Business

Novo Nordisk said 80% of U.S. patients with insurance coverage who take its highly popular weight loss treatment Wegovy are paying less than $25 a month for the drug.
The remarks suggest that many insured Americans don’t have to shoulder the full cost of a monthly package of Wegovy, which has a list price of around $1,350.
Doug Langa, Novo Nordisk’s vice president for North America, said on a third-quarter earnings call that most major health plans and pharmacy benefit managers are covering Wegovy. 

Wegovy, an injectable prescription weight loss medicine that has helped people with obesity.
Michael Siluk | UCG | Getty Images

Novo Nordisk on Thursday said 80% of U.S. patients with insurance coverage who take its highly popular weight loss treatment Wegovy are paying less than $25 a month for the drug. 
The remarks suggest that many insured Americans don’t have to shoulder the full cost of a monthly package of Wegovy, which has a list price of around $1,350. It also comes as many U.S. health insurers balk at the extreme cost of Wegovy and other obesity drugs while dropping them from their plans, even as demand for those treatments soar nationwide and outpace supply. 

But Doug Langa, Novo Nordisk’s vice president for North America, said on a third-quarter earnings call Thursday that most major health plans and pharmacy benefit managers are covering Wegovy. 
Langa acknowledged that some employers are opting out of coverage but noted that the company overall is seeing more insurers opt in to cover the weekly injection.
He estimated that about 50 million Americans with obesity could be eligible for Wegovy coverage under their health plans.
“Directionally, we’re heading in the right direction and our focus will be continuing on securing employer coverage as well as stronger access for Americans overall,” Langa said during the call. 
However, the $25 out-of-pocket cost will likely add up over time. Most patients have to take Wegovy for several months to see — and sustain — significant weight loss. 

Wegovy, for example, leads to 15% weight loss after 68 weeks, according to clinical trials on the drug.
The longer treatment duration is also one reason why some health insurers are hesitant to cover Wegovy and similar weight loss drugs, which typically work by mimicking a hormone produced in the gut to suppress a person’s appetite.
At roughly $1,000 per month on average for medications that are typically taken for months or even a year, the drugs are straining insurers’ budgets.
But Novo Nordisk is hoping that new data demonstrating the heart health benefits of Wegovy will put more pressure on insurers to cover the medication and similar weight loss treatments. 
A recent late-stage trial found that Wegovy reduced the risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke by 20%. The results suggest that Wegovy and similar obesity and diabetes medications like those in development by Eli Lilly and others could have long-lasting health benefits beyond shedding unwanted pounds.
Novo Nordisk Chief Financial Officer Karsten Munk Knudsen told CNBC on Thursday that Wegovy could receive expanded approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease within six months.
More than 2 in 5 adults have obesity, according to the National Institutes of Health.
About 1 in 11 adults have severe obesity.

Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO: More

Fox Sports drove higher consumption for Fox Corporation, CEO Lachlan Murdoch said.
But sports programming drove costs higher for the company, driving profit lower.
Sports fuel high ratings but they’re costly for media companies.

A Fox Sports television camera during a game between the Utah Utes and the USC Trojans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles on Oct. 21, 2023.
Brian Rothmuller | Icon Sportswire | Getty Images

Fox Sports drove higher consumption overall for Fox Corporation last quarter, CEO Lachlan Murdoch said Thursday during the company’s quarterly earnings call.
Consumption data showed viewing of all Fox brands was up 2% during the fiscal year first quarter, the company reported.

“FOX Sports was a big driver of that consumption, especially with its broadcast of the Women’s World Cup, where the U.S. versus the Netherlands on Fox with the most watched Women’s World Cup game match ever on U.S. English language television,” Murdoch said.
But as the media giant doubled down on sports programming, it certainly paid the price.
Sports programming costs drove expenses higher, weighing on profit and offsetting revenue growth in the company’s TV segment. The company posted a net income of $415 million in its earnings report, down 33% from the $613 million a year earlier. Fox cited the Women’s World Cup and the renewal of National Football League rights as major costs.
Sports programming is a consistent ratings beast for TV networks. A whopping 113 million viewers tuned into Fox to watch the Super Bowl earlier this year, the third highest of all time. But it comes with a massive price tag, especially as linear networks and streaming services have begun battling it out for programming rights.
Last year, YouTube won the rights to NFL Sunday Ticket after the online streaming giant handed over $2 billion a year. DirecTV had previously paid $1.5 billion annually for the rights.

Ad revenue and the cable bundle

Fox’s ad-supported streaming service Tubi, which the company acquired in 2020, posted favorable results. Fox said Tubi surpassed 70 million monthly active users in September, up from the 64 million monthly active users Tubi announced in February.
Fox said it’s not looking to bring live sports to Tubi. The streamer will remain focused on entertainment content, Murdoch said during the earnings call.
Overall ad revenue slid 2% during the quarter compared to a year ago, when the company benefited from political ads in the lead up to midterm elections at the time, the company reported.
The growth of Tubi and viewership of the Women’s World Cup helped offset the softened advertising market last quarter, Wolfe Research analyst Peter Supino said in a Thursday note.
Fox is also standing firmly by the cable bundle, where its conservative-leaning Fox News channel continues to thrive, even as an increasing number of subscribers cut the cord.
“The cable bundle remains our largest and most important revenue stream,” Murdoch said during the earnings call. “We believe that it will remain our largest for years to come.”
Analysts at Morgan Stanley are on board with the devotion to the bundle.
“Fox is relatively insulated but not immune from the continued weakness we are seeing in general entertainment linear TV,” said analysts at Morgan Stanley in a Thursday note.Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO: More

A lot has changed for the EV market since Covid, Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida said.
“The market has been fragmented, and customers’ acceptance speed is also different,” he told CNBC.
Nissan’s global scale will give it an advantage as it works to lower the costs of EV components, Uchida added.

Nissan Motor Co. CEO Makoto Uchida speaks next to the Nissan Hyper Force electric vehicle during the Japan Mobility Show at Tokyo Big Sight in Tokyo, Japan on October 25, 2023.
Tomohiro Ohsumi | Getty Images

Nissan Motor’s CEO says that when it comes to electric vehicles, the world has changed a lot since Covid – and now, people in different parts of the world want very different things from their battery-powered cars.
That presents a series of challenges to established automakers like Nissan, which have followed global strategies for decades.

Speaking to CNBC’s Martin Soong, Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida said that while more and more customers are stepping up to buy EVs, the pace of adoption varies greatly by market, as do the wants and needs of buyers.
“The world’s pace [of EV adoption] has been changed. The market has been fragmented, and customers’ acceptance speed is also different,” Uchida said. “That means we, as an automotive company, need to be transforming ourselves from the ways of the past.”
Uchida said that differences in government incentives, in costs, in levels of regional competition, and in customer adoption rates have all combined to make the U.S., Europe, Japan and China sharply different markets for electric vehicles.
“So what’s important is how much we can start to localize in each respective market,” Uchida said.
Nissan’s global scale will give it an advantage as it works to lower the costs of EV components like motors and batteries that can be shared among many different types of vehicles, Uchida said.

But many of those new Nissan EVs will no longer be global models. Uchida said that while Nissan has always had regional models to an extent, he believes future Nissan EVs for regions like the U.S. or China must be developed in those regions. That will help ensure that they are aligned with what local customers and regulations are demanding, and that they can be priced appropriately for each market’s expectations, he said.
For instance, EV customers in China are very sensitive to pricing – but they also want the latest technology, which they’ve come to expect from the fierce competition between the many domestic Chinese EV makers. For Nissan, the challenge in China is to compete both with the company’s longtime global rivals like Toyota and Volkswagen while it works to keep pace with homegrown Chinese EV startups like Nio, XPeng, and Li Auto – all while keeping costs as low as possible.
Uchida notes that Nissan’s history in China, and its established customer base, gives it an advantage that some newer entrants might lack — but it will still need to adapt to the extremely fast pace of the country’s EV market, where new models seem to be launched weekly.
“I see the great potential, I still have a lot of customers, all we have to do is accept how the market is moving, how much we can adjust ourselves toward the market,” he said.
Sign up to watch all of CNBC’s Evolve Global Summit exclusively on-demand. Hear how CEOs from Target, FedEx, Kraft Heinz, FanDuel and more are adapting, innovating and transforming in this new era of business. Access now.
Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO: More

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced Thursday that the company’s Starlink satellite internet business “achieved breakeven cash flow.”
Musk did not specify whether the milestone was hit on an operating basis or for a different specified time period.
SpaceX’s valuation has soared to about $150 billion, with Starlink seen as a key economic driver of the company’s goals.

The upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket deploys a stack of Starlink “V2 Mini” satellites in orbit.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced Thursday that the company’s Starlink satellite internet business “achieved breakeven cash flow.”
“Excellent work by a great team,” Musk said in a post on his social media platform, X, formerly known as Twitter.

Musk did not specify whether that milestone was hit on an operating basis or for a specified time period.
Earlier this year, SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell said Starlink “had a cash flow positive quarter” in 2022, and the overall SpaceX company reportedly turned a profit in the first quarter of 2023.
SpaceX’s valuation has soared to about $150 billion, with Starlink seen as a key economic driver of the company’s goals. Two years ago, Musk emphasized that making Starlink “financially viable” required crossing “through a deep chasm of negative cash flow.”
Musk has discussed spinning off Starlink to take it public through an initial public offering once the business was “in a smooth sailing situation.” But timing of a Starlink IPO remains uncertain. Last year, Musk told employees that taking the business public wasn’t likely until 2025 or later.
“Being public is definitely an invitation to pain,” Musk told SpaceX employees in 2022. “And the stock price is just distracting.”

Sign up here to receive weekly editions of CNBC’s Investing in Space newsletter.

Starlink is the global communications network that Musk’s company has been building, with more than 5,000 satellites launched and counting.
It began offering Starlink service about three years ago, initially targeting the consumer market. Most recently, SpaceX has said Starlink has upward of two million subscribers, having expanded into other markets — including national security, enterprise, mobility, maritime and aviation — and disrupted the existing satellite communications sector.
Last month, SpaceX announced the opening of a new satellite antenna manufacturing facility in Bastrop, Texas, which is near Austin.

Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO: More

Holiday shoppers are expected to spend more this year, but their eagerness for value and hunger for deals is likely to push that growth to pre-pandemic levels, according to the National Retail Federation.
Even as inflation cools, many gift-giving items and food cost more.
NRF Chief Executive Matt Shay said the major industry group expects higher wages and job security to give shoppers confidence to spring for gifts and decorations. But he acknowledged challenges.

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Holiday shoppers are expected to spend more this year, but their eagerness for value and hunger for deals is likely to push that growth back down to pre-pandemic levels, according to the National Retail Federation.
The major trade group expects sales in November and December to rise by 3% to 4% year over year. That would translate to between $957.3 billion and $966.6 billion in spending during the shopping season. The NRF’s forecast excludes spending at automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants.

Over the past decade, holiday sales have grown roughly 5% year over year on average, according to the NRF. They spiked during the Covid pandemic, with sales surging by 9.3% in 2020 and 13.5% in 2021.
Before the pandemic-related spending boom, average sales growth between 2010 and 2019 was 3.6%, according to the NRF’s chief economist, Jack Kleinhenz.
The closely watched holiday spending forecast marks the latest prediction about how the crucial season may play out as contradictory factors — including low unemployment, cooling inflation, dwindling savings accounts, and the higher costs of mortgages and credit cards — shape U.S. consumers’ spending.
Even as inflation cools, many gift-giving items and food cost more. As of September, inflation is up 3.7% compared with a year ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistic’s consumer price index.
Elevated prices are driving the reported sales growth, too. The NRF’s holiday forecast is not adjusted for inflation, which means the actual sales gains may not be as large as they seem.

Kleinhenz, however, said the forecast still calls for true growth. He said based on the personal consumption expenditures price index, another government metric, inflation for retail and food services was up only 1.3% year over year. When gas and food services are taken out, prices are a half a percent to 1% higher than a year ago.

That dynamic, combined with higher wages and job security could give shoppers confidence to spring for gifts and decorations, NRF Chief Executive Matt Shay told reporters on a call Thursday. Still, Shay acknowledged the challenges of still elevated prices, higher interest rates and geopolitical threats, such as the risk of a government shutdown.
“Our sense is that the cumulative effect of all of these things is going to show some moderation in consumer behavior relative to the last several years of holiday spending,” he said.
Despite the NRF’s expectations for sales growth, major retailers including Target and Macy’s have tempered expectations for the holidays. Instead of hyping up the season, companies have adopted a more cautious approach, placing smaller orders of merchandise and emphasizing value in circulars, TV ads and signs in stores, for example.
Target CEO Brian Cornell said in an interview that aired Thursday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that shoppers aren’t just spending less on discretionary purchases. He said they’re also buying fewer groceries, as the company gears up for the peak shopping season.
Target, Walmart, Home Depot and others will share updates on sales trends and outlooks as part of quarterly earnings reports in mid-November.
In the year-ago holiday season, retail sales rose 5.3% compared with 2021 and reached $936.3 billion, according to the NRF. That fell short of its forecast for 6% to 8% growth, as inflation and higher interest rates dampened spending. The holiday total was not adjusted for inflation, so it included increases from many groceries, decorations and gifts costing more than the year prior.
Consumers expect to spend more this year, but also hunt for deals, according to the NRF’s latest consumer survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics. According to the survey, which was conducted in early October, shoppers plan to spend $875 on average on holiday items, an increase of $42 compared with a year ago and roughly in line with the average holiday budget in the past five years.
Nearly 2 out of 3 people said sales and promotions are even more important to them this holiday season than the last one, according to the survey. And nearly 40% said they are cutting back in other areas to cover the cost of holiday items, such as trimming back what they buy for themselves or including fewer people on the gift-giving list.
Correction: This story has been updated to correct that the National Retail Federation expects 2023 holiday spending to come in between $957.3 billion and $966.6 billion, reflecting more specific estimates released by the NRF after a call with reporters.
Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO: More

Ferrari on Thursday said its third-quarter profit jumped 46% from a year ago.
The luxury automaker again boosted its guidance for the full year following the results.
Ferrari in recent years has greatly extended its options lists, offering its customers a huge range of choices in paint finishes, interior materials and other details, which it calls “personalizations.”

The Ferrari original factory entrance.
Courtesy: Ferrari

Ferrari on Thursday said its third-quarter profit jumped 46% from a year ago as its wealthy customers continued to choose expensive “personalization” options for their new cars.
As it did last quarter, Ferrari again boosted its guidance for the full year following the results.

Ferrari now expects 2023 revenue of about 5.9 billion euros, or $6.3 billion, and per-share profit of at least 6.55 euros, with an adjusted EBIT — earnings before interest and tax — margin of at least 26.5%. In August, the luxury automaker guided investors to full-year revenue of about 5.8 billion euros and per-share profit between 6.25 euros and 6.40 euros, with an adjusted EBIT margin of at least 26%.
CEO Benedetto Vigna said in a statement that a richer product mix — meaning more sales of the company’s higher-end models — and “the continuing appeal of personalizations” led Ferrari to boost its outlook.
“The order book remains at highest levels reflecting strong demand across all geographies, covering the entire 2025,” Vigna said.
Ferrari in recent years has greatly extended its options lists, offering its customers a huge range of choices in paint finishes, interior materials and other details, which it calls “personalizations.” Those extended options can add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the price of a new Ferrari, considerably increasing the company’s profit per car sold.
Here are the key numbers from Ferrari’s third-quarter earnings report:

Earnings per share: 1.82 euros vs. 1.60 euros expected by Wall Street analysts polled by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv
Revenue: 1.54 billion euros vs. 1.47 billion euros expected, per LSEG

Ferrari reported a net profit of 332 million euros, or 1.82 euros per share, an increase of 46% over net profit of 228 million euros, or 1.23 euros per share, in the third quarter of 2022. Its EBIT margin rose to 27.4% in the third quarter of 2023 from 23.9% a year ago.
Revenue increased 24% year over year to 1.54 billion euros.
Ferrari shipped 3,459 vehicles in the third quarter, up 9% from a year ago. The company said the increase was simply a function of its “geographic and product allocation plans by quarter” and emphasized that its order book remains very strong.
On a year-over-year basis, deliveries were up in Europe and North and South America, lower in China and roughly flat in the rest of the Asia-Pacific region.

A Ferrari NV SF90 hybrid vehicle on the opening day of the Paris Motor Show in Paris on Oct. 17, 2022.
Nathan Laine | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Ferrari said it continued ramping up production of its SUV-like Purosangue model during the quarter and that allocations of its limited-run seven-figure Daytona SP3 sports car continued “as planned.”
Ferrari also noted that its four hybrid models — coupe and convertible versions of the six-cylinder 296 and eight-cylinder SF90 sports cars — accounted for 51% of its total shipments during the period.Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO: More

Nikola reported a wider quarterly loss following a costly recall.
The company will have to spend $61.8 million to replace battery packs in more than 200 trucks.
But it now has more cash and nearly 300 orders for its latest model.

Nikola TRE FCEV 2.
Courtesy: Nikola

Electric truck maker Nikola said Thursday that it has received nearly 300 orders for its new hydrogen fuel cell semitruck — but it’s facing what will be a costly recall of its earlier battery-electric trucks.
Nikola recalled all of its Tre battery-electric trucks, 209 in total, in August following a fire caused by a coolant leak in a truck’s battery pack. It said on Thursday that after an investigation into the causes, it has decided to replace the battery packs on all 209 trucks at an estimated cost of $61.8 million.

It expects to resume delivering battery-electric trucks to customers in the first quarter next year. Despite the recall, a dealer ordered 47 battery-electric trucks during the third quarter, Nikola said.
Nikola said it currently has 277 “non-binding” orders for its new fuel-cell truck from 35 different fleet customers. It shipped a total of three trucks during the third quarter, versus 63 in the year-ago quarter.
Here are the key numbers from Nikola’s third-quarter earnings report.

Adjusted loss per share: 30 cents vs. 14 cents expected by Wall Street analysts polled by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv
Revenue: Negative $1.7 million vs. Wall Street’s estimate of $13.3 million, according to LSEG

Nikola’s net loss was $425.8 million, or 50 cents per share. On an adjusted basis, excluding stock-based compensation, it lost 30 cents per share. A year ago, Nikola lost $236.2 million, or 54 cents per share.  
Nikola reported negative revenue of $1.7 million in the third quarter, after it paid out about $2.4 million to buy back seven trucks from former dealers as new CEO Steve Girsky refocused the company’s sales efforts on California. Its revenue was $24.2 million in the third quarter of 2022.

Nikola raised $250 million during the third quarter. As of Sept. 30, it had $362.9 million in cash, up from $226.7 million as of June 30 and just $121.1 million as of March 31.Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO: More

Listen to this story. Enjoy more audio and podcasts on More