00:00I want to start with Humana. The stock is down 6% here in the pre-market, though it is
00:04up
00:04about 52% so far this year. So it came out with strong second quarter earnings and Wall Street
00:10was hoping the insurer would raise its profit guidance. It did not, which is one of the reasons
00:15why the stock is down. Humana also said it spent more on medical expenses last quarter in its
00:20insurance segment than Wall Street anticipated. And Humana is one of the biggest sellers of
00:26Medicare Advantage plans, which also makes up the bulk of the company's revenue. And we know that
00:31there's been increased government scrutiny about this plan. It's made it more difficult for companies
00:36to profit in that business recently. So Humana says that the gap is growing there. There's a bigger
00:42gap in the segment between medical costs and revenues and that it would have to cut benefits
00:48to maintain profitability. Thank you so much for doing this. And Paul, this is the kind of stuff
00:52you learn in earnings season. I know. Absolutely. Business plans were, I mean, I'm still getting
00:56over IBM. Yeah. Oops, it's not working. No, it's not. That was a surprise. Yeah. I don't think this
01:02is as much of a surprise because a lot of the other insurers are going through the same thing. All
01:07right,
01:07let's move on to the consumer giant Procter & Gamble. You know it. Tide detergent,
01:11pressed toothpaste, bounty paper towel, the list goes on and on. So the stock is down 3%,
01:16up about 4% though, year to date. P&G reporting a lower fourth quarter profit and also forecasting
01:23full year sales and profit well below estimates. It's continuing to deal with a volatile environment,
01:29higher costs, some of the tariff stuff going on, but also Americans squeezed by inflation,
01:34trying to stretch their budgets. They're looking for value down the aisle in the supermarket.
01:39Organic sales, which we know is always an important metric here. That was flat. It did rise in P&G's
01:45beauty segment. You don't think beauty when you think P&G, but there you go. But it fell in its
01:50healthcare unit, also baby, feminine, and family care division. Paul, help me. It's like Nestle in
01:55Switzerland. Yep. Low single digit revenue growth. 10-year total return. No, not even GDP. 10-year
02:03total return, 8.4% per year. It's priced right now back to where it was in the beginning of
02:09COVID,
02:10like middle COVID. Yep. And you own this thing in large part, I think, for the dividend yield,
02:15which is 2.9%, which I think could be higher. They grow at about 5% or 6% every
02:19year, but
02:20you'd like to think that yield could be higher. They did maintain that. They didn't. They're not
02:23cutting. They're leaving the dividend a lot. But they're like Nestle. They've got to peel off.
02:27They've got to shrink. That's the only path. Yeah. Do they cut? Do they spin things off?
02:32Yeah. That's what Nestle's doing. They do the water business in Paris. Yeah, that's right.
02:35One more. Let's go luxury. Caring. This is the company that owns Gucci and others,
02:40but Gucci is the flagship brand. So here's why they're celebrating because sales fell,
02:44but less than expected. Okay. Down 2%. Well said.
02:48So shares of Carrig up about 5%. You know what? They were up 14% earlier. So I don't really
02:53know
02:53why we've come down so much, but still up 5%. And Gucci sales topping estimates, like I said.
03:00But this is after Hermes came out. They make the Birkin bags, you know?
03:04Yes. I'm aware of them. Yeah. They came out this morning disappointed. Stock is at its lowest level
03:09in three years because China, the demand is not there in China, especially for its leather goods.
03:14So Hermes hurting, Louis Vuitton, LVMH hurting as well. They were out with earnings. So sort of
03:19Carrig is a little bit of an outlier here. And it shows that the turnaround efforts are starting to
03:24take hold at Gucci. Gucci. I mean, the house of Gucci. Great book, by the way. Sarah Gay Forden,
03:29which is a Bloomberg reporter, Bloomberg news reporter, Sarah Gay Forden. She wrote the book.
03:35It was an excellent movie too. So, I mean, it was a movie, not a documentary, but it was fun.
03:39I
03:39think it was a Netflix movie. Yeah. Yeah. It was good. There you go. So Gucci, Caring.
03:44Put it on your to watch list. Yep. Okay. It's just too much. Yep. There's a Gucci store in the
03:49middle.
Comments