Monty Rakusen
Listen below or on the go on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
US Steel (X) to remain American, prioritize U.S. steel demands – Nippon Steel (OTCPK:NPSCY). (00:23) Snap (SNAP) CEO blames slow advertising business for stock underperformance. (01:44) DEI pullback: Molson Coors drops diversity policies. (02:51)
This is an abridged transcript of the podcast.
Nippon Steel (OTCPK:NPSCY) on Wednesday detailed a governance policy, stating that US Steel (NYSE:X) would remain a U.S. company headquartered in Pittsburgh.
Nippon Steel, which is seeking to buy US Steel for $14 billion, said that the operating structure for US Steel would include a majority of U.S. citizens making up its board. Additionally, the core senior management members of US Steel would also be U.S. citizens.
It added that US Steel would be owned by Nippon Steel North America, a New York-based subsidiary of the Japanese company “that has operated in the United States for over 50 years.”
The Japanese steelmaking company said it would prioritize production at US Steel to meet the demand in the U.S. steel market, and announced there would be no transfer of any US Steel’s production capacity or jobs outside the United States.
On Monday, Vice President Kamala Harris said that US Steel should remain domestically owned and operated.
In August, former President Donald Trump also signaled his opposition to the deal, stating that he would block the deal if he is re-elected.
President Joe Biden, too, has said for months that he is against the $14 billion buyout of US Steel, however, he has not outright called for the transaction to be blocked.
The CEO of Snap (NYSE:SNAP) says the company will focus on growing its advertising business and augmented reality offerings.
Evan Spiegel told employees in a note on Tuesday that the Santa Monica-based company plans to introduce new ad placements driven by machine learning and automation, as well as invest in AR and smart glasses, similar to initiatives by social media company Meta (META).
“You may be wondering why, with all of the progress we’ve made in our business over the last year, our share price performance has lagged the overall market. The answer is simple: our advertising business is growing slower than our competitors,” Spiegel said in the note titled 13 Years at Snap.
“The growth of our digital advertising business is one of the most important inputs to our long-term revenue potential, and investors are concerned that we aren’t growing faster,” he added.
The company is also experimenting with new ad placements like Sponsored Snaps and Promoted Places to help advertisers drive return on investment across Snapchat.
Molson Coors (NYSE:TAP) is joining the list of companies ending some of its diversity, equity and inclusion programs and policies.
The maker of Miller and Coors Light beers will no longer participate in the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, which gives scores to companies based on LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace.
Molson Coors (TAP) will also end DEI-based training programs and drop its supplier diversity goals. And starting next year, executive compensation will no longer be tied to DEI hiring goals.
The company told the Wall Street Journal that it has been working on evolving its culture from “work focused on DEI to a broader view in which all our employees know they are welcome.”
Other companies that have revised their DEI policies this year include Tractor Supply (TSCO), Deere (DE), Harley-Davidson (HOG), Lowe’s (LOW), and Ford (F).
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Which stock could replace Intel in the Dow as INTC shares slump?
Catalyst watch:
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The Citi Global Technology, Media and Telecom Conference will include participation from Microsoft (MSFT), Super Micro Computer (SMCI), Dell Technologies (DELL), Intel (INTC), MongoDB (MDB), and Etsy (ETSY). The Citi TMT conference has led to share price moves in the past based off of management updates. Other notable conferences on the schedule include the UBS Global Materials Conference, the Morgan Stanley Industrial CEOs Unplugged, the Morgan Stanley 22nd Annual Global Healthcare Conference, and the Goldman Sachs 31st Annual Global Retail Conference.
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Notable investor events include SkyWest (SKYW) appearing at Deutsche Bank Airline Day and BioMarin Pharmaceutical’s (BMRN) Investor Day.
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Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) will hold its earnings call at 5pm. Traders will be listening for any details on the planned acquisition of Juniper Networks (JNPR).
Now let’s take a look at the markets as of 6 am. Ahead of the opening bell today, Dow, S&P and Nasdaq futures are in the red. Crude oil is down 0.2% at $70/barrel. Bitcoin is down 3.8% at $56,000.
In the world markets, the FTSE 100 is down 0.6% and the DAX is down 0.5%.
The biggest movers for the day premarket: GitLab (NASDAQ:GTLB) shares surged more than 16% after the company reported strong FQ2 results that exceeded expectations and raised its full-year outlook.
On today’s economic calendar:
Editor’s Note: This article discusses one or more securities that do not trade on a major U.S. exchange. Please be aware of the risks associated with these stocks.
