Business

Abercrombie & Fitch reported an unexpected loss for its fiscal first quarter, with freight and product costs weighing on sales.
The apparel retailer also slashed its sales outlook for fiscal 2022, anticipating that economic headwinds will remain at least through the end of the year.
CEO Fran Horowitz said the retailer will manage its “expenses tightly” and search for opportunities to offset the higher logistics costs in the near term.

A person carries a bag from the Abercrombie & Fitch store on Fifth Avenue in New York City, February 27, 2017.
Andrew Kelly | Reuters

Abercrombie & Fitch shares fell more than 32% in premarket trading Tuesday after the retailer reported an unexpected loss for its fiscal first quarter, with freight and product costs weighing on sales.
Abercrombie also slashed its sales outlook for fiscal 2022, anticipating that economic headwinds will remain at least through the end of the year. The news sent shares of apparel retailers American Eagle Outfitters and Urban Outfitters both down about 7% in premarket trading.

Abercrombie now sees revenue flat to up 2%, compared with a prior forecast of 2% to 4% growth. Analysts had been looking for a year-over-year increase of 3.5%, according to Refinitiv consensus estimates.
Chief Executive Officer Fran Horowitz said in a statement that the retailer will manage its “expenses tightly” and search for opportunities to offset the higher logistics costs in the near term. She also said Abercrombie plans to protect investments in marketing, technology and customer experiences.
Abercrombie joins a growing list of retailers, including Walmart, Target and Kohl’s, that are seeing profits take a hit as inflation hovers at a 40-year high. There are also concerns that inventories are beginning to pile up, following months of supply chain backlogs, right as consumer demand for certain products is waning. Businesses like Abercrombie could be forced to discount items to move them off shelves.
Here’s how Abercrombie did for the three-month period ended April 30, compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on Refinitiv estimates:

Loss per share: 27 cents adjusted vs. earnings of 8 cents expected
Revenue: $813 million vs. $799 million expected

Abercrombie reported a net loss for its fiscal first quarter of $14.8 million, or 32 cents per share, compared with net income of $42.7 million, or 64 cents a share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, Abercrombie lost 27 cents per share. Analysts had expected the company to earn 8 cents a share during the quarter.
Sales grew 4% to $812.8 million from $781.4 million a year earlier. That was ahead of expectations for $799 million.
Within that figure, sales at Abercrombie’s Hollister banner fell 3% year over year, while those of its namesake label rose 13%.
Abercrombie’s inventories totaled $563 million as of April 30, up 45% from year-ago levels.
The retailer cut its outlook for fiscal-year operating margins to a range of 5% to 6%, down from a prior range of 7% to 8%. Abercrombie said the adjustment takes into account higher freight and raw material costs, foreign currency and lower sales due to an assumed inflationary impact on consumers.
Beginning in the second quarter, Abercrombie said it will no longer provide full-year or quarterly outlooks on gross profit rate or operating expenses, “in response to volatility in freight and other costs.”
Abercrombie shares have fallen 23% year to date, as of Monday’s market close.

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Best Buy’s quarterly revenue declined, but it still topped Wall Street’s expectations.
Same-store sales fell by 8% versus the year-ago period, a better performance than the 8.6% drop that analysts projected.
Investors have scoured retailers’ earnings for signs about the health of the American consumer.

Customers shop at a Best Buy store on August 24, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. Best Buy reported an increase in second-quarter sales of nearly 20% as consumers purchased electronics to adjust to lifestyle changes related to the ongoing pandemic.
Scott Olson | Getty Images

Best Buy reported lower sales in the fiscal first-quarter, and the retailer lowered its outlook for the year, citing softer demand that doesn’t appear to be letting up.
“That trend has continued into the beginning of Q2 and it does not appear that it will abate in the near-term,” Best Buy CEO Corie Barry said on an analyst call Tuesday.

The economic backdrop has worsened since the company provided guidance at an investor day. But while Best Buy is factoring softer demand into its outlook, Barry said the company isn’t “planning for a full recession.”
Even as consumers watch their budgets, she said, Best Buy is selling merchandise that has become more central to their lives. Sales in the company’s fiscal first quarter didn’t decline as far as Wall Street had expected.
“Consumer electronics over time is a stable industry,” Barry said. “The last two years have clearly underscored the importance of tech in people’s lives, so I think it’s important for us to have that as a backdrop.”
Shares were about flat in premarket trading after rising about 9% earlier.
Here’s how the retailer did in the three-month period ended April 30 compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, according to a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:

Earnings per share: $1.57 adjusted vs. $1.61 expected
Revenue: $10.65 billion vs. $10.41 billion expected

Best Buy said it now anticipates full-year revenue ranging between $48.3 billion to $49.9 billion, compared with a prior outlook of $49.3 billion to $50.8 billion. It said same-store sales will decline between 3% and 6%, a sharper drop than the 1% to 4% decrease that it previously anticipated. It expects adjusted earnings per share in a range of $8.40 to $9.00, compared with the prior outlook of $8.85 to $9.15.
Best Buy’s first-quarter net income fell to $341 million, or $1.49 per share, down from $595 million, or $2.32 per share, a year earlier. Excluding items, it earned an adjusted $1.61 per share.
Net sales decreased to $10.41 billion from $11.64 billion a year earlier.
Same-store sales for Best Buy declined by 8% versus the year-ago period, a better performance than the 8.6% drop that analysts expected, according to FactSet.
Investors have scoured retailers’ earnings for signs about the health of the American consumer with soaring inflation. With Best Buy, some worried the company would be particularly vulnerable. It faced tough comparisons against a year-ago quarter of pandemic-fueled demand for home theaters, computer monitors and kitchen appliances. That caused same-store sales to jump by 37.3%.
Best Buy also told Wall Street at an investor day in March that sales would be softer after two years of very elevated demand. However, Chief Financial Officer Matt Bilunas said the company ultimately anticipated demand above pre-pandemic sales over the next several years.
Walmart and Target’s heightened investors’ concerns last week. Both big-box retailers reported sales growth in the fiscal first quarter, but missed Wall Street’s earnings expectations as fuel and freight costs spiked and consumers’ demand for higher margin, discretionary purchases sank. In particular, Target CEO Brian Cornell said customers skipped over bulky items like TVs and kitchen appliances — merchandise that Best Buy also sells.
The retailers’ results helped lead to a major sell-off on Wall Street last week, which dragged Best Buy’s stock to a 52-week low on Friday.
Those tempered expectations likely set the stage for Wall Street’s positive reaction to Best Buy on Tuesday morning, even as the retailer cut its forecast and warned of tougher times ahead.
On Monday, shares rose less than 1% to close at $72.59. The company’s stock is down about 29% so far this year and are underperforming the S&P 500’s year-to-date decline of about 17%.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

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J.P. Morgan Private Bank on Tuesday announced its 23rd annual summer reading list, which has become the seasonal “it list” of literary status symbols for the ultra-wealthy.
The selection is based on “timeliness, quality and global appeal to the firm’s global client base.”
The list has also added a new tech twist this year – books in the metaverse.

Tom Merton | Ojo Images | Getty Images

With summer around the corner, the wealthy are preparing their lists of elevating beach reads. And this year, their Goyard tote bags are likely to be filled with books about innovation, technology and Greek gods.
J.P. Morgan Private Bank on Tuesday announced its 23rd annual summer reading list, which has become the seasonal “it list” of literary status symbols for the ultra-wealthy.

The bank, whose clients typically have $10 million or more, sorts through hundreds of recommendations from client advisors for nonfiction books and narrows it down to 10 titles. The selection is based on “timeliness, quality and global appeal to the firm’s global client base.”
Of course, most of the uber-wealthy will be staring at their stock screens all summer. But bookwise, they’re looking to learn more about tech, the planet and the past.
“This year’s list spans terrain and time and seeks to double-click on themes our advisors are hearing most in their client conversations this year, including sustainability, leadership and business transformation, technological innovation, expansion of cultural perspectives, and philanthropic support for important global causes,” said Darin Oduyoye, chief communications officer at J.P. Morgan Asset & Wealth Management.
The list has also added a new tech twist this year – books in the metaverse. The J.P. Morgan Onyx lounge in Decentraland will include a virtual library exhibit, where visitors can make an avatar, view interviews with authors and answer trivia questions with a “scholarly owl.”
The list is, as always, as varied as the rich themselves. But it’s a useful barometer of the titles and topics you’ll likely see this summer on the beaches of the Hamptons, the mountains of Aspen, Colorado, and the other hot spots of the elite. Here’s the list, via J.P. Morgan Private Bank:

“CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest” by Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller and Vikram Malhotra: McKinsey & Company senior partners offer a look at how some of the most well-respected CEOs do their jobs. Drawing from 25 years of research and interviews with top corporate leaders — including chiefs at Netflix, J.P. Morgan Chase, General Motors and Sony — Dewar, Keller and Malhotra show that while the role of CEO is unique to each organization, the best CEOs think and adapt in surprisingly similar ways across industries.  
“Race for Tomorrow: Survival, Innovation and Profit on the Front Lines of the Climate Crisis” by Simon Mundy: In this journey through 26 countries and six continents, Financial Times reporter Simon Mundy travels to the frontlines of the climate crisis. By telling the stories of those he meets — from a scientist building a home for engineered mammoths in northeast Siberia to the entrepreneurs chasing breakthroughs in electric and fusion power — Mundy demonstrates how climate change is displacing communities, disrupting global businesses and inspiring a new wave of innovation.
“Being Present: Commanding Attention at Work (and at Home) by Managing Your Social Presence” by Jeanine W. Turner: Synthesizing 15 years of research, interviews and experience from teaching students and executives, Georgetown professor Jeanine W. Turner offers a framework to navigate our social presence — the feeling of being connected within a conversation or interaction — and to communicate more effectively and intentionally with our family, friends and colleagues.
“The Comprehensive Guide to NFTs, Digital Artwork, Blockchain Technology” by Marc Beckman: What exactly are NFT’s, and what will their impact be on our world? Marc Beckman, founder of the NFT digital artwork platform Truesy, delves into the foundations of NFT technology, making the subject clear and comprehensible. Beckman explores how NFTs are poised to change fashion, sports, fine art, social justice and more, and how entrepreneurs can position themselves for success in tomorrow’s NFT-driven world.
“The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward” by Daniel H. Pink: Author Daniel H. Pink rejects the idea of “no regrets” – instead, challenging us to accept regrets as fundamental, and to reckon with them in creative ways to help us live more fulfilling lives. Drawing on research in psychology, neuroscience, economics and biology, Pink argues that we can transform regrets into positive forces by reframing our thinking.
“Fixed.: How to Perfect the Fine Art of Problem Solving” by Amy E. Herman: While heading education at The Frick Collection in New York City, lawyer and art historian Amy E. Herman developed her “Art of Perception” seminar to improve the observational and communication skills of medical students solving intractable problems. Since then, she has led sessions internationally for leaders and professionals at the FBI, French National Police, Interpol and many more organizations for which failure is catastrophic. Using art to challenge our default thinking, Herman encourages us to open our minds to see possibilities we may otherwise overlook.
“Hayao Miyazaki” by Jessica Niebel, Daniel Kothenschulte and Pete Docter: An illustrated journey through the cinematic worlds of the renowned Japanese filmmaker, “Hayao Miyazaki” celebrates the artistic vision and themes of Miyazaki’s animated films, which include the Oscar-winning “Spirited Away.” Published by the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles in collaboration with Studio Ghibli in Tokyo, the book offers insight into the animator’s creative process and masterful storytelling techniques.
“As We Rise: Photography from the Black Atlantic” by the Wedge Collection (Preface by Teju Cole/Introduction by Dr. Mark Sealy/Interviewed by Liz Ikiriko): Selected from Dr. Kenneth Montague’s Wedge Collection in Toronto — a Black-owned collection dedicated to artists of African descent — “As We Rise” provides a timely exploration of Black identity. Through a compilation of over 100 photographs by Black artists from Canada, the Caribbean, Great Britain, the United States, South America and throughout the African continent, the volume examines the multilayered aspects of Black life through themes of community, identity and power, all while exploring ideas of agency, beauty, self-representation and more.
“Between the Mountain and the Sky: A Mother’s Story of Love, Loss, Healing, and Hope” by Maggie Doyne: Maggie Doyne, American philanthropist and founder of the BlinkNow Foundation, tells the inspiring tale of her journey from carefree New Jersey teen to caretaker of more than 50 Nepalese children. Inspired on a trip to the country during a gap year before college, Doyne invests her life savings to buy land and open a children’s home. “Between the Mountain and the Sky” shares all the love, loss, healing and hope she experiences opening the home, and eventually a women’s center and school.
“Greek Myths” by Gustav Schwab: A collection of 47 tales from German writer Gustav Schwab’s seminal anthology, Taschen’s “Greek Myths” reimagines the fascinating world of Greek mythology for modern times. Through these legendary tales of gods and all-too-human heroes, Schwab’s updated stories reveal all the feats, furies and foibles of the human condition — from the courage of Perseus and ambition of Icarus to Midas’ greed.

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Sustainable Energy

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In Francesco Starace’s opinion, change is coming to Europe, where the EU has said it wants to be carbon neutral by 2050.
Russia was the biggest supplier of petroleum oils and natural gas to the EU last year, according to Eurostat.
“You can produce electricity better, cheaper, without using gas,” Enel CEO Starace tells CNBC. “Gas is a precious molecule and you should leave it for … applications where that is needed.”

Enel CEO Francesco Starace photographed in 2019. In an interview with CNBC on May 24, 2022, Starace said “you can produce electricity better, cheaper, without using gas.”
Giulio Napolitano | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The CEO of Italian power firm Enel has cast doubt on the continued benefit of using gas to produce electricity, telling CNBC it is “stupid” and that cheaper and better alternatives are now available.
Speaking to CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick at the World Economic Forum, Francesco Starace discussed where Europe had sourced its gas from over the years, name-checking both Libya and Russia.

Russia was the biggest supplier of petroleum oils and natural gas to the EU last year, according to Eurostat. The bloc is now attempting to wean itself off Russian hydrocarbons following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.  
“I think this is a big wake up call,” Starace said, adding that “too much gas” was being used “in a stupid way, because burning gas to produce electricity is, today, stupid.”
Instead, Starace said there were more attractive alternatives.
“You can produce electricity better, cheaper, without using gas … Gas is a precious molecule and you should leave it for … applications where that is needed,” he added.
These industrial uses include chemical applications, the paper industry and use in the production of ceramics and glass, he said.

“Spare gas for them,” Starace said. “Stop using gas for heating, stop using gas for generating electricity when there are alternatives that are better.”
Alternative methods of electricity generation include wind and solar power, among others.

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According to a recent report from Ember, a think tank focused on moving the planet away from coal to what it calls “clean electricity,” fossil fuels were responsible for 37% of EU electricity generation in 2021.
Breaking down the above figure, Ember’s report — published in February — said fossil gas power produced 18% of the EU’s electricity, a three-year low. Renewables were responsible for 37%, while nuclear produced 26% of the bloc’s electricity last year, Ember said.
Across the Atlantic, preliminary figures from the U.S. Energy Administration show that natural gas was used in 38.3% of utility scale electricity generation in the United States in 2021.

Read more about energy from CNBC Pro

In Starace’s opinion, change is coming to Europe, where the EU has said it wants to be carbon neutral by 2050. “Overall I think there will be a reduction of gas consumption in Europe across the board coming mostly from those, like I said, ‘stupid’ uses,” he said.  
“So burning it to generate electricity is not smart anymore, there is a better way,” he said. “Burning it to heat our homes is not intelligent, there is a better way.”
The Enel Group — whose main shareholder is the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance — has said it will abandon gas generation by 2040. It also plans to leave the retail gas market in 2040.
Starace was asked if the move to net-zero and focus on using more renewables in Europe would be turbocharged by the current crisis.”I think yes, definitely,” he said. “Because on top of the economics, on top of the climate, there is now [a] security of supply issue.””So you have a combination of three factors, not two, so definitely there is an acceleration there,” he added.He said it could take two or three years but, “you will start to see a dent in gas consumption going forward, no question.” More

FA Playbook

In early April, the average forward price/earnings ratio of homebuilder stock prices to projected 2022 earnings was only four times earnings, the lowest of any industry in the entire U.S. stock market.
But rumors of the homebuilding industry’s impending weaknesses have been greatly exaggerated. The current battered condition of these stocks is actually an opportunity.
That’s because data indicates that a chronic housing shortage will continue to fuel high demand, despite higher rates.

Ariel Skelley | Digitalvision | Getty Images

The double whammy of a declining stock market and rising interest rates has been pummeling homebuilder stocks this year, resulting in rock-bottom valuations.
Those valuations make housing stocks look like the worst home in a bad neighborhood. But in reality, the industry is the cheapest house in an undervalued neighborhood.

In early April, the average forward price/earnings ratio of homebuilder stock prices to projected 2022 earnings was only four times earnings, the lowest of any industry in the entire U.S. stock market. This ratio dipped to 3.5 in mid-May, when the iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF (ITB) was down about 30% year-to-date. Shares of some large builders, like industry leader D.H. Horton, have fallen by nearly 40% this year.
This decline has been triggered, in part, by investors’ assumption that rising mortgage interest rates will hollow out the market by discouraging buyers. Never mind that bidding wars in some brisk local markets are producing sale prices higher than lender appraisals, forcing buyers to come up with additional cash at closing.

More from FA Playbook:

Here’s a look at other stories impacting the financial advisor business.

This market heat hasn’t stopped investors from dumping shares out of fear that rising rates will soon tamp down demand. As a result, many of these stocks have gone from being a bit overpriced to substantially underpriced in just a few months.
Yet rumors of the industry’s impending weakness have been greatly exaggerated. The battered condition of these stocks is actually an opportunity — reflected by elevated price targets from analysts — because data indicates that a chronic housing shortage will continue to fuel high demand, despite higher rates.
Though mortgage rates are expected to keep rising, they’re still quite low and will likely remain that way for at least the next year or two. In the past several months, typical rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages have shot up to about 5% from around 3%.

Yet historically, this is by no means high. Since 2011, rates had rarely dipped below 5%, and many buyers shopping for their second or third homes can remember paying 8% to 9% in 2000 or 10% to 11% a decade earlier.

Faced with the alternative of soaring apartment rents — as of April, up an average of more than 25% year over year and expected to continue rising with high inflation — many buyers will undoubtedly still see owning as the best financial option.
Many of those with already-challenged budgets will just buy less expensive homes, so higher rates may suppress demand largely at the lower end. Priced-out low-end buyers may be forced to rent, benefitting builders of multi-family housing.
The current dearth of available homes is likely to continue for as much as a decade. Statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau and Credit Suisse show the depth of this shortage with these readings of key market gauges:

Historically, the nation has had a running supply of about 1.5 million homes available for purchase. The current inventory of single- and multi-family available homes — about 700,000 — is the lowest in more than 40 years.
Though homes are now being constructed at a blistering pace, the nation hasn’t been building anywhere near enough for the last 17 years. Since home construction peaked in 2005 with more than 2 million housing starts, there has been an average of 500,000 fewer starts per year, resulting in a deficit of about 3 million homes. This shortage has been easing a bit lately, but it could easily take another decade for supply to equal demand.
Excess building prior to the Great Recession resulted in an oversupply of nearly 2 million homes, but this supply was exhausted by 2014. Subsequent underbuilding caused supply to plummet over the next several years, resulting in a deficit of 3 million homes by 2020. Even with building now increasing apace, the long period of underbuilding will sustain the supply deficit for years to come.
Exacerbating the shortage has been the age of American housing stock. As of 2019, the median age of a home in this country was 41 years. Now it’s 44 — the oldest on record. In evaluating investment opportunities, investors probably should consider smaller-cap companies, though some of the larger names are poised for good returns over the next year or two. Suppliers also stand to benefit from long-term demand.

Here are some companies with good growth prospects and low downside risk, as reflected by fundamentals, price movements, and analysts’ projections:

Meritage Homes (MTH): A builder of single-family homes primarily in the Sunbelt, this small-cap company ($3 billion market cap) was trading for $83 a share in mid-May but has a one-year average analyst target of $122.
Tri-Pointe Homes (TPH): Another small-cap company ($2 billion), Tri-Pointe builds single-family homes on the West Coast, Texas and the Southeast. Its price target is $30, though in mid-May shares were trading at about $20.
Lennar (LEN): This large company (market cap, $22 billion) is a single- and multi-family builder that operates nationwide but mostly in the Sunbelt. Trading at $74 in mid-May, Lennar has a target of $115.
Eagle Materials (EXP): With a market cap of $5 billion, Eagle produces concrete, wallboard and other construction materials. Its price in mid-May was around $125. Price target: $172.
Quanex (NX): This tiny public company (market cap, $600 million) makes windows and cabinets. At $32, it’s price target is a significant leap from its mid-May share price of $20. The company’s earnings growth rate is about 12%.
Masonite International Corp. (DOOR): Over the past six months, this manufacturer of interior and exterior doors (market cap, $1.9 billion) experienced one of the steepest year-to-date selloffs (-27%) of any highly ranked supplier stock. Masonite traded at $85 in mid-May. Price target: $133.

These and various other companies in the industry are poised to grow substantially in the coming months, likely advancing the prices of their stocks. Eventually, the dark clouds of fear will clear, allowing investors to see the light of sustained market demand.
— By David Sheaff Gilreath, certified financial planner, and partner and CIO of Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors and institutional asset manager Innovative Portfolios. More

The World Health Organization said Tuesday that a recent spike in monkeypox cases is “containable.”
The outbreak in non-endemic countries has confounded health experts and raised concerns of wider community spread.
As of Tuesday, there were 131 confirmed cases and 106 suspected cases of the disease since the first was reported on May 7.

Monkeypox cases are being investigated in Europe, the U.S., Canada and Australia following a recent spike in infections.
Jepayona Delita | Future Publishing | Getty Images

The World Health Organization said Tuesday that a recent outbreak of monkeypox cases in non-endemic countries is “containable,” even as it continues to confound health experts.
As of Tuesday, there were 131 confirmed cases and 106 suspected cases of the disease since the first was reported on May 7, according to the public health body. The cases are reportedly located in 19 countries outside of Africa.

The WHO said it was currently unclear whether the spike in cases was the “tip of the iceberg” or whether a peak in transmission had already been reached.
Monkeypox is a rare viral infection that is endemic to Central and West Africa. It spreads through close contact with people, animals or material infected with the virus, with symptoms including rashes, fever, headaches, muscle ache, swelling and backpain.
While most cases are mild, typically resolving within two to four weeks, health experts have been baffled by the recent spike in countries with no history of the disease and patients with no travel links to endemic countries.

Western cases rise, primarily through sex

At least 19 countries including the U.S., U.K. Canada, Australia, Italy, Spain and Portugal have so far reported cases. Belgium — currently home to four cases — on Friday became the first country to institute mandatory isolation for patients, while the U.K. has urged close contacts of patients to sell-isolate.
The majority of cases are spreading through sex, the WHO said Monday. Though not generally considered a sexually transmitted disease, health authorities have noted a particular concentration of cases among men who have sex with other men.

A section of skin tissue, harvested from a lesion on the skin of a monkey, that had been infected with monkeypox virus, is seen at 50X magnification on day four of rash development in 1968. 
CDC | Reuters

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday alerted gay and bisexual men to take precautions if they have been in close contact with someone who may have the virus and to be on the lookout for symptoms.
“A notable proportion of recent cases in the UK and Europe have been found in gay and bisexual men so we are particularly encouraging these men to be alert to the symptoms,” Susan Hopkins, chief medical advisor at the U.K.’s Health Security Agency, added Monday.

Monkeypox strain mutation unlikely

The WHO’s Director for Global Infectious Hazard Preparedness, Sylvie Briand, said Tuesday that it’s unlikely the virus has mutated. Rather, she said, its transmission may have been driven by a change in human behavior, particularly as a result of easing Covid-19 social restrictions.
The West African strain of monkeypox — which has been identified in the current outbreak — has a mortality rate of around 1%.
“We encourage you all to increase the surveillance of monkeypox to see where transmission levels are and understand where it is going,” Briand added.
Jeremy Farrer, director of global health charity Wellcome, told CNBC Monday that the recent outbreak was atypical of the monkeypox virus.
“We’ve never had a [monkeypox] epidemic before which has spread now to 15 countries in three weeks,” Farrer said at the World Economic Forum.
However, he added that it should not yet be a cause for concern for the general public, noting that it is not yet a “Covid-style risk.”
“That’s not the same as saying public health people shouldn’t be worried. It’s not the same as saying we must not act swiftly. But is it a huge risk to the public? No, I don’t believe it is, as of today.”

CNBC Health & Science

Read CNBC’s latest global coverage of the Covid pandemic:

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Walmart is expanding drone deliveries across six states with operator DroneUp, bringing its total network to 37 sites by year-end.
The big-box retailer said it will be able to deliver items like batteries and Hamburger Helper to 4 million households in parts of Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Texas, Utah and Virginia.
Walmart has been testing how drone deliveries could drive e-commerce growth and turn stores into a way to outmatch Amazon on speed.

Walmart is expanding drone deliveries to select stores in six states. That will make it possible for more customers to get diapers, groceries or more delivered by air.

Walmart is expanding drone delivery across six states this year, making it possible for many more customers to get a box of diapers or dinner ingredients delivered in 30 minutes or less.
Through an expansion with operator DroneUp, the big-box retailer said it will be able to reach 4 million households in parts of Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Texas, Utah and Virginia. The deliveries by air will be fulfilled from a total of 37 stores — with 34 of those run by DroneUp.

It announced its plans for growth on Tuesday in a blog post. Walmart currently offers drone deliveries from a few stores near its headquarters in northwest Arkansas and in North Carolina.
Walmart has been testing how the small, unmanned aircraft could change the game for retail, drive e-commerce growth and turn its stores into a way to outmatch Amazon on speed. Two years ago, it struck deals with three operators — Flytrex, Zipline and DroneUp — and began pilot projects to deliver groceries, household essentials and at-home Covid-19 test kits to customers. The company declined to share terms of the deals.
The new kind of delivery is an extension of Walmart’s strategy to use its huge physical footprint as a competitive edge. About 90% of Americans live within 10 miles of one of Walmart’s more than 4,700 stores. Through those stores, Walmart has offered a growing list of fast online options including curbside pickup; InHome, which delivers directly to customers’ fridges; and Express Delivery, which drops items at doorsteps in two hours or less.
Customers who live within the range of a Walmart drone-delivery site can order any of thousands of items between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Each drone delivery comes with a $3.99 fee. Customers can order items totaling up to 10 pounds.
Each order is picked, packaged and loaded at the store and flown remotely by a certified pilot to the customer’s yard or driveway. A cable on the drone slowly lowers the package.

Orders must be placed on DroneUp’s website or through the websites of the two other operators. Walmart said it plan to eventually add the order-placing capability to its own website and app.
With the larger network of sites, Walmart will be able to deliver over 1 million packages by drone in a year, David Guggina, senior vice president of innovation and automation for Walmart U.S., said in the blog post.
One of the surprises of the drone tests has been what customers order, he added. Walmart anticipated customers would use the drones to get emergency items, such as over-the-counter medication, Guggina said. Instead, he said, many have used it for convenience. At one store, for instance, the top seller for drone delivery is Hamburger Helper.
Other frequent items delivered by drone are batteries, trash bags, laundry detergent and Welch’s fruit snacks, the company said.
Walmart will use the drones to make money in another way, too. It said it plans to offset the cost of deliveries by selling photographs taken by drones to municipalities and local business, such as construction or real estate companies. The revenue will be split with the drone operator.

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Speaking to CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday, Herbert Diess said alleviating supply chain issues would likely help create some momentum for the German auto giant over the coming months.
“Markets are always about the future,” Diess said when asked why investors valued Tesla at such a premium to other traditional carmakers.
“We are still aiming at keeping up and probably overtaking by 2025 when it comes to sales,” Diess said.

The chief executive of Volkswagen believes Europe’s biggest carmaker can overtake Tesla to become the world’s largest seller of electric vehicles by 2025.
Speaking to CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday, Herbert Diess said alleviating supply chain issues would likely help create some momentum for the German auto giant over the coming months.

“Markets are always about the future,” Diess said when asked why investors valued Tesla at such a premium to other traditional carmakers, such as Volkswagen.
“Tesla currently is in the lead when it comes to EVs, probably also it is the most digital car company already and they have some advantages,” he continued. “We are still aiming at keeping up and probably overtaking by 2025 when it comes to sales.”
Diess said Tesla has been able to demonstrate good results and high returns with a credible business model. However, he reaffirmed his belief that Volkswagen could soon close the gap when it comes to EV sales.

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“I think for Tesla, also, ramping up now will probably be a bit more challenging. They are opening up new plants and we are trying to keep up speed. We think in the second half of the year, we are going to create some momentum,” Diess said.
Volkswagen’s Frankfurt-listed shares traded around 0.9% lower on Tuesday morning, roughly in line with losses in the autos sector on the pan-European Stoxx 600.

Supply chain crisis to alleviate

More than two years into the coronavirus pandemic, the auto industry continues to grapple with the challenge of obtaining crucial parts and building enough vehicles to meet demand.
Shortages of critical supplies, particularly when it comes to battery production, are expected to be an ongoing constraint for the growth of electric vehicle sales in the years ahead.
Nonetheless, Diess said there are some positive signs on the horizon. He expects to see some relief from the semiconductor supply market from the middle of the year.
“I would say that we would see an alleviation of this situation towards mid-year and second half we should be in better shape — if the situation is not getting any worse, which I don’t think so,” Diess said.
When asked whether this means he expects the semiconductor crisis could end in the second half of the year, Diess replied: “I wouldn’t say end but we see a much-improved situation. I think supply chains are getting in order again.”
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