China's Rare-Earth Magnet Exports to US Hit Six-Month High After Trade Deal
The Asian nation shipped 619 tons of rare-earth permanent magnets to the US, up from a low of 46 tons in May, when the two countries were still locked in a damaging tit-for-tat trade war. China put export controls on the components, weaponizing the nation's 90% grip on global production to squeeze US factories and pile pressure on President Donald Trump.
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Walmart lifts outlook for sales, earnings despite tariffs
Big-box retailer Walmart hiked its outlook for sales and some earnings in results released Thursday, even as costs of goods imported to the United States rose after President Donald Trump's wide-ranging tariffs this year. Walmart is among major retailers reporting their financial results this week, with markets keeping close tabs on consumer patterns -- and signs of price increases -- as tariffs bite. The company topped analysts' quarterly sales estimates, with revenues for the three months ending July 31 at $177.4 billion, up 4.8 percent from the same period a year ago. But it missed earnings expectations with adjusted earnings-per-share (EPS) at 68 cents, lower than anticipated. US companies have been squeezed in recent months as tariffs raised the costs of importing certain foreign goods, although many mitigated the blow to consumers by bulking up on inventory before Trump introduced the new levies. The overall impact on US consumer prices appears limited for now but economists are closely monitoring the pass-through of costs to gauge if the inflation hit will be one-off or if there will be lingering effects. In its second quarter results released Thursday, Walmart raised its outlook, anticipating net sales to rise between 3.75 percent and 4.75 percent for the fiscal year, up from earlier expectations of 3.0 percent to 4.0 percent. It also raised its adjusted EPS outlook to a range of $2.52 to $2.62, up from $2.50 to $2.60 per share before. Walmart shares fell more than 3.4 percent in pre-market trading. Among segments, its global e-commerce sales rose 25 percent. Walmart noted that net sales growth internationally was boosted by segments including China, Mexico and Central America. E-commerce sales were up 26 percent for the United States, Walmart said in its report. Sales through store-fulfilled delivery channels grew nearly 50 percent, the company added. It noted strong sales growth as well in grocery, alongside health and wellness. Since returning to the presidency in January, Trump has imposed a 10-percent tariff on goods from most trading partners. Earlier this month, the 10-percent rate rose to varying levels for dozens of economies including the EU, Japan and South Korea, even as several had struck deals to avert even steeper levies. In May, Walmart warned of price increases due to higher tariffs, saying it might not be able to absorb all the additional pressures. In an earnings presentation released Thursday, Walmart maintained that it had "strong inventory management," but that there were also higher costs for imported goods. elm-bys/aha
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The FDA Just Approved a New Use for Wegovy, and Novo Nordisk Stock is Climbing. Here's What Investors Need to Know
Key Points Wegovy is now the second medicine approved in the U.S. for a disease that affects millions. Novo Nordisk has several other factors working in its favor, including strong results and a solid pipeline. The company looks attractively valued following its underperformance over the past 12 months. 10 stocks we like better than Novo Nordisk › The past 12 months haven't been great for Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO). Its shares peaked last year and have been in a downward spiral due to unimpressive financial results, clinical setbacks, and mounting competition in its core areas of expertise. However, Novo Nordisk is looking to bounce back. Recent regulatory progress could be a positive step in that direction. Here's what investors need to know. Another important approval On Friday, Novo Nordisk announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved Wegovy for the treatment of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). Wegovy has become a household name, famous for helping people manage their weight, but this new indication could be a significant development. Here's why. MASH is a disease characterized by the accumulation of fat in the liver, leading to inflammation. According to some estimates, 22 million adults in the U.S. have MASH, although fewer, about 9 million, have clinically meaningful liver disease. That's not an insignificant number, and one might think that, given this large addressable market, there are many approved therapies for MASH. But that's not the case. Developing effective treatments has proven to be surprisingly challenging. Last year, the FDA approved the first therapy specifically for MASH. Now, Wegovy has become the first GLP-1 medicine to earn that indication. Although there are other treatments in development, Wegovy could carve out a decent market for itself in MASH, especially since it posted phase 3 results comparable to those of its only competitor on the market (for now): Rezdiffra, marketed by Madrigal Pharmaceuticals. Novo Nordisk is a significantly larger company with more funds, a larger marketing budget, and a larger sales team than its smaller peer. What will be the demand for Wegovy in MASH be? We can gather some clues from Rezdiffra's launch, which is going extremely well. About a year after it hit the market, Rezdiffra generated $212.8 million in revenue in the second quarter -- that's impressive and points to a massive demand for the medicine. Yet, Madrigal has barely scratched the surface of the addressable market. As of June 30, it had treated just over 23,000 patients. Wegovy's launch in MASH should be even smoother since it isn't starting from scratch -- it's already been on the market for several years. In my view, this new indication could add over $1 billion in sales to Wegovy's total within the next few years, especially because it's also being considered for approval for MASH in Japan and the European Union. It's also worth pointing out another development that helped jolt Novo Nordisk's stock price. The company is partnering with GoodRx to offer Ozempic at a reduced cost for patients who pay out of pocket. This move should help it deal with some companies that sell compounded versions of Ozempic for less. Is Novo Nordisk's stock a buy? Wegovy could earn yet another important label expansion by next year, although in a different version. Earlier this year, Novo Nordisk requested approval for an oral formulation of the medicine for weight loss. That could also move the needle for the pharmaceutical giant. An oral version would be faster and cheaper to produce, easier to transport, and thus more cost-effective to manufacture at scale. The previous shortages Wegovy dealt with would be far less likely to occur with an oral formulation. Notably, it would mark yet another breakthrough for Novo Nordisk. There is currently no oral GLP-1 medication approved for weight loss -- the drugmaker's own Rybelsus, an oral GLP-1 product, is indicated only for diabetes. Meanwhile, Novo Nordisk's financial results remain strong. In the first half of the year, net sales grew by 16% year over year to 154.9 billion Danish kroner ($24.2 billion), while net profit of 55.5 billion DKK ($8.7 billion) rose 22% compared to the year-ago period. Furthermore, Novo Nordisk has an attractive pipeline. CagriSema, a next-generation GLP-1 therapy whose phase 3 results were strong (if not as strong as the market had hoped), appears poised to become a blockbuster. Some analysts predict that it will generate $15.2 billion in revenue by 2030. Elsewhere, Novo Nordisk's amycretin, another investigational weight loss therapy, recently started phase 3 studies in both oral and subcutaneous formulations. Despite recent clinical setbacks, Novo Nordisk's pipeline should earn some significant wins in the next few years, particularly since the company has been strengthening it through licensing deals. Lastly, Novo Nordisk stock looks reasonably valued. The company is trading at 13.5 times forward earnings, compared to an average price-to-earnings ratio of 16.5 for the healthcare industry. At current levels, the stock could deliver superior returns to investors who initiate positions today. Should you invest $1,000 in Novo Nordisk right now? Before you buy stock in Novo Nordisk, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Novo Nordisk wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $654,624!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,075,117!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,052% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 183% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of August 18, 2025 Prosper Junior Bakiny has positions in Novo Nordisk. The Motley Fool recommends Novo Nordisk. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. The FDA Just Approved a New Use for Wegovy, and Novo Nordisk Stock is Climbing. Here's What Investors Need to Know was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
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US applications for jobless benefits rise last week, but layoffs remain historically low
WASHINGTON (AP) — More Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, but U.S. layoffs remain in the same historically healthy range of the past few years. Applications for unemployment benefits for the week ending Aug. 16 rose by 11,000 to 235,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That's slightly more than the 229,000 new applications that economists had forecast. Weekly applications for jobless benefits are seen as a proxy for layoffs and have mostly settled in a historically healthy range between 200,000 and 250,000 since the U.S. began to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic more than three years ago. While layoffs remain low by historical comparisons, there has been noticeable deterioration in the labor market this year and mounting evidence that people are having difficulty finding jobs. U.S. employers added just 73,000 jobs in July, well short of the 115,000 analysts forecast. Worse, revisions to the May and June figures shaved 258,000 jobs off previous estimates and the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2% from 4.1%. That report sent financial markets spiraling, spurring President Donald Trump to fire Erika McEntarfer, the head of Bureau of Labor Statistics, which tallies the monthly employment numbers. The BLS does not contribute to the weekly unemployment benefits report except to calculate the annual seasonal adjustments. The BLS reported earlier this week that the unemployment rate in Washington, D.C. eclipsed 6% in July, the third straight month that it was the highest in the U.S. The rising D.C. jobless rate is a reflection of the mass layoffs of federal workers by Trump's Department of Government Efficiency earlier this year. An overall decline in international tourism — a main driver of D.C.'s income — is also expected to have an impact on the climbing unemployment rate in the District. Neighboring states of Maryland and Virginia, where many federal employees reside, also saw an uptick in unemployment rates in July. Since the beginning of Trump's second term, federal workers across government agencies have been either laid off or asked to voluntarily resign, spurring lawsuits from labor unions and advocacy groups. Another recent report on the U.S. labor market showed that employers posted 7.4 million job vacancies in June, down from 7.7 million in May. The number of people quitting their jobs — a sign of confidence in finding a better job — fell in June to the lowest level since December. Some major companies have announced job cuts this year, including Procter & Gamble, Dow, CNN, Starbucks, Southwest Airlines, Microsoft, Google and Facebook parent company Meta. Intel and The Walt Disney Co. also recently announced staff reductions. Many economists contend that Trump's erratic rollout of tariffs against U.S. trading partners has created uncertainty for employers, who have grown reluctant to expand their payrolls. The Labor Department's report Thursday showed that the four-week average of claims, which softens some of the week-to-week swings, rose by 4,500 to 226,500. The total number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits for the previous week of Aug. 9 jumped by 30,000 to 1.97 million, the most since November 6, 2021. Solve the daily Crossword
