WSJ : Cava Fourth-Quarter Sales Rise on Higher Prices, New Restaurant Openings

Cava Fourth-Quarter Sales Rise on Higher Prices, New Restaurant Openings
The restaurant chain posted a profit of $4.9 million, or 4 cents a share

  • Cava Group’s fourth-quarter sales increased due to higher prices and new restaurant performance, though foot traffic fell at existing locations.
  • The company reported a $4.9 million Q4 profit and forecast 3% to 5% same-restaurant sales growth for the fiscal year.
  • Chief Executive Brett Schulman said Cava focuses on consistent value and does not plan further menu price increases this year.

Cava Group’s CAVA -0.80%decrease; red down pointing triangle fourth-quarter sales rose on higher prices and better-than-expected performance at new restaurants. However, foot traffic fell at existing locations.

The Mediterranean fast-casual restaurant chain said its results show it is resonating with increasingly discerning consumers, who have become more choosy with how they spend. The company also forecast that its same-store sales growth will continue this year.

Chief Executive Brett Schulman said Cava has been focused on delivering value consistently, while its competitors have looked to offer discounts recently after years of hiking prices.

“It’s these intentional decisions made consistently over time that reinforce trust with our guests and strengthen the long-term foundation of our brand,” Schulman said during a call with analysts.

The company said it raised its menu prices by about 1.4% last month, and doesn’t plan to increase prices again this year.

The stock rose 8.9% to $73.80 in after-hours trading. Through market close, shares have fallen 35% in the past year.

Last year, Cava and other fast-casual restaurant chains such as Chipotle saw weaker demand from younger consumers and pointed to economic strains including student loan repayments, inflation and healthcare and housing costs. At the time, Schulman said Cava would work to tout its value proposition to draw increasingly cautious consumers and continue to grow its market share.

Cava on Tuesday posted a fiscal fourth-quarter profit of $4.9 million, or 4 cents a share, compared with $78.6 million, or 66 cents a share, a year earlier. The year-ago quarter was helped by a tax benefit, the company said.

Adjusted earnings per share were 4 cents, compared with estimates of 3 cents a share according to analysts polled by FactSet.

Revenue rose 21% to $275 million, compared with analyst estimates of $268.4 million. The company said the increase was driven in part by new restaurant openings, which are exceeding its expectations.

Same-store sales, which account for restaurant openings and closings, increased 0.5%, compared with analyst expectations for a decline of 0.9%. The growth was due to menu price and product mix, partially offset by a decrease in traffic, the company said.

For the fiscal year, the company guided for same-restaurant sales growth of 3% to 5%, compared with analysts’ forecast of 3.2%.

The company expects to open 74 to 76 net new restaurants this year.

WSJ : Paramount’s Newest Bid Could Open Door to Beating Netflix Deal, Warner Say

Paramount’s Newest Bid Could Open Door to Beating Netflix Deal, Warner Says
Warner received a revised offer from Paramount to buy the entire company for $31 a share

  • Warner Bros. Discovery received a revised $31-a-share offer from Paramount, which its board deemed potentially superior to Netflix’s deal.
  • Paramount’s revised offer includes a 25-cent “ticking fee” per quarter and covers a $7 billion regulatory termination fee.
  • The Justice Department is investigating Netflix for potential anticompetitive practices related to its $72 billion deal for Warner’s studios.

Warner Bros. Discovery WBD 0.80%increase; green up pointing triangle said Tuesday it has received a revised offer from Paramount PSKY -1.61%decrease; red down pointing triangle to buy the entire company for $31 a share, up from its previous per-share purchase price of $30. It’s Paramount’s latest effort to derail rival bidder Netflix NFLX 2.66%increase; green up pointing triangle, which has a deal to buy the company’s prized studios and HBO Max streaming service.

Warner said in a statement its board of directors determined Paramount’s revised bid “could reasonably be expected to lead” to a proposal superior to Netflix’s signed agreement.

Should Warner decide Paramount’s offer is better, Netflix has the right to match it, under the terms of its purchase agreement. Warner said its board hasn’t made that determination yet. If it does, Netflix would have a four-day window to make a new offer.

Netflix’s deal for the studios and HBO Max is for $27.75 a share, or $72 billion. The prior bid from David Ellison-led Paramount was $30 a share, or $77.9 billion, for the entire company including its cable networks CNN and TNT.

Netflix isn’t interested in the cable networks, which Warner is in the process of spinning off into a separate company called Discovery Global. Netflix will acquire Warner’s Turner Classic Movies channel as part of the deal.

As part of its revised bid, Paramount agreed to exclude the Warner cable networks from the agreement’s “material adverse effect” clause, meaning the deal’s price tag won’t shrink if the linear TV networks business declines in value before the close.

Warner said Paramount’s owner has also agreed to contribute additional funding, if needed, to satisfy its lenders.

In addition to $31 a share in cash, Paramount proposed a “ticking fee” of 25 cents, which it would pay to Warner shareholders for each quarter its deal hasn’t closed, starting after Sept. 30, Warner said. Under Paramount’s previous proposal, the ticking fee would have begun in January 2027.

The offer also includes a $7 billion regulatory termination fee that Paramount would pay if the transaction failed to close due to regulatory concerns. Paramount would additionally be on the hook for the $2.8 billion breakup fee Warner would owe Netflix should that deal fall apart.

“The Netflix merger agreement remains in effect, and the Board continues to recommend in favor of the Netflix transaction,” Warner said, adding that shareholders are “advised not to take any action at this time with respect to the amended PSKY tender offer.”

Warner reopened talks last week with Paramount, giving the company a seven-day window to negotiate and telling the hostile suitor to make its “best and final” offer.

Paramount said Tuesday it “welcomes the WBD board’s determination and looks forward to continuing to engage constructively with WBD to deliver the benefits of Paramount’s proposal to WBD shareholders, the creative community and consumers.”

Paramount is scheduled to release its latest earnings results on Wednesday, and Warner on Thursday.

Warner reopened talks after Paramount amended its takeover bid, agreeing to pay the termination fee Warner would owe Netflix and introducing the 25 cent ticking fee.

Netflix signed off on Warner’s decision to give Paramount a new negotiating window, saying it still has the best offer and that it would put to rest the “ongoing distraction” of Paramount’s attempts to undermine the deal.

Last week, Netflix went on a public relations offensive against Paramount, with Netflix Co-Chief Executive Ted Sarandos using several news interviews to make the case for why its offer is better for shareholders and the entertainment industry.

Both deals will face review from government officials in the U.S. and abroad.

As part of its investigation, the Justice Department is looking into whether Netflix has engaged in anticompetitive practices, The Wall Street Journal previously reported. Netflix lawyer Steven Sunshine has disputed that, saying the company thinks the department is conducting a standard review of its proposal for the Warner studios and HBO Max.

President Trump criticized Netflix over the weekend for having Susan Rice, a former adviser to Presidents Obama and Biden, on its board. Trump demanded she be removed or the company will “pay the consequences.”

Rice said recently on former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s podcast that when Democrats come back into power they shouldn’t “forgive or forget” those entities, including universities, law firms and corporations, that “bent the knee” to Trump. “You need to play a long game, not this short game that has been so detrimental,” she said.

Netflix and Rice didn’t respond to requests for comment.

FT : Why 2026 will be a blockbuster year for biotech M&A

Why 2026 will be a blockbuster year for biotech M&A
Big pharma has emerged from its 2025 paralysis with plenty of firepower

Drug companies have caught the dealmaking bug. Big recent transactions in the pharmaceuticals industry include Novartis’s $12bn acquisition of Avidity Biosciences, Pfizer’s $10bn bid for Metsera and on Monday Gilead Sciences’ agreement to buy blood cancer specialist Arcellx for up to $7.8bn. From the way the market is shaping up, that’s only the beginning.

There is lots of pent-up demand. Company bosses spent much of 2025 paralysed by the threat of pharma tariffs and unsure of how far the White House would push them to give US patients the lower prices available elsewhere. Most of the action happened after the fog had cleared: fourth-quarter biopharma mergers and acquisitions nearly hit $95bn, according to Biomedtracker. If that level sticks, 2026 will be the best year in the past decade.

Big pharma has emerged from its stasis with plenty of firepower. If giants in the sector were happy to lift their leverage to twice their annual ebitda, still a fairly conservative level, it would free up $38bn in spending capacity for Merck & Co, $16bn for AbbVie and $56bn for Eli Lilly, on Barclays’ estimates. And they might feel freer to spend, since the financial impact of the pricing agreements President Donald Trump struck with 17 pharma companies is less onerous than the market initially feared.


Deals are likely to get bigger because companies are getting bigger. The XBI Biotech Index has climbed more than two-fifths in the past year, taking it to levels last seen in late 2021. And big drugmakers’ so-called patent cliff is getting closer: Merck’s Keytruda, responsible for roughly half its revenue, loses exclusivity as early as 2028. Patent expiries across the global pharma industry threaten an estimated $61bn in sales a year between now and 2030, on Bernstein estimates. That’s a major incentive to go shopping.

Drugmakers buy promising drugs at all stages of development, in particular sourcing earlier-stage products from Chinese biotechs that run cheaper trials. But to the extent that they are seeking to replace evaporating near-term revenue, they will have to go for more expensive biotechs with drugs almost ready for market.


The companies themselves are not being shy about their renewed appetite. At last month’s JPMorgan Healthcare conference, Merck said it was seeking deals in the “multi tens of billion-dollar” range. Last year was the starter dose of dealmaking; this year may bring the full course of treatment.

FT : Efune consortium willing to improve offer for Telegraph Media Group

Efune consortium willing to improve offer for Telegraph Media Group
Publisher of New York Sun, backed by Axel Springer, tries to upend sale of UK newspaper group to DMGT

A consortium led by Dovid Efune and Axel Springer is willing to sweeten its bid for Telegraph Media Group, escalating efforts to upend an agreed £500mn sale of the business to DMGT, said people familiar with the matter.

Efune, publisher of the New York Sun, has sent a new letter in recent days to RedBird, which is overseeing the Telegraph sale process, offering to improve financial terms and urging the private equity group to engage in serious discussions.

The consortium — which includes UK hedge fund manager Jeremy Hosking and US broadcasting multimillionaire David Smith — informed RedBird that it had the capacity and willingness to increase the cash portion of its offer, people briefed on the matter said.

Efune and his consortium partners also stated their bid had greater certainty of completion than DMGT, which already owns a number of newspapers in the UK including the Daily Mail.

The consortium’s latest move comes after it submitted an offer in recent weeks with the support of Axel Springer, owner of Politico and Business Insider in the US and Bild and Die Welt in Germany, thereby adding a heavyweight international publisher to Efune’s bid.

DMGT, led by Lord Rothermere, has offered £400mn in cash upfront for the Telegraph and a further £100mn over two years.

Efune’s consortium was offering more cash upfront than DMGT and had signalled it could pay more in the letter to RedBird if the group seriously engaged with it, people familiar with the situation said.

RedBird had been reluctant to engage substantively because it wanted to honour its agreed deal with DMGT, other people briefed on the process said. The group led by Gerry Cardinale had long tried to sell the Telegraph and was keen not to derail those plans, they added.

Efune’s consortium hopes its willingness to sweeten its bid will push RedBird to reconsider and explore a proposal that could offer greater value.

Hosking had pledged about $100mn to Efune’s consortium and Smith — who owns the Baltimore Sun — had made a smaller contribution, people with knowledge of the matter said.

The consortium has also attracted support from a wealthy British investor, although their identity could not be determined.

UK culture secretary Lisa Nandy recently referred the proposed sale of the Telegraph to DMGT to the Competition and Markets Authority and media regulator Ofcom for review.

In a letter published last month outlining her provisional decision, Nandy noted DMGT controlled more than half of the daily national print newspaper market in the UK and about 36 per cent of the right-leaning daily print segment.

She warned the number of owners serving the UK’s right-leaning daily and Sunday national newspaper market would fall from four to three if the deal proceeded.

Regulators have until June to deliver their findings, extending by up to four months a sale process that has dragged on for three years and left the Telegraph without a permanent owner.

The appearance of a competing bid may offer some comfort to RedBird, which has been compelled to relinquish control of the Telegraph.

RedBird’s attempt to secure ownership of the Telegraph encountered repeated obstacles, including UK political opposition linked to the financial backing it initially received from Abu Dhabi.

RedBird and the Efune consortium declined to comment.

>>> US After Hours Summary: AXON +16.4%, CAVA +9.4%, TREX +6.6% higher on earnin

After Hours Summary: AXON +16.4%, CAVA +9.4%, TREX +6.6% higher on earnings; ATEC -12.1%, FSLR -11.5%, WDAY -9%, HPQ -6.6%, MELI -5.9%, lower on earnings; PSKY increases bid for WBD to $31/sh

After Hours Gainers:

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: RCKY +25.7% (also authorizes new $7.5 mln share repurchase program), UIS +23%, AXON +16.4%, ECG +14%, ABCL +13%, FLYW +9.9%, CAVA +9.4%, REZI +7.8%, TMDX +7.8%, AROC +7.7%, GIC +6.7%, TREX +6.6% (also CEO to retire, names new CEO; also authorizes new $150 mln share repurchase program), SLDE +5.8%, UVE +5.5%, CCC +5.1%, EXLS +4.4% (also authorizes new $500 mln share repurchase program), MTDR +4.2%, BBIO +3.9%, IGIC +3.7%, SUPN +3.2%, JAZZ +3.1%, MATX +3%, ZETA +3%, RVLV +2.7%, RRC +2.2%, MMSI +0.9%, NVTS +0.8% (also CFO to step down), CLNE +0.4%, EOG +0.2%, SUI +0.1%

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: KOS +5.8% (announces sale of Equatorial Guinea production assets to Panoro Energy for up to $219.5 mln), AII +4.5% (declares special cash dividend of $1.02/sh), CVI +3.6% (Icahn Enterprises increases stake with $16.445 mln purchase of shares), NVCR +2.6% (received letter from CMS rescinding the revocation of billing privileges), CPRI +1.9% (names Tyler Reddien as CFO and COO), NFLX +1.3% (PSKY increases bid for WBD to $31/sh in cash), PSKY +1.2% (PSKY increases bid for WBD to $31/sh in cash), BBNX +0.8% (files mixed securities shelf offering), JNJ +0.2% (seeks FDA approval of IMAAVY), HRL +0.2% (names new CTO), PVLA +0.1% (commences $150 mln stock offering), DHR +0.1% (increases dividend)

After Hours Losers:

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: ATEC -12.1%, FSLR -11.5% (also patent licensing agreement with Oxford Photovoltaics), PARR -9.8%, WDAY -9%, INGN -8.7% (also authorizes new $30 mln share repurchase program), CWH -7.9%, VRRM -7%, GDDY -6.6%, HPQ -6.6%, MELI -5.9%, LCID -5.7% (also files a prospectus supplement to register for resale up to 69.1 mln shares), TALO -5%, MQ -4.8%, ALC -4.3%, DAWN -3.7%, TEM -3.7%, DAWN -3.7%, EVH -3.5%, HURN -3.5%, CDNA -3.4% (also names Keith Kennedy as COO/CFO), CSGP -3.4% (also plans to repurchase $700 mln of its shares in 2026), MOS -2.9%, EXPI -2.3%, SAM -1.5%, LTC -1.1%, SILA -1.1%, ATRO -1%, CORT -0.9%, CYTK -0.9%, SEI -0.9%, GPOR -0.8%, GPOR -0.8%, O -0.5%, SPXC -0.3%, NMFC -0.2%

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: TYGO -9.9% ($15 mln registered direct offering of its common stock; also reports earnings), ZURA -6.6% (stock offering), VIR -3.5% ($200 mln stock offering), SER -2.8% (doses first patient in Phase 1b trial for SER-252), MYGN -1.3% (files for $200 mln mixed shelf offering), WBD -0.8% (PSKY increases bid for WBD to $31/sh in cash), AAPL -0.2% (will soon introduce MacBooks with touch screens, according to Bloomberg)

>>> Bernard Arnault orders $650,000,000 megayacht that's somehow even bigger tha

Bernard Arnault orders $650,000,000 megayacht that's somehow even bigger than Bezos’ Koru

Louis Vuitton (LMVH) CEO Bernard Arnault has reportedly commissioned a $650,000,000 megayacht that will dwarf famous boats like Jeff Bezos’ Koru.

At the pinnacle of the yacht industry sit Amazon owner Bezos and Google CEO Sergey Brin, whose Koru and Dragonfly set the bar for lavish design and pure size.

But more and more billionaires are becoming weary of the noisy life in the mainland, and are looking to escape to the waters.

One of those is Bernard Arnault, who has now reportedly ordered a 470-foot-long $650M megayacht that would dominate the water unlike anything else.

Bernard Arnault wants his megayacht crown back by ordering a new $650M boat
Having reigned as the richest man on the planet on multiple occasions, Bernard Arnault puts his luxury expertise to good use when it comes to boats.

Back in 2015, he ordered Symphony, which was one of the largest vessels of its generation.

Wowed boating enthusiasts of the Monaco coastline have snapped the magnificent six-deck superyacht as the business guru tuned into major sporting events.

But having been overshadowed by a handful of new yachts, he’s reportedly called his old pals at Feadship and commissioned a new boat that is twice as large.

How does this compare to Koru and other gigantic yachts?
All we know about the new Bernard Arnault boat is that it is rumored to be 470 feet long and will likely increase in height, compared to Symphony, with at least another two decks.

It’s set to be between 10,000 and 12,000 gross tonnage (GT), which hints at it being a similar size to the $800M Dilbar.

To put that into perspective, Jeff Bezos’ Koru currently sits at 417 feet in length, meaning Arnault’s will be nearly 15 percent bigger.

As for what will happen to Symphony, there are two options.

Bernard Arnault could go down the Gabe Newell route, whose old yacht will now play as a support vessel for his new $300M nerdy paradise.

Or, as Lawrence Stroll has done, he could look to sell it to make room for the new boat.

FT : Reform UK plans to use £500bn of council pension assets to invest in Britis

Reform UK plans to use £500bn of council pension assets to invest in British businesses
Deputy leader hails ‘huge opportunity’ to create sovereign wealth fund, but experts give sceptical response

A Reform UK government would consolidate local council pension schemes into a near-£500bn “sovereign wealth fund” that it claims would boost economic growth by investing in British businesses.

Reform deputy leader Richard Tice said it would be one of the top eight largest funds in the world and could generate an annual surplus of between £20bn and £30bn a year.

“It will have a strategic British growth mandate,” he said, as he accused the existing local government pension scheme of being “disparate, uncoordinated” and having “no vision”. “This is such a huge opportunity, it’s an absolute game-changer.”

The LGPS in England and Wales has about £402bn in assets, with Scotland and Northern Ireland having another £78bn at the end of March last year.

The scheme is split across 98 administering authorities in the UK, 86 of which are in England and Wales. These 86 are in the process of merging their assets after the Labour government announced last year that all of their assets must be in one of six “pools” by this April. Council funds in England and Wales have 17 per cent of their assets invested in the UK at present. 

Tice gave the example of British Steel as a business the fund could invest in, helping to refurbish its blast furnaces.

Tice used his press conference on Tuesday — his first as spokesperson for business, energy and trade — to announce that a Reform government would repeal all net zero targets, zero-emissions vehicle mandates, employment rights and property rental rules introduced by the current Labour government. He also announced that Reform would introduce “heavy tariffs” on Chinese cars.

As part of the pension plans, Reform said that new workers joining the LGPS would be offered a defined contribution pension, with the defined benefit element to be closed to new members. The pensions of existing council fund members would be unaffected. 

Tice said this would enable councils to cut existing employer contributions to about 10 per cent, “saving councils millions and millions every year”. The average employer contribution in the LGPS is about 21 per cent of pay. 

The announcement echoes a similar proposal made by the Tony Blair Institute in 2023, which advocated consolidating the UK’s “fragmented” pensions landscape into a so-called superfund to drive investment in British infrastructure and industry. 

Tice said the scheme was underperforming “hugely” by “£8bn to £10bn per year”. But pensions experts were sceptical that Reform’s proposals would necessarily deliver better returns by focusing more on UK investments, pointing to the scheme’s average annualised returns over the past decade of more than 7 per cent. “This is not a free lunch,” said Sir Steve Webb, a former pensions minister and now a partner at consultancy LCP. “If this turns out to generate lower returns . . . council taxes would have to go up.” 

Increasing the fund’s allocation to equities could also make the performance more volatile, leading to bigger changes in the level of contribution rates that are set every three years.

Webb added that the impact of putting new joiners into a defined contribution scheme would be “an incredibly slow burn”. 

John Ralfe, an independent pensions consultant, said that LGPS “cannot become a SWF, whatever Reform may think” because it had made promises to pay pensions to its members.