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General Motors CFO Paul Jacobson on Tuesday said the company expects earnings next year to top 2025 results.
The early guidance came after the automaker reported third-quarter earnings that included raising 2025 targets and topping Wall Street’s expectations.

The GM logo is seen on the facade of the General Motors headquarters in Detroit on March 16, 2021.
Rebecca Cook | Reuters

DETROIT — General Motors CFO Paul Jacobson on Tuesday said the company expects earnings next year to top its 2025 results, which have performed far better than Wall Street’s expectations.
Investors had been hoping to hear comments about 2026 guidance as the automaker reported third-quarter earnings that included raising 2025 guidance and topping Wall Street’s expectations.

“Looking ahead to 2026, we have multiple levers to carry our current momentum forward, including progress on [electric vehicle] losses, warranty costs, tariff offsets, regulatory requirements and fixed costs,” Jacobson said. “As a result, we expect next year to be even better than 2025.”

The company’s shares rose more than 15% on Tuesday. The stock closed Monday at $58 per share.

Jacobson also said the automaker will continue to repurchase shares, which the company has been aggressive about in recent years. At the end of the third quarter, GM’s outstanding shares were at 954 million, a 15% decline from a year earlier.
“We’re going to continue to just focus on executing the business and executing the plan, and that’s worked really well for us and we expect it will in ’26,” Jacobson said.

Stock chart icon

GM stock in 2025.

Jacobson and GM CEO Mary Barra said the company’s top priority is returning adjusted profit margins in North America – its core market – to 8% to 10% but did not give a time frame for meeting that goal. The margin was 6.2% during the third quarter.
GM’s updated 2025 guidance includes adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of between $12 billion and $13 billion, or $9.75 to $10.50 adjusted EPS, up from $10 billion to $12.5 billion, or $8.25 to $10 adjusted EPS, and adjusted automotive free cash flow of $10 billion to $11 billion, up from $7.5 billion to $10 billion.
“This commentary is encouraging and consistent with our incoming view that automakers could convey positive messaging beyond 2025,” TD Cowen analyst Itay Michaeli said Tuesday in an investor note about 2026.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Tom Narayan said he expects 2026 analyst consensus to “move significantly higher” following the third-quarter results and adjusted guidance.
Citi’s Michael Ward said the recent results and guidance signal a larger cultural change for GM: “In the past it was said it was difficult to turn the big ship GM too quickly. Given the changing landscape, GM has found a way to turn it much faster than in the past.”
— CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
Correction: At the end of the third quarter, GM’s outstanding shares were at 954 million. An earlier version mischaracterized the figure. More

DraftKings is acquiring predictions platform Railbird.
The sports betting giant is preparing to launch a new platform in the coming months called DraftKings Predictions.
Predictions markets allow customers to trade on the outcomes of various events in the worlds of finance, culture and entertainment. 

Cheng Xin | Getty Images News | Getty Images

DraftKings is acquiring predictions platform Railbird as it prepares to launch a mobile platform in the coming months to be called DraftKings Predictions.
Railbird is licensed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to offer an event contracts exchange. DraftKings targeted the company for its team and proprietary technology. 

“We are excited about the additional opportunity that prediction markets could represent for our business,” DraftKings CEO Jason Robins said in a statement to CNBC. “We believe that Railbird’s team and platform—combined with DraftKings’ scale, trusted brand, and proven expertise in mobile-first products—positions us to win in this incremental space.”
Predictions markets allow customers to trade on the outcomes of various events in the worlds of finance, culture and entertainment, which will allow DraftKings to expand beyond its sports betting business. The markets on election outcomes and sports are the most controversial.  
Dozens of states, their gaming regulators and tribes are suing or taking other actions to try to prohibit companies from offering trades based on sporting events, because they see it as unlicensed gambling.  
Nevada is among the states warning that companies risk losing their gambling licenses if they offer sports in their prediction markets.
If DraftKings offers sports events contracts, it’s likely to focus only on states that don’t offer licensed sports betting, like California and Texas, to avoid running afoul of the states where it offers sports betting.  Additionally, technology exists to prevent those sports trades from being available on tribal lands.  
DraftKings also may offer more advanced “know your customer” guardrails, a term commonly used to reference identity verification, given its experience in the regulated gambling market.   More

THE MERCENARY, wrote Niccolò Machiavelli, was “useless and dangerous”. He was “unfaithful, valiant before friends, cowardly before enemies”. A private soldier would turn and flee when trouble arrived. “They have no other attraction or reason for keeping the field than a trifle of stipend, which is not sufficient to make them willing to die for you.” Yet, 500 years later, the business of private military companies (PMCs), to deploy the modern euphemism, is thriving. More

Netflix has signed on Mattel and Hasbro to make toys and consumer products based off “KPop Demon Hunters.”
Mattel will handle dolls, action figures, accessories and playsets, while Hasbro will focus on plush, electronics, roleplay items and board games.
The animated film debuted in June and has become Netflix’s most popular film of all time.

Still from Netflix’s “KPop Demon Hunters.”

Netflix is partnering with both Hasbro and Mattel to bring “KPop Demon Hunters” toys to shelves.
The animated film, which debuted on the streaming service in June, has become Netflix’s most popular film of all time, with more than 325 million views worldwide. Its popularity has spurred Netflix to release it twice in theaters — once in August for a two-day weekend event and again next week around Halloween.

Partnering with Mattel and Hasbro will allow Netflix to offer a suite of consumer products based around the film.
Mattel will handle dolls, action figures, accessories and playsets, while Hasbro will focus on plush, electronics, roleplay items and board games, the companies announced Tuesday. There will likely be some overlap in product categories between the two toy makers, however.
Mattel is currently taking pre-orders for a three-pack of dolls featuring Rumi, Mira and Zoey, the members of the fictional KPop trio HUNTR/X. And Hasbro’s first product is a “KPop Demon Hunters” themed Monopoly Deal game.
Merchandise and toys from both companies will be available at retail in spring 2026.
“Netflix, Mattel and Hasbro joining forces on this first-of-its-kind collaboration means fans can finally get their hands on the best dolls, games, and merchandise they’ve been not-so-subtly demanding on every social platform known to humanity,” said Marian Lee, Netflix’s chief marketing officer, said in a statement Tuesday. More

Warner Bros. Discovery-owned HBO Max is raising prices for all tiers: Basic with ads now costs $10.99, Standard costs $18.49, and Premium, $22.99.
The new rates take effect immediately for new subscribers. Current customers will see changes on renewals after November 20.
The move follows similar price hikes from Disney+, Apple TV and Netflix, as WBD CEO David Zaslav says the company remains “underpriced” given its content quality.

Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images

HBO Max is the latest streaming services to raise its prices.
The streaming giant, owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, announced Tuesday that it is raising prices across all plans. HBO Max’s Basic with ads plan is increasing $1 a month to $10.99, the Standard plan is going up $1.50 to $18.49, and Premium is increasing $2 to $22.99. HBO Max last raised prices in June 2024.

The price hikes are effective immediately for new subscriptions. Existing monthly subscribers will be notified 30 days in advance of their plan renewing, with the new prices starting on their next billing date on or after November 20, the company said.
The updates come as the streaming market becomes increasingly saturated with options — and as other major apps hike their prices. Disney raised the price of its Disney+ plans and bundles last month, Apple hiked the price of Apple TV by 30% in August and Netflix raised its prices early this year.
WBD CEO David Zaslav indicated in September that price increases were on the way along with a stricter crackdown on sharing passwords.
“The fact that this is quality, and that’s true across our company, motion picture, TV production and streaming quality, we all think that gives us a chance to raise prices,” Zaslav said at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference last month. “We think we’re way underpriced.”
As of June 30, WBD said it had 125.7 million paying subscribers to all of its streaming services. That stat includes HBO Max as well as other legacy linear subscribers to HBO, who have access to the streaming service.

HBO Max’s news comes as its parent company, WBD, undergoes changes of its own. The company announced in June that it plans to split into two public companies by 2026. A streaming and studios company would include its movie properties and HBO Max, while a global networks business would include linear channels like CNN and TNT Sports.
At the same time, WBD is fielding takeout interest from companies including Paramount Skydance and said Tuesday it’s open to a sale. More

Investors can already use cryptocurrency to buy commercial real estate assets. It’s blockchain, where crypto lives, that commercial real estate is finally adopting.
Tony Giordano, founder of the Opulent Agency, explains the blockchain can hold billions of records without risk, including mortgage bonds, titles or deeds.
Tokenization converts ownership rights of a CRE asset into digital tokens, allowing for fractional ownership and easier trading of shares in a property.

A version of this article first appeared in the CNBC Property Play newsletter with Diana Olick. Property Play covers new and evolving opportunities for the real estate investor, from individuals to venture capitalists, private equity funds, family offices, institutional investors and large public companies. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
Roughly a decade ago, cryptocurrency began to show up in the residential real estate market. There were stories of the first bitcoin home sale, but really it was just people buying in the currency and then converting it back to dollars. 

Now crypto is being used more for leverage. Lenders like Propy are using it as collateral for both residential and commercial property loans, so buyers don’t actually have to sell their bitcoin or other digital currency in order to buy. They want to keep the crypto, because it generally appreciates far faster than the housing market. 
Investors can certainly use cryptocurrency to buy commercial real estate assets, but it’s the blockchain, where crypto lives, that the CRE industry is finally, albeit slowly, adopting.
“Commercial is definitely right around the corner from really embracing it, so we’re on the edge,” said Tony Giordano, founder of the Opulent Agency.  
Giordano is a luxury real estate broker, who was an early crypto pioneer in the space. He began educating his fellow brokers, through social media and conferences, about how to buy and sell properties in bitcoin. Now he’s exploring how it’s impacting the commercial sector. 

“I don’t see how the entire real estate industry will not be on the blockchain within 10 years. You know, it’s just here, and people are recording everything already on it, and it’s the most secure platform and technology to do it,” he said. 

Giordano describes the blockchain as a great, big virtual filing cabinet, where billions of records can live into eternity without risk. That includes cryptocurrency, mortgage bonds, titles, deeds, literally everything. 

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A report from Deloitte examined how it is already transforming the commercial real estate market: 
“Until recently, blockchain was known more as the technology powering Bitcoin. However, industry players now realize that blockchain-based smart contracts can play a much larger role in CRE, potentially transforming core CRE operations such as property transactions (purchase, sale, financing, leasing, and management). Over time, blockchain adoption can have a broader impact, as it can be linked to public utility services such as smart parking, waste, water, and energy billing, and also enable data-driven city management,” the report said. 
There are several ways of using the blockchain for commercial real estate finance. One is tokenization. This process converts ownership rights of a CRE asset into digital tokens, allowing for fractional ownership and easier trading of shares in a property. For now, however, U.S. citizens cannot invest in U.S. real estate that has been tokenized, because it’s still regulated, but international investors can.
Another report published last April by Deloitte, specifically on tokenization, said, “This technology could help build trillions of dollars of economic activity for the real estate sector over the next decade, in part, by allowing it to expand its investor base and product offerings.”
Roughly $4 trillion of real estate will be tokenized by 2035, increasing from less than $300 billion in 2024, according to the Deloitte Center for Financial Services.
Then there’s the finance opportunity. Giordano pointed to BV Innovation, a blockchain platform creating transferable mortgage bonds for commercial and residential financing on the blockchain. Its AI-enabled software helps commercial real estate finance companies to transfer loans with their current interest rates from one property to another. 
“It would open up so many more transactions if people weren’t sitting on that interest rate. So now, with AI and blockchain, he can plug it into any bank and allow it to transfer the mortgage and interest rate to the new property,” Giordano explained.
AI automatically does the risk analysis on the new property, making the bank feel safe that it’s a quality property for the existing interest rate. The owner doesn’t have to pay the prepayment penalty that is very common in commercial real estate. This allows them to use what would have been a prepayment penalty as assets to invest in another property. Giordano argues it’s not as complicated as it seems.
“I think it’s easy for them to understand once you say, you have a 4.5% rate on this $20 million number. You also have a prepayment penalty for seven more years that doesn’t allow you to sell the building without paying a $4 million penalty,” he explained.  
“They don’t have to understand that AI and blockchain is on the back end helping the bank do it. They just understand that it’s secure from the blockchain.”  More

Warner Bros. Discovery said it is open to a sale as it expands its strategic review.
The company had planned to split into two separate entities and is not abandoning those plans.
WBD said it’s received “unsolicited interest” from multiple parties.

Warner Bros. Discovery said Tuesday it’s expanding its strategic review of the business and is open to a sale, sending shares of the company 10% higher in morning trading.
Earlier this year, WBD announced plans to split into two separate entities, a streaming and studios business and a global networks business. It’s also been fielding takeout interest from the newly merged Paramount Skydance.

But on Tuesday, WBD said it’s received “unsolicited interest” from multiple parties and will now review all options. The company said it’s still moving toward the previously announced separation in the meantime.
“We continue to make important strides to position our business to succeed in today’s evolving media landscape by advancing our strategic initiatives, returning our studios to industry leadership, and scaling HBO Max globally,” CEO David Zaslav said in a statement. “We took the bold step of preparing to separate the Company into two distinct, leading media companies, Warner Bros. and Discovery Global, because we strongly believed this was the best path forward.”
“It’s no surprise that the significant value of our portfolio is receiving increased recognition by others in the market. After receiving interest from multiple parties, we have initiated a comprehensive review of strategic alternatives to identify the best path forward to unlock the full value of our assets,” he said.
Netflix and Comcast are among the interested parties, sources told CNBC’s David Faber.
WBD decided to publicly announce it has had interest from multiple parties after rejecting several different bids from Paramount and an offer from another company that was higher than the Paramount bid, according to a person familiar with the matter.

It is unclear how serious potential offers outside of Paramount would be. Netflix was not interested in buying legacy media assets, but didn’t want WBD to go to another buyer at a low price, a source familiar with the matter said.
While Comcast does not feel the need to do a deal, it will look at the possibility of pursuing WBD, sources close to the company told CNBC’s Julia Boorstin.
For any buyer that just wants WBD’s studio and streaming assets, acquiring them after a split later this year is better for tax purposes.
Paramount and WBD spokespeople declined to comment. Netflix and Comcast did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
WBD has faced mounting financial challenges since the 2022 merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery Inc., which saddled the company with more than $40 billion in debt. It has since undertaken aggressive cost cutting, restructured its content pipeline and focused on profitable franchises like “Harry Potter” and “Game of Thrones” spinoffs.
Though the company has made progress in debt reduction, investors have remained skeptical in part because of the company’s cable network portfolio as consumers move toward streaming.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal, which owns CNBC. Versant would become the new parent company of CNBC upon Comcast’s planned spinoff of Versant. More

GE Aerospace, Northrop Grumman, RTX and Lockheed Martin all raised their 2025 outlooks in their earnings reports Tuesday morning, citing higher demand.
The defense firms also topped earnings estimates for the third quarter.
The reports come as investors weigh the impact of tariffs, the government shutdown and more.

Visitor passes the Raytheon Technologies Corporation logo at the 54th International Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Airport near Paris, France, on June 22, 2023.
Benoit Tessier | Reuters

Defense and aerospace giants raised their outlooks for the year on Tuesday, citing stronger demand despite economic uncertainty and tariffs.
GE Aerospace, Northrop Grumman, RTX and Lockheed Martin each beat third-quarter Wall Street profit estimates, with only Northrop missing revenue estimates, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG.

GE, which is both a defense supplier and a major engine maker for Boeing and Airbus commercial planes, raised its full-year adjusted revenue growth outlook from “mid-teens” to “high-teens” and its free cash flow forecast from a range of between $6.5 billion and $6.9 billion to a range of $7.1 billion to $7.3 billion.
The company said quarterly defense deliveries were up 83% from last year and deliveries of its LEAP engines, used to power aircraft like the Boeing 737 Max and Airbus A321neo, hit a record, up 40% year over year.
Its $11.31 billion in adjusted revenue for the third quarter topped Wall Street’s $10.41 billion estimate. The company’s stock is up more than 80% year to date.
RTX shares were up about 9% in morning trading after the major defense contractor, whose businesses make products like commercial airplane cabin interiors and engines, raised its full-year adjusted earnings outlook from a range of $5.80 to $5.95 to a range of $6.10 to $6.20.
It also hiked its adjusted sales guidance from a range of $84.75 billion to $85.5 billion to a range of $86.5 billion to $87 billion.

The company cited its ability to weather the impact of tariffs and other macroeconomic uncertainty as positive signals for its growth. In July, the company estimated a $500 million hit related to tariff costs and slashed its guidance.
On Tuesday, RTX posted positive growth in its aerospace and defense units, with a 12% rise in total revenue to $22.48 billion in the third quarter.
“We remain focused on executing on our $251 billion backlog and increasing our output to support the ramp across critical programs, while investing in next-generation products and services that meet the needs of our customers,” CEO Chris Calio said in a statement.
Northrop Grumman reported similar growth. The company posted earnings of $7.67 per share, well above the Wall Street estimate of $6.46 per share, according to LSEG. Northrop’s sales increased 4% year over year, while sales within its defense systems division surged 14%.
Though the company missed Wall Street’s revenue estimate, it raised its guidance for full-year adjusted earnings per share by 65 cents to a range of $25.65 to $26.05.
“As a result of this performance and our positive outlook for the remainder of the year, we are once again increasing our 2025 EPS guidance,” Northrop CEO Kathy Warden said in an earnings release. “I am excited about our continued progress in responding with urgency to our customers’ needs.”
Lockheed Martin, the final of the four stocks to report Tuesday morning, also beat analyst expectations for the quarter ended Sept. 30. The defense contractor reported earnings of $6.95 per share on revenues of $18.61 billion, beating Wall Street’s estimates of $6.36 per share and $18.56 billion, respectively.
CEO Jim Taiclet said the company is seeing “unprecedented demand” among customers both in the U.S. and across the world, leading Lockheed to increase its production capacity “significantly” across the company’s various divisions.
Lockheed boosted the low end of its full-year sales outlook and now expects revenue between $74.25 billion and $74.75 billion. It also hiked its earnings forecast from a range of $21.70 to $22 to a range of $22.15 to $22.35.
“We are investing aggressively in both new digital technologies and physical production capacity needed to meet the top defense priorities of the United States and its allies — and we are doing so in partnership with a number of leading technology partners, large and small,” Taiclet said in a statement.
He added that the U.S. Golden Dome project will be a major driver in growth as it begins construction. The project is estimated to cost roughly $175 billion, with an initial $25 billion already set aside in next year’s defense funding package.
The U.S. has increased its defense spending over the past year. For fiscal 2024, the Biden-Harris administration requested a budget of $842 billion for the Department of Defense, marking $100 billion more than fiscal year 2022 — though final allocations from Congress can differ from those figures.
For 2025, the Biden-Harris administration requested a budget of $849.8 billion. The government’s priorities for the budget included meeting the threat of countries like Russia, Iran and North Korea. More