—— US Job Openings Unexpected Rose in May; Tesla Second Quarter Deliveries Beat Estimates; Investment Banks Cut Homebuilders Ratings; Moderna Awarded $176mn Government Contract; Jay-Z Invests in Online Watch Trading Platform; Eli Lilly’s Alzheimer Drug Gets FDA Approval; Trump Receives $331mn of Donation in Second Quarter
1. US Job Openings Unexpected Rose in May
US job openings unexpectedly increased in May, disrupting a months-long decline that indicated a gradual slowdown in labor demand.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) released on Tuesday, available positions rose to 8.14 million from a downwardly revised 7.92 million in the previous month, which had been the lowest in three years. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had a median estimate of 7.95 million openings.
Both hiring and layoffs increased, signaling more churn in the job market, while the quits rate remained unchanged. The ratio of vacancies to unemployed workers, closely monitored by the Federal Reserve, held steady at 1.2, matching the lowest level since June 2021. At its peak in 2022, this ratio was 2 to 1.
Speaking at a European Central Bank conference in Portugal on Tuesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell noted a “substantial” move towards better balance in the labor market between the supply of and demand for workers. He described the job market as strong but noted that it is appropriately cooling off.
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2. Tesla Second Quarter Deliveries Beat Estimates
Tesla Inc.’s second consecutive drop in quarterly deliveries was not as steep as analysts had predicted, leading to an over 8% rise in the EV-maker’s shares on Tuesday.
The company announced that it delivered 443,956 vehicles in the second quarter, surpassing the average analyst estimate of 439,302. While sales were down 4.8% from the same period last year, Tesla showed improvement on a sequential basis, with deliveries up from 386,810 vehicles in the first quarter of this year.
During the quarter, Tesla produced 410,831 vehicles, marking a 14% decrease compared to the same period a year ago. The company did not provide an explanation for the decrease in sales and production but is expected to offer more details when it reports its second-quarter results on July 23.
As of 9:52 a.m. in New York, Tesla’s shares had climbed 6.7%.
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3. Investment Banks Cut Homebuilders Ratings
Homebuilder-stock analysts are expressing growing concerns about signs of weakening in key markets such as Florida and Texas.
Lennar Corp. and D.R. Horton Inc. were downgraded by Citigroup Inc. analyst Anthony Pettinari, who cited worries that the housing market might remain “sluggish” in the second half of the year. Similarly, Raymond James Financial Inc.’s Buck Horne lowered his recommendation for Lennar to market perform from outperform, highlighting the company’s significant exposure to Florida.
“We see softness in data – permits, starts, sales, and prices all recently below expectations – potentially continuing” in the second half of the year, Pettinari wrote in a note to clients on Tuesday. “New and existing home inventories are ticking up, and the ‘twin engines’ of the hot US housing market – Texas and Florida – are seeing some areas of softening.”
Following these downgrades, shares of Lennar and D.R. Horton each fell as much as 2.9% at the market open in New York.
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4. Moderna Awarded $176mn Government Contract
Moderna Inc. has secured nearly $200 million from the US government to expedite the development of an mRNA vaccine for pandemic influenza, as a dangerous strain of bird flu spreads through the nation’s dairy farms, raising concerns about a potential health crisis.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded Moderna $176 million to help fund late-stage clinical trials set to begin in 2025, according to Dawn O’Connell, assistant secretary for preparedness and response, in an exclusive interview.
This vaccine will be designed to target multiple influenza strains with pandemic potential, including the current family of bird flu viruses. One such virus, H5N1, has already been detected in 136 cattle herds across 12 states and has infected three farmworkers this year, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Despite these developments, top health officials maintain that the risk of H5N1 to the general public remains low. No human-to-human transmission has been identified, and vaccination is not currently recommended, O’Connell stated.
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5. Jay-Z Invests in Online Watch Trading Platform
Hip-hop musician Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter has become the latest celebrity to back the online watch market by taking an equity stake in the luxury trading platform Wristcheck.
Carter, a well-known collector of rare and valuable watches from brands such as Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, and Richard Mille, participated in a recent funding round of approximately $5 million, according to the Hong Kong-based company.
Jay-Z joins a group of other celebrity investors in the watch trading space. Football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and F1 driver Charles Leclerc are investors in Chrono24, the largest dedicated online watch-trading platform, while its US rival Bezel has attracted celebrity backers including Kevin Hart, John Legend, and J Balvin.
Jay-Z’s investment comes after a challenging period for pre-owned watch marketplaces and sellers, which have faced a significant decline in second-hand watch values since April 2022.
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6. Eli Lilly’s Alzheimer Drug Gets FDA Approval
Eli Lilly & Co.’s Alzheimer’s treatment has been approved in the US, making it the second drug to slow the progression of the disease, which affects 6 million Americans.
This approval marks a significant victory for Lilly and its investors, who have been eagerly awaiting the drug, named Kisunla, since it showed promise in clinical trials more than three years ago. Kisunla faced several regulatory delays before gaining approval. It will now compete with Eisai Co.’s Leqembi, which has been available in the US since early 2023.
Lilly announced that its Alzheimer’s drug would cost $32,000 for the first year of treatment, slightly higher than the $26,500 annual price for Leqembi for a typical weight person. However, the label for Lilly’s drug indicates that doctors can stop the treatment if brain plaques, the toxic material that the drug targets, fall to minimal levels, as was the case for many trial participants after about a year.
Despite the positive news, shares of Indianapolis-based Lilly were down 1.2% in afternoon trading on Tuesday. Before this, the stock had surged over 50% this year due to rapid growth in the company’s weight-loss and diabetes business.
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7. Trump Receives $331mn of Donation in Second Quarter
Donald Trump raised $331 million in the second quarter, a substantial fundraising haul that now gives him more cash on hand than President Joe Biden, a development likely to heighten Democratic concerns about the incumbent’s campaign.
The amount raised by Trump and the Republican National Committee exceeds the $264 million Biden and the Democratic National Committee raised in the same period. Trump’s campaign reported nearly $285 million in cash on hand, compared to the $240 million reported by Biden—a significant turnaround in a fundraising battle where the president’s war chest had previously overshadowed his rival’s for months.
“Winning this quarter brought us a cash on hand advantage,” stated top Trump campaign officials Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles in a joint statement, taking a jab at Biden’s campaign for its high spending rate without yielding significant results.
Trump managed to out-raise Biden in the months of April and May, marking the first time he led the monthly fundraising race. However, in June, Biden raised $127 million compared to Trump’s $112 million.
Trump’s cash advantage comes at a critical time for Biden, whose campaign is under intense scrutiny from fellow Democrats following a disastrous debate performance that has prompted calls for him to step aside and allow another candidate to run.
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本文内容来自《Financial Times》、《Bloomberg》，以及《The Real Deal》等多家财经新闻媒体。