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E-cigarette usage among U.S. high school students has fallen as the government pursues aggressive action against companies selling illegal vape products.
The decline comes as overall tobacco smoking among this group hits an all-time low, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
For middle schoolers, there was an increase in current overall tobacco product use to 6.6% from 4.5%.

Elf Bar disposable flavored e-cigarette products are displayed in a convenience store in El Segundo, California, on June 23, 2022.
Patrick T. Fallon | Afp | Getty Images

E-cigarette usage among U.S. high school students has fallen as the government pursues aggressive action against companies selling illegal vape products that appeal to young people, federal health regulators said Thursday.
The findings, a part of the 2023 National Youth Tobacco Survey, showed that between 2022 and 2023, e-cigarette use among high school students declined to 10% from 14.1%, a drop representing about 580,000 fewer high schoolers.

The decline comes as overall tobacco smoking among this group hits an all-time low, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Current use of any tobacco product by high school students declined an estimated 540,000 students to 1.97 million in 2023, from 2.51 million in 2022.
“It’s encouraging to see this substantial decline in e-cigarette use among high schoolers within the past year, which is a win for public health,” Brian King, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, said in a release.
E-cigarettes have been the most commonly used tobacco product among both high school and middle school students for a decade. For middle schoolers, grades 6 to 8, there were no significant changes in e-cigarette use from 2022 to 2023. Still, for middle schoolers, there was an increase in current overall tobacco product use to 6.6% from 4.5%.
Curbing e-cigarette usage among the country’s youth has been a top priority for U.S. health regulators. In recent months, the issue has become more cumbersome as newer vaping devices flood the market from overseas and circumvent existing tobacco regulation. The biggest culprit, Chinese brand Elf Bar, can still be found on shelves despite being banned by the FDA.
Among students currently using e-cigarettes, Elf Bar was the most commonly reported brand at 56.7%, followed by Esco Bars, Vuse, JUUL and Mr. Fog, the report found.

The report reiterated that youth use of tobacco products remains unsafe.
King said the agency has more work to do to crackdown as “bad actors place profit over the health of our nation’s youth.”
“The FDA remains concerned about youth tobacco product use, and we cannot and will not let our guard down on this issue,” King said. “The agency has an array of enforcement tools at our disposal, and we’re committed to using them as appropriate.”
Over the past year, the FDA said it has issued more than hundreds of warning letters to manufacturers, distributors and retailers of unauthorized e-cigarettes, including several distributors of Elf Bar.Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO: More

Paramount Global’s stock moved higher following a strong earnings report.
The media giant’s shares already jumped 10% during the regular trading day.
Ad revenue, however, was a weak spot for Paramount.

The Paramount logo is displayed at Columbia Square along Sunset Blvd in Hollywood, California, on March 9, 2023.
Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty Images

Paramount Global’s stock moved higher in extended trading Thursday after it reported strong revenue and subscription trends in its third-quarter earnings report.
The after-hours move came on top of an already-strong day for the media giant. The stock closed more than 10% higher during the regular trading session Thursday.

Paramount — home to brands such as CBS, Showtime, BET, Nickelodeon and its namesake movie studio — reported a 38% increase in revenue year over year. In the third quarter, streaming service Paramount+ saw 2.7 million net additions to its 63 million total subscriber count. The company also narrowed losses in its streaming segment to $238 million from $343 million a year ago.
Here’s how Paramount performed in the third quarter compared to Wall Street estimates:

Earnings per share: 30 cents vs. 10 cents per share expected, according to LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv
Revenue: $7.13 billion vs. $7.099 billion expected, according to LSEG

For the period ending Sept. 30, Paramount reported a profit of $295 million, or 43 cents a share, up from $231 million, or 33 cents a share, a year earlier. Adjusted for one-time items, earnings per share were 30 cents during the period.
“We continue to execute our strategy and prioritize prudent investment in streaming while maximizing the earnings of our traditional business,” CEO Bob Bakish said in the release. “Looking ahead, we remain on the path to achieving significant total company earnings growth in 2024.”
Paramount and other media stocks closed higher Thursday as streaming device maker Roku surged 30% following its own stellar earnings report.

The company said theatrical revenue increased 63% year over year, citing movies such as “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.”
Paramount also expects full-year streaming losses in 2023 to be lower than last year. Overall revenue in the segment jumped 38% to $1.69 billion from a year earlier.
The TV ad market, however, posed a challenge for the company, with advertising revenue dipping 14% year over year. The company cited “continued softness in the global advertising market and lower political advertising.”
“While we remain focused on executing our strategy to make world-class content with mass popular appeal, delivered across platforms and monetize it across multiple revenue streams, there’s never been a more important time for us to remain agile and adaptive as the industry continues to evolve,” Bakish said on the company’s earnings call.
Licensing and other revenue also decreased 7%, with the company citing effects from labor strikes.
Though the company took a hit in incremental expenses during the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, company executives said on the earnings call that they’re confident in the power of Paramount’s content.
While Netflix has instituted a password-sharing crackdown — and Disney plans one — to limit account access, Chief Financial Officer Naveen Chopra said Paramount+ is not currently considering following in those footsteps.
“Right now, we don’t see that as a major headwind to our growth efforts,” Chopra said on the earnings call. “It’s obviously something that we will continue to monitor, and the good news is, I think there’s a template for how we could address that in a valuable and creative way. But right now, we’ve got really powerful growth drivers.”
Executives dodged questions on potential merger and acquisition activity, meanwhile. The earnings report came days after Paramount closed a deal to sell book publisher Simon & Schuster to private equity firm KKR for $1.62 billion.Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO: More

Sports betting company DraftKings on Thursday posted quarterly revenue that came in ahead of analysts’ expectations.
Revenue for the third quarter increased 57% to $790 million.
DraftKings reported 2.3 million monthly unique payers in the third quarter, representing a 40% increase year over year.

New England Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore, #24, stretches during the New England Patriots practice session in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on Oct. 22, 2020.
Barry Chin | Boston Globe | Getty Images

Sports betting company DraftKings on Thursday posted quarterly revenue that came in ahead of analysts’ expectations as the company rises to the top of the highly competitive online gambling industry.
Shares for DraftKings gained about 7% in extended trading Thursday after rising 6% during the regular session.

Here’s what DraftKings reported for the third quarter, ending Sept. 30:

Loss per share: 61 cents
Revenue: $790 million vs. $706.8 million expected, according to consensus estimates by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv

It wasn’t immediately clear whether the company’s reported loss per share was comparable to the 69 cent loss expected by analysts, according to LSEG.
DraftKings reported a net loss of $283.1 million, or 61 cents per share, compared to a loss of $450.5 million, or $1 per share, in the same period a year earlier.
Revenue for the third quarter increased 57% to $790 million.
The company said growth was spurred by its expansion into new jurisdictions, which led to a boost in new customers. All the while, existing customers were more engaged and spent more money on the platform.

“Our fantastic third-quarter results demonstrate the positive impact of our product and technology investments as well as excellent preparation and execution by our entire organization,” said CEO Jason Robins. “Our new and differentiated features and functionality have created an exceptional user experience that sustains engagement for our mobile sports betting and iGaming customers.”
DraftKings reported 2.3 million monthly unique payers in the third quarter, representing a 40% increase year over year. Average revenue per monthly unique payer increased 14% to $114, the company added.
DraftKings also expanded into Kentucky and is planning on additional launches in Maine and in North Carolina, pending regulatory approvals. Currently, the company is live with mobile sports betting in 22 states and live with iGaming in five states. It also has a sports betting and iGaming presence in Ontario, Canada.
Last month, DraftKings overtook rival sportsbook FanDuel for the first time in market share to become the leader in the U.S. online gambling market, according to market research firm Eilers & Krejcik Gaming.
DraftKings accounted for about 31% of online gambling revenue in the third quarter, through Aug. 23, while FanDuel’s market share fell to 30%, according to Eilers & Krejcik.
For the full fiscal year 2023, DraftKings raised its revenue guidance to a range of $3.67 billion to $3.72 billion, up from a previously stated range of $3.46 billion to $3.54 billion.
For its fiscal 2024, DraftKings expects revenue of $4.50 billion to $4.80 billion.Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO: More

Starbucks said Thursday it plans to add about 17,000 locations by 2030 and to cut costs by $3 billion.
The announcement marks the latest stage in the company’s broader “reinvention” strategy, which was laid out by former CEO Howard Schultz.
Starbucks beat Wall Street’s estimates for both its quarterly earnings and revenue, sending shares up 9.5%.

Starbucks cups are pictured on a counter in Manhattan, New York, on Feb. 16, 2022.
Carlo Allegri | Reuters

Starbucks on Thursday presented the latest stage in its plan to drive growth for the company, which involves accelerating its global footprint and saving $3 billion in costs over the next three years.
The company said it plans to expand to 35,000 locations outside of North America by 2030. Starbucks currently has roughly 20,200 international cafes, as of Oct. 1. In total, the coffee giant aims to reach 55,000 locations globally by 2030, up from its current count of more than 38,000.

“Three out of every four new stores over the near term is expected to be opened outside of the U.S. as our store portfolio becomes increasingly global,” Michael Conway, president of Starbucks’ international and channel development divisions, said during a company presentation.
Starbucks also announced a $3 billion cost-savings plan. Executives said $1 billion of those savings will come from making its stores more efficient. The rest will come from saving on its cost of goods sold.
The final piece of what Starbucks called its “Triple Shot Reinvention Strategy,” announced Thursday, calls for wage increases for baristas, doubling their hourly income over fiscal 2020 earnings by the end of fiscal 2025. That jump will come from both increased hours and higher pay. Starbucks said it would share more details next week.
The announcement comes after more than 350 Starbucks locations have unionized under Workers United, according to National Labor Relations Board data. Starbucks and the union have not yet reached a collective bargaining agreement at any of those locations, and both the union and the NLRB have accused Starbucks of breaking federal labor law, including illegally withholding wage hikes at union stores. The company denies all allegations of union busting.

Momentum brewing

Earlier Thursday, the company reported its fiscal fourth-quarter results. Starbucks beat Wall Street’s estimates for both its quarterly earnings and revenue, sending shares up 9.5%. The stock move reversed shares’ losses earlier this year, giving the company a market cap of $115 billion, as of Thursday’s close.

During the company’s conference call, CEO Laxman Narasimhan said the company’s “reinvention” plan unveiled last September is moving ahead of schedule, driving both sales and efficiency for Starbucks. For example, the chain’s new single-cup drip coffee brewer is now installed in more than 600 locations.
More broadly, that plan takes aim at many of the issues plaguing Starbucks and baristas in recent years. Drink orders have grown more complicated and time intensive as cold beverages become more popular and Starbucks pushes pricey add-ons such as cold foam. Customers have also shifted to ordering their drinks through the company’s mobile app and drive-thru lanes and expect their orders to arrive more quickly. Under that pressure, baristas have struggled to maintain speedy service and quality customer experience.
Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz unveiled the reinvention plan to simplify operations and improve both quality and speed of service more than a year ago. The strategy involves new coffee-making equipment and store formats plus more automation.
Schultz, then back at the company for a third stint in the top job, said Starbucks had made “self-induced mistakes” and lost its way. He stepped down from the role in March, handing the reins over to Narasimhan, a newcomer to the company who pledged to enact the plan.
At its investor day last September, Starbucks projected earnings per share growth of 15% to 20% annually over the next three years and annual same-store sales growth of 7% to 9%. The company’s same-store sales outlook of 5% to 7% for fiscal 2024 falls short of that range, but the rest of its forecast for the next fiscal year meets those targets.Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO: More

Live Nation reported earnings and revenue that blew away Wall Street’s expectations.
The Ticketmaster parent benefited from high prices and pent-up demand.
The blowout results coincided with blockbuster tours from Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.

(L) Taylor Swift performs onstage during her The Eras Tour at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio, on June 30, 2023. (R) Beyoncé performs onstage during her Renaissance World Tour at the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on June 17, 2023.
Getty Images

Ticketmaster parent company Live Nation Entertainment delivered its strongest quarter ever, on pace for a record 2023 on the backs of concert darlings Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.
Higher ticket prices and pent-up demand for live shows helped boost revenue up 32% to $8.2 billion in the third quarter, significantly higher than the $6.99 billion expected, according to LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv.

Shares of the company jumped more than 3% after the closing bell Thursday.
The majority of its revenue, about $6.97 billion, came from the company’s concerts business, which consists of merchandise sales and production of live music events, followed by $833 million from ticketing.
Here are the results:

Earnings per share: $1.78 vs. $1.27 per share expected, according to LSEG
Revenue: $8.15 billion vs. $6.99 billion expected, according to LSEG 

For the period ending Sept. 30, Live Nation posted earnings of $483.5 million, or $1.78 a share, up from $361.4 million, or $1.39 a share, a year earlier.
Live Nation sold a record 140 million tickets so far in 2023, up 17% from the same period last year and more than the 121 million tickets the company sold in all of 2022.

Many of those tickets were for overlapping tours from Swift and Beyoncé. The powerhouse singers have generated billions in revenue for the concert industry as well as billions for the domestic economy in the past year.
Not to mention, both are taking turns at the movie box office. Swift’s The Eras Tour concert film broke records in the space during its theatrical release in October, generating more than $200 million globally. Beyoncé is up next with the release of her Renaissance Tour documentary in December.
This year also saw tours from the likes of Harry Styles, Billy Joel and Stevie Nicks, Journey, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Paramore, The Jonas Brothers, Carrie Underwood, SZA, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Reba McEntire, Lizzo, Blink-182 and Blackpink.
Fans are spending more once they are at these concerts, too. Live Nation said per-fan profitability jumped double digits, outpacing cost inflation.
Live Nation expects 55 million fans will have ventured to its venues by the end of 2023, up double digits from 49 million fans in 2022.
There will be more for them to see in 2024. Live Nation reported Thursday that about half the expected show count for next year is booked for large venues, up double digits from the year prior. While Beyoncé has wrapped up her Renaissance World Tour, Swift is set to begin the international leg of her The Eras Tour in late November.
Also on the docket for 2024 is Coldplay, Metallica, Pink, Bruno Mars, Aerosmith, Foo Fighters and Ed Sheeran. The Rolling Stones are expected to go on tour, too.
Around 17 million net new client tickets were added so far in 2023, with half coming from international markets, the company said.Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO: More

Eli Lilly said supply of its blockbuster diabetes drug Mounjaro has recently improved in the U.S. after widespread shortages. 
However, the pharmaceutical giant noted that it is still working to increase production capacity for the treatment and other drugs.
Demand for the treatment is soaring, largely due to its off-label ability to cause weight loss.

A pharmacist displays boxes of Ozempic, a semaglutide injection drug used for treating type 2 diabetes made by Novo Nordisk, at Rock Canyon Pharmacy in Provo, Utah, on March 29, 2023.
George Frey | Reuters

Eli Lilly on Thursday said supply of its blockbuster diabetes drug Mounjaro has improved in the U.S. after months of widespread shortages. 
However, the pharmaceutical giant noted that it is still working to increase production capacity for the treatment and other drugs amid increased demand.

The remarks suggest that Eli Lilly’s initial efforts to expand manufacturing capacity for Mounjaro are starting to pay off. Demand for the treatment is soaring, largely due to its off-label ability to cause significant weight loss. U.S. regulators could potentially approve the drug for weight loss this year, which could push up demand even more.
During an earnings call Thursday, Eli Lilly executives said the company experienced tight supply for Mounjaro throughout most of the third quarter. Mounjaro raked in $1.4 billion in sales for the quarter, helping the company beat expectations on both the top and bottom lines. 
But U.S. product shipments of Mounjaro have recently increased, and inventory levels at U.S. drug wholesalers have improved, according to Eli Lilly Chief Financial Officer Anat Ashkenazi. 
She noted that all doses of Mounjaro are now listed as available on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s shortage database. Meanwhile, Mounjaro supply remains tight internationally, Ashkenazi added. 
Eli Lilly is on track to achieve its goal of doubling production capacity for drugs such as Mounjaro and its other diabetes treatment Trulicity, Ashkenazi said. Both drugs work by mimicking hormones produced in the gut called incretins to suppress a person’s appetite and regulate blood sugar. 

Ashkenazi pointed to the company’s new facility in North Carolina, which is now “online” to provide additional drug assembly capacity. Eli Lilly has also invested more than $3 billion to build two new manufacturing sites in its home state of Indiana.
But Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks said during the earnings call that the company is still “aggressively planning” further production buildup for Mounjaro and other drugs.
He noted that the company has been inking third-party manufacturing agreements with a “diverse portfolio” of contractors, with Eli Lilly “buying up as much capacity as available” in their systems. 
“This is really all-hands-on-deck,” Ricks said. “It’s a problem we work on every day. So we’re not at all happy with the capacity.”
Eli Lilly’s main rival in the weight loss drug space, Novo Nordisk, is still navigating its own supply constraints of diabetes drug Ozempic and obesity treatment Wegovy.
Ozempic and Wegovy sparked the weight loss industry gold rush last year, pushing Eli Lilly and other companies such as Pfizer to ramp up their investments in the space. 
Initial studies have suggested that Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro may be even more effective at reducing weight than Wegovy and Ozempic.Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO: More

Media stocks popped Thursday as Roku’s 30% rally lifted the entire sector.
Roku reported strong trends in content distribution and advertising as well as uptake of its Roku-branded TVs.
Strong usership for Roku means more points of access for subscribers to Paramount+, Max, Netflix, Peacock and other streaming services.

A Roku remote in an arranged photograph in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, on May 2, 2021.
Bloomberg |Getty Images

Media stocks popped Thursday as Roku’s 30% rally lifted the entire sector.
Wall Street celebrated the streaming device company’s third-quarter report Wednesday, in which Roku reported strong trends in content distribution and advertising as well as uptake of its Roku-branded TVs.

Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery both closed up about 10% Thursday. Disney shares closed up nearly 3% following news of the media giant’s agreement to buy Comcast’s remaining stake in Hulu.
Netflix and Comcast both rose more than 1% Thursday.
Roku, known for its plug-in streaming device players, provides users access to all the major streaming services. The company’s active accounts for the third quarter beat analysts’ estimates, coming in at 75.8 million, compared to the 75.33 million Wall Street expected, according to StreetAccount.
Strong usership for Roku means more points of access for subscribers to Paramount+, Max, Netflix, Peacock and other streaming services.
The positive results follow something of a change of pace for the streaming industry after a period of uncertain subscriber growth.

Netflix reported a surprise jump in subscribers in its third-quarter earnings report last month, driven largely by its ad-supported subscription tier. The company said Wednesday that its ad-supported tier has amassed 15 million subscribers, tripling its previously announced total of five million in May.
Paramount reports its quarterly earnings report after the market close Thursday. Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney each report next week.
Disclosure: Comcast’s NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC.Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO: More

The National Association of Realtors announced its CEO, Bob Goldberg, will quit at the end of the month.
Goldberg had previously said he would retire at the end of 2024.
The announcement comes on the heels of a federal jury finding the association liable for artificially inflating home sales commissions.

A “For Sale” sign outside a house in Edmonton, Alberta, in Canada on Oct. 22, 2023.
Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images

The National Association of Realtors announced Thursday that CEO Bob Goldberg will resign earlier than expected, as the group contends with the fallout from a federal lawsuit and a harassment scandal.
The leadership transition comes days after a federal jury found the association — and some residential brokerages, including units of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway — liable for conspiring to artificially inflate commissions from home sales. The NAR was ordered to pay $1.78 billion in damages.

The jury’s verdict also has the possibility to upend practices by real estate agents to boost commissions as home prices continue to rise. The trade group plans to appeal and seek reduced damages.
The association did not mention the lawsuit in Goldberg’s decision to step down.
The NAR’s leadership also came under fire in August, when its president, Kenny Parcell, resigned two days after The New York Times published a story detailing sexual harassment claims from women with whom he worked.
Starting Nov. 30, Goldberg will be replaced by Nykia Wright, who’s serving as interim CEO while the association searches for a permanent replacement.
In June, Goldberg said he planned to retire at the end of 2024. He has spent three decades at NAR. Goldberg will continue to serve as an executive consultant through the transition, the association added.

In a release Thursday, he said he decided last month to retire earlier than planned.
“I am grateful for the privilege of leading NAR and confident that the association will continue delivering incredible value to its members for generations to come,” he said.Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO: More