Business

Delta Air Lines is laying off some corporate and management employees to reduce costs.
The carrier didn’t specify how many jobs it is cutting and said they do not affect front-line workers like pilots or flight attendants.

Delta Airlines planes sit at Terminal 4 at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City.
Eric Thayer | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Delta Air Lines is cutting some corporate jobs in an effort to reduce costs as the industry grapples with higher expenses such as for fuel and labor.
“While we’re not yet back to full capacity, now is the time to make adjustments to programs, budgets and organizational structures across Delta to meet our stated goals — one part of this effort includes adjustments to corporate staffing in support of these changes,” Delta said in a statement to CNBC on Wednesday. “These decisions are never made lightly but always with care and respect for our impacted team members and the Delta family.”

Delta didn’t specify how many jobs it is cutting but a spokesman said that they are a “small adjustment” to corporate and management positions. Front-line workers like pilots, flight attendants and mechanics are not affected by the cuts, the spokesman said.
Executives recently reported strong travel demand helping it more than cover costs. Delta posted a third-quarter profit of $1.1 billion, up nearly 60% from a year earlier, but had warned higher costs had reduced its bottom line.
“Growth is normalizing next year, and we expect operational reliability to continue to improve,” CFO Dan Janki said on an earnings call last month. “This will allow us to optimize how we run the airline, reducing operational buffers and driving out inefficiencies that have resulted from the intensity of the rebuild.
Delta and other carriers hired thousands of workers as travel demand bounced back in the later stages of the Covid pandemic.
Atlanta-based Delta has about 100,000 employees, up from about 83,000 at the end of 2021.

The airline had successfully encouraged thousands of employees to take buyouts during the pandemic when demand dried up.
Airlines have more recently ramped up capacity, while demand has moderated, leading to lower airfare compared with last year. Some carriers, including Southwest, are now looking at slowing their capacity growth as bookings return to more traditional patterns.
Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO: More

Ivana Trump’s opulent Manhattan townhouse is still on the market after a year.
Last month, the price was cut by $4 million to $22.5 million.
Ivana Trump died last year. Proceeds of the sale would go to her estate, which benefits children Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric.

The late Ivana Trump’s townhouse in New York has sat on the market for one full year with no takers. In September, it took a $4 million cut from its original asking price, down to $22.5 million. 
The extravagant residence remains virtually untouched since her death in July 2022. In fact, very little has changed since Ivana Trump, former President Donald Trump’s first ex-wife, renovated the home in the 1990s. 

The townhouse’s grand staircase is clad in red carpet, silk-covered walls and a gold-accented banister.
Evan Joseph / Douglas Elliman

“It’s very beautiful and very French, Versailles-flavored on the inside,” according to the home’s listing agent, J. Roger Erickson of Douglas Elliman. He was hired by Ivana Trump’s estate, which benefits her three children Ivanka, Donald Jr. and Eric, according to Erickson.

Dining room
Evan Joseph / Douglas Elliman

The six-story, almost 8,800-square-foot townhouse was built in 1879. It’s still decorated with the late Ivana Trump’s furnishings, clad in red carpets and red silk-covered walls, and dripping with gold accents and ornate crystal chandeliers.
“Ivana said that, ‘The house is as Louis the 16th would have lived if he had money,’ and that sums it up perfectly in her own words,” said Erickson.

Ivana Trump’s former NYC townhouse sits between Fifth and Madison Avenue on 64th Street.
Evan Joseph / Douglas Elliman

In many instances, sellers have their homes professionally staged to make their residence more appealing to prospective buyers. In this case, the interiors at 10 E. 64th St. are still very much in the taste of its late owner.
Since her death from a fall on the home’s grand staircase, the residence remains a time capsule, with family photos still adorning walls and shelves. A large poster of one of Ivana’s magazine cover appearances hangs on a wall outside the home office. Her book “Raising Trump” sits on the coffee table in the living room.

Living room
Evan Joseph / Douglas Elliman

Public records show Ivana bought the limestone townhome in 1992 for $2.5 million. According to Erickson, it was in disrepair when Ivana bought it, and she spent millions to gut renovate and infuse every floor with her distinctive style.
“Over 30 years the market has … skyrocketed,” said Erickson.
The latest asking price puts the townhouse’s price per square foot just under $2,600, in line with the average price per square foot for luxury home sales (top 10% of sales) seen in the third quarter, according to the Elliman Report.
However, the listing, which went up for sale last November, has been on the market longer than average for a townhouse in NYC, which was about five and half months in the same quarter and measured from the last price change to the contract date, according to Jonathan Miller president of Miller Samuel Inc., a real estate appraisal and consulting firm.
When properties like this one linger on the market for longer than the average marketing time, the listing is likely over priced, Miller told CNBC.
“The highly personalized interior decor of this townhouse is also probably contributing to the marketing delay since,” said Miller.
Only time will tell if the recent reduction in asking price will help get the home sold.
Here’s a look around Ivana Trump’s former residence.

Primary bedroom
Evan Joseph / Douglas Elliman

Ivana’s former en suite bedroom spans the entire third floor and includes a fireplace and terrace.

Primary bath
Evan Joseph / Douglas Elliman

The primary bath is covered in pink onyx, mirrors and gold fixtures. It opens to both the bedroom and a leopard-themed library.

Evan Joseph / Douglas Elliman 

The library’s furniture is upholstered in the spotted pattern, as are the pillows, walls and carpeting. The room is appointed with paintings that feature leopards, a small blond doll in a fur coat perched on the leopard sofa, a tray emblazoned with a wildcat, and a photo portrait of a young Ivanka with her mom. Both are pictured seated on the room’s leopard sofa with Ivana wearing a leopard dress as she kisses her daughter’s cheek.

One of the home’s five bedrooms.
Evan Joseph / Douglas Elliman

Among the home’s five bedrooms is Ivanka’s former suite which includes a fireplace and canopied bed that is still adorned with a gold crown on top. In the bath, a few of the ceramic tiles on the walls and in the shower are personalized with “Ivanka” handwritten and embellished with hearts.

Dining area off the kitchen
Evan Joseph / Douglas Elliman

Off a small kitchen on the second floor is a small dining area with an overhead crystal chandelier hanging directly below a skylight. Ivana’s children would consider selling the home fully furnished, Erickson told CNBC.

Outdoor courtyard
Evan Joseph / Douglas Elliman

In the rear of the townhouse is a 700-square-foot brick courtyard.
Real estate taxes on the residence are almost $10,900 a month or about $130,000 per year, according to the listing. More

Disney will now own all of Hulu after agreeing to purchase the remaining one-third stake from Comcast’s NBCUniversal.
The long-expected transaction sprang from the aftermath of Disney’s purchase of Fox’s entertainment assets in 2019.
Disney sells Hulu as part of a streaming bundle with Disney+ and ESPN+.

Rafael Henrique | SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty Images

Disney said Wednesday that it had agreed to buy Comcast’s one-third stake in streaming service Hulu, a long-expected outcome.
Disney said it expects to pay Comcast’s NBCUniversal about $8.61 billion by Dec. 1, reflecting the guaranteed minimum value of $27.5 billion for the streaming service the two sides agreed upon in 2019. That deal sprang from Disney’s purchase of Fox’s entertainment assets, which gave it two-thirds of Hulu.

Disney could pay more based on Hulu’s equity value as of Sept. 30. The company said the appraisal process should wrap up some time next year.
“We look forward to the appraisal process and the determination of Hulu’s fair market value which we expect will reflect the extraordinary value of the business,” Comcast said in a statement.
Originally, Disney and Comcast had set a deadline to resolve Hulu’s ownership by January. In September, the rival media giants moved up that deadline, effectively acknowledging the outcome announced Wednesday.
Disney already sells Hulu as part of a streaming bundle with its Disney+ and ESPN+ products.
Read the full release from Disney.
Disclosure: Comcast’s NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC. More

Roku revenue grew 20% year over year in the third quarter and beat Wall Street expectations.
Active accounts also beat, coming in at 75.8 million for the quarter.
Roku said it experienced a rebound in video ads during the period.

A video sign displays the logo for Roku, a video streaming firm, in Times Square after the company’s initial public offering at the Nasdaq Market in New York on Sept. 28, 2017.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters

Shares of Roku soared in after-hours trading Wednesday after the company reported better-than-expected revenue for the third quarter.
Here’s how Roku performed for the quarter ending Sept. 30, compared to analysts’ estimates from LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:

Loss per share: $2.33 vs. $2.12 expected
Revenue: $912 million vs. $855.2 million expected

Roku reported a net loss of $330.1 million for the third quarter, or $2.33 per share, nearly triple the loss of $122.2 million, or 88 cents per share, which is what the company reported in the year-ago quarter.
But revenue was up 20% year over year, the company reported, largely driven by “strong performance in content distribution and video advertising, along with unit sales of Roku-branded TVs, which launched in March 2023,” Roku said in a shareholder letter.
Roku-branded smart TV’s come pre-installed with the Roku interface users would experience on an external plug-in Roku Streaming Player. The smart TVs were first made available at Best Buy earlier this year and drove a device segment revenue increase of 33% from the year-ago quarter, the company said during its earnings call Wednesday.
“Branded TVs also drove a higher portion of net adds in active accounts than the streaming players in international markets,” Roku Devices President Mustafa Ozgen said during Wednesday’s earnings call.
The company said it fared better during the quarter with advertisements, weathering an industry-wide ad slowdown.

“We had a solid rebound in video ads in the third quarter,” Roku Media President Charlie Collier said during the earnings call. “We expect year-over-year growth in the fourth quarter to be similar, but we remain cautious about the ad market recovery going forward.”
Active accounts also beat the Street’s estimates, coming in at 75.8 million for the quarter, compared to StreetAccount estimates of 75.33 million. That’s a net increase of 2.3 million active accounts from the previous quarter.
For the fourth quarter, Roku expects revenue of roughly $955 million, topping the $952 million expected by Wall Street, according to LSEG.
In September, Roku said it was laying off 200 employees in a bid to reduce the company’s year-over-year operating expense growth rate. The move followed rounds of layoffs earlier this year in March and November 2022. The company also committed to various cost-cutting measures including consolidating office space and slowing hiring, CNBC reported at the time.Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO: More

The U.S. Space Force assigned 21 rocket launches to SpaceX and United Launch Alliance in the last round of orders under a multiyear national security program.
ULA received assignments for 11 missions, valued at $1.3 billion, and SpaceX received 10 missions, valued at $1.23 billion.
The missions are scheduled to launch over the next two to three years.

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launches on its mission with a classified payload for the U.S. Space Force at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Nov. 1, 2022.
Steve Nesius | Reuters

The U.S. Space Force assigned 21 rocket launches to SpaceX and United Launch Alliance, worth about $2.5 billion in total, the military branch told CNBC.
Space Force’s Space Systems Command on Tuesday announced the mission assignments, which represent the last round of orders under a multiyear program called National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 2.

The final batch of assignments were split almost evenly, according to Col. Doug Pentecost, the deputy program executive officer of the Space Force’s Space Systems Command. ULA received 11 missions, valued at $1.3 billion, and SpaceX received 10 missions, valued at $1.23 billion.

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Space Systems Command said the missions are scheduled to launch over the next two to three years. ULA, a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, will use its soon-to-debut Vulcan rocket for the 11 missions, while SpaceX will fly seven missions with its Falcon 9 rocket and three missions with its Falcon Heavy rocket.

SpaceX adds market share

The Falcon Heavy rocket for the USSF-44 mission rolls out to the launchpad on Oct. 31, 2022.

Space Force expanded the NSSL Phase 2 program significantly since naming SpaceX and ULA as its two launch providers in 2020.
Originally, Phase 2 was to consist of 34 missions. Space Force had previously announced that of mission assignments, 60% would go to ULA and 40% to SpaceX.
But increased demand for national security launches grew Phase 2, and Space Force has assigned 48 missions over the course of the program. In the end, Phase 2 was closer to an even split, with Elon Musk’s company receiving contracts for 22 missions to ULA’s 26 missions, or a 46% share to 54%.

Pentecost said in a statement to CNBC that Space Force assigned more missions to SpaceX than previously expected “based on the Government assessment of readiness.”
“It is imperative to rapidly deliver critical space capabilities to the Joint Warfighter as soon as they are ready to be launched — we cannot leave capability sitting on the ground,” he said.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets are operational and certified to fly national security launches, while ULA’s Vulcan has yet to launch to orbit and receive Space Force certification.
The final Phase 2 assignments come as Space Force prepares to ramp up the NSSL program even further with Phase 3. The military agency this year kicked off the process to buy an estimated 90 launches in the next round.
Pentecost’s division will soon begin the process of reviewing companies’ Phase 3 bids and expects to announce the winners next October.Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO: More

E.l.f. Beauty raised its full-year guidance for a second quarter in a row after beating Wall Street’s estimates on the top and bottom lines.
The cosmetics company, known for its viral TikTok marketing and middle-of-the-road pricing, saw sales jump 76% compared with the prior year.
E.l.f. is expecting sales to grow between 55% and 57% for the full year.

Elf Beauty cosmetics
Courtesy: ELF Beauty

E.l.f. Beauty raised its full-year outlook for the second quarter in a row on Wednesday after posting another 76% year-over-year sales jump, beating Wall Street’s expectations. 
The cosmetics company, known for its viral TikTok marketing and middle-of-the-road pricing, also saw profits nearly triple compared with the year-ago period. 

Shares jumped about 9% in extended trading Wednesday.
Here’s how E.l.f. did in its fiscal second quarter, compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:

Earnings per share: 82 cents, adjusted, vs. 53 cents expected
Revenue: $215.5 million vs. $197.1 million expected 

The company’s reported net income for the three-month period that ended Sept. 30 was $33.3 million, or 58 cents per share, compared with $11.7 million, or 21 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items associated with stock-based compensation and intangible assets, as well as other items, E.l.f. reported adjusted earnings of $47.1 million, or 82 cents per share. 
Sales rose to $215.5 million, up 76% from $122.3 million a year earlier. During the previous quarter, sales were also up 76%. 
The strong results prompted the company to raise its full-year outlook for the second quarter in a row. It now expects net sales to increase between 55% and 57% to an estimated range of $896 million to $906 million. That’s ahead of projected full-year sales of $852 million, or growth of 47.1%, that analysts had expected, according to LSEG.

E.l.f. previously expected sales to be up between 37% and 39% to between $792 million and $802 million. 
The company also raised its adjusted profit guidance. It now expects full-year adjusted earnings to be between $144 million and $146 million, compared with a previous range of $125 million to $127 million. It’s expecting adjusted earnings per share to be between $2.47 and $2.50, compared with a consensus estimate of $2.46, according to LSEG. E.l.f. previously expected full-year adjusted earnings per share to be between $2.19 and $2.22.
During the quarter, the company increased its marketing spend, helping to propel sales. But CEO Tarang Amin said E.l.f.’s success is more than just effective advertising. 
When asked what drove sales, Amin told CNBC it was “Our value equation, the ability to make prestige quality at these extraordinary prices, our holy grail innovation, taking inspiration from both prestige and our community, and having products consumers can’t seem to get enough of.”
Digital sales were up about 75% during the quarter, and international sales came in 157% higher year over year, Amin said. E.l.f.’s skincare line, which is popular with younger consumers, was also up over 100%, the chief executive said. 
When asked how long Wall Street can expect to see such strong sales growth, Amin said the company’s raised guidance “speaks for itself.” 
“We’re quite bullish about the future and particularly in terms of how we’re positioned,” said Amin, who got his start working for consumer product companies such as Procter & Gamble and Clorox. “We’ve doubled our market share in the last three years, and I feel we can double our market share again over the next few years.”
E.l.f.’s margins for the quarter came in at 71%, up 5.7 percentage points from the year-ago period. That increase was attributed to lower inventory adjustments, cost savings and mix, improved transportation costs and favorable foreign exchange rates. 
E.l.f. started out as an online-only company, and while it continues to sell directly to consumers on its digital channel, it has a strong presence in drug stores and mass retailers such as Walmart and Target. Despite the heavy wholesale presence, Amin said E.l.f. is able to maintain high margins because it sees high volumes and doesn’t lean on promotions and discounting in the same way other retailers do. 
“When retailers display our brand, we ask them to do it at full retail, because it’s a great value everyday,” said Amin. “So that’s one. Two is, given this value equation, we have incredible volumes, and so the volumes really help us when it comes to the efficiency of how we operate our supply chain.” More

Toyota’s profit more than doubled, driven in part by strong demand for hybrids.
The Japanese auto giant is primed to benefit from a slowdown in EV demand in the U.S.
Toyota also raised its outlook for its full fiscal year.

A 2022 Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, right, next to Toyota Prius hybrid vehicles during AutoMobility LA ahead of the Los Angeles Auto Show in Los Angeles, California, U.S., on Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2021.
Bing Guan | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Toyota Motor on Wednesday said its quarterly profit more than doubled from a year ago on strong global demand for hybrids and favorable exchange-rate moves.
The auto giant also raised its guidance for the fiscal year that will end on March 31 and increased its dividend and share-repurchase program. Its U.S.-traded shares closed 6% higher Wednesday.

Toyota for years resisted making big investments in purely electric vehicles, saying repeatedly that it felt its well-regarded hybrids were a better bet for most customers. The company finally relented in June, unveiling an aggressive plan to make big investments in advanced batteries and to boost sales of its EVs to 1.5 million per year by 2026. It said Tuesday that it will spend $8 billion to greatly expand a battery plant currently under construction in North Carolina, set to open in 2025.
But with car shoppers, particularly in the U.S., edging away from EVs amid higher financing costs and concerns about public charging, Toyota is now in the position of benefiting from higher demand for its stalwart hybrids.
Sales of Toyota’s conventional hybrids rose 41% from a year ago, to about 888,000, and sales of its plug-in hybrids were up nearly 90% year-over-year to roughly 39,000. “Electrified vehicles,” including both types of hybrids, battery-electric models, and fuel cell-powered vehicles, made up 36.4% of Toyota’s total global sales in the quarter, up from 27.3% a year earlier.
Toyota said its operating profit in the quarter that ended on Sep. 30, the second quarter of its 2024 fiscal year, increased more than 155% from a year ago to 1.44 trillion yen ($9.5 billion). Strong pricing on Toyota’s hybrid models, including its new Prius, helped drive the year-over-year operating profit increase.
Toyota’s revenue of 11.44 trillion yen ($75.7 billion) was 24% higher than a year ago, as it sold more vehicles in all regions than it did in the year-ago period. Total vehicle sales were up almost 13% from a year ago, to 2.4 million.

Part of Toyota’s year-over-year profit increase was driven by exchange rates, specifically the weakening of the yen against the U.S. dollar and euro. On average, during the quarter, $1 was worth 145 yen, up from 138 yen in the same quarter of 2022. The move was even more dramatic in euro terms, from an average of 139 yen per euro a year ago to 157 yen per euro in the period.
Toyota also boosted its profit forecast for the fiscal year that will end on March 31. It now expects profit of 4.5 trillion yen ($29.8 billion), up from 3 trillion yen in its earlier guidance. It said it expects the weaker yen to account for the majority – about 1.2 trillion yen – of that increase.
The company also announced a 100 billion yen ($662 million) share buyback and increased its dividend by 5 yen from a year ago, to 30 yen (20 cents) per share. More

Netflix said Wednesday its cheaper, ad-supported tier has amassed 15 million global monthly active users.
That’s triple the most recent figure, disclosed in May, and notable growth for Netflix as it laps a year since rolling out the new subscription option.
The streaming giant introduced its ad-supported plan alongside a password-sharing crackdown in an effort to drive revenue amid slowing subscriber growth.

The Netflix logo is displayed at its corporate offices in Los Angeles on Sept. 25, 2023.
Mario Tama | Getty Images

Netflix said Wednesday its cheaper, ad-supported tier has amassed 15 million global monthly active users.
That’s triple the most recent figure, disclosed in May, and notable growth for Netflix as it laps a year since rolling out the new subscription option.

Shares of Netflix closed up roughly 2% Wednesday.
The streaming giant introduced its ad-supported plan alongside a password-sharing crackdown in an effort to drive revenue amid slowing subscriber growth.
The move has proved fruitful so far. In the company’s third-quarter report, Netflix said it added 8.8 million subscribers, more than Wall Street expected, and that it expects a similar bump in subscriber growth in the fourth quarter.
Netflix has been looking to amp up its ad tier with new features for advertisers and users alike.
Newly instated President of Advertising Amy Reinhard said in a blog post Wednesday that advertisers can now choose to run 10-, 20-, and 60-second ads, in addition to the 15- and 30-second spots offered. The move will allow advertisers “around the world multiple formats to leverage,” Reinhard said.

Members of the ad tier can also expect some new features coming their way. Netflix said it will roll out higher 1080p streaming resolution for ad tier users in addition to 720p. Users will also be able to download movies and series to their devices starting at the end of this week.
In a push to appeal to binge watchers, beginning in the first quarter of 2024, Netflix will present an ad-free episode after users watch three consecutive episodes of a series.Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO: More