Business News

Rivian raises R1T and R1S prices for new and old bookings

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Rivian has increased the estimated prices of its electric pickup R1T and electric SUV R1S this week by up to 20 percent, as reported TechCrunch. The company applies the new ratings to the new orders and changes them for reservation holders who do not yet have a car in production.

This is the first significant change in pricing that Rivian has revealed since the opening of orders, and while customers place pre-orders, all stated “prices are subject to change as they approach production”, no one seems ready for such a big change . Potential buyers of electric cars are accustomed to fluctuations in the prices of Tesla cars, but in this case the prices are usually locked from the moment they place their orders.

The news of the price increase came with Rivian’s announcement of the possibility of pre-ordering a dual-engine configuration for both the R1T and R1S, along with a smaller “standard” battery pack valued at 260 miles.

The R1T’s four-engine configuration with 314 miles started at $ 67,500, but now that price will only provide you with a two-engine configuration and a standard battery pack – which won’t be available until 2024. Engine configurations now start at $ 79,500 for the R1T and $ 84,500 for the R1S (initially $ 70,000).

According to Jiten Behl, Rivian’s chief growth officer, the rise in prices is due to global chip shortages and supply chain problems:

“Like most manufacturers, Rivian is facing inflationary pressures, rising component costs and an unprecedented shortage and slowdown in the parts supply chain (including semiconductor chips). This increase in costs and complexity due to these challenging circumstances necessitates an increase in the prices of the R1T and R1S models we offer today – prices that were originally set in 2018. This solution will allow us to continue to offer competitive products that maintain high standards. for the quality, productivity and capabilities that our customers expect and deserve from Rivian. Along with adjusted prices for our current offerings, we are also announcing options for twin-engine AWDs and standard batteries for the R1T and R1S, which will provide customers with a wider choice as part of our expanding portfolio of options, upgrades and accessories. ”

People who have ordered the truck are not happy with the price increase. Many customers have gone to Reddit to share that they have canceled or are planning to cancel their orders. Rivian’s tweet The announcement of the new two-engine configuration has nearly 400 responses, including many customers sharing the disappointment of the price increase from $ 12,000 to $ 20,000 compared to their existing pre-orders.

Even YouTubers Zack Nelson Jerry Rigg Everything and Quinn Nelson from Snazzy Labs turned to Twitter on the subject. Both were early fans and bookkeepers of Rivian’s R1T truck, but now they’re talking about feeling like they’ve been lured and shifted. Quinn wrote on Twitter that five months ago, Rivian people told him they were confident in car prices. “Things haven’t changed that much in five months – certainly not 20 percent. “They lied to me, clients and investors,” Quinn wrote.

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Victoria’s Secret (VSCO) reports revenue for the fourth quarter of 2021; problems with poor prospects; quotes Ukraine

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Buyers are seen at a shopping center in Bethesda, Maryland on February 17, 2022.

Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images

Victoria’s Secret shook after-hours trading on Wednesday after a lingerie retailer published bad forecasts for the next quarter, warning that challenges still lie ahead – including inflation and “global unrest”, a reference to Russia’s war against Ukraine.

He reported earnings and sales for the fourth fiscal quarter, which slightly exceeded analysts’ expectations, after confirming the forecast for the holidays in December.

However, his performance in the near future may be overshadowed by global headwinds. Victoria’s Secret said the first half of this year could be harder, given the continuing supply chain problems, but that it needs to return to operating revenue growth in the last half. Victoria’s Secret called the third quarter an expected turning point.

Here’s how Victoria’s Secret fared in its fourth fiscal quarter compared to what Wall Street expected, based on a survey by analysts at Refinitiv:

  • Earnings per share: $ 2.70 vs. $ 2.63 expected
  • Income: $ 2.18 billion versus the expected $ 2.14 billion

Net income for the quarter ended January 29 fell to $ 246 million from $ 282 million a year earlier. Revenue rose about 4% to $ 2.18 billion from $ 2.1 billion a year earlier.

The company said its beauty products have helped attract customers online and in its regular stores, while its international business has grown tremendously compared to operations in North America. Victoria’s Secret also said they are pleased with the recent launch of a new collection called Love Cloud, which focuses on comfort and inclusion.

Of course, in the coming months, Victoria’s Secret sees a challenging retail environment with rising inflation and “potential for consumer uncertainty with the latest global unrest.”

The company expects to incur additional costs and supply chain costs related to inflation in the first half of the year of about $ 140 million, roughly similar to reports in the last half of 2021. Oil prices rose during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which raises fears that already high inflation will continue and rise at an even higher rate.

The retailer saw first-quarter sales in the range of $ 1.43 billion to $ 1.5 billion, down 4% to 8% from a year earlier. That’s also less than analysts’ estimates of $ 1.52 billion.

He sees earnings per share for the first quarter in the range of 70 to 95 cents. According to Refinitiv, analysts were looking for $ 1.32 per share.

The retailer said in prepared remarks that it expects to face continued pressure on supply chain costs and is also ending the benefits of an incentive of about $ 50 million in the first quarter of 2021.

He expects revenues in 2022 to be equal to low single digits compared to 2021 levels. Analysts forecast an increase of 2.9% on an annual basis.

Victoria’s Secret said it continues to assess the size of its real estate footprint as it tests a concept outside the mall and remodels existing stores to make them lighter and more attractive to buyers. It envisions the closure of somewhere between 10 and 30 stores in 2022.

“We continue to see a positive response to the news and the opportunity to maintain a lower level of promotional activity,” management said in prepared notes.

Shares of Victoria’s Secret fell about 2% this year after closing on Wednesday. This brings the market capitalization of the retailer to $ 4.8 billion.

Read full information about Victoria’s Secret winnings here. The company will hold a live conference call with analysts on Thursday morning.

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Russia ETF attracts meme-like madness in stock trading

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A trader works on the trading floor on the last day of trading before Christmas on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in Manhattan, New York, USA, December 23, 2021. REUTERS / Andrew Kelly

NEW YORK, March 2 – The battered shares of Russia’s Van Eck ETF (RSX.Z) are attracting a surge of interest from traders and making comparisons to last year’s madness in so-called memes.

Designed to track the performance of the MVIS Russia Index (.MVRSXTR), the ETF has fallen 65% in the past two weeks as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Western sanctions spark a huge movement in country-related assets.

Its sharp decline has boosted ETF’s stock and options trading, much of which is due to retail investors, analysts said.

As the price of the ETF fluctuated sharply – it fell by as much as 15% before recovering to trade up to 6% during the day – the volume of trading in ETF shares jumped to 27 million by 14:30 (1930 GMT) , or about twice the average daily amount, according to Trade Alert.

ETF options were even busier, with 211,000 traded contracts, or four times the expected volume.

Garrett DeSimone, head of OptionMetrics, said some of the volume appears to be boosted by traders trying to profit from the heightened stock volatility.

“These high levels of volatility are exceptional, making the VanEck Russia ETF behave like meme stocks,” he said.

“Retail definitely seems to have its fingerprints on RSX options trading today,” DeSimone said.

Sentiment was mixed, with some traders betting on a quick recovery, while others hoped for a continued decline in shares based on the choice of traded options contracts.

The closure of Russian markets for the third day in a row created another challenge for the ETF’s valuation, which led to a deviation of the trading price far from its net asset value (NAV) – or the value of each ETF share based on its share of the underlying asset fund, analysts said.

On Monday, ETF shares ended the day with a 178% premium over its NAV, according to VanEck.

“This makes stock trading much more speculative,” said Todd Rosenblut, head of ETF and mutual fund research at CFRA Research.

Report by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed; Edited by Ira Yosebashvili and Jonathan Oatis

Our standards: ‘ principles of trust.

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The CEO of Trump Hotel is leaving a shrinking brand

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Donald J.’s top hotel manager. Trump is leaving the company as its five-star hotel brand comes to the forefront of other efforts to make money for the former president.

CEO Eric Danziger cites family reasons for leaving. He joined Trump Hotels in 2015 with plans to expand the business, but instead watched a significant portion of the hotel portfolio shrink as Mr Trump’s polarizing policies tarnished the brand, legal and ethical scrutiny scared off potential partners and the pandemic sent the hospitality industry into the queue.

Since 2017, the name Trump has emerged from hotels in New York, Toronto, Panama, Vancouver and soon Washington, as once lucrative deals were canceled or sold. Trump’s hotels, which have been a defining feature of the former president’s global real estate business for decades, have shrunk to seven. Any immediate hope of restoring the hotel’s brand after Mr Trump left office is likely thwarted by the aftermath of the Capitol attack on January 6, as many companies split with Trump.

Mr Danziger, 67, announced his departure on Wednesday in an email to colleagues in the hotel industry, where he has been a prominent figure for decades. He said he would become CEO of Braintree Group, a company in Boise, Idaho that has several lines of business, including hospitality. The email states that he owns a home in Boyce and has a son who works for Braintree.

In an internal email to the Trump Organization, received by The New York Times, Mr. Danziger thanked the Trump family for always being “incredibly supportive,” adding: “I will always value my time here.”

Mr Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mr Danziger’s term coincided with a period of deep turmoil in business, including a series of investigations by Congress and law enforcement that hampered expansion plans.

His departure is part of a wider shift in the company’s management. Mr Trump’s longtime chief financial officer, Alan H. Weisselberg, lost his title last year after being charged, along with Trump’s own organization, with tax fraud. Mr. Weisselberg remains in the company in a smaller role.

These moves put what was already a close-knit company, even more so in the hands of the Trump family. After becoming president, Mr Trump largely handed over the company to his son Eric, who already ran its generally successful golf division.

After leaving office, Mr Trump used his political popularity in some circles to pursue entirely new business ventures, from a social media platform to a multi-million dollar advance on a $ 75 coffee table book. These revenue lines are separate from the Trump Organization’s core real estate business, which includes hotels, 16 golf clubs and various commercial properties, which have been among its biggest profits.

Before Mr. Trump entered politics, he ran the company without a CEO to run the hotel group.

In 2015, the Trump family hired Mr. Danziger for a job that looked like the pinnacle of a nearly 50-year career that had seen Mr. Danziger rise from a hotel employee to a senior executive at Starwood, Carlson and Wyndham. . But by the time the family announced Mr Danziger’s appointment in August of that year, Mr Trump’s presidential campaign had begun and there were already signs that his separation policy would affect business.

However, Mr Danziger’s team began to lay the groundwork for growth. They explored deals in China and the Middle East, while planning to launch two new hotel brands in the United States – Scion and American Idea – in order to take advantage of Mr. Trump’s popularity in the red states and cities outside major cities.

The two new local brands gained more prominence after Mr Trump was elected president and refused to give up his business, but passed a self-imposed ban on new deals in foreign countries.

Mr Danziger, in an interview with The New York Times in March 2017, spoke strongly about the new hotel lines, saying the company had signed 30 letters of intent with potential developers. “As far as the presidency has had any effect on us, there may be protests in one or two hotels or whatever,” he said. “We run a business. We manage brands; we are adding brands. ”

This summer, the Trump family hosted a reception in New York at the Trump Tower atrium to introduce new hotel partners from the Mississippi Delta. But no other deals materialized, and two years later Trump ended the partnership and abandoned the new brands, blaming the political climate.

The political toxicity of the Trump name in some of its key markets has also forced the company to withdraw.

Partners at Trump-branded hotels in New York and Toronto paid the family to leave and removed their name from the buildings. A spectacle broke out at a hotel in Panama when a new owner fired Trump’s employees and forced the letters TRUMP to be removed with a hammer and lever. The company that owns the hotel in Vancouver, which opened in 2017, eventually went bankrupt.

The Trump organization has a deal to sell its tent in Washington soon, which became a center for lobbyists and loyalists to Trump during his presidency. A deal worth at least $ 375 million is expected to bring profit to the family.

The company’s other hotels are in Chicago, Honolulu, Las Vegas and New York, and the company operates luxury golf resorts in Florida, Scotland and Ireland.

As business stalled during the presidency, the Trump family began running a hotel in New Jersey owned by the family of Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law and chief adviser to his administration. The two families also discussed development partnerships in Long Branch, New Jersey. Mr Danziger described it at the time as a “direct business deal”, but it soon fell apart due to ethical issues.

After Mr Trump left the White House, Mr Danziger was free to resume the expansion of the hotel brand. But the January 6 attack on the Capitol created new setbacks. A series of criminal and civil investigations have also left the company in the dark.

At Braintree, Mr Danziger will oversee a wider range of businesses, including medium-sized hotels, residential properties and charter schools. Jason Cotter, co-founder of Braintree, said Mr. Danziger “will bring depth and breadth to the performing arts.”

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Snowflake stocks fell 30% after undermining the annual forecast

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The shares of Snowflake Inc. were broken in a long trade on Wednesday after the software company predicted that product sales would slow this year.

snowflake snow,
+ 0.57%
reported fourth-quarter losses of $ 132.2 million, or 43 cents a share, on sales of $ 383.8 million, after losing 70 cents a share on revenue of $ 190 million a year ago. Analysts had expected an average earnings of 3 cents per share of sales of $ 373 million, although many analysts seem to be modeling for adjusted earnings that the software company does not provide.

Snowflake’s revenue for the year nearly doubled to $ 1.14 billion from $ 554 million last year, but executives predicted that growth would slow to less than 70% this year from their annual forecast. Shares of Snowflake fell to less than $ 185 in after-hours trading immediately after the announcement of the results, after closing 1.1% profit at $ 266.03.

The high-flying stocks settled after the huge Wall Street welcome in late 2020, which included investments from Berkshire Hathaway Inc. BRK.A,
+ 2.15%

BRK.B,
+ 2.15%
and Salesforce.com Inc. CRM,
+ 0.72%
and has led to the cloud-based database for the software company becoming the most expensive technology share in some respects. Shares fell 25.6% in the last three months, but were still easily more than twice the $ 120 share price ordered in the initial public offering at Wednesday’s closing price.

Because Snowflake is a young software company, investors tend to focus on indicators other than profitability, including net revenue retention, which measures how much existing customers spend on volume bidding, and remaining performance commitments, which measures the amount of costs that have been contracted but not yet recognized.

Snowflake reported a net revenue retention rate of 178% at the end of the quarter on January 31 and a remaining $ 2.6 billion performance commitment, which is 99% more than last year and exceeds analysts’ average estimates of $ 2.29 billion dollars. Snowflake also reported that the number of customers rose to 5,944 from 4,139 a year ago, and 184 of those customers have spent more than $ 1 million with the company in the past 12 months.

For the first quarter, Snowflake executives forecast product revenue of $ 383 million to $ 388 million, while analysts modeled an average of $ 382 million, according to FactSet. For the full year, they expect revenue from the company’s products in San Francisco to reach $ 1.88 billion to $ 1.9 billion, while analysts forecast $ 1.87 billion.

However, many analysts expected the company to easily exceed these expectations.

“Given strong demand, we believe Snowflake’s prospects for fiscal year 23 may be well above consensus, as some of its latest product innovations and investments have a wider penetration,” wrote JP Morgan analysts. before the edition.

“We expect management to follow historical models and lead conservatively at both the top and bottom, but we expect current revenue forecasts for fiscal 23/24 to rise after printing,” Stifel analysts wrote in a preliminary review of the report. .

Snowflake also announced the acquisition of Streamlit on Wednesday afternoon. The conditions were not disclosed.

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Snowflake ‘s (SNOW) revenue for the fourth quarter of 2022

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Snowflake CEO Frank Slutman arrives at the Allen & Company Sun Valley conference on July 6, 2021 in Sun Valley, Idaho.

Kevin Ditch Getty Images News Getty Images

Shares of Snowflake fell as much as 30% in extended trading on Wednesday after data analytics software showed the slowest revenue growth since at least 2019.

Here’s how the company did:

  • Profits: Loss of 43 cents, adjusted
  • income: $ 383.8 million, up from $ 372.6 million as analysts expect, according to Refinitiv.

Snowflake’s revenue grew 101% year-over-year in the quarter ended Jan. 31, according to a statement. In the previous quarter, growth reached 110%. The company reported a net loss of $ 132 million, down from nearly $ 199 million in the previous quarter.

Its adjusted gross margin of 70% was below the StreetAccount consensus of 70.9%, although it rose from 62% two years ago, thanks in part to discounts on third-party cloud infrastructure, which it relies on to provide its services to customers.

CEO Frank Slutman is working to expand the ranks of the business. At the end of the quarter, the number of employees was nearly 4,000, an increase of 60% in the last year.

Snowflake said it expects product revenue to grow from 79% to 81% in the first fiscal quarter. Analysts polled by StreetAccount forecast 78% growth in product revenue. In the fiscal fourth quarter, product revenues increased by 102%.

For fiscal 2023, management called for 65% to 67% growth in product revenue. Analysts expected an average growth of 66%, according to FactSet.

Also Wednesday, Snowflake said it was acquiring data on startup Streamlit. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Before the movement hours later, shares of Snowflake fell 21% since the beginning of 2022, while the S&P 500 fell about 8% over the same period.

Leaders will discuss the results with analysts during a conference call starting at 17:00 ET.

This is breaking news. Please check again for updates.

I WATCH: The cloud is releasing gin from the bottle, says the CEO of Snowflake

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Ericsson faces allegations from the Ministry of Justice of alleged corruption, possible payments to ISIS in Iraq

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The revelation came three days after The Washington Post and other news outlets published details of Ericsson’s internal investigation, which revealed evidence of widespread fraud by company employees, decisions to send workers to terrorist-controlled territory, and the use of contractors who may have been paid by Islamic State fighters.

A report on the findings of an internal audit was received from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and shared with The Post as part of an international reporting project.

In a statement posted on its website, Ericsson said it had been informed by the Justice Department on Tuesday that its revelations to US investigators on Iraq were “insufficient” and that the company had “violated” the terms of its 2019 agreement. the US government.

The consequences are related to the conclusions of an internal investigation that Ericsson completed in 2019, which found that the company was involved in “bribes and concessions” and other fraud for almost a decade while pursuing contracts in Iraq that generated revenue of nearly $ 2 billion.

The internal report, based on interviews with employees and a review of millions of emails and other documents, also revealed worrying details about Ericsson’s decision to send workers to areas occupied by Islamic State militants.

The company continued to do so even after an engineer was abducted in 2014, making excessive cash payments to a cargo company that bypassed customs officials by “passing through ISIS-controlled areas,” according to company investigators.

In the end, investigators said it “cannot be ruled out” that Ericsson had contributed to the “illegal financing of terrorism”.

In a conference call with reporters and market analysts on Wednesday, Ericsson President and CEO Björre Ekholm reiterated the company’s claim that it had found no evidence of direct involvement of Ericsson employees in any payments to Islamic State.

“The issue of funding armed factions cannot be justified,” Ekholm said.

Ekholm described the findings of the internal investigation as “extremely inconvenient and extremely unsatisfactory”, but did not comment on what the company failed to share with the Ministry of Justice.

Ministry of Justice officials declined to comment.

“We are cooperating fully with the US authorities,” Ekholm said. “Now we have a notification of a violation, so, of course, we need to make improvements and changes.”

He said the company has taken steps to step up enforcement efforts, improve investigative mechanisms and encourage employees to speak out when violations occur. But he declined to answer a question as to why the employees named in the internal report remained in the company or were promoted.

The Justice Department’s announcement marks the second time Ericsson has been found in breach of a deferred prosecution agreement that has recognized widespread fraud in China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Kuwait and Djibouti.

Ericsson is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of sophisticated radios, switches and other equipment used in cellular communication networks. The Swedish company is seen by Western governments as a crucial alternative to Huawei, a Chinese company whose devices have been banned by the United States and other countries on suspicion of being set up to allow Chinese espionage.

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Powell says interest rate hikes are yet to come, but notes the “highly uncertain” impact of the invasion of Ukraine

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“Our monetary policy is adapting to the evolving economic environment,” Powell told the House Financial Services Committee. “We have stopped our net purchases of assets. With inflation well above 2% and a strong labor market, we expect it to be appropriate to raise the target range for federal interest rates at our meeting later this month. “

This is in line with previous Fed guidelines. At a policy meeting in January, Powell first hinted at a potential increase in interest rates in the spring.

“I am inclined to propose an increase in the interest rate by 25 basis points,” Powell said Wednesday in response to a question from spokesman Patrick McHenry.

Investors are also on board, and market expectations for a quarter-percent increase are over 90 percent, according to CME FedWatch.
Despite the Omicron variant that hit America at the end of the year, job growth remained intact as inflation continued to rise. In the year ended January, the personal consumption price index, the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation, rose at its fastest pace since 1982.

Powell – along with many economists – continues to expect inflation to fall in 2022.

“We understand that high inflation imposes significant difficulties, especially on those who are least able to cover the higher costs of basic things such as food, housing and transport. “We know that the best thing we can do to support a strong labor market is to encourage long-term expansion, and that is only possible in an environment of price stability,” Powell said.

The central bank has the task of keeping prices stable and employment as high as possible. Only half of this to-do list is currently available.

How Ukraine can affect the Fed

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is likely to leave its mark on inflation by rising energy prices. Oil futures rose above $ 110 a barrel amid the conflict.

The question to the central bank is how the situation in Ukraine changed the Fed’s plan for a series of interest rate increases, Powell said.

“The short-term effects on the US economy of the invasion of Ukraine, the ongoing war, sanctions and the upcoming events remain very uncertain,” Powell told lawmakers. “Given the current situation, we must act carefully.”

The significant devaluation of the Russian ruble in response to the invasion also underscored that Congress must come up with a regulatory framework to deal with cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, which can evade economic sanctions and serve as criminal behavior, Powell said.

Wednesday’s hearing marks Powell’s first appearance as professional chairman. His first term as president has ended, but the Senate has not yet voted to confirm him for a new four-year term.

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