Stock Market News: Delta, Pepsi earnings, Disney CEO Iger on next steps, producer inflation eases

A potential strike by about 340,000 workers of The Teamsters Union against United Parcel Service could cause its customers to incur losses in excess of $4 billion, according to an analysis released by a consulting firm on Thursday.

A 10-day strike would likely furlough those workers who are currently earning annual wages of about $90,000 per year (excluding benefits), resulting in wage losses of $1.1 billion, Anderson Economic Group said.

A shift to remote working is likely to wipe off $800 billion from the value of office buildings in major global cities by 2030, according to a study published by consulting firm McKinsey on Thursday.

The survey on nine "superstar" cities — Beijing, Houston, London, New York City, Paris, Munich, San Francisco, Shanghai and Tokyo — showed that demand for office space would be 13% lower in 2030 than it was in pre-pandemic 2019.

"Superstar" cities are locations with a disproportionate share of the world's urban gross domestic product (GDP) and GDP growth.

The survey said employees continued to spend far less time working at the office compared to pre-pandemic times. Remote working seemed to have contributed to migration away from prime cities, partly influenced by complete work-from-home models and cheaper housing availability in suburban areas.

Amazon.com was hit with a complaint on Wednesday for refusing to bargain with a New York workers' union, a spokesperson for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) said.

The NLRB general counsel, which acts as a prosecutor, is seeking remedies that include an order for Amazon to bargain in good faith with the union representing more than 8,300 workers at its JFK8 fulfillment center, the spokesperson said.

Workers at the facility, located in the New York City borough of Staten Island, voted to join the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) last year, a first for the company in the United States.

However, the e-commerce giant has challenged the results before the labor board, delaying any discussions with the union until the matter is resolved. The company's challenge has already been struck down once by the labor board in January.

Alex Mashinsky, the founder and former CEO of bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network, was arrested Thursday morning, according to a source familiar with the matter, and was sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, per a court filing.

The SEC lawsuit alleges Mashinsky and Celsius raised billions of dollars through the sale of unregistered crypto asset securities and misled investors about the financial success of his business.

The lawsuit adds to a series of challenges for Celsius Network, which earlier this year was also sued by New York's attorney general.

The crypto industry has been on shaky ground after the SEC's lawsuits against major crypto exchanges Binance and Coinbase Global last month raised risks of further regulatory challenges for the sector.

Wall Street's main indexes opened higher on Thursday after producer prices data provided further evidence of inflation cooling in the world's largest economy, and stoked hopes that the Federal Reserve will soon end its monetary policy tightening.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 64.88 points, or 0.19%, at the open to 34,412.31.

The S&P 500 opened higher by 19.34 points, or 0.43%, at 4,491.50, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 102.18 points, or 0.73%, to 14,021.15 at the opening bell.

One day after Disney CEO Bob Iger agreed to a contract extension, he hinted that the media giant may be interested in selling its TV assets. He made the comments in an interview with CNBC.

Disney shares have gained just 4% this year trailing the S&P 500.

PepsiCo saw lower demand for its drinks and snacks in the second quarter but higher prices continued to boost its bottom line.

The Purchase, New York-based company reported better-than-expected revenue and raised its full-year earnings forecasts.

Shares rose more than 2% before the market open on Thursday. Pepsi said snack food volumes fell 3% in the April-June period, while beverage volumes dropped 1%.

Net pricing was up 15%. It was the sixth straight quarter that Pepsi has reported double-digit price increases. Pepsi's net revenue rose 10% to $22.3 billion. That beat Wall Street’s forecast.

Delta Air Lines reported unprecedented quarterly profit and revenue and raised its expectations for a year after travelers took to the skies in huge numbers, defying some forecasts of a pullback in spending.

Revenue soared almost 13% to $15.58 billion, a surprising jump even for a carrier that has outperformed consistently, and shares rose almost 3% before the opening bell Thursday. Delta's second-quarter profit was $1.83 billion, or $2.84 per share.

Earnings per share adjusted for one-time costs or benefits was $2.68, far exceeding Wall Street expectations. The Atlanta carrier boosted its per-share earnings expectations for the year to $6 to $7, up from previous projections for $5 to $6.