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    Rivian beats Wall Street’s fourth-quarter expectations, but expects lower deliveries in 2025

    Rivian beat Wall Street’s fourth-quarter earnings expectations and achieved its first gross quarterly profit — a target closely watched by investors — but is forecasting lower sales in 2025.
    For 2025, Rivian also expects to narrow its adjusted losses to a range of $1.7 billion to $1.9 billion, down from a loss of $2.69 billion in 2024.
    Rivian’s quarterly gross profit and revenue, as expected, were assisted by $299 million in the sale of regulatory credits, as well as $214 million in software and services.

    2025 Rivian R1S.

    Rivian Automotive beat Wall Street’s fourth-quarter earnings expectations and achieved its first gross quarterly profit — a target closely watched by investors — but is forecasting lower sales in 2025.
    The electric vehicle maker reported a gross profit, which includes production and sales but does not factor in other expenses, of $170 million during the final quarter of last year. Rivian said it plans to achieve another “modest gross profit” in 2025. It has not said when it expects to be profitable on a bottom-line basis.

    For 2025, Rivian also expects to narrow its adjusted losses to a range of $1.7 billion to $1.9 billion, down from a loss of $2.69 billion in 2024. The company forecast deliveries of 46,000 units to 51,000 units for 2025, compared with 51,579 vehicles delivered last year.
    Shares of Rivian were up about 7% during after-hours trading Thursday before leveling off during the company’s quarterly earnings call. The stock closed at $13.61 a share, down 2.3%.
    Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe told CNBC that there is “a lot of uncertainty” surrounding the automotive industry, specifically the potential removal of federal incentives for EVs and tariff policies that could affect the company.

    Stock chart icon

    Shares of Rivian, Tesla and Lucid in 2025.

    “We believe external factors could impact our 2025 expectations, including changes to government policies and regulations, and a challenging demand environment. While uncertainties persist, we remain focused on executing against our key value drivers and are confident in electrifying the world in the long term,” Rivian said Thursday in a shareholder letter.
    For its 2025 guidance, Rivian Chief Financial Officer Claire McDonough said the company took into account “hundreds of millions” of dollars in expected hits to its EBITDA as a result of less sales due to an expected removal of tax credits.

    Rivian said it expects capital expenditures this year to be between $1.6 billion and $1.7 billion, up from $1.41 billion last year as it prepares to launch its new “R2” midsize vehicles in 2026. The company said it expects to idle its sole auto plant in Normal, Illinois, during the second half of the year to retool for the new vehicles.
    “We believe R2 will be truly transformative for our growth and profitability,” McDonough told investors during the earnings call.
    Here’s how the company performed in the fourth quarter, compared with average estimates compiled by LSEG:

    Loss per share: 46 cents vs. a loss of 65 cents expected
    Revenue: $1.73 billion vs. $1.4 billion expected

    Beginning this quarterly report, Rivian is breaking out its “Automotive” and “Software and Services” units for additional transparency for investors. The automaker has plans to continue to grow its software business, including a new joint venture with German automaker Volkswagen.
    Rivian’s quarterly gross profit and revenue were helped by $299 million from the sale of regulatory credits, as well as $214 million in software and services revenue. Rivian sells regulatory credits to other automakers to help them meet emissions standards, however future sales could be affected by changes to such regulations by the Trump administration.
    The company’s net loss for the fourth quarter was $743 million, or 70 cents per share, compared to a loss of $1.52 billion, or $1.58 per share, during the same period a year earlier.
    For the full year, Rivian lost $4.75 billion, or $4.69 per share.
    Rivian’s 2024 revenue was $4.97 billion, up roughly 12% from $4.43 billion in 2023. Fourth-quarter revenue was up more than 31% from the prior-year period.

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    Trump is ‘not happy’ with Boeing over Air Force One delays, but airlines are growing upbeat

    President Donald Trump has expressed frustration about delays of the specially outfitted pair of 747s that will serve as the next Air Force One aircraft.
    Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg has said the company is working with Trump’s advisor, Elon Musk, to deliver the aircraft faster.
    Southwest and United executives have turned upbeat on Boeing’s turnaround after a series of manufacturing and safety crises.

    Boeing 737s on the ground in Renton, Washington.
    Leslie Josephs | CNBC

    President Donald Trump expressed frustration in recent days about the long wait for a pair of Boeing 747s that will serve as the new Air Force One planes.
    The jets are years behind schedule. Trump negotiated the $4 billion contract for the aircraft during his first term, and it isn’t clear whether they’ll be ready during his current one. Cost overruns have totaled more than $2 billion to date.

    Trump advisor Elon Musk is working with Boeing in hopes of delivering the aircraft faster, the manufacturer’s chief executive, Kelly Ortberg, reiterated on Thursday.
    “The president’s clearly not happy with the delivery timing. I think he’s made that well known,” Ortberg said at a Barclays industrials conference. “Elon Musk is actually helping us a lot in working through the requirements … to help us get the things that are non-value-added constraints out of the way so that we can move faster and get the president those airplanes delivered.”
    Ortberg called Musk, CEO of SpaceX, which competes with Boeing’s defense and space unit, a “brilliant guy” who can “pretty quickly ascertain the difference between technical requirement and things that we can move out of the way.”
    Aboard one of the current presidential 747s, Trump told reporters on Wednesday that he is considering alternatives.
    “We may buy a plane or get a plane, or something,” he said, according to Reuters. Trump toured a 747 that was parked at Florida’s Palm Beach International Airport over the weekend, the outlet reported.

    First Lady Melania Trump laughs as she watches US President Donald Trump cut with a saber into a cake representation of the new Air Force One design during the Commander-In-Chief inaugural ball at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC, on Jan. 20, 2025.
    Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty Images

    The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
    Frustration is nothing new for Boeing’s airline customers who faced long delays for aircraft just as the post-pandemic travel boom was taking hold. A near-catastrophic door-plug blow out in January 2024 further slowed Boeing deliveries and prompted a leadership change.
    Now some customers are growing more upbeat. Executives told CNBC that it appears the manufacturer has turned a corner under Ortberg, who took the helm in August.
    “Boeing is doing a pretty miraculous job of turning around and becoming more reliable as a supplier,” United Airlines CFO Mike Leskinen said Wednesday at the same Barclays conference. “Our confidence that our MAX aircraft are going to be delivered on schedule has never been greater at my tenure at United Airlines.”
    Bob Jordan, CEO of all-Boeing 737 carrier Southwest Airlines, said on a Jan. 30 earnings call: “While they still have much work to do, they appear to be on a good path, and we are feeling more optimistic.”
    Speaking at the Barclays conference on Thursday, Boeing’s Ortberg said he doesn’t see any supply chain problems that would prevent the manufacturer from ramping up production of its cash-cow 737 Max planes, its bestseller, to 38 per month in the coming months.

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    Hasbro says it’s taking steps to offset China tariff effects

    Toy and gaming giant Hasbro took an optimistic tone Thursday on the potential effects of Chinese tariffs on its business.
    Executives said the company is shifting manufacturing away from China.
    Hasbro also announced a licensing collaboration with Mattel to create Play-Doh versions of Mattel’s Barbie dolls.

    The Hasbro Inc. logo is seen on a toy for sale in a store in Manhattan, New York, on Nov. 16, 2021.
    Andrew Kelly | Reuters

    Toy and gaming giant Hasbro took an optimistic tone Thursday on the potential effect of Chinese tariffs on its business, as executives said the company is shifting manufacturing away from China.
    Hasbro Chief Financial Officer Gina Goetter said on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call that the toymaker’s 2025 guidance — which includes adjusted EBITDA of $1.1 billion to $1.15 billion, compared with $1.06 billion in 2024 — reflects the anticipated effect of U.S. tariffs on China, Mexico and Canada. It also reflects “mitigating actions we plan to take, including leveraging the strength of our supply chain and potential pricing,” the company said in a news release.

    Rival toymaker Mattel previously said it could increase the prices of toys such as Hot Wheels and Barbie in response to tariffs. President Donald Trump imposed 10% tariffs on China in early February and is set to add 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada in March after pausing their initial implementation for 30 days.
    Hasbro is on track to cut the volume of U.S. toys and games that originate from China from 50% to less than 40% over the next two years, Goetter said. Hasbro does not source from Canada and has “minimal” imports from Mexico, she said.
    “Really, it’s a China story for us,” Goetter said.
    Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks said on the call that even when accounting for tariffs, the toymaker expects “flattish” performance from the broader industry this year, with trading cards and building blocks leading the way. The company’s licensing business, he added, is one of its biggest margin drivers and will not be affected much by tariffs.
    “It’s relatively [unexposed] to some of the tariff drama that’s going on right now,” Cocks said.

    Hasbro also on Thursday announced a licensing collaboration with Mattel to create Play-Doh versions of Mattel’s Barbie dolls.
    “Play-Doh Barbie allows children to unlock their inner fashion designer, creating Play-Doh fashions with amazing ruffles, bows and realistic fabric textures, all made with every kid’s favorite dough for a never-before-seen creativity experience,” Cocks said.
    Shares of Hasbro gained roughly 10% in morning trading Thursday.
    Here’s how Hasbro performed in the fourth quarter compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

    Earnings per share: 46 cents adjusted vs. 34 cents expected
    Revenue: $1.1 billion vs. $1.03 billion expected

    Fourth-quarter revenue fell 15% from $1.29 billion during the same quarter in 2023. Full-year 2024 revenue came in at $4.14 billion, down 17% from $5 billion in 2023.
    The company partially attributed the numbers to its divestiture from its eOne film and TV business, which it sold to Lionsgate in December 2023. When excluding the divestiture, the company said, full-year revenue declined 7%.
    Hasbro’s digital and licensed gaming revenue increased 35% to $132 million in the fourth quarter compared to the same period in 2023. For full-year 2024, Hasbro’s digital and licensed gaming revenue increased 22% to $471.7 million. Mobile game Monopoly Go! contributed $112 million in 2024 revenue.
    Hasbro reported a net loss for the fourth quarter of $26.5 million, or a loss of 25 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $1.06 billion, or a loss of $7.64 per share, during the fourth quarter of 2023.
    Adjusting for costs associated with restructuring and the eOne divestiture, among other one-time items, Hasbro reported fourth-quarter earnings of 46 cents per share, topping Wall Street expectations.

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    ESPN plans to add user-generated content to upcoming ‘flagship’ streaming service

    ESPN plans to add some user-generated content to its flagship streaming service.
    ESPN executives are targeting a price of either $25 or $30 per month for the service.
    ESPN will likely announce a name for the service, a price and a launch date in the coming months.

    A general view of the ESPN Monday Night Countdown booth prior to the game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Cincinnati Bengals at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, on Dec. 4, 2023.
    Mike Carlson | Getty Images

    In an attempt to court younger audiences, Disney’s ESPN is planning to add some user-generated content to its yet-to-be-named flagship streaming service, which will debut later this year.
    While the details are still unclear, ESPN will allow subscribers to post their own content at some point in the application’s evolution, according to people familiar with the matter. The technology likely won’t be available at launch, which the company hopes will occur before the National Football League season begins in September. An ESPN spokesperson declined to comment.

    Disney executives have also considered adding user-generated content to Disney+ and discuss YouTube’s influence on streaming on a near daily basis, CNBC reported last year.
    Alphabet’s YouTube, which leans heavily on creator-led content, is the most popular streaming service with an 11.1% share of total TV usage in the U.S., according to Nielsen.
    ESPN executives are targeting a price of either $25 per month or $30 per month for the ESPN streaming service, which will include all of ESPN’s linear programming plus other digital add-ons, the people said.
    The company plans to announce a name for the service, a price and a launch date in the coming months, the people said.
    Media and professional sports league executives are focusing on how to capture the attention of younger viewers that are opting to watch YouTube or TikTok over live games. ESPN spends tens of billions of dollars each year on the media rights for live sports.
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    Amazon to gain creative control of James Bond franchise from Broccoli family

    Amazon is set to gain creative control over the lucrative James Bond film franchise.
    The company reached a deal with the Broccoli family, the film’s longstanding producers, to form a new joint venture.
    Amazon’s MGM Studios and the Broccoli family will remain co-owners of the venture.

    Daniel Craig stars as James Bond in “No Time To Die.”
    Source: MGM

    Amazon is set to take creative control over the lucrative James Bond movie franchise from the Broccoli family, the company announced Thursday.
    The James Bond films have long been produced by Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, who inherited the control from their father Albert “Cubby” Broccoli. Wilson and Broccoli will now give creative control to MGM Studios, which Amazon acquired for $8.45 billion in 2021.

    Amazon gained distribution rights to the Bond franchise after the MGM acquisition, but not creative control.
    As part of the deal, Amazon’s MGM Studios, Wilson and Broccoli formed a new joint venture to house the Bond intellectual property rights, and they will remain co-owners of the franchise.
    “We are grateful to the late Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman for bringing James Bond to movie theatres around the world, and to Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli for their unyielding dedication and their role in continuing the legacy of the franchise that is cherished by legions of fans worldwide,” said Mike Hopkins, Amazon’s head of Prime Video and MGM Studios, in a statement. “We are honored to continue this treasured heritage, and look forward to ushering in the next phase of the legendary 007 for audiences around the world.”
    Wilson and Broccoli said in a release that they are both stepping back from producing the Bond films to focus on other projects.
    “Barbara and I agree, it is time for our trusted partner, Amazon MGM Studios, to lead James Bond into the future,” Wilson said.

    In a nod to the deal, Amazon founder and Executive Chairman Jeff Bezos wrote in a post on X, “Who’d you pick as the next Bond?”
    The Bond film franchise, which spans more than 60 years, is one of the highest-grossing series in history.
    The valuable IP stands to be a boon for Amazon’s sprawling media and entertainment business, which includes the Prime Video streaming service. Prime Video is one of the key perks of Amazon Prime, the company’s mainstay subscription service that costs $139 a year. As of 2021, the company said it had more than 200 million Prime subscribers worldwide.

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    From pills to new uses, here’s what Eli Lilly’s top scientist sees as the future of weight loss drugs

    Eli Lilly Chief Scientific Officer Dan Skovronsky said newer obesity medicines need to deliver more than just weight loss to compete with Zepbound and Wegovy.
    The development of pills and more potent drugs are two areas where Lilly is focusing.
    Skovronsky said he is most excited about treating more health conditions with GLP-1s and other incretin medicines.

    Dan Skovronsky knows what makes a good obesity drug.
    As chief scientific officer at Eli Lilly, he’s already done it once with the company’s weekly shot, Zepbound. He’s trying to do it again with a more convenient daily pill, then repeat the feat with a shot that could be even more powerful than Zepbound. And that’s not counting the other nine obesity drugs Lilly’s testing in clinical trials.

    Skovronsky said the race to create the next great drug is not just about weight loss anymore, something more investors and analysts are starting to say.
    Take Amgen’s experimental drug MariTide: people lost up to 20% of their body weight in a phase two study and Amgen shares fell about 5% on the day the results were released in November. Why? Investors worried that it wouldn’t be enough to compete with Lilly’s Zepbound and Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy, both of which will have a yearslong head start. 

    An Eli Lilly & Co. Zepbound injection pen arranged in the Brooklyn borough of New York, US, on Thursday, March 28, 2024.
    Shelby Knowles | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    Skovornsky sees improving ease of use and making more potent drugs as two paths to move the field forward. He envisions pills like Lilly’s orforglipron reaching people around the world. He sees drugs that can deliver more weight loss – possibly including Lilly’s own retatrutide – as another area with potential. 

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    But he’s most excited to see how many other health conditions that incretin – or gut hormone – medicines can treat. Lilly’s Zepbound recently was approved to treat sleep apnea. The company’s also exploring whether it can treat addiction, heart disease, inflammation and gastrointestinal conditions. 
    You can watch to the full interview for more from Skovronsky on Lilly’s work in obesity and where he sees the market going.

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    Hollywood’s Trump-baiting Oscars

    Donald Trump’s election marked a “cultural tipping point”, Mark Zuckerberg declared as he hastily reorganised his company last month. After abolishing fact-checking and promising to move staff from California to Texas, Meta’s boss donned a gold chain and went on Joe Rogan’s podcast to talk about his love of martial arts. Meta is not the only Silicon Valley firm to have undergone a MAGA-friendly makeover. Elon Musk, who says he adores Mr Trump “as much as a straight man can love another man”, has rewired liberal Twitter as right-wing X. TikTok, whose users skew young and Democratic, thanked Mr Trump for postponing its national-security ban and sent its chief executive to his inauguration. Nearly every big-tech boss showed up; several made a personal donation to the festivities. More

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    Leaving the seat of power

    The arc of management bends towards sitting on your arse. You may intend to get away from your desk, but it holds you there nonetheless. There are always more emails to clear; there is always more work to get done. When you do leave your desk you are probably off to sit down somewhere else, in a meeting room. And you will probably share that room with your closest colleagues, people who sit behind desks that are located extremely near to yours. Domestic cats have larger territories than some bosses. More