Major International Business Headlines Brief ::: 18 November 2025

Tue Nov 18 12:06:41 CAT 2025

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Major International Business Headlines Brief :::  18 November  2025 

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

ü  Don't blindly trust what AI tells you, says Google's Sundar Pichai

ü  A Chinese firm bought an insurer for CIA agents - part of Beijing's
trillion dollar spending spree

ü  Will Trump's tariff rollback lower food prices?

ü  US lifts restrictions on flights in time for Thanksgiving travel

ü  Google boss warns 'no company is going to be immune' if AI bubble bursts

ü  Nvidia earnings are the most important of the year, pro trader says

ü  Ford partners with Amazon for dealers to sell used vehicles online

ü  E.W. Scripps stock surges 40% after Sinclair takes stake, pushes for a
merger

ü  Jeep eyes U.S. comeback following yearslong sales troubles

ü  Novo Nordisk cuts direct-to-consumer prices for Wegovy, Ozempic to $349 a
month

ü  Walmart shares are up 312% during outgoing CEO Doug McMillon’s tenure.
Here’s how that compares to its rivals

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

Don't blindly trust what AI tells you, says Google's Sundar Pichai

People should not "blindly trust" everything AI tools tell them, the boss of
Google's parent company Alphabet has told the BBC.

In an exclusive interview, chief executive Sundar Pichai said that AI models
are "prone to errors" and urged people to use them alongside other tools.

Mr Pichai said it highlighted the importance of having a rich information
ecosystem, rather than solely relying on AI technology.

"This is why people also use Google search, and we have other products that
are more grounded in providing accurate information."

While AI tools were helpful "if you want to creatively write something", Mr
Pichai said people "have to learn to use these tools for what they're good
at, and not blindly trust everything they say".

He told the BBC: "We take pride in the amount of work we put in to give us
as accurate information as possible, but the current state-of-the-art AI
technology is prone to some errors."

'A new phase'

The tech world has been awaiting the latest launch of Google's consumer AI
model, Gemini 3.0, which is starting to win back market share from ChatGPT.

>From May this year, Google began introducing a new "AI Mode" into its
search, integrating its Gemini chatbot which is aimed at giving users the
experience of talking to an expert.

At the time, Mr Pichai said the integration of Gemini with search signalled
a "new phase of the AI platform shift".

The move is also part of the tech giant's bid to remain competitive against
AI services such as ChatGPT, which have threatened Google's online search
dominance.

His comments back up BBC research from earlier this year, which found that
AI chatbots inaccurately summarised news stories.

OpenAI's ChatGPT, Microsoft's Copilot, Google's Gemini and Perplexity AI
were all given content from the BBC website and asked questions about it,
and the research found the AI answers contained "significant inaccuracies".

In his interview with the BBC, Mr Pichai said there was some tension between
how fast technology was being developed and how mitigations are built in to
prevent potential harmful effects.

For Alphabet, Mr Pichai said managing that tension means being "bold and
responsible at the same time".

"So we are moving fast through this moment. I think our consumers are
demanding it," he said.

The tech giant has also increased its investment in AI security in
proportion with its investment in AI, Mr Pichai added.

"For example, we are open-sourcing technology which will allow you to detect
whether an image is generated by AI," he said.

Asked about recently uncovered years-old comments from tech billionaire Elon
Musk to OpenAI's founders around fears the now Google-owned DeepMind could
create an AI "dictatorship", Mr Pichai said "no one company should own a
technology as powerful as AI".

But he added there were many companies in the AI ecosystem today.

"If there was only one company which was building AI technology and everyone
else had to use it, I would be concerned about that too, but we are so far
from that scenario right now," he said.-bbc

A Chinese firm bought an insurer for CIA agents - part of Beijing's trillion
dollar spending spree

Since 2018, the United States has been tightening its laws to prevent its
rivals from buying into its sensitive sectors – blocking investments in
everything from semiconductors to telecommunications.

But the rules weren't always so strict.

In 2016, Jeff Stein, a veteran journalist covering the US intelligence
community, got a tip-off: a small insurance company that specialised in
selling liability insurance to FBI and CIA agents had been sold to a Chinese
entity.

"Someone with direct knowledge called me up and said, 'Do you know that the
insurance company that insures intelligence personnel is owned by the
Chinese?'" he remembers. "I was astonished!"

In 2015, the insurer, Wright USA, had been quietly purchased by Fosun Group,
a private company believed to have very close connections with China's
leadership.

US concerns became immediately clear: Wright USA was privy to the personal
details of many of America's top secret service agents and intelligence
officials. No one in the US knew who might have access to that information
now the insurer and its parent, Ironshore, were Chinese-owned.

Wright USA wasn't an isolated case.

The BBC has exclusive early access to new data that shows how Chinese state
money has been flowing into wealthy countries, buying up assets in the US,
Europe, the Middle East and Australia.-BBC

Will Trump's tariff rollback lower food prices?

When President Donald Trump last week removed tariffs on more than 200
products, it represented something of a political earthquake, and marked a
significant concession on a hallmark White House policy

The decision, which critics said was long overdue, came as the president
returned his attention to cost-of-living issues, after polls suggested
affordability concerns were weighing down White House approval ratings and
hurting Republican candidates in recent elections.

A top lobby group for the food industry, FMI, the Food Industry Association,
hailed the tariff rollback, which affected popular items like bananas and
coffee, as a "critical step" toward affordability, as other business groups
also praised the move.

But in the end, the practical relief may not feel as monumental as the
political gesture.

In October, the Budget Lab at Yale projected that Trump's tariffs this year
- currently a baseline tax of 10% on imports from all countries, with
additional levies on many trading partners - would drive up food prices 1.9%
in the short run.

The impact would be significant, given that US grocery prices historically
have been relatively stable, rising an average of only 2% a year between
2013 and 2021.

The White House order did not eliminate tariffs on all food, but it removed
levies on some items, such as coffee, spices and tropical fruit like
bananas, for which US production is negligible or non-existent.

For those kinds of goods, economists and businesses said they expected the
order would help bring down prices - and relatively quickly.

Trump rolls back tariffs on dozens of food products

Anthony Serafino, president of the New Jersey-based fruit importer and
distributor EXP Group, said he expected to drop his prices in the coming
weeks, after raising them earlier this year to cover millions of dollars in
new tariff costs.

He said it might take a few weeks for shoppers to see the difference, since
he has to sell items he brought in before the change. But he expected the
decision to be a "big help".

"We were just passing through costs. We're not going to keep prices elevated
just to keep prices elevated," he said.

The overall impact on household grocery budgets, however, may still end up
feeling relatively modest.

Though the US is heavily dependent on foreign supplies in certain
categories, such as fresh fruit and seafood, imports typically account for
less than 20% of overall food and beverage purchases by Americans, according
to USDA.

And many food imports from Mexico - America's single biggest foreign food
supplier - were already spared tariffs, due to White House exemptions for
goods covered by a US, Mexico and Canada free trade agreement.

"You will certainly see it on certain products," said Sean Cash, a professor
of food economics at Tufts University. "I don't think we're going to see a
lot in terms of the average price of groceries coming down."

Food companies are still facing higher costs from tariffs on materials like
aluminium, used to make canned foods; items like wine, cheese and palm oil
did not make the list.

Recent jumps in food prices also reflect factors unrelated to tariffs, like
rising labour costs and droughts, which hit coffee and cattle supplies.

"If we got rid of trade barriers on food items and food commodities, would
that make food cheaper in the US? Yes, a little bit, but not that much,
because most of what we're buying are services," said Daniel Sumner, a
professor of agricultural economics at the University of California, Davis,
noting costs like border inspections, washing, trucking fees and supermarket
workers.

Overall, grocery prices climbed 2.7% over the 12 months to September.

That is still significantly lower than the huge jumps in 2022 and 2023, when
grocery prices surged 11.4% and 5% respectively.

Trump administration officials have cast high food prices as a mess they
inherited from the Biden administration, and warned it will take time to
correct the problem.

In a briefing for reporters last week about new tariff exemptions, they
acknowledged the effects might be limited, saying reducing prices in grocery
aisles was the goal and not a guarantee.

Walmart, Target and Kroger did not respond to requests for comment.

Food prices tend to fluctuate more than other kinds of goods, meaning some
relief is likely, especially given attention on the issue, economists said.

But Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie
University in Canada, warned today's high prices are likely to inform future
decisions, comparing the dynamic to the "tide".

"The tide goes up, it leaves a mark on the dock and that line remains," he
said. "If tariffs disappear, you will see that mental mark remaining and
industry tends to work with that mark."-BBC

US lifts restrictions on flights in time for Thanksgiving travel

The US transportation department has lifted its emergency order to cut
flights across the country, saying enough air traffic controllers are now
coming to work to alleviate safety concerns.

During the government shutdown that started in October, there was a rise in
absences of air traffic controllers, who - as essential employees - were
required to work without pay, which led airports to delay or ground flights.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) then ordered airlines from 7
November to cut scheduled takeoffs in order to prevent safety issues.

Since the shutdown ended last week, staffing levels "have continued to snap
back", the department said, just in time for busy Thanksgiving travel.

More than 6 million people in the US are expected to fly during the
Thanksgiving holiday - about 2% more than last year - according to the major
travel group AAA, which notes that the period is the single busiest holiday
for travel in the US.

"Controllers have returned to their posts and normal operations can resume,"
said Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy as he announced that the emergency
order had been lifted. "Now we can refocus our efforts on surging controller
hiring and building the brand new, state of the art air traffic control
system the American people deserve."

Air traffic controller absences were some of the most visible ramifications
of the 43-day shutdown, the longest in US history. Many controllers said
they were forced to take second jobs in order to make up for missing
paycheques, and many of those who came to work said they experienced stress
and exhaustion.

Airports scrambled to keep flights on time, sometimes relying on control
towers miles away to guide planes in. The problem was made worse by an
already existing shortage of controllers.

The emergency order had called for up to 10% of US domestic flights to be
cut, and in the first week of November thousands of flights were cancelled
and even more delayed.

According to the announcement ending the order, the FAA is "aware of reports
of non-compliance by carriers over the course of the emergency order. The
agency is reviewing and assessing enforcement options".

It did no elaborate on which airlines allegedly did not cut flights, and how
they might be penalised.

Across last Saturday and Sunday, there were only nine alerts put out by
airports for grounded, scrapped or late flights due to staffing shortages -
a stark contrast to the previous Saturday, 8 November, when those alerts
reached a record high of 81, according to the transportation department.

With the end of the shutdown, controllers are set to receive back pay, and
no longer face threats from Duffy of being fired for absences.-BBC

Google boss warns 'no company is going to be immune' if AI bubble bursts

Every company would be affected if the AI bubble were to burst, the head of
Google's parent firm Alphabet has told the BBC.

Speaking exclusively to BBC News, Sundar Pichai said while the growth of
artificial intelligence (AI) investment had been an "extraordinary moment",
there was some "irrationality" in the current AI boom.

It comes amid fears in Silicon Valley and beyond of a bubble as the value of
AI tech companies has soared in recent months and companies spend big on the
burgeoning industry.

Asked whether Google would be immune to the impact of the AI bubble
bursting, Mr Pichai said the tech giant could weather that potential storm,
but also issued a warning.

"I think no company is going to be immune, including us," he said.

In a wide-ranging exclusive interview at Google's California headquarters,
he also addressed energy needs, slowing down climate targets, UK investment,
the accuracy of his AI models, and the effect of the AI revolution on jobs.

The interview comes as scrutiny on the state of the AI market has never been
more intense.

Alphabet shares have doubled in value in seven months to $3.5tn (£2.7tn) as
markets have grown more confident in the search giant's ability to fend off
the threat from ChatGPT owner OpenAI.

A particular focus is Alphabet's development of specialised superchips for
AI that compete with Nvidia, run by Jensen Huang, which recently reached a
world first $5tn valuation.

As valuations rise, some analysts have expressed scepticism about a
complicated web of $1.4tn of deals being done around OpenAI, which is
expected to have revenues this year of less than one thousandth of the
planned investment.-BBC

Nvidia earnings are the most important of the year, pro trader says

Nvidia’s quarterly report this week is the biggest catalyst to watch in the
current “bend but don’t break kind of market,” New York Stock Exchange
insider Jay Woods tells traders.

Nvidia — set to report after the bell on Wednesday — is expected to inform
Wall Street on the strength of the artificial intelligence trade moving
forward, particularly with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite on track to snap
a seven-month win streak. The chipmaker’s results come at a time when
investors are questioning sky-high valuations tied to major technology
stocks and wondering how long the AI-powered bull market rally will last.
Questions about the depreciation cycles of Nvidia’s GPUs are also getting
louder.

“We all know one thing and one thing is only on traders’ mind this week and
that’s one earnings — it’s Nvidia,” said Woods, chief market strategist at
Freedom Capital Markets. “It’s not hyperbole, it is the most important
earnings of the year. Why? Because it’s almost 8% of the S&P 500. It’s in
the Dow Jones Industrial average. It’s part of the Nasdaq-100, roughly 10%
... so, Nvidia’s gonna move markets.”

Nvidia also holds a huge weight in big technology-focused exchange traded
funds, the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) and the Technology Select Sector
SPDR ETF (XLK) he noted.

Woods is watching to see if Nvidia can hold above the $185 level. The stock
last closed at $190.17 but traded around $186 per share on Monday. Shares of
the company are up more than 38% year to date but have slid nearly 8% this
month.

“What do we want? We’re watching technically 185. This seems to be the
level. We broke above it, ran to almost $212, and then we failed,” Woods
said. “Everyone’s talking about AI, the spend, the valuations. Jensen
Huang’s gonna give us a little peek as to how things are going. And as
Nvidia goes, the rest of the market should go.”-cnbc

Ford partners with Amazon for dealers to sell used vehicles online

The new program will let customers secure financing, start paperwork and
schedule a pickup time for vehicles at participating Ford dealers, the
companies announced Monday.

The deal comes a year after Amazon said it would allow auto dealers to sell
cars through its site, starting with vehicles from South Korean automaker
Hyundai.

The new program will allow customers to secure financing, start paperwork
and schedule a pickup time for the vehicles at participating Ford dealers,
the companies announced Monday. Some steps, such as a final signature, may
still need to be completed in person, Ford said.

The deal comes two years after Amazon said it would allow auto dealers to
sell cars through its site, starting with vehicles from South Korean
automaker Hyundai.

The deals between Amazon and the two automakers differ, though, as Hyundai’s
involves new vehicles rather than certified preowned. CPO vehicles are used
but have been inspected, refurbished and certified by the manufacturer or
dealer. They’re considered a better quality of used vehicles than cars
without the designation and have warranties, like a new vehicle.

Amazon earlier this year also partnered with car rental company Hertz

to sell used vehicles through its site.

E.W. Scripps stock surges 40% after Sinclair takes stake, pushes for a
merger

Sinclair, which acquired a roughly 8% position in Scripps per the filing,
recently launched a strategic review of its own business that could result
in a tie-up. Scripps, for its part, has seen its struggles mount in the
competitive industry and is among the smallest of its peers.

In the filing, Sinclair said it has been engaged in “constructive”
discussions regarding a deal and believes that, if it were to reach an
agreement, a transaction could be completed within nine to 12 months.

Sinclair said in the filing that based on trading multiples, there would be
an expected $300 million in synergies if a merger were to take place.

Scripps’ stock rose 40% on Monday while Sinclair’s stock gained almost 5%.

Sinclair, which acquired the stake for about $15.6 million, declined to
comment beyond the SEC filing.

In a statement on Monday, Scripps said its board “will take all steps
appropriate to protect the company and the company’s shareholders from the
opportunistic actions of Sinclair or anyone else.”

“Scripps’ board of directors and management are focused on driving value for
all of the company’s shareholders through the continued execution of its
strategic plan,” the company said in its statement. “The board and
management are aligned on doing only what is in the best interest of all of
the company’s shareholders as well as its employees and the many communities
and audiences it serves across the United States.”

The statement added that the board continues to evaluate “any transactions
and other alternatives that would enhance the value of the company and would
be in the best interest of all company shareholders.”

Broadcast TV station group owners have suffered like the rest of media
companies in recent years due to the shift away from the traditional pay-TV
bundles and toward streaming. These broadcast stations, for the most part,
make the majority of their money from so-called retransmission fees, which
are paid on a per-subscriber rate by traditional TV distributors.

Broadcast station owners like Sinclair have been eager to do mergers as they
push for deregulation under the Trump administration.

In August, Nexstar Media Group

, the biggest owner of these stations, agreed to acquire Tegna

for $3.54 billion.

Sinclair, meanwhile, is also considering spinning off or splitting its
ventures unit, which includes pay-TV network The Tennis Channel and
marketing technology business Compulse, which was recently rebranded to
Digital Remedy.

Sinclair and its advisors held discussions with potential merger partners
earlier this year, CNBC previously reported-cnbc

Jeep eyes U.S. comeback following yearslong sales troubles

Jeep has been in a rut this decade and is hoping for a turnaround.

The iconic SUV brand has experienced six consecutive years of U.S. sales
declines amid a leadership carousel, dearth of new products and a push into
luxury.

As part of a plan to get back on track, the brand is revealing its fourth
new product in four months this week called the Jeep Recon, a
Wrangler-inspired, all-electric SUV.

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Jeep is betting Americans still love a good comeback
story.

It’s a mantra that’s reverberating through the quintessential SUV brand —
from its CEO to a marketing campaign with LL Cool J — following yearslong
sales and market share declines that have taken a toll on Jeep and its
parent company, Stellantis

.

“This isn’t just a comeback. This is the Jeep brand reclaiming a segment we
invented and defined,” Jeep CEO Bob Broderdorf said during a recent media
event.

Jeep has been in a rut this decade, despite the brand’s well-known off-road
capabilities that have carried it for most of the past century. It has
experienced six consecutive years of U.S. sales declines amid a leadership
carousel, dearth of new products and a failed premium pricing strategy to
boost profits.

But now, the coveted SUV brand has realigned pricing across its lineup,
scored its best quarterly sales gain in more than two years and is in the
midst of its largest mainstream product blitz this decade.

“We’re going to grow, grow and grow,” Broderdorf told CNBC sitting in a
redesigned 2026 Jeep Grand Wagoneer at the company’s design dome in suburban
Detroit. “That’s the mission. And do it in a healthy way.”

Why Stellantis is investing $13 billion in the U.S.watch now

VIDEO09:53

Why Stellantis is investing $13 billion in the U.S.

Head of Jeep Brand, North America, Bob Broderdorf speaks during the
Stellantis press conference at the AutoMobility LA 2024 auto show at the Los
Angeles Convention Center on November 21, 2024. (Photo by ETIENNE LAURENT /
AFP) (Photo by ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP via Getty Images)

Then-head of Jeep North America Bob Broderdorf speaks during the Stellantis
press conference at the AutoMobility LA 2024 auto show at the Los Angeles
Convention Center on November 21, 2024.

Etienne Laurent | AFP | Getty Images

The redesigned Grand Wagoneer is symbolic of the brand’s troubles and
comeback attempt. It was Jeep’s foray into luxury — topping $111,000 fully
loaded in 2021 — that was relatively overpriced and overcomplicated compared
with its peers and experienced several production and quality issues.

The redesigned model lineup is less expensive, simpler and better positioned
against other large American SUVs rather than foreign competitors such as
Land Rover. Its production issues also have eased.

“We confused our buyers. We confused our dealers,” Broderdorf said at the
media event. “I’m here to tell you we got the message. We’re fixing it.”

But some things take longer than others to fix in the automotive world. The
brand’s sales remain significantly lower than expectations, and Jeep’s
overall quality problems remain a work in progress after the realignment of
its vehicles and pricing strategy.

“This is one of the areas that needs to improve. We have been improving, but
proof is in the pudding,” Broderdorf told CNBC.

Among 32 major automotive brands, Jeep ranked last in Consumer Reports’
annual grading last year that includes a combination of road test scores,
safety ratings, and predicted reliability and owner satisfaction data.

Most recently, the brand announced a recall of more than 320,000 plug-in
hybrid Wrangler and Jeep Grand Cherokee models due to a risk of fire. The
company filed a recall late last month with the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration, but no remedy has been released.

The company told CNBC a solution is expected in December involving a
software update to the high-voltage battery pack control module of the
vehicles to improve diagnostic capability for early detection of internal
battery damage.

The recall comes at an inopportune time, as Jeep launches a
Wrangler-inspired, all-electric SUV called the Recon. The vehicle will be
revealed this week ahead of the Los Angeles Auto Show after first debuting
as a concept vehicle in 2021.

The Recon was initially hailed as key to the Jeep brand’s future, with
executives saying it would help the company become a leader in all-electric
vehicle sales, including a prior plan for the brand to achieve 50% EV sales
in the U.S. by 2030.

Electric Jeep Recon SUV.

Jeep

But expectations have diminished as Stellantis appointed a new CEO and
demand for EVs slowed amid regulatory changes, including the end of up to
$7,500 in federal incentives in September to purchase a plug-in electric
vehicle.

Broderdorf said the end of federal incentives is expected to impact sales
across the industry, including with the Recon, but the new SUV functions as
an EV “bookend” alongside the sportier Wagoneer S for the Jeep brand’s
electric portfolio.

“I’m not going to just chase volume just to chase volume,” he said during a
recent media call. “I want to sell cars in the right way. Everybody who
wants a [battery-electric vehicle], Recon, I want to make sure that we’re
there for them. After that, it doesn’t really matter to me.”

The Recon is being produced at Stellantis’ Toluca Assembly Plant in Mexico
alongside the Wagoneer S, Jeep Compass and the new Jeep Cherokee, which is
being offered exclusively as a hybrid vehicle.

Broderdorf, who started leading the brand in February, said the plant can
easily adjust to produce the higher-volume Compass and Cherokee depending on
demand for EVs. Both gas-powered vehicles also are expected to be
manufactured in the U.S. in the coming years for additional flexibility.

Several automakers reported major declines in their EV sales in October
following the end of the federal incentives as well as the Trump
administration eliminating fuel economy and emissions fines, which EVs
helped offset.

Electric Jeep Recon SUV

Electric Jeep Recon SUV

Jeep

Jeep has released few details about the Recon other than it will be a
“brother” to the Wrangler — Jeep’s iconic, off-road and open-air SUV. Jeep
previously touted a smaller concept version of the vehicle achieving 0-60
mph in roughly two seconds.

The Recon is the last of four new vehicles Jeep is revealing in four months.
It started with the crucial new Cherokee SUV, followed by updated versions
of the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Grand Wagoneer.

Before the Jeep Wagoneer S last year and upcoming Recon, Jeep was focusing
on electrified sales of plug-in hybrid electric versions of its Wrangler and
Grand Cherokee rather than all-electric vehicles.

American comeback?

Part of Jeep’s “comeback” has included an aggressive push in new marketing
and advertising campaigns that have included actor and musician LL Cool J
and a raunchy ad campaign featuring comedian Iliza Shlesinger for the Jeep
Grand Wagoneer.

The campaigns, led since June by Jeep’s new vice president of marketing and
communications, Wendy Orthman, are consistent with Broderdorf’s comeback
mantra, including featuring LL Cool J’s “Mama Said Knock You Out.”

“Don’t call it a comeback. I been here for years,” the iconic rapper and
actor says in the song featured in the ad campaign, calling Jeep “the
original influencer.”

The marketing and advertising efforts help, but the most important thing for
the company remains new products, specifically the Jeep Cherokee that
competes in the highly popular compact/midsize SUV markets, industry
watchers said.

“They’re still trying to fix things, getting the pricing right, getting the
product right,” said Stephanie Brinley, associate director in
AutoIntelligence at S&P Global Mobility. “But there’s a lot of potential,
especially with the Cherokee coming back. There’s a lot still coming on in
the pipeline, and I think it’ll position them in a good space.”

The company axed a prior version of the Cherokee as well as a smaller SUV
called the Renegade amid profit pressures under former CEO Carlos Tavares in
2023.

Jeep’s sales through the third quarter of this year were up less than 0.5%
compared with a year earlier. Jeep’s U.S. market share has fallen from 5.4%
in 2019 to 3.7% since 2024, according to Cox Automotive.

Jeep’s been dealing with a spiraling sales decline that started after the
brand reached an all-time high of more than 973,000 SUVs sold in 2018. The
brand’s sales have fallen 40% since then to less than 590,000 units last
year in the U.S.

As sales plummeted, Jeep’s average transaction prices, or ATPs, were around
$54,000 during 2023-24 — well above the industry average of roughly $48,500
or less during that time period, according to Cox Automotive.

Jeep’s ATPs through the third quarter of this year were less than $49,800,
according to Cox. That remains a premium over the average industry of
$48,588 but is far lower than prior years.

One thing that hasn’t been declining this year for Jeep is its inventory
levels, according to Cox Automotive. Jeep had the highest days’ supply of
any major brand other than Ford’s Lincoln at 146 days in October. The
industry average for days’ supply, which calculates the amount of days of
inventory dealerships have based on recent sales, was 88 days, Cox reports.

“Looking at mainstream brands, recent inventory trends reveal that some
manufacturers may be edging toward overstocked territory as consumer demand
shifts,” Erin Keating, Cox Automotive executive analyst, said in a blog post
Thursday, citing Jeep specifically.

Jeep’s comeback plan started with Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa, who
previously led the brand. It has accelerated, with the Filosa’s support,
under Broderdorf.

“It’s not like ’26 is going to be a 1-million-unit year because they’re
fixing things. Once you kind of get off track, getting back on track can
take a little bit of time as well, but it starts with product,” Brinley
said. “And that’s what they have coming in 2026.”-cnbc

Novo Nordisk cuts direct-to-consumer prices for Wegovy, Ozempic to $349 a
month

Novo Nordisk  on Monday said it has cut the direct-to-consumer prices of its
blockbuster weight loss drug Wegovy and diabetes counterpart Ozempic, adding
to efforts by the company and the Trump administration to make the
treatments more accessible. 

The Danish drugmaker is lowering the price of the drugs for existing
cash-paying patients to $349 per month from $499 per month. But Novo Nordisk
said the cash-pay cost of the highest dose of Ozempic will remain $499 per
month. 

Also on Monday, Novo Nordisk launched a temporary introductory offer, which
will allow new cash-paying patients to access the two lowest doses of Wegovy
and Ozempic for $199 per month for the first two months of treatment. After
that period, people move to the new standard monthly direct-to-consumer
price. The company’s introductory offer ends on March 31. 

The announcements come days after President Donald Trump struck deals with
Novo Nordisk and chief rival Eli Lilly

to make their popular GLP-1 drugs easier for Americans to access and afford.
Those agreements will involve cutting the prices the government pays for the
drugs, introducing Medicare coverage of obesity drugs for the first time for
certain patients and offering discounted medicines on the government’s new
direct-to-consumer website launching in January called TrumpRx. 

“Our new savings offers provide immediate impact, bringing forward greater
cost savings for those who are currently without coverage or choose to
self-pay,” said Dave Moore, Novo Nordisk’s head of U.S. operations, said in
a release. “It is part of a larger strategy to expand access that includes
building relationships with telehealth providers and major retailers,
expanding coverage, and working with the Administration to lower costs for
people living with chronic diseases like obesity.”

The Trump administration said starting doses of existing injections like
Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s weight loss drug Zepbound will be $350 per month on
TrumpRx, but will “trend down” to $245 per month over a two-year period. 

On the day the deals were announced, Eli Lilly said it would lower prices by
$50 on its own direct-to-consumer platform, LillyDirect, which already
offers Zepbound at a discount to cash-paying patients. The multidose pen of
Zepbound will be available at $299 per month at the lowest dose, with
additional doses being priced up to $449 per month.

Novo Nordisk’s new cash-pay offers are available through Wegovy.com or
Ozempic.com, the company’s direct-to-consumer pharmacy, NovoCare, and other
participating organizations and telehealth providers that work directly with
the drugmaker, including Costco

, GoodRx

, WeightWatchers, Ro, LifeMD and eMed. -BBC

Walmart shares are up 312% during outgoing CEO Doug McMillon’s tenure.
Here’s how that compares to its rivals

When incoming Walmart  CEO John Furner steps into the retailer’s top role,
he will try to follow up a period of dramatic share growth that many of
Walmart’s rivals have failed to match.

Walmart’s stock has more than quadrupled since outgoing CEO Doug McMillon
began in the role in February 2014. Across nine of the 12 calendar years
when McMillon has been Walmart’s leader, the company posted positive stock
returns.

Among Walmart’s main rivals in the retail and grocery business, only Amazon

and Costco

have had better stock returns since McMillon took the job. Meanwhile,
Walmart’s stock has outperformed those of competitors like Target

, Dollar General

, Dollar Tree

, Kroger

and Albertsons

.

McMillon will officially step down at the end of January, but will stay on
as executive chairman and advisor. While Furner will face a challenge in
replicating the company’s performance under his predecessor, he has been a
key catalyst for the company’s success as CEO of its largest sector,
Walmart’s U.S. business.

Along with huge gains on Wall Street, McMillon oversaw a significant period
of growth for the nation’s largest grocer, which included sharp sales
increases, wage hikes for hourly workers and transformation of the nation’s
low-price leader into a major e-commerce player. He also steered the
retailer through the tumult of a global pandemic, historic levels of
inflation and higher tariffs.

Sales during McMillon’s first three years in the role were roughly flat —
with revenues of $486 billion, $482 billion and $485 billion in the fiscal
years ending January 2015, 2016 and 2017, respectively.

Yet those years were followed by steady growth, and those gains have
accelerated since 2021, after the Covid pandemic pushed more people to shop
online and inflation nudged even wealthier shoppers to seek value. Walmart
posted annual revenue of about $681 billion in the fiscal year ended earlier
this year, an approximately 40% jump from the company’s annual revenue the
first year of McMillon’s tenure.

This year, Walmart is on track to post annual revenues of over $700 billion
for the first time ever. Ironically, however, it is also expected to lose
its crown as the largest retailer by annual revenue to its biggest
e-commerce rival, Amazon

.

Earlier this year, Amazon leapfrogged Walmart in quarterly sales for the
first time. Compared to Walmart, it has a different mix to its business
because of its massive cloud computing, advertising and seller services
businesses.

How Walmart’s stock compares to its rivals

Stock gains by Amazon have outpaced Walmart’s during the years of McMillon’s
tenure, with 1,225% share gains by the tech giant compared to a 312%
increase by Walmart.

However, Walmart’s performance on Wall Street has far surpassed big-box
retail competitor Target

’s across McMillon’s time as CEO. Shares of Target are up about 60% since
February 2014, compared to Walmart’s 312% gains.

During the years of the Covid pandemic, Target’s steep share gains surpassed
those of Walmart. Yet the Minneapolis-based cheap chic retailer’s annual
sales have been roughly stagnant for about four years and dragged down its
stock performance.

Like Walmart, Target is preparing for a leadership change in February. Last
month, Target said Michael Fiddelke, its chief operating officer and former
CFO, would succeed longtime CEO Brian Cornell.

Costco

also stands out as a competitor that has posted steeper share gains than
Walmart. Shares of the warehouse club retailer, which competes with both
Walmart stores and those of its warehouse chain, Sam’s Club, have shot up by
more than 700% during the years of McMillon’s tenure.

Walmart’s supermarket competitors — Kroger

and Albertsons

, in particular — have lagged behind that. Shares of Kroger, which includes
about two dozen grocery chains including Fred Meyer and Ralphs, climbed 265%
during McMillon’s tenure. Shares of Albertsons, which includes Safeway, Tom
Thumb and other grocery chains, rose by only 16%.

Albertsons went public in 2020, which gave it less time for stock gains. For
about two of those years, from roughly 2022 to 2024, Kroger and Albertsons
also sought to merge their two companies into a larger grocer that could
better compete with Walmart, Costco, Amazon and others. The deal was
ultimately blocked by a U.S. judge, after the Federal Trade Commission sued
to stop the merger.

Dollar stores also fell short of Walmart’s stock performance while McMillon
was CEO. Dollar Tree

and Dollar General

, who compete with Walmart in offering groceries and other items at low
prices, posted 104% and 85% share gains, respectively, compared to Walmart’s
312% increase.

Notably, both dollar store banners’ stocks outperformed Walmart’s during
some of those years, yet have been struggling more recently.

Walmart’s stock was about flat Friday following the retirement announcement,
and shares have climbed about 13% this year.cnbc

 Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

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