Wall Street Breakfast

Costco hikes membership fees

Costco (COST) reports a 7.4% rise in June net sales, hikes membership fees. (00:29) HubSpot (HUBS) sinks after report Google shelved acquisition plans. (01:30) NBA sets up deals with NBC, Amazon, ESPN — but TNT can still match: Athletic. (02:20)

Episode transcripts seekingalpha.com/wsb.

Show links:
Biggest stock movers today: COST, AA, and more
Microsoft dodges EU antitrust probe with €20M settlement - report
Electric stuff: Tesla's business that may have more promise than autos, robots, or FSD
Samsung unveils slate of new AI-powered Galaxy devices
Update on UBS ‘Global top list’ of stocks

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Duration:: 6m
Broadcast on:: 11 Jul 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

Welcome to Seeking Alpha's Wall Street Breakfast, where we cover the top news for investors every morning. Good morning! Today is Thursday, July 11th, 7/11. I'm Julie Morgan. Costco is increasing prices, but don't worry, the hot dot combo is still about 50. Alphabet is no longer interested in HubSpot, and what do you think of the NBA on Amazon Prime Video, ESPN, and NBC? Costco announced that it is raising the membership fee for its nearly 52 million customers, of 1st since 2017. The company said it will increase annual membership fees by $5 for US and Canada Gold Star, business and business add-on members, resulting in an annual fee of 65 bucks. Annual fees for executive memberships in the US and Canada will be hiked to $130 from $120, but with that increase, the company is also increasing the maximum annual 2% reward associated with the executive membership to $1,250 from $1,000. All changes are effective September 1st. Additionally, the company declared a $1.16 per share quarterly dividend, which is in line with the previous distribution. COST is up nearly 3% in pre-market action, and this is a popular article on Seeking Alpha, more than 100 comments thus far. HubSpot failed 12% after a report that Alphabet has abandoned plans to purchase the company. According to a Bloomberg report on Wednesday, which cited people familiar with the matter, Google and HubSpot never reached a point of detailed talks around due diligence. Bloomberg reported back in May that Google was progressing in discussions to purchase HubSpot, and there have been reports that there could be an all-stock deal or a combination of stock and cash. Reuters first reported in April that Alphabet considered a potential takeover of HubSpot. Shares of HubSpot dropped 14% through Tuesday since April 18th, the day before the first report was published on a potential deal. BadaVille also reported last month that Amazon and a third potential party may be interested in HubSpot. Another decade of National Basketball Association media rights talks is nearing its endgame, with NBC and Amazon reportedly set to become new partners alongside ESPN. The Athletic reported that NBA and network executives have wrapped up contracts that would cover 11 seasons at a total value of $76 billion. And the package would feature national NBA telecasts almost every day of the week. NBC would return to a key pro basketball role broadcasting games throughout the season on Tuesday's simulcasting on streaming service Peacock, with Peacock also showing exclusive telecasts on Mondays. Amazon Prime Video is expected to have its regular season game streamed mainly on Friday nights and Saturdays according to the report. And ESPN would cut down on regular season games to about 80 from a current 100, but keep its spot as the home of the NBA Finals. The focus would then shift to TNT run by Warner Brothers Discovery and his chief David Zasloff, who has been threatening to exercise a right to match new deals. The Athletic reported that if Zasloff follows through, he is expected to target Amazon's deal. The NBA's Board of Governors is set to meet Tuesday in Las Vegas and after they approved the deals, the finished contracts would go to TNT Sports, which would then have five days to make a move. I have a few other articles I'd like to share with you on Seeking Alpha. Microsoft dodges the EU antitrust probe with a multi-million dollar settlement. Electric Stuff, Tesla's business that may have more promise than autos, robots, or FSD. Samsung unveils a slate of new AI powered Galaxy devices. And we have the update on UBS's global top list of stocks. On our catalyst to watch For the Day, Tyson Foods will hold its demo day 2024. The event offers startups an exclusive platform for potential partnership opportunities with Tyson. Notable investor events include Chewie's annual meeting and Excellus Technologies Investor Day. McGrath Rent Corporation will hold a special shareholder meeting to vote on the previously announced proposed acquisition by Will Scott Mobile Mini and other related proposals. Bluebird Corporation will participate in the STN West Conference. Shares of Bluebird have rallied in the past after showing off electric school bus advancements at similar events. And Delta Airlines will hold its earnings conference call at 10 a.m. Options trading implies a 6% share price swing after the report is dropped. United Airlines, Copa Holdings, and Alaska Air are the three airline stocks that correlate the closest to Delta after its earnings report is released. Now for a look at the markets today as of 6 a.m. Dow, S&P, and Nasdaq futures are in the red. Crude Oil is up 0.2% at $82 a barrel. Bitcoin is down 0.6% at $58,000. In the world markets, the FTSE 100 is up 0.3% and the DAX is up 0.2%. WD-40 is on our list of the biggest movers of the day pre-market. WDFC is up 12% following upbeat fiscal Q3 results, improved margins, and a reaffirmed fiscal year 2024 outlook. On today's economic calendar, at 8.30 a.m. the consumer price index. Analysts expect month over month inflation to rise by 0.1% with corn inflation up 0.2%. Year over year, the increases are expected to be 3.1% and 3.4% respectively. Also at 8.30 a.m. initial jobless claims. That's it for today's Wall Street breakfast. Thanks for listening! To take full advantage of seeking alpha with coverage on significant stocks and ETFs, become a premium subscriber. Check out seekingalpha.com/subscriptions. I'm your host Julie Morgan. Go out and make it a great day! [BLANK_AUDIO]