Constellation Brands
Falling beer sales didn’t stop Constellation shares from bubbling higher Tuesday.
The Modelo and Corona importer reported lower quarterly sales and profit as customers, particularly Hispanic consumers, continue to buy less beer.
Constellation cited weak consumer sentiment and rising unemployment rates, as well as a downturn in “4,000-calorie jobs,” or physically demanding jobs such as construction, that typically boost beer sales.
However, Constellation’s results beat Wall Street’s expectations. Adjusted earnings came in at $3.06 a share, while analysts expected $2.63 a share, according to FactSet.
Constellation shares rose 5.3% Thursday.
JPMorgan Chase
JPMorgan Chase is taking over the Apple credit-card program from Goldman Sachs.
The biggest bank in the country will become the new issuer of the tech giant’s credit card, one of the largest co-branded programs with some $20 billion in balances. After more than a year of negotiations, the companies announced the deal Wednesday, confirming an earlier report by The Wall Street Journal.
The deal marks the end of Goldman’s failed foray into consumer lending, which began with the launch of the Apple card in 2019.
Mastercard will remain the network on the card, and the banks said the transition from Goldman is expected to take about two years.
JPMorgan shares fell 2.3% Wednesday.
Paramount Skydance
Warner Bros. Discovery recommended its shareholders reject Paramount’s amended hostile bid for the company, saying its existing deal with Netflix is stronger.
Paramount recently made changes to its $77.9 billion all-cash bid for the entire company, hoping it would prompt Warner to walk away from its $72 billion deal with Netflix.
But in a letter to shareholders made public Wednesday, Warner said the amended offer wasn’t superior, “or even comparable,” to the Netflix deal for its movie and TV studios and the HBO Max streaming service.
Paramount shares declined 1% Wednesday.
Chevron
U.S. oil stocks soared after President Trump promised to overhaul Venezuela’s energy infrastructure and revive its key industry.
Among the big gainers was Chevron, which jumped 5.1% Monday. The company is the sole remaining U.S. oil major in Venezuela. Oil-field services companies such as SLB, Halliburton and Baker Hughes also rose.
But some stocks gave up their gains as details of the administration’s plan emerged, including Trump’s goal for oil prices to fall to $50 a barrel. Many companies see that price as the threshold where it becomes unprofitable to drill, and a sustained period of low oil prices could decimate the U.S. shale industry, which has been a key backer of the president.
A plan under consideration envisions the U.S. exerting some control over Venezuela’s state-run oil company Petróleos de Venezuela SA, or PdVSA, including acquiring and marketing the bulk of the company’s oil production, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
Ventyx Biosciences
Eli Lilly agreed to pay around $1 billion for drugmaker Ventyx Biosciences, a deal that could help Lilly compete in a promising new area of autoimmune treatment.
Lilly announced the deal Wednesday, confirming an earlier report by The Wall Street Journal.
Ventyx has been developing autoimmune treatments targeting a complex of proteins, called NLRP3, that researchers have found plays an important role in the body’s inflammatory response. The space is promising for drug giants, such as Lilly and rivals Roche and Novo Nordisk. Roche and Novo have been circling the emerging category, according to Jefferies analysts.
If Ventyx’s experimental pills pan out, they would add to Lilly’s portfolio of treatments for autoimmune conditions, as well as for obesity and related disorders.
Ventyx shares soared 37% Wednesday.
Lockheed Martin
President Trump’s call for a bigger defense budget sparked a rally in Lockheed Martin and other U.S. weapons makers.
President Trump called for a $1.5 trillion defense budget, about $500 billion more than the Pentagon is expected to receive this fiscal year. In a social-media post late Wednesday, Trump said the increased budget was necessary “especially in these very troubled and dangerous times.”
Lockheed Martin said it would more than triple PAC-3 missile production after reaching a seven-year deal with the Pentagon.
Lockheed Martin shares gained 4.3% Thursday.
