during the three-month period, up from $3.08 billion during the second quarter of 2021.

Exxon, meantime, posted earnings of $17.9 billion during the second quarter of 2022, compared to $4.7 billion during the second quarter of 2021.
Shares of both companies added roughly 3% during premarket trading Friday.
Chevron’s results beat analysts’ estimates on both the top and bottom line. Chevron earned $5.82 per share excluding items on $68.76 billion in revenue during the second quarter. Analysts were expecting the company to earn $5.10 per share on $59.29 billion in revenue, according to estimates compiled by Refinitiv.
Exxon beat estimates, earning $4.14 per share excluding items versus the $3.74 per share expected, according to estimates from Refinitiv. But the company’s revenue, at $115.68 billion, missed the $132.7 billion analysts were expecting.
The earnings come as energy stocks have faltered in recent months. Recession fears — and what that means for oil and petroleum-product demand — have weighed on the group. The energy sector hit a multi-year high in June, but it’s down 18% since.

Still, energy stocks are by far the top-performing group this year, advancing 35%. The second-best sector is utilities, which have gained just 2.4%.
Energy stocks’ ascent follows a surge in oil and gas prices, which have jumped as Europe looks to move away from Russian fuel.
The companies’ record quarter is likely to draw further ire from Washington. President Joe Biden has called on companies to raise output, saying they’re keeping prices elevated at the expense of consumers. Surging energy costs have been a key contributor to decades-high inflation.
For their part, oil and gas companies say they are raising output. They also note that they’re dealing with the same macro issues — such as labor — playing out across the economy.
“We more than doubled investment compared to last year to grow both traditional and new energy business lines,” Chevron chairman and CEO Mike Wirth said in a statement.
The company’s output in the Permian Basin rose 15% year over year. For its U.S. operations, the average sales price per barrel of oil was $89 during the second quarter, up from $54 during the same period last year.
The average selling prices for natural gas surged to $6.22 per thousand cubic feet, up from $2.16 during the second quarter of 2022.
The oil giant also increased guidance for its buyback program, lifting the top end of the range to $15 billion.
“Earnings and cash flow benefited from increased production, higher realizations, and tight cost control,” Darren Woods, chairman and chief executive officer at Exxon, said in a statement.
“Strong second-quarter results reflect our focus on the fundamentals and the investments we put in motion several years ago and sustained through the depths of the pandemic,” he added.
Exxon said its oil-equivalent production stood at 3.7 million barrels per day in the second quarter, a 4% increase from the first quarter.

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Renault’s CEO said Friday that there will be no sudden let up in the supply chain shortages that have dogged the autos industry, even as the carmaker dubbed its “emergency” period over.
Luca de Meo told CNBC that the sourcing of raw materials would continue to be an issue for automakers, but added that the company had grown more resilient.
“We don’t anticipate a sudden, complete improvement of the situation. But, in the meantime, we have learned to manage this complexity,” de Meo told CNBC’s Charlotte Reed.

Renault has said that there will be no sudden let up in the supply chain shortages that have dogged the autos industry.
Sameer Al-doumy | Afp | Getty Images

Renault’s CEO said Friday that there will be no sudden let up in the supply chain shortages that have dogged the autos industry, even as the carmaker dubbed its “emergency” period over.
Luca de Meo told CNBC that that the sourcing of raw materials was likely to continue to be an issue for automakers, but added that the company was now better placed to handle such disruptions.

“We don’t anticipate a sudden, complete improvement of the situation. But, in the meantime, we have learned to manage this complexity,” de Meo told CNBC’s Charlotte Reed.
He added that the company could now ensure 80% of its raw material needs from now to 2030.
Supply chain issues have weighed heavy on the autos industry, with parts shortages stalling production amid increased demand. But de Meo said there had been signs in recent months that constraints were easing.
“We think the situation [is] getting better; May and June were not so bad. But, of course, we are missing full transparency on supply chains because the world is becoming more complicated in general,” he said.
The French automaker on Friday reported a 1.36 billion euro ($1.39 billion) net loss for the first half of 2022, owing to a 2.2 billion euro writedown of its Russian business following Moscow’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, as well as ongoing chip shortages.

However, Renault upgraded its full-year outlook, pointing to improving profitability elsewhere in the business. It now expects to make 5% margin this year, compared with estimates of 3%. It will also produce around 1.5 billion euros of free cash flow, it added.
De Meo dubbed the results “probably the best result we did in a semester in 10 years amid difficult circumstances,” adding that the carmaker could now “turn the page” on earlier shortcomings.
“I think we can turn the page on emergency and move to a new phase for this company, no matter what happens outside,” he said.

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After more than two years, New Zealand is fully reopening its borders and welcoming back all international travelers.
The country is reopening on July 31, some three months earlier than previously announced.

Earlier this year, New Zealand’s borders were opened to Australians and citizens of 60 places that do not need visas to enter, including Singapore, the United States and the United Kingdom.
In 2021, New Zealand had some of the world’s strictest pandemic restrictions, including lockdowns triggered by a single Covid case, extensive testing and numerous public health mandates.
Its largest city Auckland was on lockdown for 107 days, from August to December 2021, due to outbreaks of the highly infectious delta variant. 
Many curbs have been lifted, but requirements to enter New Zealand remain stringent. Here’s what to know before you visit.

The rules 

With the exception of New Zealand citizens and Australians living in the country, visitors are required to provide proof of vaccination to enter, according to the government’s Covid information page. 

Both electronic and paper vaccination certificates are acceptable. 
Travelers need to do a rapid antigen test on their arrival date — although not necessary upon arrival at the airport — and a second one on the fifth or sixth day of their trip, according to New Zealand’s Ministry of Health. 
Masks aren’t required outdoors, but they’re required indoors, such as in museums, supermarkets and pharmacies. 

Cheapest time to visit 

Despite inflation in New Zealand hitting a 32-year high of 7.3% earlier this month, Navigate Travel said prices of tours, activities and accommodations are the same price, if not cheaper, than what they were before the pandemic.
“(A holiday in) New Zealand’s very cheap at the moment … Other than air travel, there’s never been a cheaper time to come,” said Daniel Painter, the travel agency’s managing director. 
Since it was announced in May that the country’s borders would fully reopen at the end of July, there has been strong interest from travelers to visit, said Tourism New Zealand. 
“Online searches for international flights to New Zealand (are) up 39% since the announcement was made, compared to pre-Covid searches,” said Gregg Wafelbakker, the tourism body’s general manager for Asia. More than 60% of this interest is coming from Australia, he said.

However, Painter said that travel demand from Asia remains low, with visitors from the region coming mostly from Singapore. 
The Singapore-based travel agency Chan Brothers Travel indicated a shortage of flights may be to blame.
“Travel demand to New Zealand has been healthy ever since the borders [reopened] to Singaporeans in May. However, due to flight availability, we do observe demand outstripping supply,” said Jeremiah Wong, the agency’s senior marketing communications manager.

Larger spends, longer trips

After years of being locked out of New Zealand, travelers are indicating they are willing to spend more to travel for longer periods in the country, said Wong.
“An eight-day New Zealand tour was a popular choice before the pandemic, but we are currently seeing more interest and bookings for our 11-day tour that allows travelers to take in the sights at a more relaxed pace,” Wong said. 
Navigate Travel’s Painter shared similar sentiments, saying that travelers “want the ability to be able to relax and not have to worry about things, but they also want to be able to get lots of bang for their buck.”
Painter said hikes in the country’s national parks, a scenic helicopter ride over Franz Josef Glacier, and whale watching near the town of Kaikoura on New Zealand’s South Island are just some of the activities that tourists shouldn’t miss.

A helicopter flight above the Franz Josef Glacier.
Peter Kolejak / Eyeem | Eyeem | Getty Images

After remaining in Singapore for more than two years, Lew Moe Kien, 60, and her husband, 62, visited New Zealand for 12 days in May — just two weeks after its borders reopened to Singapore citizens.
They said locals were elated to have tourists back in the country, and that they were welcomed with open arms at restaurants and other establishments. 
“The places we visited in New Zealand were not crowded at all,” said Lew. “For many of the places of interest, it was only the two of us there.” 
Lew and her husband visited both the North and South Islands of New Zealand, including Hobbiton — a popular destination for “Lord of the Rings” fans — the glow worm caves in Waitomo, and the pancake-shaped rock formations and blowholes at Punakaiki.
Shirleen Tan, 46, a human resources professional from Singapore, is planning a trip to New Zealand with her family in December.
“We were looking for somewhere with warm weather, and New Zealand is one of the few warm countries in December,” said Tan.
She said she is looking forward to visiting vineyards for wine tastings, eating fresh oysters at oyster farms, and “enjoying the beautiful scenery that New Zealand is famous for.”  More

Spirit Airlines agreed to sell itself to JetBlue Airways for $3.8 billion.
JetBlue now needs approval from the Justice Department to complete the deal.
President Joe Biden’s Justice Department has vowed to challenge out any deals that could harm competition.

JetBlue Airways finally won over Spirit Airlines with a $3.8 billion takeover deal. Now it needs to win over antitrust regulators.
The New York-based airline snatched Spirit away Frontier Airlines with an all-cash offer that torpedoed the cash-and-stock deal the two discount airlines had forged earlier this year. Hours after Spirit and Frontier said they terminated their merger agreement, which lacked shareholder support, Spirit said it agreed to sell itself to JetBlue.

JetBlue said it expects to win regulatory approval in the fourth quarter of next year or the first three months of 2024. The carriers expect the deal to close in the first half of 2024.
If regulators sign off, it would mean the end Spirit, a brand that has become a punchline about the indignities of discount air travel, where passengers trade comforts like standard legroom, snacks and free cabin baggage for a cheap fare.

JetBlue Airlines and Spirit Airlines are seen on the departure board in the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on May 16, 2022 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images

Will regulators allow an ultra-low-cost airline to get absorbed during the hottest stretch of inflation in decades and remodeled into JetBlue’s image, which more closely resembles large carriers?
The regulatory hurdle is high. President Joe Biden’s Justice Department has vowed to challenge out any deals that could harm competition. Last year, it sued to block JetBlue’ alliance with American Airlines in the Northeast. A trial is set to begin in late September.
JetBlue is optimistic. The DOJ lawsuit alleges American could overpower JetBlue and says the alliance, which lets American and JetBlue coordinate routes in busy airports serving New York and Boston, amounts to “a de facto merger.”

JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes said a combined Spirit and JetBlue, which would become the country’s fifth-largest airline, would create a strong competitor to the big four U.S. carriers: American, Delta, United and Southwest. After more than a decade of consolidation, those carriers control roughly three-quarters of the U.S. market.
“The best thing we can do to make the industry more competitive is to make a truly national, low-fare high-quality airline to compete on a more national scale with these legacy airlines,” Hayes said in an interview. “By merging JetBlue and Spirit together, we’re able to do that much more quickly than we would do alone.”
American declined to comment. The Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment but the agency’s antitrust chief, Jonathan Kanter, has promised a hard stance against anti-competition.
“It is no secret that many settlements fail to preserve competition,” Kanter said in a speech in Chicago in April. “Even divestitures may not fully preserve competition across all its dimensions in dynamic market.”
The Justice Department has signed off on airline mergers, though not without some legal battles. The combination of American Airlines and US Airways in 2013, for example, was approved at the end of that year after the department sued to stop the deal.
But it is likely to require JetBlue and Spirit to divest some of their assets in the process, said John Lopatka, a law professor who specializes in antitrust law at Penn State Law.
Without that, “there would be a public perception that [the Justice Department] just caved,” he said.
Regulators will be studying fares and overlapping routes, particularly in places such as Florida where the airlines have large operations.
“I think they’re up against a lot,” Lopatka said of JetBlue and Spirit. “I think there is almost no chance they’ll be able to pull off the merger without some concessions.”
The Transportation Department, which would also need to sign off, didn’t immediately comment.
Airlines have drawn scrutiny this year from high-profile lawmakers including Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., as passengers faced an increase in flight cancellations and delays, partially driven by staffing shortfalls.
“I am closely reviewing the JetBlue-Spirit merger for its impact on consumers and workers, and I expect the Department of Justice and Department of Transportation will conduct an objective investigation as well,” Sen. Ed Markey, a Democrat representing Massachusetts, where JetBlue has a large operation, said in a statement

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Amazon reported second-quarter results on Thursday that beat on the top line.
It also gave upbeat guidance for the third quarter.
The stock jumped in extended trading.

Amazon shares climbed more than 13% in extended trading on Thursday after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter revenue and gave an optimistic outlook.
Here’s how the company did:

EPS: Loss of 20 cents
Revenue: $121.23 billion vs. $119.09 billion expected, according to Refinitiv

Here’s how other key Amazon segments did during the quarter:

Amazon Web Services: $19.7 billion vs. $19.56 billion expected, according to StreetAccount
Advertising: $8.76 billion vs. $8.65 billion expected, according to StreetAccount

Revenue growth of 7% in the second quarter topped estimates, bucking the trend among its Big Tech peers, which all reported disappointing results prior Thursday. Apple, along with Amazon, beat expectations.
Amazon said it expects to post third-quarter revenue between $125 billion and $130 billion, representing growth of 13% to 17%. Analysts were expecting sales of $126.4 billion, according to Refinitiv.
Amazon has been contending with higher costs, as pandemic-driven expansion left the company with too many workers and too much warehouse capacity.
“Despite continued inflationary pressures in fuel, energy, and transportation costs, we’re making progress on the more controllable costs we referenced last quarter, particularly improving the productivity of our fulfillment network,” CEO Andy Jassy said in a statement.

Stock picks and investing trends from CNBC Pro:

Amazon shaved its headcount by 99,000 people to 1.52 million employees as of the end of the second quarter after almost doubling in size during the pandemic.
Technology companies have been announcing layoffs, hiring freezes and rescinding job offers in the midst of economic uncertainty. On a call with reporters, CFO Brian Olsavsky said Amazon will continue to hire engineers for units like Amazon Web Services and advertising, but will be cautious about hiring in other areas.
“I think it’s right for people to step back and question their hiring plans,” Olsavsky said. “We’re doing that as well. I don’t think you’ll see us hiring at the same pace we did over the last year, or the last few years.”
Amazon recorded a $3.9 billion loss on its Rivian investment after shares of the electric vehicle maker plunged 49% in the second quarter. That brings its total loss on the investment this year to $11.5 billion.
Because of the Rivian writedown, Amazon had an overall loss of $2 billion in the quarter. Analysts’ EPS estimates varied dramatically, making it difficult to compare actual results to a consensus number.

Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe and Udit Madan stand in front of the new Amazon EV van powered by Rivian. Amazon and Rivian unveil their final custom Electric Delivery Vehicles (EDV) to begin using them for customer deliveries, in Chicago, Illinois, July 21, 2022.
Jim Vondruska | Reuters

Amazon’s core e-commerce business continues to suffer as online sales are no longer flourishing like they were at the height of the Covid-19 shutdown. The company’s online stores segment declined 4% year over year. Physical store sales continued to rebound from the year-ago period, growing 12%.
Amazon’s ad business is a bright spot in an otherwise gloomy quarter for online advertising, and shows the company is picking up share in one of its fastest-growing businesses.
Ad revenue climbed 18% in the period. Facebook, meanwhile, recorded its first ever drop in revenue and forecast another decline for the third quarter. At Alphabet, advertising growth slowed to 12%, and YouTube showed a dramatic deceleration to 4.8% from 84% a year earlier.
Among the other top tech companies, Microsoft also reported disappointing results this week. Apple beat on the top and bottom lines, lifting the stock in after-hours trading.
Amazon’s cloud segment continues to hum along. Sales at Amazon Web Services jumped 33% from a year earlier to $19.74 billion, above the $19.56 billion projected by Wall Street.
Operating income, which excludes the investment-related loss, shrank to $3.3 billion from $7.7 billion a year earlier. AWS generated operating income of $5.7 billion, accounting for all of Amazon’s profit plus some in the period.
The upbeat results could also help improve the mood around Jassy, who replaced Jeff Bezos as CEO a little over a year ago. Jassy’s first year on the job has been marred by challenges, including an ongoing labor battle, the market downturn, growing regulatory pressure and an exodus of top talent.
He’s also under pressure to show he can return Amazon’s core retail business to the growth investors have become accustomed to seeing, a difficult task given the macro pressures the company faces, such as soaring inflation and slowing consumer discretionary spending.
WATCH: The first look at Amazon and Rivian’s electric delivery vans

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Environmental groups reacted with surprise after U.S. Senate Democrats struck a deal on sweeping legislation to address climate change and clean energy, agreeing on a bill that could help curb the country’s carbon emissions by 40% by the end of the decade.
After lengthy negotiations, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., on Wednesday announced a long-anticipated reconciliation package that would provide $369 billion in climate funding, among many other provisions.
If passed and signed into law, the act would be the largest climate investment ever taken by Congress.

U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) returns to a basement office meeting with other senators that included Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), Jon Tester (D-MT), Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Angus King (I-ME), (not pictured) at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, December 15, 2021.
Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters

Environmental groups reacted with surprise after U.S. Senate Democrats struck a deal on sweeping legislation to address climate change and clean energy, a bill that could help curb the country’s carbon emissions by 40% by the end of the decade.
After lengthy negotiations, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., on Wednesday announced a long-anticipated reconciliation package that would provide $369 billion in funding for curbing emissions, manufacturing clean energy products and advancing environmental justice initiatives, among other things.

Early versions of the bill included $555 billion in tax breaks for clean energy that would cut carbon emissions. Still, clean energy backers and climate groups praised the new deal for including clean energy tax credits that could create thousands of new jobs and boost domestic renewable energy.
“The entire clean energy industry just breathed an enormous sigh of relief,” said Heather Zichal, the head of American Clean Power, a group of renewable energy companies. “This is an 11th hour reprieve for climate action and clean energy jobs, and America’s biggest legislative moment for climate and energy policy.”
Climate activists pointed to a slew of victories in the legislation, including $60 billion for environmental justice programs, $20 billion for climate-friendly agriculture practices and billions of dollars to bolster domestic manufacturing in batteries, solar energy and electric vehicles.

Climate protesters march to the White House on October 12, 2021 in Washington, DC.
Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images

Backers of the legislation also noted that the bill would go a long way toward President Joe Biden’s committment to achieve a net-zero emissions economy by 2050.
“To borrow President Biden’s line, this is a big f—–g deal,” Sierra Club President Ramón Cruz said in a statement. “This legislation will save money for families across the country, it will ensure each and every one of us is able to live and work in a healthy community, and it will create good, sustainable jobs.”

Manish Bapna, president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council, called the agreement the “ultimate clean energy comeback — the strongest climate action yet in the moment we need it most.”
He reserved some criticism, however. “This is not the bill we would have written. It’s time to break, not deepen, our dependence on fossil fuels and all the damage and danger they bring,” Bapna said in a statement. “But this is a package we can’t afford to reject.”

Critical of new leases for oil and gas

However, some groups more strongly condemned the support for fossil fuel projects in the agreement, specifically provisions that would mandate new oil and gas leasing in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska. Manchin, who comes from the coal-rich West Virginia, has argued that drilling in these areas is neccesary for the country’s energy independence.

More from CNBC Climate:

“We need to jump start renewable energy investment without incentivizing new mining under 150-year-old mining laws that fail to protect people and the environment from harm,” said Lauren Pagel, policy director of Earthworks. “We need to cut climate pollution by stopping the build-out of fossil fuels instead of cutting deals to fast-track permits for more dirty energy infrastructure.”
Activists have argued that avoiding the worst impacts of climate change will require halting all new oil and gas drilling on U.S. lands and waters and phasing out existing operations. Drilling on public lands accounts for roughly one quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions.
“This is a climate suicide pact,” said Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “It’s self-defeating to handcuff renewable energy development to massive new oil and gas extraction.”
“The new leasing required in this bill will fan the flames of the climate disasters torching our country, and it’s a slap in the face to the communities fighting to protect themselves from filthy fossil fuels,” Hartl said.
If passed and signed into law, the act would be the largest climate investment ever taken by Congress. The Senate will vote on the proposed bill next week, after which it will go to the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives.

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