• Walmart reported first-quarter revenues of $168 billion, up 4% from last year.
• US sales were boosted by shoppers rushing to get ahead of tariff-related price hikes.
• Walmart's CFO said customers should expect price rises soon.

Walmart's strong first quarter underscores that the retailer views tough times as an opportunity.

It reported first-quarter revenues of $168 billion, up 4% from last year on a constant currency basis, and a 3% rise in profit to $7.3 billion.

"We delivered a solid first quarter in a dynamic operating environment. We're serving customers and members in more ways, which is fueling our growth," CEO Doug McMillon said in the earnings release.

US sales were lifted by shoppers rushing to get ahead of potential price hikes related to new tariffs on China and other countries announced during the quarter.

Year-over-year foot traffic to Walmart stores was up an estimated 4.5% in April, after being down in February and March, likely due to shopper concerns about prices and supply constraints, according to Placer.ai.

The stock rose 2.6% in premarket trading.

In an interview with CNBC after the earnings were released, Walmart's CFO John David Rainey said shoppers should expect higher prices in the near future.

"We're wired for everyday low prices, but the magnitude of these increases is more than any retailer can absorb," he said.

"It's more than any supplier can absorb. And so I'm concerned that the consumer is going to start seeing higher prices. You'll begin to see that, likely towards the tail end of this month, and then certainly much more in June."

Walmart also reported major growth in revenue from its membership programs, with global membership fee income up nearly 15%. The company doesn't disclose publicly how many Plus members it has, but it is estimated at more than 15 million, according to Barclays.

CEO Doug McMillon gave a preview of the results in early April at Walmart's investor meeting, shortly after President Donald Trump ratcheted up tariffs on imports from China.

McMillon said that two-thirds of what Walmart sells in the US is sourced domestically, and said the retailer's broad product assortment and experienced merchandising teams were well-suited to handle the uncertainty.

"We'll just manage it in a way that mix becomes a strength," he said.

In addition, CFO John David Rainey said at the time that fluid situations like this one have historically seen Walmart win customers over from rival retailers.

"If you look back two years ago when we saw inflation, we invited a lot of new customers to Walmart," he said. "We have a similar opportunity today."

• Warren Buffett criticized tariffs during his Q&A at Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting on Saturday.
• "Trade should not be a weapon," Buffett told investors in Omaha, Nebraska.
• Buffett did not mention President Donald Trump by name while hitting out at tariffs.

Warren Buffett hit out at President Donald Trump's global trade war on Saturday, saying trade should not be a "weapon."

Speaking at Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, Buffett did not directly name Trump, but made clear his distaste for tariffs.

Buffett made the comments in response to the first question during his widely watched Q&A, the centerpiece event of the annual meeting.

"Trade should not be a weapon," he said."

Buffett called the policies a "big mistake," warning that protectionist policies could have negative repercussions for the US.

"I do think that the more prosperous the rest of the world becomes, it won't be at our expense, the more prosperous we'll become, and the safer we'll feel, and your children will feel someday," Buffett added.

"I don't think it's right, and I don't think it's wise," he said. "The United States won. I mean, we have become an incredibly important country, starting from nothing 250 years ago. There's not been anything like it."

The comments are his most direct yet on the global trade war sparked by Trump's imposition of sweeping tariffs at the beginning of April.

Buffett's comments came after the company reported that its first quarter profits fell by around 14% compared to 2024 to $9.6 billion, while its cash stockpile rose to more than $347 billion.

Buffett's holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, has surged despite volatile financial markets since Trump's election last year.

The conglomerate is up more than 20% since Trump won victory on November 5, in spite of the S&P 500 being down almost 2%

Trump's administration has imposed tariffs of 145% on China, which were countered with retaliatory Chinese levies of 125%.

• Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway posted a 14% drop in first-quarter operating profits on Saturday.
• Berkshire sold a net $1.5 billion of stocks and grew its cash pile to a record $348 billion.
• Buffett has been stymied by hefty valuations for stocks, acquisitions, and buybacks.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway reported a 14% drop in first-quarter operating profits to $9.6 billion ahead of Buffett speaking at the company's much-watched annual meeting in Omaha on Saturday.

Berkshire's insurance underwriting division's 49% year-on-year profit decline to $1.4 billion was largely to blame for the company's overall earnings decline.

The famed investor's conglomerate sold a net $1.5 billion of stocks, as it bought $3.2 billion on stocks and sold $4.7 billion worth. The disposals marked the 10th straight quarter that it's been a net seller of stocks.

However, the sales were significantly smaller than last year, when Berkshire sold a net $134 billion of stocks in just 12 months.

The disposals contributed to a 4% increase in Berkshire's cash pile to a record $348 billion, or $333 billion if $14.4 billion of payables for Treasury purchases are subtracted. That figure exceeds the market capitalizations of most S&P 500 companies, including Bank of America and Coca-Cola.

Buffett didn't opt to repurchase any Berkshire shares last quarter, making it three straight quarters without any buybacks.

The bargain hunter and his team have been thwarted by lofty valuations for public stocks, private businesses, and even Berkshire shares in recent years.

The lack of opportunities — and Berkshire cutting key positions Apple and Bank of America last year — has boosted its cash pile to record levels.

Regardless, Berkshire Class B shares have soared 20% this year to trade at all-time highs of about $540. The stock has benefited from tariff turmoil that has pushed the S&P 500 down 3% this year, as investors seek haven in Berkshire and bet on Buffett to capitalize if the market crashes.

• On Friday, China hit the US with a 125% tariff on imports.
• The move is the latest in a series of tit-for-tat tariff increases.
• China accused the US of "bullying" and said it risked becoming a "joke" on the world stage.

China hit back at the US on Friday with a 125% tariff on imports, the latest escalation in the trade war between the two superpowers sparked by President Donald Trump's trade levies.

In a fiery statement, China's Finance Ministry accused the US of "bullying" and said it risked becoming a "joke" on the world stage.

"The US's arbitrary imposition of abnormally high tariffs on China seriously violates international economic and trade rules, disregards the post-World War II global economic order built by the US itself, and violates basic economic laws and common sense. It is completely unilateral bullying and coercion," the statement said.

"Even if the US continues to impose higher tariffs, it will no longer make economic sense and will become a joke in the history of the world economy," it added.

The new tariffs are set to go into effect on Saturday, the ministry said. It added that it would not reciprocate with further tariff increases should the US retaliate again.

"If the US continues to play the tariff numbers game, China will ignore it," the statement said.

Previously, China said the tariff rate on US imports would be 84%, a level imposed on Wednesday.

On Thursday, the White House said the combined tariff rate being imposed on China was 145%, not the 125% that had previously been reported.

Neither are showing signs of backing down

Analysts at Deutsche Bank wrote in a note on Friday that the difference between the two figures was "negligible in any practical economic sense. " But they said the markets reacted to an increased decoupling of two of the world's largest economies.

"Neither the US nor China are showing signs of backing down, with President Trump expressing confidence in his tariff plans yesterday, even as he acknowledged potential 'transition problems,'" the analysts said.

Earlier in the week, Trump announced that he would pause a large swathe of his tariffs for 90 days, though many — including tariffs on China — remained in effect.

Mark Haefele, the chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management, said on Friday that the president's willingness to change his stance on tariffs in response to equity and bond market turmoil showed some sensitivity to market turbulence.

"To be sure, the significant tariffs on China will cause economic disruption if they remain in place," he said. "But while downside risks do remain, we believe the risk of a more severe economic downturn is now more limited."

On Truth Social, Trump wrote Wednesday: "At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realize that the days of ripping off the U.S.A., and other Countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable."

Stock markets stutter

The Trump administration estimated the US ran a trade deficit of $295 billion with China in 2024, with the US importing $440 billion in goods from China and China importing $145 billion in goods from America.

China's announcement of new retaliatory tariffs had a mixed impact on European stocks, though it was less significant than moves earlier in the week.

Germany's DAX was down 1.5% by about 1:30 p.m. local time (7:30 a.m. ET), while Britain's FTSE 100 was up about 0.4%. Europe's broad Stoxx 600 fell 0.6%.

US futures were trading a little higher, with the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq all set to open up by about 0.2%.

Japan's Nikkei 225 tumbled almost 3% by the end of the trading day, and South Korea's Kospi lost 0.5%.

"Both China and the US have sent clear messages, there is no point of raising tariffs further," Zhiwei Zhang, the president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, wrote in a note on Thursday.

"The next stage is to observe and evaluate the damage to economic activities in the US and China," he added.

• The electric vehicle maker Nikola has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, it said Wednesday.
• Executives said in October the EV maker had enough cash to operate only until 2025's first quarter.
• Nikola faced fraud allegations in 2020, leading to investigations and its founder's conviction.

The troubled electric truck maker Nikola has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the company said Wednesday.

Nikola's CEO, Steve Girsky, said in a statement that "various market and macroeconomic factors" had affected the company's financial situation and led to the bankruptcy filing.

"In recent months, we have taken numerous actions to raise capital, reduce our liabilities, clean up our balance sheet and preserve cash to sustain our operations," he said.

"Unfortunately, our very best efforts have not been enough to overcome these significant challenges, and the board has determined that Chapter 11 represents the best possible path forward under the circumstances," he added.

This type of bankruptcy protection allows a company to reorganize and keep the business open as it pays creditors over time.

Nikola said it also applied for authorization to sell its business, adding that it would keep operating during the bankruptcy process. The company said it had $47 million in cash to fund its activities.

Its stock has fallen from more than $30 in early 2024 to about $0.70 now — a fall of more than 95%. Shares were down almost 60% in premarket trading Wednesday.

The stock dropped 28% in a single day earlier this month following reports that it might file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The company, which went public in June 2020, has a history of financial and operational challenges. On a third-quarter earnings call in October, Nikola, which lost nearly $200 million that quarter, said that it had enough cash to run its business only until the first quarter of 2025 and was exploring bringing in partners.

The company shipped 90 trucks in the third quarter, up from three in the same period in 2023.

In 2020, Nikola was valued at $34 billion before generating any revenue.

In September 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice launched investigations after a short-seller firm, Hindenburg Research, released a report accusing Nikola of being "an intricate fraud" under its founder and then-CEO, Trevor Milton.

Milton denied the allegations, calling the report a "hit job for short sale profit." He resigned from his position as executive chair the same month. Girsky, a General Motors alum, took over as CEO in August 2023.

In September 2023, Milton was sentenced to four years in prison after being convicted of fraud. A year later, he was ordered to pay Nikola nearly $168 million for making misleading statements about the company to the public.

Correction: February 19, 2025 — An earlier version of this story misstated the number of trucks shipped by Nikola in the third quarters of 2023 and 2024. It was three and 90, respectively, not 3,000 and 90,000.

• Frontier Airlines revealed a new offer to buy rival Spirit on Wednesday.
• Spirit rejected the offer, calling it "woefully insufficient financially."
• Spirit entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November last year.

Spirit Airlines has rejected a new takeover offer from rival budget carrier Frontier.

In the statement, Frontier said it had provided a "compelling proposal" to buy Spirit, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November.

"This proposal reflects a compelling opportunity that will result in more value than Spirit's standalone plan by creating a stronger low fare airline," Frontier chairman Bill Franke said in a press release.

Spirit rejected Frontier's offer, it said in a filing on Wednesday, calling it "woefully insufficient financially." The company said it aimed to exit its bankruptcy proceedings in the first quarter of 2025.

Frontier said a merger would help create "long-term viability" for both airlines to "compete more effectively and enter new markets at scale."

It said a deal could be financed by issuing new Frontier debt and stock.

Frontier and Spirit had previously held talks about merging in 2022, but that deal collapsed when JetBlue made a higher offer to Spirit. The Spirit-JetBlue deal was then called off last year after being blocked by a federal judge.

This is a developing story.

• American Airlines briefly grounded all its US flights over a technical issue on Tuesday morning.
• The airline told BI that a "vendor technology issue" had affected its flights.
• Certain cancellations and delays trigger compensation under new federal rules.

American Airlines grounded all of its flights across the US for about an hour on Tuesday, saying it was experiencing technical issues.

Later Tuesday morning, American flights were back in the air. It was unclear whether the delays would reverberate through its network and cause additional issues on a big travel day ahead of Christmas.

Data from aviation analytics company Cirium and shared with Business Insider showed that only around 37% of American's flights are running on time as of 2 p.m. Eastern Time. Still, less than 1% have been canceled.

"Based on previous such incidents, it appears American has been able to maintain its schedule, albeit with delays," Cirium said in a statement.

Cancelations could grow, Cirium said, if crews "time out" — or run out of time they're allowed to fly by regulations.

Under new Department of Transportation guidelines, some passengers could be entitled to compensation if their flights are delayed or canceled.

The Federal Aviation Administration said in an advisory statement early on Tuesday that the airline's flights across the US were grounded. An update about an hour later said the nationwide ground stop was canceled.

American Airlines told BI in a statement that a "vendor technology issue briefly affected flights." That issue has been resolved, and flights have resumed.

"We sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience this morning," American said. "It's all hands on deck as our team is working diligently to get customers where they need to go as quickly as possible."

The airline said the technology issue affected the systems needed to release flights, and the ground stop lasted about an hour.

Bloomberg described online posts as saying the issue prevented the airline from calculating weight and balance requirements for its flights.

More than 2,400 flight delays on Christmas Eve

The Cirium data shows that 63% of American's 3,900 global scheduled flights were delayed after Tuesday's ground stop. Planes were getting back in the air by mid-morning Eastern Time, with only 19 total cancellations.

Most of American's flights are running within two hours of their originally scheduled departure time, per Cirium, though some are reaching three hours or more.

FlightAware data shows American's hubs in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Dallas/Fort Worth are the most affected airports, with about 400 and 500 flight delays, respectively, as of 2:00 p.m. ET.

A weather advisory in effect in the Dallas area was further disrupting flights.

Federal rules about customer compensation

Users on X said they were made to get off their planes on Tuesday morning.

New Department of Transportation rules say customers are entitled to automatic refunds for flights that are canceled or "significantly changed," including domestic flights that arrive at least three hours later than scheduled. To receive a refund, a customer must not accept a changed booking.

Most airlines, including American, offer meal vouchers to travelers who wait three or more hours because of a delayed or canceled flight that was within the airline's control. American's technical issues would fall under that category.

Many provide hotels for an overnight delay or cancellation, as well as transportation to and from the airport. It's unclear whether American's Tuesday disruptions will spill over into Wednesday.

The disruption comes on Christmas Eve, one of the biggest travel days of the year.

The Transportation Security Administration said it expected to screen almost 40 million people through airports over the holidays, an increase of more than 6% from last year.

• Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger stepped down on Sunday, the company said Monday.
• The company has struggled in recent years to keep up with rivals like Nvidia in the chip race.
• Intel's share price was up more than 3% at the market open after it announced Gelsinger's departure.

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger has stepped down, the company said Monday in a statement, as the US chipmaker struggles to keep up in the global chip race.

Gelsinger leaves the chipmaker with immediate effect, vacating his roles as CEO and as a member of the board.

The 63-year-old executive's departure follows a clash with Intel's board of directors regarding his plan to gain ground against rival chipmaker Nvidia, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Gelsinger was reportedly offered the choice to step aside or be fired, the outlet said.

"Today is, of course, bittersweet as this company has been my life for the bulk of my working career," he said in a statement. "It has been a challenging year for all of us as we have made tough but necessary decisions to position Intel for the current market dynamics."

Two senior Intel executives, David Zinsner and Michelle Johnston Holthaus, will lead the company during the search for a new CEO.

Intel, once a giant of Silicon Valley, has seen its share price drop almost 50% this year as it has faced multiple challenges.

Gelsinger's plans to revitalize the company included ambitions to build more factories in the US and Europe to scale its production capacity, as well as designing its own line of AI chips, named Gaudi, to take on the industry heavyweight Nvidia.

Many of these efforts have struggled, however. Last month, Gelsinger said the company was set to miss its target of $500 million in 2024 sales for Gaudi 3, its latest series of AI chips, due to software-related issues.

Gelsinger rolled out a sweeping set of initiatives earlier this year to turn the company around. In August, Intel laid off 15,000 employees, said it would suspend its dividend starting in the fourth quarter, and cut its capital spending.

Intel's stock price rose more than 3% when markets opened on Monday.

Frank Yeary, Intel's chair, thanked Gelsinger and said the company needed to restore investor confidence.

"While we have made significant progress in regaining manufacturing competitiveness and building the capabilities to be a world-class foundry, we know that we have much more work to do at the company and are committed to restoring investor confidence," Yeary said.

Intel received a boost last month as it was awarded $7.9 billion in federal grants through the US CHIPS Act.

Gelsinger was brought on in 2021 to lead the Santa Clara, California-headquartered company, with a remit to turn it into a powerhouse of the chip industry and close the gap with its Taiwanese rival TSMC.

He first joined Intel in 1979 and rose to become its chief technology officer in 2001. He then left the company in 2009 to join EMC, a subsidiary of Dell. In 2012, he became the CEO of the cloud-computing firm VMware before returning to Intel as its CEO in 2021.

• EV battery maker Northvolt has entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, it said on Thursday.
• The Swedish firm, founded by two ex-Tesla executives, has struggled amid stuttering demand for EVs.
• Northvolt's CEO and cofounder Peter Carlsson will step down as part of the bankruptcy process.

Northvolt, the battery company founded by two former Tesla executives, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after struggling to ramp up production.

Sweden-based Northvolt said on Thursday that it voluntarily entered bankruptcy proceedings in the US, which will allow it to restructure debt and obtain new investment.

Soon after the bankruptcy was announced, CEO Peter Carlsson, one of Northvolt's founders, said he would step down as part of the process.

Bankruptcy documents showed Northvolt had about $5.8 billion of debt, and just $30 million in available cash — enough to fund its operations for about seven days.

Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Microsoft were all listed as creditors in bankruptcy documents. It had raised more than $15 billion since its foundation in 2016.

Northvolt said it has secured extra funding of about $245 million, including $145 million in cash, and a $100 million commitment from a customer to provide a debtor-in-possession loan — a specialized credit line for firms going through bankruptcy.

"This decisive step will allow Northvolt to continue its mission to establish a homegrown, European industrial base for battery production," said Tom Johnstone, Northvolt's interim chair, in a statement.

"Despite near-term challenges, this action to strengthen our capital structure will allow us to capture the continued market demand for vehicle electrification."

Northvolt will continue operating during the bankruptcy proceedings.

Founded in 2016 by Carlsson and Paolo Cerutti, Northvolt aimed to revolutionize battery manufacturing but has struggled in recent months.

The firm's bankruptcy comes after difficulties in ramping up battery production at its facility in Skellefteå, Sweden, close to the Arctic Circle. In June, BMW pulled out of a $2.1 billion order for battery cells for its EVs, citing delays to deliveries.

In September, Northvolt said it would lay off about 1,600 staff.

Automakers in Europe are struggling with weak demand for EVs and rising competition from Chinese rivals.

On Wednesday, Ford said it would cut 4,000 jobs in Europe by the end of 2027.

Volkswagen, Europe's largest car company, is considering the closure of factories in Germany for the first time and cutting tens of thousands of jobs. VW faces stuttering demand in Europe and has lost market share in China to local rivals selling cheaper EVs and hybrids.