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Kraft Heinz plunges; Berkshire Hathaway earnings; Economy worries

Posted at 3:03 AM, Feb 22, 2019
and last updated 2019-02-22 05:03:50-05

1. Kraft Heinz plunges: Shares in Kraft Heinz dropped as much as 20% in extended trading after the company unleashed a wave of worrying news.

The food group wrote down the value of its Kraft and Oscar Mayer brands by $15 billion, posted a $12.6 billion loss, cut its dividend by 36% and revealed that its accounting practices are under investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Customers weren’t the problem: Sales were up about 1% in the fourth quarter. Instead, CEO Bernardo Hees blamed the company’s operations. Higher-than-expected manufacturing and logistics costs plagued the company. Kraft Heinz had expected its 2015 merger to continue helping to lower costs, but those efficiencies dried up.

The company said that US regulators are looking into matters “including, but not limited to, agreements, side agreements, and changes or modifications to its agreements with its vendors.” The SEC sent a subpoena related to the matter in October 2018.

2. Buffett watch: Berkshire Hathaway is expected to report earnings on Friday. If history is a guide, CEO Warren Buffett will release his annual shareholder letter on Saturday.

Buffett’s letter is closely read for its investment advice.

This year, the memo will be mined for insight on slowing economic growth in the United States and around the world, and what it means for companies and markets.

A smaller development that could also be explained: Last week, Berkshire revealed that it sold its entire $2 billion stake in Oracle after holding the investment for just one quarter.

3. Economy worries: US investors offloaded stocks on Thursday after getting several pieces of worrying news about the global economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 closed 0.2% lower. The Nasdaq shed 0.1%, snapping an eight-day winning streak.

US durable goods orders grew less then expected in December and existing home sales declined in January. Surveys showed further manufacturing weakness across the developed world.

“The US data have clearly turned a corner recently,” said Simon MacAdam, global economist at Capital Economics. “With the economy likely to lose a lot more pace this year, the Fed is unlikely to hike rates again this cycle.”

4. Global market overview: US stock futures were pointing higher. European markets opened mostly up, while stocks in Asia ended the session mixed.

US crude futures added 0.4% to trade at $57.20 per barrel.

Oil prices have mostly recovered from losses on Thursday sparked by a report by the Energy Information Administration showing US crude output rose to 12 million barrels a day last week.

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5. Earnings and companies: US Cellular and Wayfair will release earnings before the open.

Shares in Stamps.com dropped almost 50% in extended trading after the company announced it was ending its partnership with the US Postal Service.

6. Coming this week:
Friday — Berkshire Hathaway earnings