Citi turned negative on Southwest shares amid concerns over valuation and earnings quality. Analyst Stephen Trent downgraded the airline to sell from neutral and cut his price target by $2 to $29.50. Trent’s new price target suggests shares can fall 10.1% from Wednesday’s close. Trent said Southwest’s earnings quality and free cash flow conversion have deteriorated compared with before the pandemic, despite other carriers seeing improvements in this areas. On top of that, he lamented Southwest’s growth in price-to-earnings premiums over the same time frame. “Over time, we see Southwest’s valuation correcting to more normalized levels, as the network carriers’…
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British oil and gasoline company BP (British Petroleum) signage is being pictured in Warsaw, Poland, on July 29, 2024.Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty ImagesBritish oil major BP on Thursday said it is planning to cut thousands of jobs as part of a major cost-cutting drive.”Today, we have today told staff across bp that the proposed changes that have been announced to date are expected to impact around 4700 bp roles – these account for much of the anticipated reduction this year,” BP said in a statement.”We are also reducing our contractor numbers by 3000,” the company said.The measures, which were designed…
US President Joe Biden, left, and Antony Blinken, US secretary of state, speak on the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, in the Cross Hall of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire deal, bringing at least a temporary halt to the war in Gaza that has killed tens of thousands of people in the last 15 months and touched off broader turmoil across the Middle East.Aaron Schwartz | Sipa | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesThe Biden administration on Thursday announced an executive order on cybersecurity that imposes new…
It was a tense conversation between two authoritarian leaders accustomed to getting their way.President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia was offering explanations for the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash that had killed 38 people days earlier. Perhaps it was a flock of birds, Mr. Putin said, or an exploding gas canister. Maybe a Ukrainian drone.But President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan was not buying it, according to two people familiar with that late December phone call. It had become clear within hours of the crash that the plane had been shot down by Russian air defenses in what appeared to be a…
Most Medicare patients who hit the new $2,000 cap on out-of-pocket spending for prescription drugs could see massive savings, despite changes in premiums, according to a report released Thursday by AARP. The findings suggest the cap could be a huge benefit to older adults in Medicare who struggle to afford high-cost drugs for cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and other serious conditions. Those seniors and other U.S. patients pay two to three times more for prescription drugs than people in other developed nations.The limit went into effect at the beginning of this year. It is one of the most consequential provisions in President…
Negotiators announced on Wednesday that they had reached a cease-fire deal for the war in the Gaza Strip, 15 months after a devastating Hamas-led attack on Israeli soil set off a relentless military campaign with few parallels in recent history.In the attack that set it all in motion, the Oct. 7, 2023, raid on southern Israel led by Hamas fighters, some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, were killed, stunning Israelis. In the months that followed, an estimated 45,000 Palestinians in Gaza, many of them also civilians, were killed and entire towns leveled.On Wednesday, Gazans were allowing themselves to hope…
With Ubisoft’s latest Assassin’s Creed game facing delays and independent board members reviewing strategic options, analysts are speculating on whether the gaming giant may finally put itself up for sale. The beleaguered French publisher last week postponed the launch of its upcoming “Assassin’s Creed Shadows” game by another month and appointed advisors to review its strategic options , in a sign company management may be quietly hoping for a full or partial sale of the business. Ubisoft hasn’t told shareholders what it’s planning in terms of a strategic deal. In its recent investor update , the firm said it would…
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Jan. 15, 2025, in New York City.David Dee Delgado | Getty ImagesThis report is from today’s CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.What you need to know todayCore CPI below estimatesThe U.S. consumer price index increased a seasonally adjusted 0.4% on the month in December, putting the 12-month inflation rate at 2.9%, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday. Core inflation, which excludes food…
Passengers walk along the platform after disembarking from a train at Chongqing North Railway Station during the first day of the 2025 Spring Festival travel rush on Jan. 14, 2025.Cheng Xin | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesBEIJING — As promised government support is still to meaningfully kick in, China’s economy hasn’t yet seen the turnaround investors have been waiting for.While policymakers have, since late September, cut interest rates and announced broad stimulus plans, details on highly anticipated fiscal support won’t likely come until an annual parliamentary meeting in March. Official GDP figures for 2024 are due Friday.”China’s fiscal stimulus…
Shoppers pass a Cartier luxury store, operated by Cie. Financiere Richemont SA, in the Galeries Lafayette SA luxury department store in Paris, France.Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesShares of Cartier owner Richemont jumped on Thursday after the luxury group reported a 10% increase in fiscal third-quarter sales even as China demand weighed.Sales rose to 6.2 billion euros ($6.38 billion) at constant exchange rates in the three months to the end of December, which the Swiss luxury brand dubbed its “highest ever” quarterly sales figure. That was well above 1% increase expected by analysts in a consensus cited by RBC, according…
