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Michael Andretti, team owner of Walkinshaw Andretti United, looks on during qualifying for Supercars Adelaide 500 on March 2, 2018 in Adelaide, Australia.
Daniel Kalisz | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

Andretti have teamed up with General Motors in a bid to enter Formula 1 which, if successful, would also see the famous Cadillac name join the grid.
Team owner Michael Andretti has been lobbying the FIA, F1’s governing body, to expand the 20-car grid and has pushed forward with his plans despite a failed 2021 attempt to purchase Sauber, and resistance from F1 teams who have argued that an 11th team would dilute their revenues.

Now, in the wake of FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem opening the door for new teams to join the grid, a collaboration between one of America’s most successful racing teams and its biggest car company has been announced.
Andretti’s main headquarters would be in Indiana while General Motors would be their engine and manufacture partner, with GM brand Cadillac to form part of the entry. The team would be known as Andretti Cadillac Racing.
Sky Sports News understands that there would be no chance of a new entry before 2026, while there are other interested parties exploring F1 aside from Andretti.
Any new entrant request requires the agreement of both F1 and the FIA.
“Today’s news from the United States is further proof of the popularity and growth of the FIA Formula One World Championship under the FIA’s stewardship,” said Ben Sulayemn after Andretti’s announcement.

“It is particularly pleasing to have interest from two iconic brands such as General Motors Cadillac and Andretti Global.

“Any additional entries would build on the positive acceptance of the FIA’s 2026 PU regulations among OEMs which has already attracted an entry from Audi.
“Any Expressions of Interest process will follow strict FIA protocol and will take several months.”
What Andretti now ‘brings to the F1 party’
Andretti said in the announcement, the culmination of four months of negotiations with General Motors, that the American automaker provides the Andretti effort with the additional value rival teams have argued new teams must bring to F1.
“One of the big things was ‘what does Andretti bring to the party?’,” Andretti said. “Well, we’re bringing one of the biggest manufacturers in the world with us now with General Motors and Cadillac.
“We feel that was the one box that we didn’t have checked that we do have checked now. I think we’ll be bringing a tremendous amount of support to Formula 1 and it’s hard for anyone to argue with that.”

F1 immediately responded in the same tone it has used since Andretti began pushing for expansion by noting that it has several parties interested in joining the series and Andretti is simply the most visible. Andretti’s father, Mario Andretti, is the 1978 Formula One world champion.
“There is great interest in the F1 project at this time with a number of conversations continuing that are not as visible as others,” F1 said in a statement.
“We all want to ensure the championship remains credible and stable and any new entrant request will be assessed on criteria to meet those objectives by the relevant stakeholders.”
Andretti said despite F1’s statement, he still believes Andretti Global is the strongest applicant. He admitted F1 has not shared the other interested parties with him.
“We have the opportunity to combine our motorsport passions [with GM] and dedication to innovation to build a true American F1 bid,” added Andretti.”Together, we will continue to follow procedures and steps put forth by the FIA during the evaluation process. In the meantime, we continue to optimistically prepare should we be fortunate enough to have Andretti Cadillac formally approved as a Formula 1 contender.”

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Monday – Friday, 6:00 – 7:00 PM ET

It’s that time again! “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer rings the lightning round bell, which means he’s giving his answers to callers’ stock questions at rapid speed.

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Carvana Co: “I do not want you in Carvana. I have disliked this stock for ages, and I reiterate that I still dislike it.”

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Chart Industries Inc: “This is not the time to go into a really gigantic company that’s involved with making all sorts of the big tankers down there in LNG-ville.”

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Chewy Inc: “I still worry one day that Amazon is going to say, ‘you know what, we’ve had enough of Chewy.'”

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Monday – Friday, 6:00 – 7:00 PM ET

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Thursday gave investors a list of stocks that he believes could be worthwhile additions to investors’ portfolios.
“In an index that’s been folded, spindled and mutilated, I am still feeling good about a few of these stocks,” he said.

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Thursday gave investors a list of stocks that he believes could be worthwhile additions to investors’ portfolios.
All of his picks are listed in the Nasdaq Composite. While the index is heavy with tech stocks that were hammered last year, there are still names that could perform well even in a recessionary environment, according to Cramer.

“In an index that’s been folded, spindled and mutilated, I am still feeling good about a few of these stocks,” he said.
Here are his picks:
T-Mobile

Cramer said that he expects the company to continue taking market share from competitors.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

“Regeneron’s got a broad pipeline with a ridiculously cheap stock. I think it’s a really, really excellent situation, especially if you’re expecting a severe recession,” he said.

PepsiCo

The beverage giant rivals Procter & Gamble when it comes to the best consumer packaged goods company in the U.S., he said, though he acknowledged that the stock’s valuation is a bit higher than he would like.

American Electric Power

Cramer said that he likes the stock because the company is well-run, and utility stocks tend to perform well during economic slowdowns.

Dollar Tree

While he does like the stock compared to other retailers listed on the Nasdaq, Cramer said that he still prefers TJX Companies.

Disclaimer: Cramer’s Charitable Trust owns shares of TJX Companies.

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Constellation Brands (STZ) could potentially implement a stock buyback program, CEO Bill Newlands said Thursday — a move we would welcome as shareholders in the alcoholic beverage maker. Newlands’ comments came on the heels of Constellation reporting mixed 2023 fiscal third-quarter results earlier in the day, sending the company’s stock price tumbling. Shares of Constellation closed down nearly 10%, settling at $208.68 apiece. During an interview with Jim Cramer on “Mad Money” Thursday evening, Jim pushed Newlands on whether Constellation would consider a buyback given the decline in the stock. “Big cash flow, lots of opportunity to do many things with that cash at $208, perhaps the best thing to do with that cash is to buy stock,” Jim prodded. For his part, Newlands responded, “We already have additional approval from our board to buy back stock. And I think at this price point, it would be silly not to do just that.” Still, Newlands called Thursday’s market moves a “total overreaction.” While the Club was disappointed by Constellation’s lackluster earnings and full-year-guidance downgrade, we see the stock’s slide as a buying opportunity . And we remain pleased that Constellation continues to see robust demand for its high-end specialty beer offerings. We also continue to like the company for its robust cash generation and ability to raise prices, while simultaneously taking market share. U.S.-based Constellation’s growth in the beer market has been propelled by its 3 Mexican beer brands — Modelo Especial, Corona and Pacifico. The company also owns a range of other high-quality alcohol brands, including Svedka vodka and Kim Crawford sauvignon blanc. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long STZ. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.

A case of Constellation Brands Inc. Corona beer sits on a shelf in a cooler during a delivery in Ottawa, Illinois, U.S., on Tuesday, April 2, 2019.
Daniel Acker| Bloomberg | Getty Images

Constellation Brands (STZ) could potentially implement a stock buyback program, CEO Bill Newlands said Thursday — a move we would welcome as shareholders in the alcoholic beverage maker. More

Monday – Friday, 6:00 – 7:00 PM ET

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Thursday reminded investors that pain in the stock market is unfortunately necessary for the Federal Reserve to win against inflation.
Cramer said that while consumer spending power needs to come down for the Fed to beat inflation, it’s also inevitable that such an outcome will hurt portfolios.

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Thursday reminded investors that pain in the stock market is unfortunately necessary for the Federal Reserve to win against inflation.
“Nobody wants to root for layoffs or lower stock prices. But the alternative is persistently high inflation — endless price increases for everything — and nobody wants that either,” he said.

Stocks fell on Thursday after fresh data indicated that the labor market remains strong, despite the Fed’s aggressive interest rate hikes to tamp down rising prices. 
Cramer explained that while the Fed needs to make it so that companies can no longer raise prices for goods and services, it’s inevitable that such an outcome will hurt portfolios.
“Lower home prices – it’s good if you’re looking for a house, but it’s awful if you own shares in homebuilder Lennar,” he said as an example. “In other words, there’s no free lunch for you, the investor.”
And while it’s unclear when the central bank will be able to roll back its interest rate increases and stop hurting the market, he said that the release of the nonfarm payrolls report on Friday will shed more light on the state of inflation.
“If it doesn’t show higher unemployment with no wage growth, the Fed will need to keep aggressively raising interest rates,” Cramer said.

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Bed Bath & Beyond warned Thursday it’s running out of cash and is considering bankruptcy.
The embattled home goods retailer is having trouble getting enough merchandise to fill its shelves and is drawing fewer customers to its stores and website.
It anticipates a net loss of about $385.8 million for the third quarter, a nearly 40% jump in losses year over year.

Bed Bath & Beyond warned Thursday it’s running out of cash and is considering bankruptcy.
The retailer, citing worse-than-expected sales, issued a “going concern” warning that in the upcoming months it likely will not have the cash to cover expenses, such as lease agreements or payments to suppliers. Bed Bath said it is exploring financial options, such as restructuring, seeking additional capital or selling assets, in addition to a potential bankruptcy.

Shares of the company fell about 30% to close the day at $1.69 after Bed Bath issued the updates in a pair of financial filings. The stock earlier touched a 52-week low earlier in the day. Its market value has fallen to about $149 million as of Thursday’s close.

A Bed Bath & Beyond store is seen on June 29, 2022 in Miami, Florida.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Still, CEO Sue Gove said the retailer is focused on rebuilding the business and making sure its brands, Bed Bath & Beyond, Buybuy Baby and Harmon, “remain destinations of choice for customers well into the future.”
Among its challenges, Bed Bath said it is having trouble getting enough merchandise to fill its shelves and is drawing fewer customers to its stores and website.
The retailer also said it wasn’t able to refinance a portion of its debt, less than a month after notifying investors it planned to borrow more in order to pay off chunks of existing obligations.
Bed Bath’s debt load has been weighing on the company. The retailer has nearly $1.2 billion in unsecured notes, which have maturity dates spread across 2024, 2034 and 2044. In recent quarters, Bed Bath has warned it’s been quickly burning through cash.

Bed Bath’s notes have all been trading below par, a sign of financial distress. 

Stalled turnaround

Bed Bath has been through an especially tumultuous stretch, with the departure of its CEO and other top executives, companywide layoffs, store closures and an overhaul of its merchandise strategy. As sales declined, its CEO Mark Tritton got pushed out in June. Gove, who stepped in as interim CEO, has assumed the role permanently.
She laid out a comeback strategy in late August. As part of the plan, she said the company would cut costs by shrinking its store footprint and workforce. Gove said it would add back more items from popular national brands, as it shifted away from an aggressive private label strategy. And she said it had secured more than $500 million in new financing to help steady the business.
The company said during its last earnings report it believed it had enough liquidity to forge ahead.
In a news release Thursday, Gove said recent sales results illustrate why that turnaround plan is so important.
“Transforming an organization of our size and scale requires time, and we anticipate that each coming quarter will build on our progress,” she said.
The company is also looking for a chief financial officer after executive Gustavo Arnal died by suicide in September.

If you are having suicidal thoughts, contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 for support and assistance from a trained counselor.

Mounting losses

So far, Bed Bath has not seen its sales trends change. Net sales in the fiscal third quarter, which ended Nov. 26, are expected to be about $1.26 billion — a sharp drop from $1.88 billion in the year-ago period, the company said.
It anticipates a net loss of about $385.8 million for the third quarter, a nearly 40% jump in losses year over year. The quarterly losses include an approximately $100 million impairment charge, which was not specified.
The company is scheduled to deliver full quarterly results and hold an earnings call on Tuesday.
Signs of Bed Bath’s financial stress have shown up on store shelves, too. As the retailer’s cash hoards dwindle, some suppliers aren’t willing to ship large quantities of merchandise — or in some cases, any merchandise — to the company.
Gove said in a news release that reduced credit limits mean customers are seeing emptier shelves and less variety than they expect. She said the company is using the money it’s made over the holiday season to pay vendors and order more inventory.
“We have seen trends improve when in-stock levels have increased,” she said.
Bed Bath already has a history of strained relationships with key national brands, such as Dyson, Keurig and Cuisinart. During previous holiday seasons, Bed Bath didn’t have popular gift items, such as KitchenAid’s stand mixers. Meanwhile, those items were plentiful at competitors like Target.

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Walgreens acknowledged it may have overblown concerns about thefts in their stores after shrinkage stabilized over the past year.
“Maybe we cried too much last year,” Chief Financial Officer James Kehoe said.
The company made investments into private security guards, but they’ve proven “largely ineffective,” Kehoe said.

A top Walgreens executive on Thursday acknowledged the company may have overblown concerns about thefts in their stores after shrinkage stabilized over the last year. 
During an earnings call, the company’s chief financial officer, James Kehoe, said shrinkage was about 3.5% of sales last year but that number is now closer to the “mid twos.” He also said the company would consider moving away from hiring private security guards.

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“Maybe we cried too much last year,” Kehoe said. “We’re stabilized,” he added, saying the company is “quite happy with where we are.” 
Shrinkage is the difference between a company’s recorded inventory on their balance sheet and its actual inventory. It primarily accounts for items that were shoplifted but also includes inventory that was damaged, lost or stolen by employees.
Over the last two years, Walgreens has been raising the alarm about increased theft. As a result, it hired private security guards and locked up merchandise so it can’t be accessed without a store associate. 

Anti-theft locked beauty products with customer service button at Walgreens pharmacy, Queens, New York.
Lindsey Nicholson | Universal Images Group | Getty Images

Kehoe said the company has spent a “fair amount” to crack down on the thefts but acknowledged the private security companies they’ve hired have been “largely ineffective.” These guards can do very little but call law enforcement or hold a suspect until police arrive. 
“We’ve put in incremental security in the stores in the first quarter. Actually, probably we put in too much. We might step back a little bit from that,” said Kehoe. The company is using more law enforcement as opposed to private security, he added.

A Walgreens spokesperson declined further comment on the matter.
Other retailers, such as Walmart and Target, have said recently shrinkage remains a growing concern. 
Walmart CEO Doug McMillon claimed he might have to close stores and raise prices if the problem doesn’t get under control. Target claimed in its last earnings report that it recently lost $400 million from shrinkage. 
Earlier Thursday, Walgreens released its fiscal first-quarter earnings. It beat Wall Street’s estimates after an early flu season boosted demand for cough and cold medicine, but also reported $3.7 billion in losses after the pharmacy chain agreed to pay a hefty $5.2 billion settlement related to opioid litigation.

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Ram Truck previewed its upcoming electric pickup at the CES technology show.
The automaker plans to enter the emerging segment next year to compete with Detroit rivals as well as Rivian and, potentially, Tesla.
Stellantis did not release range or performance specifications of the concept vehicle or production model.

Ram 1500 Revolution BEV electric concept truck
Stellantis

Ram Truck previewed its upcoming electric pickup Thursday at the CES technology show, as the automaker plans its entrance into the emerging segment next year to compete with Detroit rivals as well as Rivian and, potentially, Tesla.
The Stellantis truck brand revealed the Ram 1500 Revolution BEV concept ahead of a production model that’s expected to be unveiled in the coming months. While the truck shares a name with Ram’s current full-size pickup, it’s a new vehicle from the ground up featuring the company’s new dedicated electric architecture.

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Its exterior design is noticeably a “RAM” with illuminated badging and new lighting patterns, but the interior of the vehicle features a more modern, clean and tech-centric design than current Ram pickups. The interior features few physical buttons, with a 28-inch touchscreen housing most of the controls, and a glass roof.
Stellantis executives did not disclose how similar next year’s production model will be to the concept vehicle. They referred to the concept vehicle as a roadmap for the brand’s future products.

Ram 1500 Revolution BEV electric concept pickup truck
Stellantis

“This is a vision, or a glimpse, into the future of Ram Trucks,” Ram CEO Mike Koval Jr. told CNBC. “Honestly, from my perspective, as head of the brand, it is our roadmap on what customers can expect from Ram in the future.”
Stellantis did not release range or performance specifications of the concept vehicle. It did detail a list of potential features such as a “Shadow Mode” where the vehicle could follow the driver at a safe distance; an in-vehicle artificial intelligence personal assistant; and a retractable steering wheel for self-driving capabilities.
The electric Ram truck is expected to enter an increasingly crowded segment of electric pickups that already includes the GMC Hummer EV, Ford F-150 Lightning, Lordstown Endurance and smaller Rivian R1T. Other products expected by next year include the Chevrolet Silverado EV, GMC Sierra EV and the long-delayed Tesla Cybertruck.

Ram 1500 Revolution BEV electric concept pickup truck
Stellantis

Koval said Ram isn’t worried about being late to the segment.
“When we come to market for 2024, it will be at the intersection when demand and the market and the infrastructure are ready,” he said. “We don’t for a second think we’re ‘late,’ so to speak. We think we’re going to be hitting the market at the exact right time.”
Stellantis appears to have no plans to end production of its gas- or diesel-powered pickup trucks anytime soon. Koval said EV adoption will not occur overnight and has already been slower than some expected.
Thus far, the most successful of the electric trucks has been Ford’s F-150 Lightning. Both the Rivian R1T and $110,000 Hummer EV pickup have been slow to ramp up production, while Lordstown just started delivering vehicles to commercial customers.

Ram 1500 Revolution BEV electric concept pickup truck
Stellantis

The design of the concept electric Ram pickup appears to be more of a lifestyle pickup rather than a traditional work truck, but executives said the production vehicle will serve both purposes.
Koval highlighted a midgate, which can open to connect the bed to the cabin, and a bed extender that will allow owners to haul an 18-foot piece of lumber in the vehicle.
Stellantis Chief Design Officer Ralph Gilles described the overall design of the Ram 1500 Revolution BEV concept as “brutiful,” a combination of “brute” and “beautiful.”
“The TRX (a performance version of the Ram 1500) has that in spades,” Gilles told CNBC. “It’s tough as nails but somehow is still beautiful and attractive. We wanted this truck to have that same presence but be aiming toward the future.”

Ram 1500 Revolution BEV electric concept pickup truck
Stellantis

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