The most popular musicians on Spotify this week included plenty of familiar names, from Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars to Billie Eilish. But also riding high in the streaming platform’s charts were some unexpected stars, including Jane Austen, J.R.R. Tolkien and Boris Johnson. More
THE FIRST thing that catches your eye when you enter the poshly serene headquarters of Sequoia Capital on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, California, is a metre-wide cross-section of what appears to be a redwood. On closer inspection it turns out to have been a tree in the past—38m years ago, according to a plaque on the back. Now it is solid stone. A gift from Roelof Botha, the venture-capital (VC) firm’s current boss, and his wife, it reminds employees and guests of the durability of the organisation they are visiting, which has existed since 1972. In the accelerated time of Silicon Valley, that is aeons. More
FEW European startups have attracted as much attention—and none as much capital—as Northvolt. On November 21st the Swedish maker of batteries for electric vehicles (EVs), and a would-be European champion, went bankrupt, having raised $15bn from governments and investors. Its boss, Peter Carlsson, resigned shortly after. More
Car dashboards have an array of indicators that illuminate to warn of trouble. If the boardrooms of Europe’s carmakers had similar systems they would be lit up like a Christmas market. Volkswagen (VW), the largest of the lot by sales, is bracing for strikes beginning on December 1st in response to its plan to close three factories in Germany and cut wages. Northvolt, a once-promising Swedish battery startup in which VW and BMW invested, has collapsed into bankruptcy. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Donald Trump is threatening to upend supply chains by imposing a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada. More
An underappreciated force behind great technological change is intense—and petty—rivalry. In the “war of the currents” in the late 19th century, Thomas Edison electrocuted stray animals to discredit Nikola Tesla. A century later Steve Jobs traded insults with Bill Gates during a battle between Apple and Microsoft. Even “Silicon Valley,” a satirical HBO series, starts with a feud—and the priceless quip: “These are billionaires, Richard. Humiliating each other is worth more to them than we will make in a lifetime.” More
Disney’s “Moana 2” is set to hit theaters Wednesday and generate between $120 million and $150 million in box office receipts in the U.S. and Canada through Sunday.
It’ll be joined by Universal’s “Wicked” and Paramount’s “Gladiator II,” both in their second week of domestic screenings.
Box office analysts believe the five-day Thanksgiving weekend, which runs from Wednesday to Sunday, should easily clear $200 million in ticket sales and could even become the second or third-highest Thanksgiving period in cinematic history.
Auliʻi Cravalho voices Moana in Disney Animation’s “Moana 2.”
The domestic box office is poised for its biggest Thanksgiving haul since the pandemic thanks to a Polynesian princess, a pair of witches and a revenge-fueled gladiator.
Disney’s “Moana 2” is set to hit theaters Wednesday and generate between $120 million and $150 million in box office receipts in the U.S. and Canada through Sunday. It’ll be joined by Universal’s “Wicked” and Paramount’s “Gladiator II,” both in their second week of domestic screenings.
Box office analysts believe the five-day Thanksgiving weekend, which runs from Wednesday to Sunday, should easily clear $200 million in ticket sales and could even become the second- or third-highest Thanksgiving period in cinematic history.
“The trifecta of ‘Moana 2,’ ‘Wicked,’ and ‘Gladiator II’ is a bona fide perfect storm for movie theaters this Thanksgiving,” said Shawn Robbins, director of analytics at Fandango and founder of Box Office Theory. “The holiday used to regularly see major releases combining for all-audience appeal, but that’s been a challenge for the industry to replicate in the post-pandemic era so far. This year is much different with such a holy trinity of tentpole releases that could anchor some of the biggest all-around box office results the holiday frame has ever seen.”
The Thanksgiving holiday haul hasn’t topped $200 million since 2019, according to data from Comscore. Currently, the highest-grossing Thanksgiving weekend is 2018’s slate led by “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” “Creed II” and “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” which combined generated $315 million in ticket sales. The second-highest haul for the holiday period was the $294.2 million secured during the same five-day period in 2013.
“Thanksgiving is arguably the most important holiday period of the year for movie theaters as it sets the tone for the year-end box office sprint,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. “The strength of the final few weeks of the year will determine the total annual box office revenue and its perception as either a win or a loss for the industry.”
And, Disney could use another animation win.
After ruling the Thanksgiving box office for years with titles from Pixar and Disney Animation, it’s failed to live up to expectations with its recent string of releases.
In 2016, “Moana” opened over the Thanksgiving holiday, generating $82.1 million. The following year “Coco” took in $72.9 million during its opening, and then in 2018 “Ralph Breaks the Internet” tallied $84.8 million during its debut over the five-day period. Just before the pandemic in 2019, “Frozen II” added $125 million over the Thanksgiving holiday after opening the week before to over $130 million.
Meanwhile, “Encanto,” which arrived during the midst of the pandemic, managed to tally $40.6 million in 2021. “Strange World” flopped, having scooped up just $18.9 million during the holiday period in 2022, and “Wish” snared a meager $31.6 million in 2023. No Disney animated film was released over Thanksgiving in 2020.
“Moana 2” should outperform these post-pandemic releases, however. It arrives in theaters a year after the first film was named the top-streamed film aimed at kids and families. And, audiences came out in droves for Disney and Pixar’s “Inside Out 2” over the summer. “Inside Out 2” opened to $154.2 million domestically and tallied more than $1 billion globally during its full run.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal, CNBC and Fandango. NBCUniversal distributed “Wicked.” More
Nordstrom beat Wall Street’s revenue expectations and delivered a slightly rosier full-year sales outlook.
The retailer’s sales growth is notable at a time when discretionary merchandise and the luxury sector have been under pressure.
Clothing and shoe purchases lifted the company’s performance, with sales of women’s apparel and activewear jumping by double digits year over year.
A sign marks the location of a Nordstrom store in a shopping mall on March 20, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois.
Scott Olson | Getty Images
Nordstrom on Tuesday beat Wall Street’s quarterly sales expectations, as revenue grew about 4% year over year from shoppers buying clothing, shoes and activewear at both the company’s namesake department store and its off-price chain.
Yet despite its better-than-expected quarter, the Seattle-based retailer gave only a slightly rosier full-year sales forecast — taking a conservative stance as it gears up for the busiest weeks of the holiday season. The company said it now expects full-year revenue, which includes retail sales and credit card revenue, to range from flat to up 1% for the full year. That compares to its previous range of a 1% decline to 1% growth. However, it stuck by its adjusted earnings outlook for the year of between $1.75 and $2.05 per share.
In a news release, CEO Erik Nordstorm said the company’s results show efforts to appeal to selective shoppers are paying off. Sales of women’s apparel and activewear shot up by double digits year over year. Shoes, men’s apparel and kids grew by mid-to-high single digits year over year.
Compared with the second quarter, women’s apparel, shoes and men’s apparel sales in the fiscal third quarter also grew sequentially.
“Our customers have a lot of choices, and our results give us encouragement that we’re on the right path,” he said. “Looking ahead, we’ll continue to improve our shopping experience as we strive to maintain the positive momentum we’ve worked towards all year.”
On the company’s earnings call, however, he said Nordstrom saw “a noticeable decline in sales trends towards the end of October.” It factored that slowdown into its holiday expectations, he said.
Here is how Nordstrom did in the three-month period that ended Nov. 2 compared to what Wall Street anticipated, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:
Earnings per share: 33 cents adjusted, it was not immediately clear if it was comparable with analysts’ estimates
Revenue: $3.46 billion vs. $3.35 billion expected
Nordstrom’s net income for the fiscal third quarter was $46 million, or 27 cents per share, compared with $67 million, or 41 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Revenue rose from $3.32 billion in the year-ago quarter.
After excluding a charge related to accelerated depreciation of technology, Nordstrom reported adjusted earnings per share of 33 cents.
Comparable sales increased 4% across Nordstrom’s two brands, its namesake and its off-price chain, Nordstrom Rack. That easily topped analysts’ expectations for 0.7% gains in comparable sales, according to StreetAccount.
Nordstrom’s sales growth, while modest, is notable at a time when sales of discretionary merchandise and the luxury category have been under pressure. Retailers including Walmart, Best Buy and Target have reported over the past week that customers remain choosy when it comes to buying items that are wants, not needs, and have paid more attention to price.
Nordstrom’s sales growth also grew, despite a calendar shift with its Anniversary Sale. In the year-ago quarter, eight days of the sale fell into the three-month period, but only one day fell in the quarter this year. That had a negative impact on net sales of about 1%.
Macy’s, which postponed its full earnings, said third-quarter sales fell 2.4% and comparable sales for its owned and licensed businesses plus online marketplace dropped 1.3%,
Nordstrom has leaned on its off-price chain, Nordstrom Rack, to drive both sales growth and new store locations. Yet in the third quarter, the two banners reported similar comparable sales – with the namesake store’s up 4% and Nordstrom Rack up 3.9%.
So far this year, Nordstrom has opened 23 new Nordstrom Rack stores, which lines up with the company’s plans to open 20 to 25 new Racks per year.
At the end of the quarter, the company launched store fulfillment for online orders at Nordstrom Rack in over 100 stores across the country, CEO Erik Nordstrom said on the company’s earnings call. He said the company also launched a new feature which allows customers to buy online and pickup in store, at the same stores.
Digital sales rose 6.4% year over year and in the quarter, e-commerce accounted for about a third of total sales.
Erik Nordstrom said the company added better search and discovery features to its website and app, which supported online growth in the quarter. He said it also added more items that are under $100 in price and expanded its third-party marketplace business, which now has over 300 sellers.
Nordstrom’s latest quarterly update comes about two months after Nordstrom’s founding family made a fresh bid to take the company private. According to a filing in September, CEO Erik Nordstrom, President Peter Nordstrom and Mexican retailer El Puerto de Liverpool sent a non-binding letter to form an entity that would buy the chain for $23 per share.
Shares of the company have shot up since a Reuters report in March that Nordstrom’s founding family wanted to take the company private. As of Tuesday’s close, the company’s stock has risen 32% so far this year, outpacing the S&P 500’s 26% gains. More
Automaker shares dropped on Tuesday after President-elect Donald Trump threatened a 25% tariff on goods from Mexico and Canada.
Companies like General Motors and Stellantis have major manufacturing presences in Mexico and Canada.
Trump had been expected to renegotiate the regional trade deal he reached during his first term.
A carrier trailer transports Toyota cars for delivery while queuing at the border customs control to cross into the U.S., at the Otay border crossing in Tijuana, Mexico May 31, 2019.
Jorge Duenes | REUTERS
DETROIT – Shares of automakers General Motors and Stellantis fell Tuesday after President-elect Donald Trump threatened to put 25% tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico into the U.S.
Such tariffs would have a major impact on the global automotive industry, which has used the countries, particularly Mexico, for lower-cost production of vehicles since the North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect in 1994.
UBS reports the automotive industry is responsible for 26% of imports from Mexico to the U.S., including vehicles and parts, and 12% from Canada.
Nearly every major automaker operating in the U.S. has factories in Mexico, however GM and Stellantis produce highly profitable full-size pickup trucks there.
Shares of GM, which has five large assembly plants in the countries that Barclays estimates will produce 1 million vehicles this year, on Tuesday closed down 9% to $54.79 per share.
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Shares of GM, Ford and Stellantis.
Chrysler parent Stellantis, which has four major plants in the countries, dropped 5.7% to close at $12.61 per share. Shares of Ford Motor, which has less exposure in the countries but does produce vehicles in both, closed down 2.6% to $11.10 per share. Stocks of Toyota Motor, Honda Motor and others with production in Mexico closed down 3% or less.
Trump announced he intends to levy a 25% tariff on all U.S. imports from Canada and Mexico using an executive order when he is inaugurated on Jan. 20. He also announced plans to raise tariffs by an additional 10% on all Chinese goods coming into the U.S.
Such tariffs would be more aggressive than what was expected to be Trump’s plan, a renegotiation of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which he hashed out during his first term to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. Such a move would end the regional free trade deal.
Spokespeople for GM and Stellantis declined to comment Tuesday on the potential tariffs. The American Automotive Policy Council, a lobbying group for the two automakers and Ford, did not immediately respond for comment.
“The obvious fact here is Ford is the most committed to building in America among the major automakers and it’s not that close. We assemble the most vehicles, employ the most America workers and export the most vehicles from America to other markets,” Ford said in an emailed statement.
Wall Street analysts viewed Trump’s announced tariff plans as a shot across the bow at the countries to create leverage in any upcoming negotiations.
“Our view is that the threat of tariffs is the instrument Trump would use to extract from other countries the economic and political outcomes that he considers best for America,” BofA Securities’ Carlos Capistran said in a Tuesday note. “We expect Canada and Mexico to show willingness to negotiate on the above issues to avoid tariffs.”
Barclays’ Dan Levy agreed in an investor note Monday night: “We view [the] announcement as largely negotiation tactics (as seen in 2016), and see such magnitude of tariffs unlikely.”
Trump and Democrats alike said they believe the trade deal needs to be changed to address potential plans for Chinese manufacturers such as BYD.
Trump floated several tariff proposals during his campaign, including calling for a more than 200% duty or tax to be levied on imported vehicles from Mexico. He also has threatened, as he did during his first term in office, to increase tariffs on European vehicles.
– CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
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