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Carvana raised its 2024 earnings guidance, saying it would be “significantly above the high end” of its previous target.
The online used-car retailer easily beat Wall Street’s estimates for earnings and revenue.

A Carvana sign and signature vending machine in Tempe, Arizona.
Michael Wayland | CNBC

Carvana on Wednesday raised its 2024 earnings guidance after the online used-car retailer significantly topped Wall Street’s third-quarter expectations.
Here’s how the company performed in the third quarter, compared with average estimates compiled by LSEG:

Earnings per share: 64 cents vs. 25 cents expected
Revenue: $3.65 billion vs. $3.45 billion expected

The company’s stock rose roughly 20% in after-hours trading Wednesday.
For 2024 guidance, Carvana said its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization would be “significantly above the high end” of its previous target of $1 billion to $1.2 billion. The company reported $339 million in adjusted EBITDA last year.
Carvana’s new guidance signals expectations for a strong end of the year. The company said it expects a sequential increase in retail vehicle sales during the fourth quarter compared with the prior three months, which totaled 108,651 vehicles.
For the third quarter, the company’s net income was $148 million, down from $741 million a year earlier that was inflated by a gain on debt reduction. Adjusted EBITDA was $429 million and adjusted EBITDA margin was 11.7%, both topping company records achieved during the second quarter.
The company’s third-quarter 2023 results included adjusted EBITDA of $148 million and revenue of $2.77 billion.

Shares of Carvana are up roughly 300% this year as the company restructured operations and cut costs following Wall Street concerns of bankruptcy for the company in late 2022.
Carvana stock closed Wednesday at $207.31 per share, down less than 1%. Shares hit a new 52-week high earlier in the day of $213.98 per share.

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All doses of Novo Nordisk’s weight loss injection Wegovy and diabetes drug Ozempic are now available in the U.S., according to an update on the FDA’s drug shortage database.
It is a sign that Novo Nordisk’s efforts to ramp up the supply of those drugs are starting to pay off, as demand continues to skyrocket in the U.S.  
The update raises the potential of the FDA to remove the blockbuster injections from its shortage list entirely, which could prevent compounding pharmacies from making customized and often cheaper versions of those branded drugs.

Packages containing syringes of the medications Wegovy, Ozempic and Mounjaro at a shop in Mitte, Germany, July 11, 2024.
Picture Alliance | Picture Alliance | Getty Images

All doses of Novo Nordisk’s highly popular weight loss injection Wegovy and diabetes drug Ozempic are now available in the U.S., according to an update on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s drug shortage database Wednesday. 
It is a sign that Novo Nordisk’s efforts to ramp up the supply of those weekly drugs are starting to pay off, as demand continues to skyrocket in the U.S.  

A previous update said the lowest dose of Wegovy — 25 milligrams — was still in short supply.
Several doses of semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic, have been on the FDA’s shortage list since early 2022. 
Wednesday’s update raises the potential that the FDA might remove the blockbuster injections from its shortage list entirely, which could prevent compounding pharmacies from making customized and often cheaper versions of those branded drugs.
In a statement, Novo Nordisk said all doses of Wegovy and Ozempic are being shipped regularly to wholesalers. The Danish drugmaker said the FDA’s update is a result of the company’s significant investment in expanding manufacturing capacity and “ongoing communication” with the agency. 
Still, Novo Nordisk said patients may not always be able to immediately fill their prescriptions at a particular pharmacy, even when a medication is listed as available. 

“Our intentional approach to gradually increase supply into the U.S. market is working,” Novo Nordisk said. “We will continue to prioritize continuity of care for patients, closely monitoring market dynamics and prescribing trends along the way.”
It comes a week after Novo Nordisk asked the FDA to prevent compounding pharmacies from making unapproved versions of Wegovy and Ozempic, arguing that the medications are too complex for those manufacturers to make safely. 
Earlier this month, the FDA removed tirzepatide, the active ingredient in Eli Lilly’s weight loss drug Zepbound and diabetes treatment Mounjaro, from its shortage list. But a trade group representing some compounders sued the FDA, which led the agency to say it will reconsider its decision to remove tirzepatide from its shortage list. More

Eli Lilly’s blockbuster weight loss drug Zepbound and diabetes treatment Mounjaro posted weaker-than-expected sales for the third quarter, even as both medicines have largely recovered from widespread shortages in the U.S.
The drugmaker blamed the misses on drug wholesalers cutting inventory of Zepbound and Mounjaro.
Eli Lilly executives insisted that underlying demand for the medicines remained strong and that the company has enough supply available.

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

Eli Lilly’s blockbuster weight loss drug Zepbound and diabetes treatment Mounjaro posted weaker-than-expected sales for the third quarter, even as supply of both medicines has largely recovered from widespread shortages in the U.S. 
The reason for the disappointing sales, according to the company, is not an issue of demand or supply. 

During an earnings call Wednesday, Eli Lilly instead blamed it on drug wholesalers cutting inventory of Zepbound and Mounjaro. Wholesalers purchase medicines from manufacturers and sell them to hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and other health-care providers.
Supply increases allowed Eli Lilly to fulfill back orders for wholesalers in the second quarter, which led to increased inventory of Zepbound and Mounjaro during the period, according to the pharmaceutical giant.
But those wholesalers tapped into some of that existing stock in the third quarter instead of buying more from the company, which dampened revenue from both treatments, Eli Lilly said. 
Mounjaro’s third-quarter sales of $3.11 billion fell well short of the $3.7 billion analysts had expected, according to estimates compiled by StreetAccount. Sales of Zepbound were $1.26 billion in the quarter, missing the $1.76 billion expected by analysts. 
“The primary culprit was an inventory hit to Mounjaro and Zepbound … not weaker demand,” Citi analyst Geoff Meacham wrote in a research note Wednesday. 

Jared Holz, Mizuho health-care equity strategist, wrote in an email that “destocking” — or selling existing inventory for the drugs rather than stocking up on more — came as a surprise, especially with the high level of demand for the treatments.
But he said Eli Lilly has invested $10 billion to $15 billion to expand manufacturing capacity for its injectable drugs in this year alone, which should “help to reverse some of the trends reported in this period.”
Still, some analysts question whether the inventory issue can explain all of what happened with the sales of Zepbound and Mounjaro in the third quarter. That factor likely explains “only a fraction,” or around 20%, of the drugs’ revenue misses, Barclays analyst Carter Gould wrote in a note Wednesday. 
Demand for weight loss and diabetes injections has outpaced supply over the past two years. 
But Eli Lilly’s supply woes began to ease earlier this year, and the Food and Drug Administration removed tirzepatide, the active ingredient in Mounjaro and Zepbound, from its shortage list.
Earlier this month, a trade group representing compounding pharmacies, which make customized and often cheaper alternatives to branded drugs in shortage, sued the FDA. The group said tirzepatide is still in short supply and should therefore remain on the shortage list, which led the agency to reconsider its decision.
On the earnings call, Eli Lilly executives insisted that underlying demand for the medicines remained strong. 
“Is there a demand problem? No,” Eli Lilly CEO Dave Ricks said, pointing instead to “a lot of lumpiness in channel stocking.”
“I think what we really don’t control and don’t attempt to but as a reality is that downstream customers from Lilly, wholesalers and retailers, are making their own decisions about which of the 12 different dosage forms they want to stock in at what level,” Ricks said. 
He noted that wholesalers are dealing with some limitations, including financial pressures. They also have to deal with “cold chain” capacity constraints, or maintain a temperature-controlled supply chain that ensures the quality of the drugs from production to delivery. 
Ricks said Eli Lilly had yet to begin what the company calls “demand-stimulating activities,” or advertising and promoting, for Zepbound. The drugmaker will start those efforts in November, he said.
That will include providing drug samples to health-care providers. 
Eli Lilly is also investing heavily in its direct-to-consumer website, which offers telehealth prescriptions and direct home delivery of certain drugs to expand patient access, executives said during the call. 
Ricks dismissed the idea that the disappointing sales in the quarter was due to competition from compounded versions of Mounjaro and Zepbound. 
“We don’t really see a financial impact on Lilly of compounding,” Ricks said. More

United Airlines customers will have to spend and fly more to earn frequent flyer status next year.
Airlines have repeatedly increased the requirements to earn elite benefits as travel demand returned post-pandemic.

A United Airlines Boeing 757 departs from Los Angeles International Airport en route to New York on Sept. 19, 2024.
Kevin Carter | Getty Images

United Airlines customers will have to spend more to reach frequent flyer status next year, the latest move by the carrier to increase profits and give an exclusive feel to the increasingly crowded top ranks of airline loyalty programs.
The thresholds to earn elite status in the airline’s MileagePlus program are going up about 25% and include either spending on a co-branded card or a combination of spending and flying. The status earning requirements and accompanying perks earned next year will be valid in 2026.

United, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and other carriers have spent years changing their loyalty programs to reward travelers more based on how much they spend rather than how far they fly. Co-branded credit cards are a crucial business for airline profits, as banks pay carriers when consumers swipe those cards.
Elite status comes with perks like free upgrades (when available), earlier boarding, better seat selection and access to extra legroom options. Airlines have grappled with increasing numbers of high-spending customers, which have led to crowded lounges and swarms of travelers in early boarding groups.
The lowest level status, Silver Premier in 2025 will require customers to earn 5,000 premier qualifying points, or PQP, and fly 15 qualifying flights, up from 4,000 premier qualifying points and 12 qualifying flights.
Travelers earn one PQPs for every $1 they spend on United and other qualifying flights.
Earning Silver status only by spending — meaning getting to that status without the qualifying flights — will go for 6,000 points, up from 5,000. That would mean customers could spend $6,000 on United flights up from $5,000, regardless of the number of flights they take. Customers will also earn 1 PQP for every $20 they spend on co-branded cards, though some of the options in its credit card portfolio will offer 1 PQP for every $15 spent.

Here are the changes:

Silver status: 5,000 PQPs and 15 Premier qualifying flights, or simply 6,000 Premiere qualifying points alone. (Up from 4,000 PQPs and 12 PQFs, or 5,000 PQPs alone.)
Gold status: 10,000 PQPs and 30 PQFs, or 12,000 PQPs. (Up from 8,000 PQPs and 24 PQFs or 10,000 PQPs alone.)
Platinum status: 15,000 PQPs and 45 PQFs, or 18,000 PQPs. (Up from 12,000 PQPs and 36 PQFs, 15,000 PQPs alone.)
1K: 22,000 PQPs and 60 PQFs or 28,000 PQPs. (Up from 18,000 PQPs and 54 PQFs or 24,000 PQPs.)

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Pending sales were at the highest level since March and 2.6% higher than September of last year.
The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage was coming down all through August and touched its most recent low of 6.11% on Sept.11.
Regionally pending sales were higher year over year in the Northeast and West and flat in the Midwest and South.

Signed contracts to buy existing homes in September jumped a surprising 7.4% compared with August, according to the National Association of Realtors. Analysts had been expecting about a 1% gain.
These so-called pending sales were at the highest level since March and 2.6% higher than September of last year.

Since pending sales are based on signed contracts, representing people out shopping during the month, it is the most current indicator of buyer demand. It also shows just how sensitive today’s buyers are to mortgage rates.
The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage was coming down all through August and touched its most recent low of 6.11% on Sept. 11, according to Mortgage News Daily. It stayed around that level for the rest of the month before shooting higher in October. It is now just over 7%.
“Contract signings rose across all regions of the country as buyers took advantage of the combination of lower mortgage rates in late summer and more inventory choices,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the Realtors, in a release. “Further gains are expected if the economy continues to add jobs, inventory levels grow, and mortgage rates hold steady.”
Regionally pending sales were higher year over year in the Northeast and West and flat in the Midwest and South. Overall, the gains were biggest in the West, where home prices are the highest and buyers would benefit most from even a small drop in rates.
With rates now higher, affordability is taking a hit once again. Mortgage demand from homebuyers, however, still saw gains last week and was 10% higher compared with the same week one year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The levels of mortgage demand are still historically low, and sales, while higher, are as well.
“With rates pushing back to 7%, the rebound in pending activity is likely short lived and is unlikely to be enough to help 2024 home sales exceed 2023 levels,” said Selma Hepp, chief economist at CoreLogic.

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Airbus handed over its first extra-long-range 321 narrow-body aircraft to Iberia.
It can fly farther and burn less fuel than previous models.
Other customers include American Airlines and United Airlines.

An Airbus A321XLR Neo passenger aircraft performs a flying display at the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, Paris, France, on Monday, June 19, 2023. 
Nathan Laine | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Airbus said Wednesday that it has handed over its first extra-long-range narrow-body aircraft, the A321XLR, marking another step in an era of smaller and more fuel-efficient jets flying longer distances, and further expanding a delivery gap between Airbus and rival Boeing.
The first aircraft was delivered to Spanish airline Iberia, which plans to debut it between Madrid and Boston next month. American Airlines and United Airlines have also ordered the 321XLRs.

Airbus said the XLR can fly up to 11 hours nonstop, or 4,700 nautical miles, about 15% farther than the A321LR, a long-range version of the 321 aircraft, which is used for trans-Atlantic missions like JetBlue’s service between New York and Amsterdam.
The plane maker has been working on getting the aircraft certified for five years. It burns about 30% less fuel than older aircraft, the manufacturer said.

The European company has more than 500 of the A321XLRs on order. It’s a tiny part of its backlog that stood at nearly 8,600 airplanes as of the end of June, but it is debuting a new plane as its rival Boeing is struggling.
In the wake of two fatal crashes of its 737 Max, Boeing put plans on the back burner for an all-new aircraft that would sit between 737s and wide-body jetliners, and potentially replace aging 757s, which are currently between the two.
The company is now planning to slim down, shed jobs and potentially get rid of businesses it doesn’t deem core to save cash and improve quality.
“Boeing’s an airplane company, and at the right time in the future, we need to develop a new airplane but we have a lot of work to do before then,” new CEO Kelly Ortberg said on an earnings call last week. 

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Starbucks will pull its Oleato olive oil-infused drinks from U.S. menus in early November.
The company made the decision to remove the drinks from domestic menus before new CEO Brian Niccol arrived, but it aligns with his strategy to simplify the chain’s complex menu, according to a company spokesperson.
Some social media users had complained that the mix of coffee and olive oil had a laxative effect.

Starbucks’ Oleato coffee beverages.

Starbucks’ controversial line of olive oil-infused drinks will leave U.S. stores in early November.
The decision to remove the Oleato drinks from domestic menus predates newly installed CEO Brian Niccol, who arrived at Starbucks in early September, a company spokesperson said. However, it aligns with Niccol’s strategy to simplify menus as part of a broader turnaround scheme to go “back to Starbucks,” the spokesperson said.

Bloomberg first reported the news of the drinks’ departure.
Starbucks is set to report its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings after the bell on Wednesday. In a preliminary release of its results, the company said its sales fell for the third consecutive quarter as weak demand in the U.S. and China weighed on its performance.
Wall Street has high hopes for Niccol’s leadership, including ending the outsized influence of former CEO Howard Schultz, who hatched the idea for the Oleato line.
The lineup of Oleato drinks infused Partanna olive oil into Starbucks’ Caffe Latte, Iced Shaken Espresso and cold foam. Baristas steamed the olive oil with oat milk for the latte, shook it in the iced espresso drink and infused it in vanilla sweet cream foam to top cold brews.
Schultz imagined the Oleato line after a trip to Italy, where he saw Sicilians drinking olive oil as a daily ritual. He, too, began drinking olive oil alongside his daily coffee and decided that Starbucks should try to mix the two together. Ahead of the reveal, he teased the idea as “alchemy” and a “game-changer.”

Oleato means “with oil” in Italian, according to Starbucks.
Starbucks first launched the line in Italy, then brought it to stores in Southern California in spring 2023. A nationwide launch followed in January.
But it does not seem as though customers agreed with Schultz’s high opinion of the drinks. Early reviews in the U.S. press were largely negative, and some social media users complained the drinks had a laxative effect.
Cafes in China, Italy and Japan will continue to serve the Oleato drinks.

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A team of developers, including Related Group and Rok Acquisitions, is launching a $2 billion development at Fort Lauderdale’s largest marina.
The new development, at the Bahia Mar marina, will include a hotel and condo towers, along with a beach club, restaurants and retail space, according to the plans.

Renderings of plans for a new development at the Bahia Mar marina in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Courtesy: ArX Creative

A team of developers including Related Group is launching a $2 billion development at the largest marina in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, aiming to create a “mini Monaco,” according to executives.
The new development at the Bahia Mar marina will include a hotel and condo towers, along with a beach club, restaurants and retail space, according to the plans.

“Fort Lauderdale — and South Florida in general — has been waiting for a true destination that has a Monaco-like feel,” said Nick Perez, president of the condominium division for Related Group. “We have the deep water marina, we have the restaurants, but we don’t have this five-star resort that encompasses everything. So this is kind of what the market has been missing.”

Renderings of plans for a new development at the Bahia Mar marina in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Courtesy: ArX Creative

Miami-based Related Group, controlled by billionaire Jorge Perez, is teaming up with Tate Capital and Rok Acquisitions on the project. The development will span nearly 40 acres of land and water, with multiple condo towers and a St. Regis hotel with about 200 guest rooms, according to the plans. The hotel will replace the existing DoubleTree hotel on the site.
The development caps years of failed efforts to redevelop Bahia Mar, a sprawling yacht marina that has helped make Fort Lauderdale the yacht capital of the U.S. The Bahia Mar is also host to the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, the nation’s largest yacht show, which starts Wednesday.
The Bahia Mar land is owned by the city of Fort Lauderdale and leased to an entity led by developer Jimmy Tate and his family. Plans by the Tates and Rok Acquisitions to develop the property were stalled for years by Fort Lauderdale residents and local officials, who opposed the large scale of the project. The new plan called for scaled-down buildings and more public amenities.

Renderings of plans for a new development at the Bahia Mar marina in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Courtesy: ArX Creative

Along with the condo towers and hotel, the plan calls for 88,000 square feet of waterfront commercial space, with restaurants, boat docking, a public park along the Intracoastal and a 25-foot-wide pedestrian promenade. The marina will have slips for yachts up to 350 feet.

Perez said since 65% of the visitors to the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show are from overseas, mainly Europe and Latin America, the development will draw from a global clientele of yacht owners and boating enthusiasts.

Renderings of plans for a new development at the Bahia Mar marina in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Courtesy: ArX Creative

“There is no facility in South Florida where you can have a residential unit, have a hotel, amazing food and beverage and your mega yacht or regular yacht, whatever kind of boat you own, literally in your backyard,” he said.
The project is scheduled to open sometime in late 2029. Douglas Elliman will be marketing the residences, which will start at $4.4 million for the condos. More