Business

Wayfair’s losses narrowed during its fiscal third quarter but sales came in a bit lower than expectations.
The online furniture retailer has been working to aggressively cut costs as the home market remains under pressure.

Wayfair IPO on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
Lucas Jackson | Reuters

Wayfair is inching closer to profitability, but its third-quarter results still fell short of revenue expectations as the home market continues to be under pressure. 
Here’s how the online furniture retailer did during the period compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:

Loss per share: 13 cents, adjusted, vs. 48 cents expected
Revenue: $2.94 billion vs. $2.98 billion expected

The company’s reported net loss for the three-month period that ended September 30 was $163 million, or $1.40 per share, compared with a loss of $283 million, or $2.66 per share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, Wayfair reported an adjusted loss of 13 cents per share. 
Sales rose to $2.94 billion, up about 3.7% from $2.84 billion a year earlier. 
Shares of Wayfair were down about 7% in premarket trading following the report.
Wayfair has been focusing on cost discipline to drive profitability and protect its margins as demand remains tepid across the home goods sector and other consumer discretionary categories. That discipline led Wayfair to see adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of $100 million, compared to the $55 million analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount. 
Average order values are coming down, but it’s not necessarily because shoppers are buying less, the company said. Over the last year, freight and raw material costs have come down significantly so wholesalers are charging less for Wayfair’s furniture and home goods. Instead of keeping prices elevated, the company has passed those savings down to customers, it said. 

Over the last 12 months, net revenue per active customer declined 1.6% to $538, and during the quarter, average order value dropped to $297 compared to $325 in the year ago period. 
Revenue in the U.S. was up 5.4% year over year to $2.6 billion, while sales internationally fell 7% to $372 million. 
As of Sept. 30, Wayfair’s active customer count dropped 1.3% year over year to 22.3 million but has increased on a quarter over quarter basis, the company said, adding its repeat customers are ordering more. Customers who’ve shopped at Wayfair previously placed 7.9 million orders during the quarter, an increase of 16.2% compared to the year ago period and accounting for about 80% of Wayfair’s total orders. 
“We executed further in the third quarter to produce consistent profitability – with Adjusted EBITDA now positive on a trailing 12 month basis – while also driving demonstrable market share growth, as evidenced by our gains on customers and orders,” Wayfair’s CEO and co-founder Niraj Shah said in a news release. “Even with a turbulent macro, we remain committed to our profitability goals in good times and bad.”
The digitally native retailer, which doesn’t make furniture but instead relies on a network of suppliers to fulfill orders, was a big winner during the pandemic but has struggled over the last year to revive demand amid high interest rates and a sluggish housing market. 
Last May, it instituted a hiring freeze and in January, it cut about 10% of its workforce, or about 1,750 employees. 
Since then, Wayfair’s losses have narrowed and its margins have improved as it worked to reduce selling, general and administrative expenses. During the quarter, those costs came down to $596 million, compared to $656 million in the year ago period.
Its gross margin rose to 31%, compared to 29% in the year ago period. More

Hanesbrands is considering a sale of its Champion line, and brand management firms WHP Global and Authentic Brands Group are both interested in buying it.
The longtime retailer, best known for its basic T-shirts and underwear, has been feeling pressure from activists who want to see it cut costs and reduce its debt.
Hanesbrands has received a broad array of interest for Champion, which sees estimated annual sales of about $2 billion.

American sportswear fashion brand Champion store seen in Hong Kong.
Chukrut Budrul | SOPA Images | Sipa via AP Images

Brand management firms WHP Global and Authentic Brands Group are both interested in buying Champion from its parent company Hanesbrands, which is considering offloading the sportswear line amid pressure from activist investors, CNBC has learned. 
Hanesbrands announced it was evaluating strategic options for Champion in late September — a little over a month after activist firm Barington Capital Group began pressuring the company to cut costs and generate cash as sales fall. At the time, Hanesbrands said those options could include a potential sale of Champion or another type of strategic transaction. It also said it could hold on to the brand.

Hanesbrands has seen wide interest in acquiring Champion from a mix of buyers, including WHP and Authentic Brands, according to people familiar with the matter. Interested potential buyers include strategics and sponsors, the people said.
Champion has estimated annual sales around $2 billion, the people said.
A deal isn’t close to completion, and if Hanesbrands moves forward with a sale, it’s not expected to select a buyer until 2024, the people said. 
“We are in the initial stages of evaluating strategic options and the right path forward for the global Champion business, and at the same time, remain committed to advancing Champion’s new, disciplined channel segmentation strategy, energizing the brand and leveraging the work already completed to globalize product design and segment and streamline our supply chain,” a Hanesbrands spokesperson told CNBC.
WHP and Authentic Brands didn’t return requests for comment. Goldman Sachs, which has been tapped as Hanesbrands’ financial advisor for its review of Champion, declined to comment. 

A deal that could make ‘perfect sense’

Both WHP and Authentic Brands count a wide range of brands in their portfolios and would be well suited to add Champion to their lists. WHP recently acquired Bonobos from Walmart, and previously bought Toys R Us and Anne Klein.
Along with Champion, it’s also interested in buying Sperry from parent company Wolverine Worldwide, according to people familiar with the matter. Wolverine said in May that it was exploring a sale of the footwear brand best known for its boat shoes. The company didn’t return a request for comment. 
Authentic Brands, which owns brands like Aeropostale, Brooks Brothers and Juicy Couture, recently partnered with mega-retailer Shein to sell a co-branded clothing line with Forever 21, among other ventures.
Neil Saunders, a retail analyst and managing director with GlobalData, said WHP and Authentic Brands’ interest in Champion “makes perfect sense.” 
“This is exactly what these companies do. They buy up different brands that are struggling and they have a pretty good track record of turning them around and trying to reengineer performance,” Saunders told CNBC.
“They have a good operational backdrop that they can integrate these brands into, whether that be through licensing, through international expansion, through getting them into physical retail more, through selling them direct to consumer,” he said. “They almost have an operating model that you can just sort of drop brands into and start seeing better performance.” 
Champion may be one of the best known sports brands on the market, but demand for its hoodies, workout clothes and branded apparel have declined globally, particularly in the U.S.
During the most recent reported quarter ended July 1, Champion brand sales dropped 16% year over year, declining 25% in the U.S. and 1% internationally. The company expects Champion sales in the U.S. to be under pressure throughout the rest of the year, executives said. 
Sluggish sales at Champion are contributing to a broader slowdown across Hanesbrands, which saw revenue decline by about 8.5% in the six months ended July 1 as wholesalers pulled back on orders for its T-shirts, bras and underwear. Its stock is down about 34% this year. 
In August, Barington sent a letter to Hanesbrands Chair Ronald Nelson saying the company “must immediately focus on cash generation and debt reduction” in order to create long-term value for shareholders. 
A little over a month later, Hanesbrands announced it was undertaking “an evaluation of strategic options” for Champion as it looked to simplify and focus its larger business, while also driving growth and profitability. 
Meanwhile, Sperry sales have also been sluggish for Wolverine Worldwide. 
During the three months ended July 1, Sperry sales dropped to $57.4 million, down 23.5% from the year-ago period. That slowdown has contributed to a falloff at Wolverine, which saw total revenue decline to $589 million during that quarter, off 17% from the year-ago period. 
Wolverine’s stock is down more than 26% year to date. More

Anheuser-Busch will focus its marketing on events like football and concerts, which it has targeted often in the past, as it looks to lift lagging sales of Bud Light.
It’s a part of the company’s strategy to avoid political backlash as declining Bud Light sales hit its bottom line.
The company revealed part of its strategy to boost Bud Light as it reported third-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street expectations.

Anheuser-Busch InBev said it will concentrate its marketing on sporting and music events as it tries to reverse falling sales of its flagship beer Bud Light in the face of conservative backlash in the U.S.
The brewing giant revealed part of its plan to revitalize the brand Tuesday after it reported third-quarter earnings that beat expectations. The company’s revenue fell nearly 14% from July to September in the U.S., its largest market, as Bud Light sales sank.

Bud Light sales started falling in April after a conservative boycott of the brewer’s partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. At the height of the backlash, Modelo Especial dethroned Bud Light as the best-selling beer in the U.S.
Bud Light sales are still lagging, as the brand dropped 29% in the four weeks ending Oct. 21 compared to same period a year ago, according to Nielsen data compiled by research firm Bump Williams Consulting. Sales have fallen nearly 19% this year, according to the firm. CNBC reached out to the company Anheuser-Busch for comment.
Anheuser-Busch is now trying to turn around the brand’s fortunes by marketing Bud Light through platforms it considers uncontroversial.
During a conference call with investors Tuesday, CEO Michel Doukeris said the company remains confident in Bud Light and “significantly increased” investment in it over the summer. Moving forward, the company plans to promote Bud Light at events like football games and concerts, he said.
The beer is focusing on outlets such as the NFL, college football, the country music festival Stagecoach and Folds of Honor, a nonprofit organization which provides scholarships to military families.

Earlier this month, Bud Light again became the official beer sponsor for the Ultimate Fighting Championship with a six-year marketing partnership. The sponsorship deal is “well into the nine figures,” and the largest in the mixed martial arts promotion’s history, CNBC previously reported.
Moreover, Doukeris said the company has changed its marketing structure, and that he intends to steer the brand away from contentious debates.
“While beer will always be at the table when important topics are debated, the beer itself should not be the focus of the debate,” he said.
Doukeris also seemed to further distance the company from Mulvaney, who has criticized the company for failing to defend her amid the boycott. Additional backlash about how the company responded to the boycott contributed to lower sales earlier this year.
“This was the result of one campaign,” he said of the Mulvaney partnership, which featured her face on a Bud Light can. “It was not made for production or sales to general public. It was one post, not a formal campaign or advertisement.”
He added that the company has been trying to support the delivery drivers, sales representatives, wholesalers, and servers whom the “situation has impacted.”
Despite weak sales in the U.S., Anheuser-Busch beat Wall Street’s expectations for the third quarter. Revenue rose 5% from the prior-year period to $15.57 billion, due to an industry-wide trend of higher pricing. More

JetBlue faces the Justice Department in an antitrust trial over the carrier’s proposed acquisition of budget carrier Spirit Airlines.
JetBlue has argued it needs to buy Spirit to grow and compete with larger carriers.
The New York-based airline forecast an adjusted loss for the year.

The JetBlue drop-off area at New York’s LaGuardia Airport on Oct. 31, 2023.
Leslie Josephs/CNBC

JetBlue Airways stock tumbled to a nearly 12-year low Tuesday as the company forecast a loss for the fourth quarter and heads to court to defend its acquisition of budget carrier Spirit Airlines, a purchase it argues is crucial to its future.
Shares fell more than 10% Tuesday to $3.76 apiece. Spirit shares fell more than 12% to a three-year low.

The U.S. Department of Justice sued in March to block JetBlue’s $3.8 billion all-cash purchase of Spirit, a deal the airline reached with the discounter in 2022 after a bidding war with rival Frontier Airlines.
The deal would create the fifth-largest airline in the U.S. JetBlue argued it needs to buy Spirit to grow and better compete with giant carriers — American, Delta, United and Southwest — which control about three-quarters of the U.S. market and are products of megamergers themselves.
The Justice Department, however, alleges that “the proposed transaction will increase fares and reduce choice on routes across the country, raising costs for the flying public and harming cost-conscious fliers most acutely.”
JetBlue plans to remove seats from Spirit’s bright-yellow planes and outfit them with seatback screens to match JetBlue’s interiors. Spirit’s business model is based on packed planes, no-frills fares and fees for everything from seat assignments to carry-on luggage, while JetBlue has more amenities and fewer seats on board.

A JetBlue Airlines plane takes off near Spirit Airlines planes at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on May 16, 2022 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images

The lawsuit is a test for President Joe Biden’s Justice Department, which has aggressively pursued antitrust cases with mixed results in the airline, health-care and publishing industries, among others.

The trial starts Tuesday and is set to last about three weeks in U.S. District Court in Boston.
In May, the Justice Department won a lawsuit to undo a partnership between JetBlue and American Airlines in the Northeast, an alliance the airlines started dissolving in the summer. At the time, JetBlue said it would focus instead on acquiring Spirit, a deal it expects to close early next year.
JetBlue agreed to pay a reverse breakup fee of $70 million and another $400 million to Spirit shareholders if regulators successfully block the deal.
The JetBlue-Spirit merger would be the first among major U.S. airlines since Alaska and Virgin America combined in 2016.

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JetBlue and Spirit stocks on the first day of an antitrust trial seeking to block their merger.

Neither JetBlue nor Spirit are on solid footing. Fuel prices have climbed along with other costs, just as red-hot post-pandemic growth in travel demand has eased and fares have dropped, depriving carriers of revenue when they need it to cover expenses.
JetBlue on Tuesday posted third-quarter results that came in below analysts’ estimates. The airline reported an adjusted loss per share of 39 cents on revenue of $2.35 billion, underperforming an expected loss per share of 25 cents and revenue of $2.38 billion, according to consensus estimates compiled by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv.
“While we have been able to offset some of the costs associated with the challenging operational backdrop, the sheer magnitude of the air traffic control and weather-related delays has been staggering,” CFO Ursula Hurley said in an earnings release.
JetBlue also forecast an adjusted loss for the fourth quarter and the full year, guiding to an adjusted loss of between 35 cents and 55 cents in the last three months of the year.
Spirit Airlines, meanwhile, said it will have little if any capacity growth next year as it grapples with slower demand and a Pratt & Whitney engine issue.
The budget airline told staff it will pause new-hire flight attendant and pilot training next month, CNBC first reported last week.
JetBlue said it would not answer any questions about the acquisition on the earnings call Tuesday.Don’t miss these CNBC PRO stories: More

An immersive-technology company called Cosm will open its first two venues in 2024, allowing sports fans to watch live games in domes filled with 8K screens.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s TNT Sports has partnered with Cosm to allow select broadcasts of its games to be used for the Cosm domes.
Cosm’s CEO hopes the buzz around Las Vegas’ Sphere will help push people to try Cosm’s technology.

Cosm’s shared reality dome concept for viewing live sports broadcasts.
Courtesy: Cosm Venues

Warner Bros. Discovery and Cosm, a privately held company that specializes in immersive technology, are about to make “shared reality” a reality for sports fans.
Cosm plans to open two venues — a 65,000 square foot building in Los Angeles and a 70,000 square foot structure in Dallas — with seating areas for about 800 fans who will be able to watch select live sports that air on TNT in an immersive experience that mirrors being at the game.

The Cosm venues will feature domes with 360 degree, 87 foot diameter 8K LED screens that are similar in concept to James Dolan’s Las Vegas Sphere, which debuted in September. But unlike the Sphere, which specializes in live entertainment, the Cosm venues will focus on repurposing broadcasts to give consumers immersed experiences such as a courtside view at NBA games or a rink-side angle for hockey games.
No headsets or glasses are needed to watch the games. Cosm uses multicamera productions to simulate the experience of sitting courtside at a basketball game or pitch side at a soccer match. The experience won’t be 3D, but the effect of the dome viewing will make viewers feel as if they’re in the arena.
“We buy into that same kind of notion of leveraging amazing technology to give the human experience something they’ve never seen before,” Jeb Terry, CEO at Cosm, said in an exclusive CNBC interview. “With the Sphere, it’s big, huge, grand scale. Ours is more of a smaller format and really focused on live sports and live programing — like you’re absolutely there.”

The Sphere is seen during opening night with the U2:UV Achtung Baby Live concert at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas on Sept. 29, 2023.
Tayfun Coskun | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Cosm venues will feature select games on TNT in the venues, including some National Basketball Association regular season and playoff games, the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup Playoffs and select U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Soccer Team matches.
The Cosm Los Angeles venue will open in the spring of 2024. The Dallas venue will open later next year. Each building will accommodate about 2,000 people. There will be standing areas similar to modern sports bars, with game broadcasts of all different sports, attached to the dome portion of the building. They will include lounges and other places to sit. Fans who buy a seat, which will be spread out rather than theater style, will have access to concessions and will be able to hear the TNT broadcast.

Cosm’s history

Cosm was founded in 2020 by private equity firm Mirasol Capital, which specializes in real estate, technology and entertainment, through a series of acquisitions of spatial computing, engineering and immersive video production companies. Mirasol’s founder is Steve Winn, a Dallas-based billionaire who sold his software company RealPage to Thoma Bravo in 2021 for $10.2 billion, including debt.
Terry, Cosm’s CEO, is a former National Football League offensive lineman for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Fox Sports executive. He’s also a managing director at Mirasol. Cosm has more than 250 employees and is headquartered in Los Angeles.
Cosm’s technology, through an acquisition of Evans & Sutherland, powers more than 700 planetariums around the world. The partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery is a revenue-sharing agreement and could eventually extend to other nonscripted entertainment content, such as concerts. There’s even the potential for using the technology to enhance scripted shows, said Raphael Poplock, Bleacher Report senior vice president of business development and strategic partnerships.
“It has extension potential well beyond sports,” said Poplock, who helped forge the partnership for Warner Bros. Discovery. “When I was in there, I was like, I got this for the NBA, the NHL, for soccer, for all of our sports portfolio. But that was also when ‘The Last of Us’ was killing it on HBO and Max. And I was thinking, geez, if you did a premiere for season two and really had an immersive, post-apocalyptic world, that could look pretty badass.”
Terry’s first priority is to use the TNT Sports deal as a template to get more live sports rights into the venues for fans. He also plans to build more domes in cities around the U.S.
“This Turner Sports deal is the first of its kind, but it’s not going to be the last,” Terry said.
WATCH: Sphere Entertainment shares surge as U2 performs.

Don’t miss these CNBC PRO stories: More

Labor strikes by the United Auto Workers union cost Stellantis about $3.2 billion, or 3 billion euros, in lost revenue through October, the company reported Tuesday.
Stellantis has announced tentative agreements with both the UAW and Unifor unions since Saturday.
Despite the labor strikes, Stellantis maintained its 2023 guidance, signaling the strength of its global footprint compared to GM and Ford.

United Auto Workers members rally outside Stellantis’ Ram 1500 plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan, after the union called a strike at the plant on Oct. 23, 2023.
Michael Wayland / CNBC

DETROIT — Labor strikes by the United Auto Workers union cost Stellantis about $3.2 billion, or 3 billion euros, in lost revenue through October, the company reported Tuesday.
That total also includes the effect of strikes by the Canadian union Unifor, but that work stoppage lasted only a few hours Monday. UAW workers began roughly six weeks of targeted U.S. strikes against Stellantis, General Motors and Ford Motor on Sept. 15.

Stellantis has announced tentative agreements with both North American unions since Saturday. However, members must still ratify the deals.
Stellantis Chief Financial Officer Natalie Knight declined to disclose how much the UAW strikes dented the company’s earnings, but she said the effect would likely be in line with GM and Ford.
Ford said the UAW strike cost it $1.3 billion in earnings before interest and taxes, including roughly $100 million during the third quarter. GM said the strike cost it $800 million as of last week, including $200 million during the third quarter.
Despite the labor strikes, Stellantis maintained its 2023 guidance, signaling the strength of its global footprint compared to its main U.S.-based competitors. Both Ford and GM pulled their 2023 guidance due to the volatility caused by the work stoppages.
Stellantis’ guidance includes double-digit adjusted operating income margin, positive industrial-free cash flows and completion of $1.6 billion, or 1.5 billion euros, in share buybacks.

Stellantis, which does not report quarterly earnings, reported global revenues Tuesday that were up 7% year over year in the third quarter to roughly $48.08 billion, or 45.1 billion euros. Its shipments during the third quarter were up 11% compared to a year earlier to more than 1.4 million units.Don’t miss these CNBC PRO stories: More

Pfizer reported a quarterly loss for the third quarter as the drugmaker recorded charges largely related to struggles for its Covid antiviral treatment Paxlovid and the Covid vaccine.
The results come two weeks after Pfizer slashed its full-year adjusted earnings and revenue guidance and launched a sweeping $3.5 billion cost-cutting plan.
Pfizer will hold an earnings call with investors at 10 a.m. ET.

CFOTO | Future Publishing | Getty Images

Pfizer on Tuesday reported a narrower-than-expected adjusted loss for the third quarter as the drugmaker recorded charges largely related to struggles for its Covid antiviral treatment Paxlovid and the Covid vaccine.
Pfizer said it recorded a $5.6 billion charge for inventory write-offs in the third quarter due to lower-than-expected use of Covid products. Of these write-offs, $4.7 billion is chalked up to Paxlovid and $900 million is attributed to the company’s vaccine.

The pharmaceutical giant also reiterated the full-year adjusted earnings and revenue guidance it announced two weeks ago, which is drastically lower than its initial projections due to weakening demand for its Covid products. That decline in demand also led Pfizer to announce a sweeping $3.5 billion cost-cutting plan at the same time. 
Those efforts were seen as necessary to shore up investor sentiment as Pfizer and its rivals such as Moderna struggle to navigate the rapid decline of their Covid businesses, which are transitioning to the commercial market in the U.S. this year.
Here’s what Pfizer reported for the third quarter compared to what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:

Loss per share: 17 cents, adjusted vs. 34 cents expected
Revenue: $13.23 billion vs. $13.34 billion expected

Pfizer reported third-quarter revenue of $13.23 billion, down 42% from the same period a year ago, due to the decline in sales of its Covid products.
The company’s Covid vaccine raked in $1.31 billion in sales, down 70% from the year-ago quarter. Analysts had expected the shot to bring in $1.53 billion in sales, according to FactSet estimates.

Paxlovid posted $202 million in revenue, a drop of 97%. Analysts had expected $613.5 million in sales of the drug, according to FactSet estimates.
Together, the products pulled in around $1.5 billion in revenue for the quarter. That compares with roughly $12 billion in sales during the same period a year ago.
For the third quarter, Pfizer booked a net loss of $2.38 billion, or 42 cents per share. That compares to a net income of $8.61 billion, or $1.51 per share, during the same period a year ago. 
Excluding certain items, the company’s loss per share was 17 cents for the quarter.
Pfizer reiterated the guidance it outlined in October: The company expects 2023 sales of $58 billion to $61 billion and full-year adjusted earnings of $1.45 to $1.65 per share.
The company anticipates that its Covid vaccine will rake in $11.5 billion in sales this year.
Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical giant expects its Covid antiviral treatment Paxlovid to bring in $1 billion in revenue. Pfizer has agreed to take eight million Paxlovid courses back early from the U.S. government, which is part of an effort to get more higher-priced sales of the drug on the commercial market.
Shares of Pfizer are down roughly 40% for the year through Monday’s close, putting the company’s market value at around $172.5 billion.

Pfizer’s non-Covid drugs

Excluding Covid products, Pfizer said revenue for the quarter grew 10% operationally.
The company said that growth was partly fueled by its new vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus, which entered the market during the quarter for seniors and expectant mothers. The shot, known as Abrysvo, posted $375 million in sales for the period. 
Recently acquired drugs also drove revenue. Biohaven Pharmaceuticals’ migraine drug Nurtec ODT and Global Blood Therapeutics’ sickle cell disease treatment Oxbryta drew in $233 million and $85 million, respectively.
The company said revenue was also fueled by strong sales of Vyndaqel drugs, which are used to treat a certain type of cardiomyopathy, a disease of the heart muscle. Those drugs booked $892 million in sales, up 48% from the third quarter of 2022.
A group of shots to protect against pneumococcal pneumonia also contributed, raking in $1.85 billion in sales for the quarter, up 15% from the year-ago period. 
Meanwhile, Pfizer’s blood thinner Eliquis posted $1.49 billion in revenue for the third quarter, up just 2% from a year ago. That came in slightly under analysts’ estimates of $1.54 billion, according to FactSet.
Eliquis, which is marketed in partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb, is among the first 10 drugs to face Medicare drug price negotiations.
Wells Fargo analyst Mohit Bansal said in a research note Tuesday that the operational revenue growth during the quarter “bodes well” for Pfizer to meet its full-year guidance of 6% to 8% growth compared to 2022. 

Pfizer drug pipeline, M&A

Pfizer is hoping to shift investor focus away from Covid toward its growth opportunities, including mergers and acquisitions and a record pipeline.
The company had a busy few months of product launches, which included a vaccine for RSV, an ulcerative colitis pill, a meningococcal vaccine and of course, the newest version of its Covid vaccine. 
Investors are waiting for updates on a midstage trial of Pfizer’s oral obesity pill danuglipron, which could potentially compete with Eli Lilly’s experimental obesity pill orforglipron. Positive data could solidify Pfizer as a viable competitor in the weight loss drug space, which Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have so far dominated.
Investors are also looking for any updates on Pfizer’s $43 billion acquisition of cancer therapy maker Seagen, a deal the company believes could contribute more than $10 billion in risk-adjusted sales by 2030. 
The European Commission, the executive body of the European Union, approved the proposed buyout earlier this month.
Pfizer will hold an earnings call with investors at 10 a.m. ET.Don’t miss these CNBC PRO stories: More

A tentative deal Monday between the United Auto Workers and General Motors brought to an end to contentious negotiations and roughly six weeks of labor strikes against the Detroit automakers.
UAW members with GM, Ford Motor and Stellantis must still vote to ratify the tentative agreements.
Fain and the union are clear winners at the end of bargaining, but others like Tesla and President Joe Biden may also come out ahead.

President Joe Biden speaks next to Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers, as he joins striking members of the union on the picket line outside GM’s Willow Run Distribution Center in Bellville, Michigan, Sept. 26, 2023.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters

DETROIT — A tentative deal Monday between the United Auto Workers and General Motors brought an end to contentious negotiations and roughly six weeks of labor strikes against the Detroit automakers.
UAW President Shawn Fain warned of a more combative union heading into the talks, but not many, if anyone, expected the union to strategically outmaneuver the companies like it did, leading to record deals for 146,000 UAW members with GM, Ford Motor and Stellantis.

While full details of the finalized deals are still emerging, they set 25% compounded raises over the 4½-year agreements, including an 11% increase upon ratification; reinstatement of cost-of-living adjustments; increased 401(k) company contributions; and enhanced profit-sharing bonuses.
UAW members must still vote to ratify the tentative agreements. In the cases of GM and Stellantis, local union leaders must also approve the deals before member voting.
Fain and the union are clear winners at the end of bargaining, but others like Tesla and President Joe Biden may also come out ahead. Counted among the losers, then, are the automakers but also potentially their investors — and electric vehicle ambitions.
“There’s lots of winners in this. So No. 1, of course, are the UAW members,” said Art Wheaton, a labor professor at The Worker Institute at Cornell University. “It was way more than I expected and thought possible … It is a home run.”

Winner: Shawn Fain

Fain became the face of the UAW during the talks, utilizing wide-ranging talking points such as fights against billionaires, workers’ rights and rebuilding the middle class to successfully bring national attention to the union’s talks with the Detroit automakers.

Thanks to his tough rhetoric and frequent live updates during the process, Fain is the face of the victory, too.

Loser: Big Three

The “Big Three” Detroit automakers underestimated Fain and the union’s strategy, which involved unprecedented, targeted strikes that kept the automakers on edge and helped to give the union leverage over the companies.
The result was record contracts for union employees that squeezed more out of the companies than many anticipated leading into the talks.

Potential winner: UAW organizing

Fain said Sunday the UAW plans to use these record deals to assist in its embattled organizing efforts, including at auto companies outside of the three Detroit automakers, citing talks with the “big five or big six” automakers.
Whether the UAW can organize foreign automakers in the U.S., also known as transplants, or electric vehicle companies such as Tesla or Rivian, will be determined in the coming years.
“They have the best chance now that they’ve had an over 40 years to organize the transplants and, perhaps, the nonunion electrical vehicle companies,” said Marick Masters, a business professor at Wayne State University in Detroit. “But it’s still a steep, uphill battle.”

Loser: Investors

Since the targeted strikes began Sept. 15, shares of Ford are down by 23%, GM is off by roughly 19%, and Stellantis, which has yet to release expected strike costs, fell about 4%.
It’s not immediately clear how much the deals will increase labor costs for the companies, which had argued that giving in to all of the union’s demands would affect their competitiveness and even long-term viability.
Deutsche Bank recently estimated the overall cost increase of the agreement at Ford to be $6.2 billion over the term of the agreement, $7.2 billion at GM, and $6.4 billion at Stellantis.
Ford said the UAW deal, if ratified by members, is going to add $850 to $900 in costs per vehicle assembled. Finance chief John Lawler last week said Ford will work to “find productivity and efficiencies and cost reductions throughout the company” to deliver on previously announced profitability targets.

Some winners, some losers: UAW members

Broadly speaking, the UAW members covered by the new deals are winners, however not everyone faced the financial toll of the union’s strikes against the Detroit automakers.
The union gradually added plant strikes as part of its targeted, or “stand-up,” strike strategy. That means members who were part of the initial strikes or were laid off due to the work stoppages were not paid beyond $500 weekly strike pay for nearly six weeks, while others were never called on to stop working.
Under the Ford deal, workers will be paid retroactively for hours worked on and after Oct. 23.

Potential loser: Nonunion plants

Nonunion plants from auto companies ranging from Tesla and Rivian to Toyota and Hyundai may be rethinking their pay structures for plant workers.
With the UAW’s record wins, such companies risk losing workers to their Detroit rivals’ plants. They may also be targets of increased organizing efforts by members seeking better wages like those for UAW members.
“By having the UAW win huge gains at their plants, now the nonunion companies have a choice: You either raise your pay and benefits to keep up with what the current rate is for the UAW or you face the chances of getting a union organizer and driving your plans,” Wheaton said.

Loser: EVs

To offset rising labor costs and address slower-than-expected demand for electric vehicles, Ford and GM each announced delays in production or investments for EVs.
GM has said it would delay at least three models in addition to expanding electric truck production by at least a year in Michigan until late-2025, while Ford said last week it would postpone $12 billion in planned spending on new EV manufacturing capacity.
Stellantis, which has invested heavily in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles for the U.S., has not announced any significant changes to its EV plans.
“Clearly the union came out ahead,” Masters said. “Companies will be able to survive the strike and be able to survive the rise in labor costs. But I’m not certain about whether or not they’re going to win competition for electrical vehicles.”

Potential winner: Tesla

The slower rollout of some EVs could allow Tesla more time to compete in the market with its current and upcoming products.
EV leader Tesla’s market share has declined in recent quarters amid increased competition, specifically in luxury vehicles, and the Detroit automakers were expected to increase competition in lower-priced models.
“It remains to be seen whether or not [the Detroit automakers are] going to be able to enter the fray with profitable vehicles, electric vehicles, in time to beat the competition and remain profitable on a scale that will enable them to endure as stand-alone entities do,” Masters said.

Winner: Biden

In a historic move, Biden decided to walk a picket line with UAW members to show his support and back up his self-proclamation of being the “most pro-union president in American history.”
While the UAW has withheld its re-endorsement of Biden so far, the support may sway the union to eventually do so. It also could sway critical blue-collar voters in the Midwest ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
Biden applauded the UAW’s deals with the Detroit automakers after speaking with Fain on Monday.
“These record agreements reward autoworkers who gave up much to keep the industry working and going during the financial crisis more than a decade ago,” Biden said at the White House. “These agreements ensure that the Big Three can still lead the world in quality and innovation.” More