(Bloomberg) -- Blue Apron Holdings Inc. saw its best day in six months after announcing a tie-up with a hot brand: Beyond Meat Inc.
The struggling meal-kit company will begin introducing products from the alternative-meat startup on its menus in August, New York-based Blue Apron said in a statement. The shares rose as much as 22% on Tuesday, their biggest intraday gain since January 15.
The tie-up may breathe some fresh life into Blue Apron, whose stock has plummeted more than 90% since its 2017 initial public offering turned out to be one of the worst-performing in recent history. Meanwhile, Beyond Meat shares have gained almost seven-fold since their May debut as faux meat has taken off across restaurant and fast-food chains. Beyond Meat extended those gains Tuesday, adding as much as 1.6%.
Blue Apron’s struggles stem from the meal-kit industry’s challenges attracting and retaining customers. Although subscriptions were originally marketed to people who wanted to cook but didn’t know what or how, it was soon beset with complaints: The meals were too expensive, you had to plan ahead, and people felt guilty throwing away all the packaging required to keep ingredients fresh. The nascent meal-kit industry found luring and retaining customers required margin-eating discounts and often didn’t work.
In a bid to reinvigorate growth, Blue Apron got inside brick and mortar retail, but Costco Wholesale Corp. ultimately dropped the meal-kit boxes to make space for seasonal products.
(Updates shares in first three paragraphs.)
To contact the reporters on this story: Anne Riley Moffat in New York at ariley17@bloomberg.net;Catherine Larkin in Chicago at clarkin4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Courtney Dentch at cdentch1@bloomberg.net
For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com
Johnson & Johnson's profit jumped 42% in the second quarter, with all three of the sprawling health-care company's businesses performing better than Wall Street expected.
Here's what the company reported compared with Wall Street estimates, based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:
Earnings per share: $2.58, adjusted, vs. $2.46 expected
Revenue: $20.56 billion vs. $20.29 billion expected
J&J makes everything from Acuvue contacts to cancer drugs like Zytiga to Aveeno lotion.
The company reported second-quarter net income of $5.61 billion, or $2.08 per share, a 42% increase from the $3.95 billion, or $1.45 per share, it posted a year earlier. Excluding an intangible amortization expense and special items, J&J earned $2.58 per share, beating the $2.46 per share expected by analysts surveyed by Refinitiv.
Net salesdropped 1.3% to $20.56 billion, yet still came in above analysts' expectations of $20.29 billion.
J&J's pharmaceutical business, which accounts for half of the company's revenue and includes psoriasis drugs like Stelara and Tremfya, posted revenue of $3.54 billion, better than the $3.52 billion analysts expected, according to estimates compiled by StreetAccount.
J&J's consumer unit, which makes Aveeno body care and J&J's namesake baby products, reported revenue of $3.54 billion, topping the $3.52 billion analysts expected. Its medical device business, which includes Acuvue contacts and Ethicon surgical products, reported revenue of $6.49 billion. Analysts had expected $6.43 billion.
J&J boosted its full-year sales forecast to between $80.8 billion and $81.6 billion, up from the previously guided $80.4 billion to $81.2 billion. The company did not raise its earnings forecast, reiterating its prior estimate of adjusted earnings in the range of $8.53 to $8.63 per share.
"If you look at our earnings growth this year, we're maintaining it, it's two times the rate of sales growth," J&J Chief Financial Officer Joe Wolk told CNBC's "Squawk Box." "We think that's very healthy, and we look to the long term, so this gives us a great opportunity to invest in our portfolio. To either accelerate, fortify or even add to our pipeline going forward so that we do solidify not just the next six months, but many, many, many more years to come."
Shares of J&J rose 0.4% in premarket trading.
The company is trying to balance declining sales from some of its top drugs, like Zytiga, while introducing new ones, like Spravato. Sales of Zytiga declined 23% year-over-year, with the prostate cancer drug facing competition from generic drugs in the U.S. after losing patent protection last fall.
J&J also faces thousands of lawsuits claiming its talc-based baby powder caused ovarian cancer and mesothelioma, threatening the company's family-friendly image. The company has fought the charges and insists its baby powder is safe.
J&J's stock slid nearly 4% last week after Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources, a grand jury examining documents as part of a criminal probe whether J&J lied about the possible cancer risks of its talcum powder.
Wolk said the report was "not new news" and "the surprise, if anything, was the fact it was considered news." J&J disclosed in February that it had received subpoenas.
"We're complying fully and cooperating fully with the Department of Justice," he said. "It's an astute organization, and I'm sure once they go through the facts they'll come to the same conclusions that the company acted responsibly and the product is safe."
JPMorgan Chase (JPM), the largest U.S. bank by assets, reported earnings for the second quarter on Tuesday that surpassed analysts’ expectations, helped by a nearly $800 million tax boost.
For the second quarter, the bank posted earnings per share of $2.82, versus analyst estimates of $2.50. The bank reported a $768 million income tax benefit that boosted results by 23 cents per share.
Revenue for the quarter came in at $29.57 billion, outpacing estimates of $28.88 billion.
JPMorgan Chase is the second Wall Street bank to report earnings this week — and the second to beat estimates in the face of a slowing economy.
In a statement, CEO Jamie Dimon said the bank continues to see “positive momentum with the U.S. consumer – healthy confidence levels, solid job creation and rising wages – which are reflected in our Consumer & Community Banking results.”
Dimon added that credit card sales saw double-digit growth, as did merchant processing volumes, reflecting “healthy consumer spending.”
Digital is increasingly playing an important role for the bank, with active mobile customers up 12% year-over-year. In his remarks, Dimon noted that the bank has opened over 2 million accounts digitally. What's more, client investment assets are up 16% year-over-year, driven, in part, by digital. JPMorgan Chase is also expanding its retail branch footprint in new markets.
Breaking the results down further, JPMorgan maintained its No. 1 spot for global investment banking, with 9.2% of the wallet share this year. However, total markets revenue came in at $5.4 billion, which was flat.
Dimon noted that the markets performance "was relatively steady on slightly lower client volume, probably due to slightly higher global macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties."
Shares of JPMorgan, which closed the session at $113.90 on Monday, were last trading 1% lower in the pre-market.
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Julia La Roche is a finance reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter.
Over half a dozen current and former Tesla employees claim that aggressive production goals have forced workers to take shortcuts when manufacturing its cars in a new report from CNBC. They also accuse Tesla of creating harsh working conditions, especially for employees working in the “GA4” production tent where assembly is not fully automated.
Employees claim that electrical tape was used to patch cracks on plastic brackets containing electrical components, and that cars would sometimes pass through the production line while missing bolts, nuts, or lugs. The employees even provided CNBC with photographic evidence to support their claims. They also claim that Tesla encouraged its employees to work in harsh conditions that were exceptionally hot and dry during the day and cold and wet during the night.
The accusations have emerged just weeks after Tesla set a new record for manufacturing and delivering its cars. In the second quarter of 2019 the company produced 87,048 cars, and delivered around 95,200, beating analyst expectations. However, CNBC’s report suggests that Tesla has had to cut corners in order to reach these production levels, harming its cars’ built quality in the process.
The accusations center around Tesla’s infamous GA4 production tent. The makeshift assembly line was first constructed as a temporary measure to hit Musk’s ambitious target of producing 6,000 Model 3’s a week by the end of June last year. However, over a year later, the temporary production tent is still in use. Tesla has already been fined almost $30,000 for safety hazards relating to the tent. The tent is reportedly responsible for about 20 percent of all Model 3 production.
Current and former Tesla employees claim that pressure to keep production moving inside the tent means that quick fixes are used when components are damaged. The cold weather can sometimes break plastic components, and when this happens they claim that electrical tape bought at Walmart is used to secure components, and provided photos of where it had been used. Responding to the images, Tesla told CNBC that many parts come with tape pre-applied from manufacturers, and that applying electrical tape is not approved procedure.
The employees also allege that cars would sometimes move down the production line with bolts, nuts, or lugs missing, because there wasn’t enough time to fully install all the components. “They would rather keep cars moving than stop the line and be seen as a bottleneck to production,” reports CNBC. One photograph provided showed a nut missing from a power supply distribution block, which could heat up and cause problems if it’s not properly secured.
Temperature is also cited in CNBC’s report as being a problem within the production tent, which is located outside the Nevada-based Gigafactory. Fans, which are supposed to keep the tent cool, are infrequently used and are often ineffective, leading to instances of heat rash and heat exhaustion. The tent also gets cold at night, so employees need to wear multiple layers. Some have even tried to warm themselves using heat lamps meant for manufacturing.
CNBC spoke to two former employees on the record for its report, and corroborated their account with six other current and former employees who asked to remain anonymous. The two named individuals, Carlos Aranda and Maggie Aranda, both stopped working at Tesla in June of this year. Maggie Aranda has previously criticized Tesla in comments made to The Guardianfor firing her when she was using her cellphone on the job to contact her husband, who was on medical leave at the time.
In a statement carried by CNBC, Tesla called the anecdotes “misleading” and said that they were unrepresentative of what it’s like to work at Tesla. “Dedicated inspection teams track every car throughout every shop in the assembly line, and every vehicle is then subjected to an additional quality control process towards the end of line… This applies to all areas of the factory, including our operations at GA4.”
“We work hard to create a work environment that is as safe, fair and fun as possible, and it is incredibly important to us that employees look forward to coming to work every day. In fact, we have a large number of employees who request to work on GA4 based on what they hear from colleagues and what they have seen first-hand.”
It's Prime Day, y'all! And if you've been paying even a little attention, you'll know that the deals are already coming fast and furious -- especially the deals on Amazon's own devices and those that have Alexa built in.
Note that CNET may get a share of revenue from the sale of the products featured on this page. Also, CBS All Access and Showtime are divisions of CNET's parent company, CBS.
Prime Day deals on Amazon devices
This is the lowest price ever for the 2018 Echo Dot, down from $25 earlier.
Ian Knighton/CNET
This early deal is now live. The full-size Echo is 50% off. That's a return to its best price ever.
Tyler Lizenby/CNET
This is our favorite smart display with Alexa. The Echo Show 5 is pretty new, so it's a surprise to see it on sale already, but this deal is awesome. The Show 5 has a 5.5-inch touchscreen. You can talk to Alexa and it can wake you up with a nifty sunrise animation.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Amazon's Fire TV Recast is $100 off on Prime Day, starting at just $130.
Chris Monroe/CNET
Another deal exclusively for Prime subscribers, the Ring Video Doorbell Pro and Echo Dot bundle drops to just $169 when you add them to your shopping cart. Previously the Ring was on sale for $169 all by itself -- the Dot just adds icing to the cake.
Tyler Lizenby/CNET
The second gen Echo Show refined the design of the first model and offers better sound quality and a 10-inch HD screen. It combines the functionality of a smart speaker like the Echo Dot with a touchscreen you can use for video calls and controlling your smart home with a tap. We like the $90 Echo Show 5 a little better, but $160 for the full-sized Show is a tempting offer.
Chris Monroe/CNET
This is our favorite smart speaker for controlling your smart home. The Echo Plus has the same Alexa capabilities as the rest, it sounds better than other Amazon Echo speakers, and it has a built-in Zigbee hub so it can talk directly to small smart home sensors. With the Plus, you can do away with bulky third party hubs, so the $110 sale price is pretty appealing.
The original Ring doorbell is on sale on Prime Day too, in addition to the newer Pro model. If you don't need a slimmer design and 1080p streaming, go with the older Ring instead of the Pro to save yourself some money.
Prime Day Amazon Fire Tablet deals
Save $30 on the Fire HD 8 tablet, just $50, or get two for $80 -- an $80 savings.
Save $50 on the Fire HD 8 Kids Edition tablet, just $80, or get two for $140 -- a $120 savings.
The All-New Amazon Fire 7 Tablet usually costs $50. During Prime Day it will be just $30.
Save $40 on the all-new Fire 7 Kids Edition tablet, just $60, or get two for $100 -- a $100 savings.
Save $50 on the Fire HD 10 tablet, just $100, or get two for $180 -- a $120 savings.
Save $50 on the Fire HD 10 Kids Edition tablet, just $150, or get two for $280 -- a $120 savings.
Prime Day Amazon Kindle deals
Save up to $50 on Kindle Paperwhite, plus get a $5 eBook credit and three months free Kindle Unlimited, starting at just $85.
David Carnoy/CNET
Save $30 on the all-new Kindle, plus get a $5 eBook credit and three months free Kindle Unlimited, just $60.
Amazon
The Echo Dot Kids Edition will be on sale for $45. It's similar to the regular Echo Dot, but has features and programming just for kids.
Prime Day home security deals
Ry Crist/CNET
Ring's simple, but reliable security system was already reasonably priced. The Prime Day sale makes it a great buy if you want a DIY system monitoring your home.
Chris Monroe/CNET
Amazon has sales on all kinds of Ring products for Prime Day, which makes sense as Amazon owns the smart home brand. The outdoor Spotlight cam hangs on your porch and provides reliable lighting and monitoring for your yard. The Spotlight Cam is also easy to set up, making it one of our favorite outdoor cams. The $140 price makes it a steal.
Chris Monroe/CNET
The Stick Up Cam doesn't stand out from the crowd as well as the Spotlight cam. It's an indoor cam with a wired and wireless version. It's a solid performer, but lacks some of the features of similar security cams. Still, at a discount, it's worth considering.
Amazon
The Blink XT2 is a weatherproof security camera with a battery that can supposedly last for two years. Getting a two-pack for $100 is a good deal.
More Prime Day smart home deals
Josh Miller/CNET
Both the bundled system and Eero's individual routers will be on sale on Monday. The mesh system in particular creates a seamless network capable of covering a large home. Our main issue with it is the price, which is dramatically less for Prime Day. If you want a mesh Wi-Fi system, this is a good time to grab one.
You can also save $100 on an Eero router during Prime Day (pay just $99).
Amazon Smart Plug and Amazon Echo Combo
Save $55
Ben Fox Rubin/CNET
Amazon is introducing a new bundle here and we'll add the link once it's live. The simple smart plug lets you add voice controlled connectivity to dumb devices like lamps. Pairing it together with an Amazon Echo smart speaker makes for a compelling smart home starter kit.
Chris Monroe/CNET
This deal is not currently available.
Our favorite smart thermostat has an Alexa speaker built-in and includes a temperature sensor so you can customize settings based on a specific room. The Ecobee SmartThermostat features better microphones and a sleeker finish than previous versions, and the sale brings the price into the range of less capable competition.
Prime Day Amazon Fire TV deals
Sarah Tew/CNET
Save $50 on the Fire TV Cube during Prime Day. It costs just $70.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Stream your favorite shows with the Amazon Fire TV Stick and Alexa remote -- it's just $15 during Prime Day.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Spend just $10 more for the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K (usually $50).
Sarah Tew/CNET
Amazon recently announced a slightly updated version of its flagship Kindle Oasis e-reader that's due to ship on July 24. The new model has a color temperature adjustable light. But if you can live without that, you can save up to $80 during Prime Day on the Kindle Oasis 2017. Additionally, you get a $5 eBook credit and three months free Kindle Unlimited, starting at just $175.
More Prime Day deals
Get a $45 Sling TV Credit, which can be applied to $15 off your first three months when you buy a Fire TV Stick, Fire TV Stick 4K, Fire TV Cube or Fire TV Recast.
Get 50% off for three months when you subscribe to Showtime or Starz on Prime Video channels or in-app.
Get 50% off for three months when you subscribe to CBS All Access on Prime Video channels.
Get Sega Classics for just $5.
Amazon has also revealed some details regarding Prime Day electronics deals:
Save up to 50% on Select Sony LED Smart TVs.
Save big on Samsung QLED 65-inch TV.
Save up to 50% on select PC gaming laptops, desktops, monitors, components and accessories.
Save on select productivity monitors, accessories and networking products.
Save on select Chromebooks.
Save up to 50% on select PC streaming equipment.
Save 30% on connected home devices.
Save big on select SanDisk and WD storage and memory products.
Save 30% on select Phone Cases and Accessories.
Save up to 40% on headphones from top brands.
As always, we'll be tracking this and other Prime Day news through next week. Stay tuned!
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Amazon Prime Day 2019: Everything to know
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