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Bed Bath & Beyond declared bankruptcy but is hoping it can find a buyer willing to keep operations running in some fashion.
“Bed Bath & Beyond has pulled off long shot transactions several times in the last six months, so nobody should think Bed Bath & Beyond will not be able to do so again,” an executive said in filings.
The home goods retailer was a meme stock, and its many retail investors are expected to be “wiped out,” one expert told CNBC.

Store closing sale announcement at a Bed Bath & Beyond indoor mall in northern Idaho. 
Don & Melinda Crawford | Universal Images Group | Getty Images

Bed Bath & Beyond is confident it can offload its names and stores after it declared bankruptcy, but shareholders are expected to be wiped out as its stock plummets. 
The home goods retailer, which declared bankruptcy Sunday after a series of failed Hail Mary efforts to keep operations running, detailed its descent to insolvency in a series of court filings. But the company noted it is still marketing the business to avoid outright liquidation. 

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“While the commencement of a full chain wind-down is necessitated by economic realities, Bed Bath & Beyond has and will continue to market their businesses as a going-concern, including the buybuy Baby business,” the company’s chief financial officer and chief restructuring officer Holly Etlin wrote in a Sunday declaration to New Jersey’s bankruptcy court. 
“Bed Bath & Beyond has pulled off long shot transactions several times in the last six months, so nobody should think Bed Bath & Beyond will not be able to do so again. To the contrary, Bed Bath & Beyond and its professionals will make every effort to salvage all or a portion of operations for the benefit of all stakeholders,” she added.
Shares of the company closed about 36% lower on Monday, giving it a market value of around $88 million. The stock has fallen about 90% this year. Last April, it was trading around $20 a share but closed at 18 cents on Monday.
Whatever money Bed Bath is able to generate in its liquidation and sale efforts will go to its secured creditors and bondholders, said Eric Snyder, chairman of the bankruptcy department at the law firm Wilk Auslander. He said its shareholders, including its many retail investors who took advantage of its short-lived meme stock craze, will be “wiped out.” 
“There’s always some speculation that someone will come in and save the company and there’ll be something for equity but that was never really in the cards here,” said Snyder. “At the end of the day it’s just another story of another retailer whose bond holders and secured creditors are just going to take it on the chin.”

The company is hoping a buyer will be willing to purchase either Bed Bath & Beyond or Buy Buy Baby as standalone businesses, buy the brands’ intellectual property and perhaps take on a few of their better performing stores.
Bidders could purchase either of the brands and keep them open in a variety of ways, or just bid on their assets and inventory. 
Buyers who would be willing to purchase the businesses could end up paying more for the company’s intangible value, its so-called goodwill, than what they would have spent on just its assets, said Snyder.
The likelihood of finding a buyer will come down to how much Bed Bath and Buy Buy Baby’s names are worth. 
The valuation of the company and its intellectual property is unclear. In its most recent quarterly securities filing, the retailer noted the intangible value of trade names and trademarks was just $13.4 million. 
As of late November, Bed Bath & Beyond had about $4.4 billion in assets and $5.2 billion in debts, court filings show. 
The company is open to taking bids for all of its assets and will accept the strongest package it receives, even if it means the retailer will cease to exist altogether, it said in filings. 
“The Debtors are seeking to sell all of their assets, or any portion thereof, either as a going concern or as a liquidation,” court records say. 
“These assets include, but are not limited to, the Debtors’ going-concern business, unexpired leases, executory contracts, equipment, inventory, supplies, intellectual property, insurance proceeds, prepaid expenses and deposits, and books and records, in each case, free and clear of all liens, claims, interests, or other encumbrances,” according to the records.
Bed Bath is already in the process of starting liquidation sales at its stores but said it will “pivot away” from store closings if it secures a successful sale. The company expects store sales to be completed and properties vacated by June 30, with expected proceeds of about $718 million.
Still, the company has begun the liquidation process and is not running the stores as usual, which indicates Bed Bath has little faith it will find a buyer willing to keep it alive in some fashion, said Snyder. 
“I actually think they were able to pull a genie out of a hat once or twice by staving off bankruptcy but at the end of the day, it’s a broken model and they had lost a lot of faith from not only investors but suppliers, which are arguably more important,” said Snyder, who has been a bankruptcy lawyer for 30 years.
“Secured creditors, they get creditor fatigue and they’re not going to let them sit around and fund losses while they find a buyer because they tried to do that outside the bankruptcy,” he said.
The company is asking the courts to approve a bid deadline of May 28 and an auction date for June 2.  More

CNN fired anchor Don Lemon after 17 years at the news network.
Lemon’s departure comes in the wake of sexist comments and reports that he mistreated women he worked with during his tenure at CNN.
The primetime anchor’s firing is the latest high-profile media exit after Tucker Carlson left Fox News and Jeff Shell parted ways with NBCUniversal.

Television anchor Don Lemon arrives at the 2022 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Award Gala at the Hilton Midtown in New York City on December 6, 2022.
Angela Weiss | AFP | Getty Images

CNN on Monday fired anchor Don Lemon in the wake of sexist on-air comments and reports that he mistreated female coworkers during his 17 years at the network.
An hour before Lemon announced his termination, Fox News said that right-wing prime-time host Tucker Carlson is leaving the cable network immediately. On Sunday, NBCUniversal said CEO Jeff Shell has left his role due to an “inappropriate relationship with a woman in the company.”

Lemon, who had hosted “CNN This Morning” as scheduled, said his agent informed him about his termination Monday morning. Lemon said he was “stunned” by the news.
“I would have thought that someone in management would have had the decency to tell me directly,” Lemon, 57, said in a Twitter post. “At no time was I ever given any indication that I would not be able to continue to do the work I have loved at this network.”
Lemon added that “it is clear that there are some larger issues at play,” without offering more details.
CNN, a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, later Monday disputed Lemon’s account of his departure. The network called Lemon’s comments “inaccurate,” saying he was “offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter.”
Shortly after Lemon first tweeted that he was fired, the network’s CEO, Chris Licht, said the anchor and CNN “parted ways.”

“Don will forever be a part of the CNN family, and we thank him for his contributions over the past 17 years,” the network said in a statement. “We wish him well and will be cheering him on in his future endeavors.”
CNN added that the morning show Lemon hosted alongside anchors Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins would continue to run. The program has been on air for nearly six months, and the network said it is “committed to its success.”
Lemon faced backlash in February for his remarks about Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley shortly after she announced a bid for the White House.
“Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime, sorry. A woman is considered to be in their prime in 20s and 30s and maybe 40s,” Lemon said on the air of the 51-year-old Haley.
Lemon apologized for his remarks about Haley.
Licht also said in late February that Lemon would undergo formal training because of the the sexist comments. The network head earlier this month told Semafor earlier this month that both CNN and Lemon have “moved on” from the issue.
Lemon’s firing also follows a lengthy Variety story this month that alleged the anchor had a history of threatening and making offensive remarks to female staffers at CNN.
The report was based on more than a dozen former and current colleagues of Lemon, Variety said. Most of them spoke anonymously to the outlet. 
Variety’s report says that, among other incidents, Lemon got angry when he was passed over for a reporting assignment in favor of former CNN correspondent Kyra Phillips in 2008. Lemon had been anchoring CNN’s “Live From” program at the time.
Phillips later received two threatening texts from an unknown sender, and CNN leadership eventually traced them back to Lemon, according to Variety.
A spokesperson for Lemon criticized the article at the time it was published, telling NBC News in a statement that it was “amazing and disappointing that Variety would be so reckless.”
The spokesperson told NBC that Variety’s story is “riddled with patently false anecdotes and no concrete evidence, is entirely based on unsourced, unsubstantiated, 15-year-old anonymous gossip.”
Before joining CNN in 2006, Lemon previously served as an anchor at NBC Chicago and correspondent for NBC News, the “TODAY” show and “NBC Nightly News.”
He has served as the prime-time anchor of CNN’s “Don Lemon Tonight” for more than eight years, the network’s website says. 
More than a year ago, CNN President Jeff Zucker resigned for failing to disclose a romantic relationship with a high-ranking colleague.
CNN also fired former prime-time anchor Chris Cuomo a year earlier. The network’s decision followed an investigation by New York Attorney General Letitia James that revealed how Cuomo helped his brother and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo respond to sexual harassment allegations. 
Cuomo filed an arbitration complaint against CNN last year, seeking $125 million for wrongful termination. That case is still pending.
Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the parent company of NBC and CNBC. More

Canadian businessman Steve Apostolopoulos says he’s still in the hunt for the Washington Commanders with a reported $6 billion bid.
He says it’s a head-to-head process as another group led by Josh Harris made a similar bid earlier this month.

The saga over Washington’s embattled football team might not be over quite yet.
Canadian billionaire Steve Apostolopoulos appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Monday, telling Andrew Ross Sorkin that he’s “still in the hunt” when it comes to purchasing the Washington Commanders.

“I want to respect the process, but it is a head-to-head process right now,” he said.
Earlier this month, an ownership group led by Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils owner Josh Harris made a bid worth an estimated $6 billion.
That bid is said to be awaiting approval from the NFL and its owners.
Both the league and Harris’ ownership group declined to comment on Apostolopoulos’ remarks.
Apostolopoulos’ bid is also said to be around $6 billion, according to reports.

The Toronto businessman is a managing partner of the real estate firm Triple Group of Companies and he’s the founder of the private equity firm Six Ventures.
He touted the attractiveness of the Washington sports team during his appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “It is a tremendous city, it is a tremendous team, there is lots of great things happening in that market and we are real estate guys, so we look from real estate standpoint as well.”
Commanders owner Dan Snyder announced in November that he was putting the Commanders up for sale following an investigation that found the organization’s workplace to be “highly unprofessional.” More

Greater bay technology’s transformation into a mythical beast has been speedy. The startup, which specialises in super-fast lithium-battery charging, was launched in late 2020. Only 19 months later it had reached a valuation of $1bn, making it a unicorn (ie, an unlisted firm valued at or above that amount). More

The consumer health business of Johnson & Johnson is valued at $40 billion ahead of its initial public offering later this year, sources told The Wall Street Journal.
Kenvue, the soon-to-be spinoff of J&J, aims to raise $3.5 billion or more in the offering.
Kenvue plans to start meeting with prospective investors as early as this week, kicking off an IPO roadshow.
The consumer health business makes Band-Aid bandages, skin care products under the brands Neutrogena and Aveeno, pain relief drug Tylenol and J&J baby powder. 

Johnson & Johnson logo
SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty Images

Johnson & Johnson’s consumer health business is valued at $40 billion ahead of its initial public offering later this year, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. 
The soon-to-be spinoff Kenvue aims to raise $3.5 billion or more in the offering, people familiar with the matter told the Journal.

The newspaper noted that “the share sale would be by far the biggest of what so far has been a quiet year for IPOs.”
Kenvue plans to meet with prospective investors as early as Monday, the sources told the Journal. 
When asked about the Journal’s report, J&J spokesperson Tesia Williams told CNBC, “Unfortunately, I do not have any information to provide.”
J&J previously said it expects to complete the separation from Kenvue by mid- to late 2023. 
The consumer staples giant has also said it will retain majority ownership of Kenvue, with plans to trim the rest of its stake later in the year. 

Kenvue’s stock would trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker KVUE. 
J&J unveiled its plan to spin off its consumer health business in late 2021. That division makes Band-Aid bandages, skin care products under the brands Neutrogena and Aveeno, pain relief drug Tylenol and J&J’s baby powder. 
J&J still faces thousands of allegations that its talc baby powder and other talc products caused cancer.
A federal bankruptcy judge last week halted nearly 40,000 talc lawsuits through mid-June. That decision was part of J&J’s second attempt to settle talc claims in bankruptcy proceedings.
The temporary hold will give J&J time to try to win court approval of its $8.9 billion proposed settlement with plaintiffs in the talc cases.
Kenvue will assume talc-related liabilities that arise outside the U.S. and Canada, according to its IPO filing. More

Disney is beginning its second round of layoffs Monday. Following this round, 4,000 people will have been laid off from the company.
A third round is expected to start before the beginning of the summer, Disney officials said.
Disney plans to reduce its workforce by 7,000 jobs as part of a larger reorganization that will see the company cut $5.5 billion in costs.

Bob Iger, CEO, Disney, during CNBC interview, Feb. 9, 2023.
Randy Shropshire | CNBC

Disney began its second, larger wave of layoffs Monday, bringing total job cuts in recent weeks to 4,000 when the latest round is completed.
Earlier this year, Disney said it would slash 7,000 jobs from its workforce as part of a larger reorganization of the company that will see it cut costs by $5.5 billion. The announcement was made during Bob Iger’s first earnings call since returning as CEO.

Disney officials said Monday that they don’t take the departure of so many colleagues lightly. Eliminating 7,000 jobs from its workforce equates to about 3% of the roughly 220,000 people Disney employed as of Oct. 1, according to a securities filing, with roughly 166,000 in the U.S. and about 54,000 internationally.
Disney notified employees of a first wave of layoffs on March 27, which saw cuts in its metaverse strategies unit and part of its Beijing office.
The second round, which will be completed Thursday, will affect various divisions across the company, including Disney Entertainment and ESPN, as well as Disney Parks, Experiences and Products. The jobs affected will span across the country from Burbank, California, to New York and Connecticut. CNBC reported last week layoffs would soon commence at ESPN.
The company said it expects to start its third wave of layoffs before the beginning of the summer in order to reach the 7,000 target. Disney has previously said it doesn’t expect layoffs to affect its hourly workers at its parks and resorts.  
Iger said earlier this year Disney’s cost reductions would include cutting $3 billion in content expenses, excluding sports, and the remaining $2.5 billion from noncontent cuts. At that point, Disney executives said about $1 billion in cost-cutting had already been underway since last quarter.
The cost-cutting measures at Disney come as media companies have been pulling back on content spending — and spending in general — as they look to make their streaming businesses profitable. The reorganization was also put into place when Disney was still in the midst of a proxy fight with Nelson Peltz and his firm Trian Management. Soon after the announcement, Peltz called off his proxy war. More

Subway’s same-store sales climbed 12.1% in the first quarter, showing that its turnaround is taking hold.
The sandwich chain is seeking to sell itself, and a deal could be done as early as late May.
Although privately owned, Subway has recently shared periodic sales updates as it has undertaken a turnaround.

In this photo illustration, a Subway sandwich is seen on a table at a Subway restaurant on January 12, 2023 in Austin, Texas.
Brandon Bell | Getty Images

Sandwich chain Subway reported double-digit same-store sales growth in the first quarter, showing its turnaround taking hold as the company seeks to sell itself.
In February, Subway confirmed that it hired JPMorgan to advise it on a potential sale. The restaurant company is reportedly seeking a valuation of at least $10 billion, and the auction is heading into its second round, according to The Wall Street Journal. Subway CEO John Chidsey told Restaurant Business Online that a deal is expected to be done by the end of May or early June.

The company’s improved performance could help it achieve that valuation. Subway said it saw traffic growth in the first quarter, although price hikes and comparisons to last year’s Covid omicron outbreaks also likely boosted its numbers.
Globally, Subway’s same-store sales climbed 12.1%, and its digital sales increased 11.4%. In North America, same-store sales grew 11.7%, and digital sales soared 21.2%.
The company is not required to disclose its financial results because it’s privately owned. However, Subway has recently shared periodic sales updates as it has undertaken a turnaround.
Under Chidsey’s leadership, Subway’s strategy has involved overhauling its menu, updating its technology and mobile app and improving franchisee profitability. Chidsey was also responsible for pushing the founders’ families to consider selling, Restaurant Business Online reported.
The foundation for Subway co-founder Peter Buck, who died in November 2021, announced earlier this year that he left his 50% ownership to the organization. The family of co-founder Fred DeLuca, who died six years earlier, owns the other half of the company.

Part of Subway’s attempted comeback has also focused on shifting its franchisees from single-unit operators to those who operate more restaurants. On April 17, Subway announced it had transferred 230 locations to five multi-unit franchisees to operate.
Subway has more than 37,000 locations across more than 100 countries. The majority of those locations are in the U.S., although its domestic footprint has shrunk considerably over the last decade. Its popular $5 footlong sandwich deal and aggressive development put pressure on franchisees’ profits. The chain was hurt further by the high-profile trial of former spokesman Jared Fogle and DeLuca’s death, which both occurred in 2015. More

Coca-Cola reported earnings and revenue that beat expectations.
The company has been raising prices on its drinks to mitigate the impact of inflation.
Coke’s stock has risen less than 1% in 2023, and the company has a market value of $277 billion.

A pedestrian passes a Coca-Cola delivery truck in Mexico City, Mexico, on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023.
Jeoffrey Guillemard | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Coca-Cola on Monday reported quarterly earnings and revenue that topped analysts’ expectations, fueled by price hikes and higher demand for its drinks.
Shares of the company rose 1% in premarket trading.

Here’s what the company reported compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:

Earnings per share: 68 cents adjusted vs. 64 cents expected
Revenue: $10.96 billion adjusted vs. $10.8 billion expected

Coke reported first-quarter net income attributable to shareholders of $3.11 billion, or 72 cents per share, up from $2.78 billion, or 64 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding restructuring charges, certain tax matters and other items, the beverage giant earned 68 cents per share.
Net sales rose 5% to $10.98 billion. Organic revenue, which strips out the impact of acquisitions and divestitures, climbed 12% in the quarter, driven largely by higher prices on Coke’s drinks.
Like many companies, Coke has been hiking prices to mitigate the impact of inflation. But the higher prices had a muted effect on demand for its beverages.

The company’s unit case volume, which excludes the impact of pricing and currency changes, grew 3% in the quarter. Volume in North America was flat, while in Europe, the Middle East and Africa it fell 3%. But demand was strong in Latin America and the Asia Pacific region.
Coke reported 3% volume growth for its sparkling soft drinks unit. Its namesake soda also reported 3% volume growth, while Coke Zero Sugar’s volume rose 8%.
Coke’s water, sports, coffee and tea division saw volume growth of 4%, fueled by strong demand for its coffee and bottled water. Coke’s coffee business reported its volume increased 9%, while its water division’s volume rose 5%.
The earthquake in Turkey hurt demand for its tea, which saw volume shrink 3% in the quarter. Volume for its sports drinks, which include Bodyarmor and Powerade, also fell.
Volume for Coke’s juice, dairy and plant-based beverages unit was flat. The suspension of its Russian business offset bright spots, like strong sales for its Fairlife dairy brand in the U.S.
The company reiterated its prior forecast for 2023. It is projecting comparable revenue growth of 3% to 5% and comparable earnings per share growth of 4% to 5% for 2023. More