3. Nike makes inventory progress
Nike continued its earnings hot streak with a stellar report Tuesday that easily surpassed Wall Street’s expectations. The sports apparel maker and retailer also enhanced its revenue outlook while posting improved inventory numbers from the prior quarter. Nike, like other retailers, has been mired under a merchandise glut largely due to supply chain snarls, so inventories are still much higher than a year earlier, and they’re cutting into margins. But some aggressive clearance work, including a big shift of products to wholesale channels, has helped Nike feel like it’s past the peak of its inventory woes. Shares of the company surged in off-hours trading.
4. SBF on the move
Accused fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried is headed back to the United States, for real this time. The disgraced founder of bankrupt crypto firm FTX has agreed to stop fighting extradition in the Bahamas as he faces multiple federal charges in the U.S., including fraud and conspiracy. Bankman-Fried, also known as SBF, is returning to American soil after several days of courtroom chaos in the Bahamas, where the former billionaire ran his now-collapsed crypto empire. Prosecutors have accused him of using $8 billion in customer assets to buy real estate and stadium naming rights, while making large political donations. If convicted, Bankman-Fried faces decades in prison.
5. Mr. Zelenskyy goes to Washington
Volodymyr Zelenskyy is coming to America. The Ukrainian president’s Wednesday trip to Washington, D.C., is his first known trip outside his country since Russia launched its unprovoked invasion in February. Zelenskyy’s visit coincides with Congress’s last major business of the year, a $1.7 trillion funding bill that includes $44 billion in aid for Ukraine. The Ukrainian leader is expected to visit President Joe Biden at the White House and also address a joint session of Congress. The development comes after Dmitry Medvedev, a top lieutenant of Russian President Vladimir Putin, made a surprise trip to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping. Read live war updates here.
— CNBC’s Mike Calia wrote this newsletter. Tanaya Macheel, Alex Sherman, Lillian Rizzo, Gabrielle Fonrouge, Rohan Goswami, MacKenzie Sigalos and Holly Ellyatt contributed.
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