CVS tops forecasts despite profit drop
CVS Health edged Wall Street third-quarter earnings expectations, but slumping sales from established stores helped chop the drugstore chain’s profit more than 16 percent.
The company also narrowed its forecast for 2017 earnings.
CVS Health Corp. said Monday it now expects annual adjusted earnings of $5.87 to $5.91 per share, a forecast that counts charges due to hurricanes. That’s down from a forecast of $5.83 to $5.93 it made in August.
Analysts expect, on average, earnings of $5.88 per share, according to FactSet.
In the third quarter, CVS Health earnings fell to $1.29 billion from $1.54 billion in last year’s quarter, while total revenue climbed more than 3 percent to $46.18 billion.
CVS Health runs more than 9,700 retail locations, counting the pharmacy and clinic businesses of retail giant Target Corp. That total is second only to Walgreens. CVS Health also processes more than a billion prescriptions annually as a pharmacy benefits manager.
Uber tackles assaults with training initiative
Uber is pledging $5 million over the next five years to seven organizations that work to prevent sexual assaults, a move aimed at helping the ride-hailing service combat its own problems as well as society as a whole.
The world’s largest ride-hailing company said the money will help the organizations fund their own programs as well train 150 of Uber’s customer service agents as part of a new team to deal with sexual assault reports, including how to interview people reporting improper conduct.
The initiative was announced Monday and comes at a time when Uber is trying to polish its image, which has been tarnished by investigations that found rampant sexual harassment of employees and multiple reports of drivers assaulting passengers. Under Uber’s stepped-up efforts, team members receive training on how to respond to sexual assault and harassment from experts in the field, including letting a caller talk without interruption, coaching employees how to ask questions that aren’t judgmental, and offering resources to victims such as law enforcement information and a national crisis hotline phone number.
Target to take breather after Thanksgiving
Target is offering shoppers a breather after holiday shopping on Thanksgiving.
The Minneapolis-based discounter said it will open at 6 p.m. Thanksgiving and then close at midnight local time. Its stores will then reopen at 6 a.m. local time Friday until 10 p.m., 11 p.m. or midnight local time. That’s different from last year, when it kept stores open through the night.
Target again will offer Black Friday deals at Target.com on the morning of Thanksgiving. In a lead-up to the holiday, it will dangle select deals starting Monday, as it has for the past four years.
Maryland AG objects to Sinclair purchase
Maryland’s attorney general opposes the proposed merger between Sinclair Broadcasting Group and rival TV station operator Tribune Media.
Attorney General Brian E. Frosh said the merger would lead to fewer options for consumers and higher prices.
Frosh also asked the FCC to delay its decision on the merger until a court decides how to calculate national audience reach.
Sinclair is already the nation’s largest local TV station operator with 173 stations, including WTVC- Channel 9 and WDSI-TV and WFLI-TV in Chattanooga. The Tribune deal, plus other pending acquisitions, would give it a total of 233 stations.
Sinclair says the merger would make it more efficient and would help the survival of free, over-the-air TV.
The attorneys general in Illinois, Massachusetts and Rhode Island have already voiced their opposition.
Court rejects Samsung appeal in patent case
The Supreme Court has rejected Samsung’s appeal of court rulings that it impermissibly copied features of Apple’s iPhone.
The justices Monday left in place rulings in favor of Apple involving its patents for smartphone features that include auto-correct and a slide that unlocks the device.
In 2014, a jury awarded Apple $120 million in damages for Samsung’s infringement of the patents.
The case is part of a series of disputes between the technology rivals that began in 2011. Last year, the high court ruled in favor of Samsung in a legal fight over the similar appearances of the two companies’ smartphones.