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Lululemon beat on the top and bottom line in its fiscal first quarter.
The athletic apparel retailer now expects to see full-year revenue of $9.44 billion to $9.51 billion, up from a previous range of $9.31 billion and $9.41 billion.
China revenue alone grew 79% from the year-earlier period, when the country was still reeling from Covid restrictions and closures.

Lululemon reported earnings that beat Wall Street’s estimates on the top and bottom lines Thursday and raised its full-year guidance, bolstered by improvements in China and freight costs.
Shares of the company surged more than 12% in extended trading.

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Here’s how the retailer did in its fiscal first quarter compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts compiled by Refinitiv:

Earnings per share: $2.28 vs. $1.98 expected
Revenue: $2 billion vs. $1.93 billion expected

The company’s reported net income for the three-month period that ended April 30 was $290.4 million, or $2.28 per share, compared with $190 million, or $1.48 per share, a year earlier. 
Sales rose 24% to $2 billion, up from $1.61 billion a year earlier.
China revenue alone grew 79% from the year-ago period, when the country was still reeling from Covid restrictions and roughly one-third of Lululemon’s 71 China stores were closed for a period of time.
“Our Q1 results were strong as guests responded well to our product offering in all our markets across the globe. A meaningful acceleration in our China sales trend, coupled with lower air freight, contributed to our better than planned financial performance,” finance chief Meghan Frank said in a statement. “We are pleased with our momentum heading into the second quarter and for the full year as reflected in our revised outlook for FY23.”

The retailer now expects to see full-year revenue of $9.44 billion to $9.51 billion, up from a previous range of $9.31 billion and $9.41 billion, and beating Wall Street’s projections of $9.37 billion, according to Refinitiv. It expects full-year profit of $11.74 to $11.94 per share, compared with a prior range of $11.50 to $11.72. That also topped analysts’ expectations, which called for $11.61 per share, according to Refinitiv. 
Lululemon is expecting second-quarter sales to be in the range of $2.14 billion to $2.17 billion, representing growth of about 15%. Lululemon expects diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $2.47 to $2.52 for the period. That second-quarter guidance was largely in line with Wall Street expectations, according to Refinitiv.

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Lululemon shares surge in extended trading after a strong quarterly report.

The apparel retailer, which sells high-end yoga pants, shoes and other athletic wear, saw a 24% year-over-year increase in sales, even as it lapped strong comparisons in the year-ago period, which came during an easier macroeconomic backdrop.
This time last year, Lululemon had just raised its prices, but shoppers were still flocking to its stores and filling up their digital carts. And they weren’t yet feeling the pressure of persistent inflation.
Total comparable sales, which tracks digital revenue and sales at stores open for at least 12 months, were up 14% in the quarter, which fell short of estimates of 15.1%, according to StreetAccount.
While comparable store sales outperformed expectations in the most recent quarter — jumping 13%, compared with StreetAccount estimates of 8.3% growth — direct-to-consumer revenue fell short of projections, increasing 16% from the prior-year period, compared with the 22.3% jump analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount.
While DTC revenue increased compared to last year, it represented 42% of total sales, compared to 45% in the year-ago period.
Gross margins in the quarter increased 3.6 percentage points to 57.5%, driven by a reduction in airfreight expenses. That was above the 56.7% analysts had been expecting, according to StreetAccount.
By category, women’s sales increased 22%, men’s gained 17% and accessories were up 67%.
Inventory, which has been an ongoing issue for Lululemon, was up 24% at $1.58 billion at the end of the quarter and is expected to be up 20% in the next quarter. During an earnings call, company executives insisted its inventories are in line with sales growth and said they’re “comfortable” with its position.
Still, they acknowledged Lululemon has work to do.
“We will still have opportunities … to get our inventory [turnover rates] back to historical levels. We have seen some material improvements in supply chain and lead times but not all the way back to historical positioning,” said Frank during the earnings call. “So, too soon to say when we’ll move back to those levels, but that would be the goal over the longer term.”
The company expects to open 50 net new company-operated stores in the fiscal year. Thirty to 35 of them will be in international markets, with the majority planned for China.

Discretionary spending

While the company largely caters to higher-income consumers who tend to fare better against macroeconomic pressure, retailers across the industry have cited a pullback in discretionary spending and higher-ticket items. 
During Nordstrom’s earnings call Wednesday evening, executives noted the high-end customer is “pretty resilient,” but they’ve also become more cautious.
Meanwhile, Lululemon said it has seen no changes in its customers’ shopping habits.
“In terms of our guests’ metrics, they’ve remained very strong. We’ve seen no change in our cohort behavior, in terms of frequency of purchase or engagement,” said CEO Calvin McDonald. “In addition, in quarter one, transactions by existing guests increased 22% and our transactions by new guests increased 28%.”
During the current earnings season, some analysts cautioned soft goods retailers, or those that sell items such as clothes and shoes, could see a drop in margins because of increased promotional activity and an overall pullback across the sector. 
The results on that front have been mixed so far.
Many retailers have benefited from supply chain tail winds, such as reduced freight costs, that have boosted their margins. But for some, a lot of those savings evaporated because of increased promotions and upticks in shrink, among other headwinds.
That rang true for Foot Locker, but others in the category, including Gap and Urban Outfitters, were able to hold the line on promotions and saw the benefits to their margins. 

Connected fitness

Last month, CNBC reported Lululemon is looking to sell its at-home fitness business Mirror and has approached competitor Hydrow as a potential buyer.
The company announced it would acquire Mirror for $500 million at the height of the at-home fitness bonanza in June 2020 in a bet that people would continue to exercise at home, even after Covid pandemic restrictions ended and gyms reopened. 
The segment has since rebranded as Lululemon Studio but it has been weighing on its balance sheet. 
During its previous fiscal quarter, the company said it took $443 million in impairment charges related to Mirror and told investors hardware sales have come in below expectations. 
Lululemon acknowledged the at-home fitness market has been under pressure.
Similar to Peloton, Lululemon has begun pivoting the segment away from being solely hardware-focused.
Recently, the company launched a new digital app for Lululemon Studio, which costs the same as Peloton’s starting membership at $12.99 a month and gives customers access to its fitness classes without the need to buy its hardware. More

Boeing is further delaying the first crewed launch of its Starliner spacecraft after discovering additional issues with the capsule.
The Starliner crew flight test was most recently scheduled for July 21 and was due to carry a pair of NASA astronauts to the International Space Station.
Boeing VP Mark Nappi noted the discussion to delay the launch went to “the top levels of Boeing,” with CEO Dave Calhoun involved.

Boeing employees work on the company’s Starliner capsule in preparation for the first crew flight test, Jan. 19, 2023.
John Grant / Boeing

Boeing is further delaying the first crewed launch of its Starliner spacecraft after discovering additional issues with the capsule, the company announced alongside NASA on Thursday.
The Starliner crew flight test was most recently scheduled for July 21 and was due to carry a pair of NASA astronauts to the International Space Station. Boeing discovered two new problems with Starliner: one affecting the safety of its parachute systems and another involving a specific tape that was discovered to be flammable.

“We’ve decided to stand down the preparation for the CFT mission in order to correct these problems,” Boeing VP and Starliner manager Mark Nappi said during a press conference.
Nappi noted the discussion to delay the launch went to “the top levels of Boeing,” with CEO Dave Calhoun involved.

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The delay is the latest in a series of disruptions for Starliner’s first crewed flight. The July timeline was itself a delay from a previous target of April. A new flight target is pending, NASA and Boeing said Thursday.
The company has been developing its Starliner spacecraft under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, having won nearly $5 billion in contracts to build the capsule. Boeing’s program competes with Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which is poised to finish all six of its originally contracted NASA missions before Boeing flies its first.
Boeing was once seen as evenly matched with SpaceX in the race to launch NASA astronauts but fell behind due to development setbacks.

As a result of those delays, and of the fixed-cost nature of its NASA contract, Boeing has accrued $833 million in losses over more than two years on the Starliner program.
Nappi on Thursday emphasized Boeing is “still committed” to finishing work on the capsule and flying for NASA. More

CNN CEO Chris Licht hired longtime David Zaslav confidant David Leavy to be CNN’s new chief operating officer.
Leavy’s hiring will allow Licht to focus on editorial strategy and programming, which hasn’t been successful in the first year of Licht’s tenure.
CNN has struggled with low ratings and low morale in Licht’s first year as CEO.

Chris Licht, Chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide.
Courtesy: CNN

CNN CEO Chris Licht is about to get some help running his news network from a longtime close confidant of Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav.
Licht has hired David Leavy as CNN’s new chief operating officer, the company announced Thursday. Leavy is Warner Bros. Discovery’s chief corporate affairs officer and has worked closely with Zaslav for more than 15 years. Licht took over as CNN’s CEO in April 2022.

The move appears to give Zaslav an added window into what’s going on at CNN. Licht has drawn increasing scrutiny from his own employees amid falling ratings and questionable decision-making.
Reporters and staffers openly criticized Licht’s decision to air a Donald Trump town hall with legions of screaming fans last month. Licht has since acknowledged production issues while standing behind the decision to broadcast the live Trump town hall.
Placing Leavy next to Licht could be seen as a proxy for Zaslav. Bringing in an executive who has served as a consigliere to Zaslav for more than a decade suggests there are few boundaries or secrets between Licht and Zaslav.
Leavy’s hiring was actually Licht’s idea, not Zaslav’s, according to people familiar with the matter. Leavy had been helping Licht find a COO for CNN, acting as a sounding board for candidates. CNN initially made an offer to a female news executive, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions were private. But Licht wanted someone to start immediately, and that executive was still under contract at her current position.

David Leavy, chief operating officer, CNN Worldwide.
Source: CNN

When that fell through, Leavy suggested he may be a fit for the job. Both Licht and Leavy then went to Zaslav with the idea, and he signed off, said the people. A CNN spokesperson declined to comment.

Leavy will be based in Washington, D.C., near where his family lives.

Running CNN

Leavy is familiar with executives and operations across Warner Bros. Discovery and will now lead CNN’s marketing, public relations, advertising sales, facilities and other logistics.
Chris Marlin, CNN’s head of strategy and business operations, will now focus on generating alternative revenue streams for the network outside of television, the job he was initially hired to do, according to one of the people familiar with the hiring process. Such opportunities include potential partnerships or sponsorships, the person said.
Licht’s background is show producing, with stints running MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and CBS’ “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” Leavy’s hiring should allow Licht to focus more on programming and editorial strategy and less on logistics. Leavy will have no input on the editorial side of CNN.
Licht has made significant changes to CNN’s TV programming, including building a new morning show and prime-time lineup. The early results have been discouraging. CNN’s audience fell 16% in May from April in terms of both total primetime viewers and among adults aged 25 to 54, a prized demographic for advertisers, according to Nielsen data. Average daytime viewership fell 13% overall and 17% among adults aged 25 to 54.
CNN fired Don Lemon in April and is moving Kaitlin Collins to its 9 p.m. prime-time slot. Both anchors were part of Licht’s original morning show, which lasted less than a year.
CNN’s overall and prime-time viewership trailed both Fox News and MSNBC, according to Nielsen. Fox News Channel averaged 1.09 million total daytime viewers and 1.42 million total prime-time viewers in May. MSNBC averaged 736,000 daytime viewers and 1.16 million prime-time watchers. CNN averaged just 416,000 in daytime viewers and 494,000 in prime time.

David Zaslav, CEO, Warner Bros. Discovery.
Anjali Sundaram | CNBC

In the past few weeks, Zaslav has had conversations with some CNN employees to get their sense of how things are going, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the discussions were private.
But while Zaslav and Licht aren’t thrilled with CNN’s ratings, they’re linked together charting the go-forward strategy of CNN. Leavy’s hiring only underlines that connection.
WATCH: CNBC’s full interview with Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav More

Dollar General slashed its full year outlook after missing Wall Street’s estimates on the top and bottom lines.
The discounter, the fastest growing retailer by store count, said its core customers are reining in their spending amid a worsening economic backdrop.
The dollar store titan is planning to cut back on planned store openings, including its Popshelf format, which primarily sells discretionary merchandise.

A shopper at a Dollar General store
Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Dollar General’s core customers are reining in their spending amid a worse-than-expected macroeconomic backdrop, leading the discounter to slash its full-year outlook after a dismal earnings report Thursday. 
Shares of Dollar General plunged nearly 20% Thursday, closing at $161.86 after the retailer missed estimates on the top and bottom lines. 

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Here’s how Dollar General did in its first fiscal quarter compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:

Earnings per share: $2.34 vs. $2.38 expected
Revenue: $9.34 billion vs. $9.46 billion expected

The company’s reported net income for the three-month period that ended May 5 was $514.4 million, or $2.34 per share, compared with $552.7 million, or $2.41 per share, a year earlier. 
Revenue rose to $9.3 billion, up nearly 7% from $8.8 billion a year earlier. 
Same-store sales, a key industry metric, increased 1.6%, but the growth was half of the 3.8% jump that analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount. The growth was driven by strength in consumables, but was offset by slowdowns in seasonal, home and apparel categories, which carry higher margins than food. 
In a news release, CEO Jeff Owen said the macroeconomic environment “has been more challenging than expected, particularly for our core consumer.” The company believes those headwinds are having a “significant impact” on its customers’ “spending levels and behaviors.”

“We are controlling what we can control and have made significant progress improving our execution on multiple fronts,” he said. 
The company slashed its full-year outlook for fiscal 2023. It now expects net sales to rise between 3.5% and 5%, compared with a previous range of 5.5% to 6% growth. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv had expected full year sales to grow 5.7%.
Dollar General anticipates same-store sales will increase about 1% to 2%, compared with a previous range of 3% to 3.5%. Analysts had been expecting same-store sales to grow 3.4%, according to Street Account. 
The company now expects earnings per share in the range of flat to down 8% from the prior year, compared with a previous guidance of up 4% to 6%. Analysts had been expecting earnings per share to be up 4.3%, according to Refinitiv.  

Store opening pullback

Dollar General, the fastest-growing retailer by store count, has been bullish on its prospects and announced more store openings than any other retailer in 2022, according to Coresight Research, a retail-focused advisory firm. It previously committed to opening 1,050 more new stores in fiscal 2023, including around 150 new Popshelf stores, which primarily sell discretionary items and cater to customers with higher incomes.

Dollar General is expanding its new store concept, Popshelf. The store caters to more affluent suburban shoppers.
Dollar General

Dollar General is dialing back the expansion. The company now expects to open only 90 new Popshelf stores, bringing the total planned new doors in fiscal 2023 to 990.
“We believe this is a prudent reduction based on the current environment and as other retailers navigate what this environment means for their businesses, we believe there may be more favorable real estate opportunities to come,” executives said on an earnings call.
It noted Popshelf sales are currently softer than they previously were, but it’s still “pleased” with the customer response to the shops.
During the quarter, Dollar General – like many of its customers – was also hit by steep interest rate hikes. Interest expenses in the quarter jumped 109.3% to $83 million, compared with $39.7 million in the year-ago period, which was driven by higher average borrowings and higher interest rates, it said. 
It did see its margins jump by 0.3 percentage point, which it attributed to higher inventory markups and decreased transportation costs. But the growth was offset by a jump in shrink, markdowns, inventory damage and more food sales than in discretionary categories.  
By the end of the quarter, merchandise inventories, at cost, were $7.3 billion, up 14.7% from $6.1 billion a year earlier on a per-store basis. The increase was driven by product cost inflation, the company said.
Besides its financial woes, the company has also been facing mounting pressure to improve working conditions for its employees from federal regulators, activists and staff. It has racked up more than $21 million in fines from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration for a slew of safety hazards, including blocked fire exits, blocked electrical outlets and dangerous levels of clutter. 
During its annual meeting Wednesday, shareholders approved a resolution to commission an independent audit into worker safety. It’s unclear if the resolution is binding and if the retailer will conduct the audit.
Read the full earnings release here. More

Sean “Diddy” Combs alleges spirits giant Diageo racially discriminated against and neglected his vodka and tequila brands.
The rapper and entrepreneur claimed the company typecast his brands as “urban” and favored other celebrity brands, such as George Clooney’s Casamigos.
Combs’ lawyers are seeking a court order for “equal treatment” they say Diageo “contractually promised” under a years-long partnership.

Diddy attends The After, hosted by the entrepreneur and Doja Cat, powered by Ciroc Premium Vodka and DeLeon Tequila at Club Love in New York City, May 1, 2023.
Shareif Ziyadat | Getty Images

Sean “Diddy” Combs is suing multinational spirits giant Diageo for alleged racial discrimination in the handling of his vodka and tequila brands, which Combs claims the company typecast as “Black brands.”
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday with the New York Supreme Court in Manhattan, Combs’ lawyers accuse Diageo of neglecting his Ciroc vodka and DeLeon tequila brands, and of marginalizing their appeal by marketing them as “urban” brands.

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The rapper and entrepreneur, formerly known by stage names Puffy Daddy and P. Diddy, claimed Diageo also “sabotaged” his DeLeon brand tequila with shoddy packaging that “made the product look cheap,” while showing other celebrity brands, such as actor George Clooney’s Casamigos tequila, more attention and resources.
Diageo acquired Clooney’s Casamigos in 2017 for $1 billion. It’s the top-selling U.S. tequila brand, representing 12.6% of tequila sales in U.S. retail stores, according to data from Nielsen and consulting firm Bump Williams.
Combs Wines and Spirits entered an equal partnership with Diageo in 2007 for the marketing and promotion of Ciroc. Following the success of the partnership, Diageo co-purchased the DeLeon tequila brand with Combs’ company in 2013.
Diageo, a multibillion-dollar, publicly traded spirits company based in London, owns more than 200 brands, including the Don Julio tequila brand.
According to court documents, in 2022, Don Julio was distributed in 36% of retail outlets, compared with 34.4% for Casamigos, and just 3.3% for Combs’ DeLeon.

Combs claims his brands have been “starved” of production, distribution and sales resources. According to the lawsuit, Diageo executive Stephen Rust told Combs in 2019 race was among the reasons the company had limited its distribution of DeLeon and Ciroc. If Combs Wines and Spirits were owned by Martha Stewart, his brands would be distributed more broadly, Rust allegedly said according to the lawsuit.
In a statement to CNBC, Diageo called the matter a “business dispute.”
“Our steadfast commitment to diversity within our company and the communities we serve is something we take very seriously. We categorically deny the allegations that have been made and will vigorously defend ourselves in the appropriate forum,” a Diageo spokesperson said in the statement.
The company said it has had a “productive and mutually beneficial relationship” with Combs for 15 years, “making significant investments that have resulted in financial success for all involved.”
“We are disappointed our efforts to resolve this business dispute amicably have been ignored, and that Mr. Combs has chosen to damage a productive and valued partnership. While we respect Mr. Combs as an artist and entrepreneur, his allegations lack merit, and we are confident the facts will show that he has been treated fairly,” the company said in its statement.
Combs’ lawyers are seeking a court order for “equal treatment” they say Diageo “contractually promised” under the partnership.
They’re also seeking “billions of dollars in damages due to Diageo’s neglect and breaches” via separate legal proceedings. More

Actor Mark Wahlberg is pushing Nevada lawmakers to pass a package of tax credits worth $190 million annually to woo film production to Las Vegas.
Sony Pictures Entertainment and Howard Hughes Corporation are co-sponsors of the bill.
Proponents say drawing film production to Las Vegas will create jobs and diversify the state’s booming economy.

One of Las Vegas’s more famous residents is aiming to work closer to home.
Actor Mark Wahlberg lobbied Nevada state lawmakers Wednesday to pass a bill that would coax more film production to Las Vegas.

“I would love to see us building studios, creating jobs and just diversifying the economy,” Wahlberg told CNBC in an interview outside the Nevada Legislature. “I’ve moved my last film here. I’m shooting another film here coming up in the summertime.”
Nevada state lawmakers are set to vote on a bill that would increase tax credits for film production from $10 million to a whopping $190 million annually over the next 20 years.
“I think there’s so much more opportunity to be created here. There’s so much growth and so much potential, it’s a wonderful opportunity for everybody to prosper,” Wahlberg said.
Proponents of the bill point to Georgia’s tax incentives, which have helped double the state’s film industry jobs since 2011.
“[The bill is] something that’s sustainable, and it goes long term into the future. It provides sustainability for jobs,” said state Sen. Roberta Lange, a Democrat in Las Vegas, who is sponsoring the legislation alongside Birtcher Development, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Howard Hughes Corp.

Sony Pictures CEO Tony Vinciquerra appeared virtually before state legislators Wednesday to lobby for the passage. The electronics giant has committed to spend $1 billion on film production in Nevada over a decade, but only if the tax incentive package, known as the Nevada Film Studio Infrastructure Act, passes.
Howard Hughes CEO David O’Reilly also spoke in support of the incentives, appearing before legislators in person Wednesday. The company has promised to invest $700 million to build a movie studio campus in the Summerlin, a community in southern Nevada, if the bill passes.
“Our employees and the future of Summerlin are inextricably linked with the Nevada economy,” O’Reilly said. “If we can strengthen, diversify and grow by bringing the film industry here, that will benefit all of us.”
The proposed bill would clear the path for development of two movie studio sites: Howard Hughes’ location in Summerlin and another by Birtcher called Las Vegas Media Campus. That studio would sit on the University of Nevada Las Vegas technology park, which would also include educational facilities for job training in the film industry.
Once those studios are up and running, production companies could apply for tax credits which would make up 30% of production and construction costs for films, up from the current level of 15%. The credits would be transferrable, meaning they could be sold to other companies.
“That money is only earned if money is spent here,” O’Reilly told CNBC. “For a company to earn $190 million tax credit … they would have to spend $633 million filming and creating economic development for this whole valley.”
O’Reilly noted that if Sony gets the tax incentives it’s hoping for, the promised investment will bring an estimated 16,000 jobs to the region, with most of them unionized, plus as many as 10,000 construction jobs.
Opponents of the tax incentives argue the state’s financial resources could be more efficiently deployed elsewhere. Other states have seen film production tax credits become a financial drain, according to analysis by the Nevada Policy Research Institute.
“Despite the allure and glamour of the film industry, the hard economic reality is that these tax credits often struggle to pay for themselves, let alone generate a surplus,” the organization said in a statement to CNBC.

Diversifying the landscape

Nevada’s economy is booming, largely due to the gaming and tourism industry. The state just set a record with $1.1 billion in monthly gross gaming revenue, the best April ever for GGR. That makes the 26th month in a row that Nevada GGR has topped $1 billion.
And in 2022, 43% of Nevada’s gross domestic product came from the state’s tourism industry, amounting to $90.7 billion in economic impact, according to the Nevada Resort Association.
The state’s reliance on gaming and leisure have proven problematic in the past, most recently during the recent Covid lockdowns and associated travel restrictions.
Northern Nevada has succeeded in enticing tech companies to relocate there, most notably the Tesla Gigafactory.
— CNBC’s Jessica Golden contributed to this report. More

The Pentagon said Thursday that it has agreed to purchase Starlink satellite internet terminals from Elon Musk’s SpaceX for use in Ukraine.
The Pentagon declined to offer additional contract details, including the price, scope and timeline of the delivery.
Starlink is SpaceX’s global network of over 4,000 satellites that provides service to more than 50 countries.

Ukrainian forces set up Starlink satellite receivers to provide connection for civilians at Independence Square after the withdrawal of the Russian army from Kherson to the eastern bank of Dnieper River, Ukraine, on November 13, 2022.
Metin Atkas | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon said Thursday it has agreed to purchase Starlink satellite internet terminals from Elon Musk’s SpaceX for use in Ukraine as Kyiv continues to defend itself against a full-scale Russian invasion.
“We continue to work with a range of global partners to ensure Ukraine has the satellite and communication capabilities they need. Satellite communications constitute a vital layer in Ukraine’s overall communications network and the department contracts with Starlink for services of this type,” the Pentagon said in a statement to CNBC.

The Pentagon declined to offer additional contract details, including the price, scope and timeline of the delivery.
“For operational security reasons and due to the critical nature of these systems — we do not have additional information regarding specific capabilities, contracts or partners to provide at this time,” the statement added.
Bloomberg first reported the contract on Thursday. SpaceX did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

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The first Starlink terminals in Ukraine arrived four days after Russian troops poured over the nation’s border in what became the largest air, land and sea assault in Europe since World War II.
Ukraine digital minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who had previously asked Musk for the capability on Twitter, posted that Starlink was “here” in Ukraine — with a photo showing more than two dozen boxes in the back of a truck.

Musk said in October that SpaceX wouldn’t be able to continue funding use of Starlink terminals in the country out of its own coffers “indefinitely,” after a report from CNN said the company had asked the Pentagon to cover the cost.
Western officials have previously hailed Musk’s decision to equip Ukraine with Starlink internet, citing the colossal and indiscriminate Russian shelling on civilian infrastructure that has left large swaths of the country without communications.
Musk reportedly told the Pentagon in October he would no longer finance the Starlink terminals in Ukraine as the country prepared to fight through the harsh winter months. However, the billionaire reversed course and did continue to fund the service.

‘Never intended to be weaponized’

Starlink is SpaceX’s global network of over 4,000 satellites that provides service to more than 50 countries. The company has grown Starlink to more than 1.5 million customers, and is weekly launching batches of additional satellites to expand the network’s capability. The U.S. has approved a plan to expand to as many as 7,500 satellites in orbit.
SpaceX has steadily expanded Starlink’s product offerings in recent years, selling services to residential, business, RV, maritime and aviation customers.
Earlier this year, Gwynne Shotwell, president and chief operating officer, said SpaceX has been “really pleased to be able to provide Ukraine connectivity and help them in their fight for freedom,” but she emphasized that Starlink “was never intended to be weaponized.”
“Ukrainians have leveraged it in ways that were unintentional and not part of any agreement, so we have to work on that at Starlink,” Shotwell said in February.
Shotwell added that Ukraine using Starlink as a communications system “for the military is fine, but our intent was never to have them use it for offensive purposes.”
She specifically noted reports about Ukraine using Starlink “on drones.” Ukrainian soldiers have described using it to connect drones and identify and destroy enemy targets, the Times of London reported in March 2022.
“I’m not going to go into the details; there are things that we can do to limit their ability to do that … there are things that we can do and have done,” Shotwell said. More

Walmart is trying to reduce waste by using paper mailers and technology that makes custom-fit cardboard boxes.
The nation’s largest retailer will also allow customers to skip plastic bags when retrieving curbside pickup orders.
Target and Amazon have also looked for ways to reduce packaging and cater to customers who care more about sustainability.

Walmart is swapping out plastic mailers for paper mailers that customers can recycle.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. —‎‏ Shoppers who click the “buy” button on Walmart’s website and pick up items curbside will soon spot a difference: new packaging.
The nation’s largest retailer will roll out changes to eliminate waste across its business, it said Thursday. Walmart will swap plastic mailers for paper ones that can be recycled curbside.

It will add made-to-fit technology in about half of its fulfillment centers, so each shipped box uses less material and more boxes can fit on each truckload. And by the end of the year, customers at all of its stores will be able to choose to skip plastic bags when retrieving curbside pickup orders.
“It’s about making sustainability the everyday choice for our customers,” said Jane Ewing, Walmart’s senior vice president of sustainability. “And it’s about making sure the path of least resistance is the most sustainable one.”
She said the company aims to offer products that are better for the planet, but without the higher price tag.
Walmart wants to reduce packaging as online sales become a bigger part of its business. Digital transactions now make up about 13% of total annual sales for Walmart in the U.S. The moves can also appeal to customers who care about the environment, or have grown tired of discarded boxes and plastic bags piling up at their homes.
For a retailer with a reach as staggering as Walmart’s, a change can quickly add up. The company’s switch to paper mailers is expected to eliminate more than 2,000 tons of plastic from circulation in the U.S. by the end of January.

Other retailers are trying to cut down on packaging and cater to customers who care about sustainability, too. Amazon has also used more made-to-fit packaging after investing two years ago in CMC, a company that makes the e-commerce giant’s packaging machine.
It is also working with vendors to ship more packages in their own containers rather than putting them in an additional box. More than 10% of its parcels last year were shipped without Amazon packaging, and the company said it plans to increase that share.
Amazon allows customers to save a dollar or two by consolidating purchases into a single package. Walmart began offering shoppers a similar option in March, but without a financial incentive.
Meanwhile, Target has replaced bubble wrap with recyclable paper cushioning. Last year, it launched products for its household essentials brand Everspring that cut back on waste with reusable glass cleaning spray bottles. At three stores, it’s piloting returnable bags to reduce single-use bags.
Along with appealing to shoppers, the sustainability push can come with cost benefits. With made-to-fit packaging, for example, each box requires less material and plastic air pillows that cushion an item — making truckloads more efficient. The box changes also reduce labor for workers who previously made and taped the containers by hand.
Correction: Last year, Target launched products for its household essentials brand Everspring that cut back on waste with reusable glass cleaning spray bottles. An earlier version misstated the move. More