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Trade Wars
China Vows To Raise Household Consumption 'Significantly'
China will increase the proportion of government investment for people's livelihoods and raise the percentage of household consumption of GDP "significantly" over the next five years, officials told reporters on Friday. The comments came after China unveiled its outline for economic and other policy goals for 2026-2030 on Thursday, which showed the leadership prioritised manufacturing and technology-reliance over consumption.
China's household consumption lags global averages by about 20 percentage points of GDP, while debt-driven investment is roughly 20 points ahead. "Strengthening the domestic market is a strategic underpinning for China's modernization... There is room and potential for China to expand its domestic demand," said Zheng Shanjie, the head of the National Development and Reform Commission. China will plan a number of major policies, reforms and projects and speed up the planning of policy measures for next year to ensure a good start to the 15th five-year plan, according to state television, which cited a cabinet meeting.
Read more at Reuters
Airbus, Leonardo, Thales Join Forces to Reshape European Space Landscape
Three of Europe’s largest aerospace and defense companies are joining forces to reshape the continent’s space industry. Airbus, Leonardo, and Thales have signed a memorandum of understanding to merge their space operations into a new joint venture that will unify much of Europe’s satellite, communications, and Earth-observation capabilities under one organization. The new company will bring together Airbus’s Space Systems and Space Digital businesses, Leonardo’s Space Division—including its holdings in Telespazio and Thales Alenia Space—and Thales’s stakes in Thales Alenia Space, Telespazio, and Thales SESO. The venture is expected to be operational in 2027, subject to employee consultations and regulatory approvals.
The venture will employ around 25,000 people, generate roughly €6.5 billion in annual revenue, and carry an order backlog covering more than three years of projected sales. Ownership will be split with Airbus holding 35% and Leonardo and Thales each holding 32.5%, with a balanced governance structure under joint control. By unifying three established aerospace and defense leaders, the company aims to achieve the scale and expertise needed to compete more effectively with global players, including SpaceX, Northrop Grumman, and Lockheed Martin. The merger also aligns with Europe’s broader goal of strategic autonomy, reducing reliance on non-European technology for critical capabilities such as secure satellite communications, navigation, and defense intelligence.
Read more at Flight Plan
Intel Q3 Earnings Beat Expectations, AI Drives Chip Demand
Intel reported $13.7 billion in revenue for the three months ended Sept. 27, higher than the $13.15 billion expected by analysts tracked by Bloomberg and $13.28 billion the previous year. The chipmaker said that adjusted earnings per share was $0.23, above the $0.01 projected by Wall Street. The company reported a loss of $0.46 during the same period in 2024. CEO Lip-Bu Tan said in a statement that "AI is accelerating demand for compute and creating attractive opportunities across our portfolio," including the company's closely-watched, struggling manufacturing business and its products.
Intel's manufacturing arm, Intel Foundry Services, reported an operating loss of $2.3 billion for the third quarter, wider than the $2.2 billion expected but an improvement from the $5.8 billion loss in the previous year. The comapny said its fourth quarter guidance was below analyst estimates because the company's projections don't include revenue from Altera —a semiconductor firm owned by Intel that the company partly divested in the third quarter.
Read more at Yahoo Finance
Google Unveils Quantum Computing Breakthrough on Willow Chip
Google said it has developed a computer algorithm that points the way to practical applications for quantum computing and will be able to generate unique data for use with artificial intelligence. The new algorithm called Quantum Echoes, which runs on the company's quantum chip, is 13,000 times faster than the most sophisticated classical computing algorithm on supercomputers, Google said. In the future, the Quantum Echoes algorithm may be able to help measure molecular structure in molecules which could aid in drug discovery and help material science through identifying new types of materials, company executives told a media briefing last week.
Last year, Google unveiled its quantum chip, Willow, that the company said is able to overcome a crucial problem with "qubits", the building blocks of quantum computing. The development of the algorithm was roughly equivalent in significance to the chip, the executives said. The algorithm is also verifiable with other quantum computers or through experiments. Verifiable data means that it can lead to practical applications.
Read more at Reuters
Procter & Gamble Beats Earnings Estimates But Reveals Waning Demand In Some Categories
Procter & Gamble on Friday reported fiscal first-quarter earnings and revenue that beat analysts’ expectations, lifted by higher demand for its beauty and grooming products. Despite higher costs from tariffs and what CEO Jon Moeller called a “challenging consumer and geopolitical environment,” P&G reiterated its forecast for all-in sales and earnings for the fiscal year, which began in July. P&G reported fiscal first-quarter net income attributable to the company of $4.75 billion, or $1.95 per share, up from $3.96 billion, or $1.61 per share, a year earlier. Net sales rose 3% to $22.39 billion. Organic sales — which strips out the impact of acquisitions, divestitures and foreign currency — increased 2% in the quarter.
In the United States, the company’s largest market, consumption across P&G’s broad swath of products has slowed “a little bit,” according to Schulten. Like Coca-Cola, P&G is seeing a bifurcation in how consumers are shopping based on their incomes, often described as a “K-shaped” economy. Shoppers who are less cash constrained are buying bigger pack sizes from club and online retailers, Schulten said. But U.S. consumers living paycheck to paycheck are looking to stretch their money further by using every bottle of detergent or shampoo to the last drop and exhausting their pantry inventory before shopping for more, according to Schulten.
Read more at CNBC
Boeing Defense Worker Strike Continues After Latest Talks Fail and Workers Reject Offer
A strike of Boeing defense workers looked poised to continue Wednesday after the latest round of negotiations broke down, leading to public recriminations on both sides. A member of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers told a congressional panel that Boeing had failed to negotiate in good faith. Shortly after the appearance, Boeing blasted union leadership for refusing to allow a vote on the company's most recent offer. The latest back and forth follows two days of mediation to try to end the strike, which is now in its 12th week after 3,200 workers in the midwestern states of Missouri and Illinois went on the picket line on August 4.
Joshua Arnold, an 11-year Boeing employee who works on the F/A-18 aircraft program, told a Senate panel in Washington that the company refuses to boost a "substandard" offer considering the rising cost of living and the skills required of Boeing's manufacturing workers. Shortly after Arnold's appearance on Capitol Hill, Boeing posted a message from St. Louis-based Boeing executive Dan Gillian with details about the company's latest proposal, which includes the addition of $3,000 in restricted stock to boost a signing bonus. The proposal also lowers the annual attendance progression payment. A subsequent IAM statement called the latest offer "disrespectful," saying "we will not vote on an insulting offer."
Read more at IndustryWeek
Ford Faces Up To $2B Quarterly Hit From Novelis Plant Fire. Ramps Up Production
Ford Motor Co. expects to rapidly make up a Q3 hit of up to $2 billion as its primary aluminum supplier returns to production sooner than expected. The automaker on Wednesday announced it will add up to 1,000 jobs – about 900 in Michigan and 100 in Kentucky – to boost production of up to 50,000 of its top-selling F-150 and F-Series Super Duty trucks in early 2026. The rapid ramp up comes after Novelis, a top supplier of aluminum sheets to the auto industry, confirmed that its hot mill plant in Oswego, New York, will resume operations by the end of December. Novelis said previously that the section of the plant damaged in an October fire would be offline until early 2026.
COO Kumar Galhotra said that the aluminum supply disruption will translate to reduced F-Series truck production of between 90,000 and 100,000 units in Q4. Although Andrew Frick, president of Ford Blue, said while its gross stock of trucks is down 11%, its retail stock levels are projected to end the year with a 55- to 59-day supply. However, Ford’s short supply of trucks may not last. Galhotra expects the automaker can make up “roughly 50,000 of those 100,000 units in 2026” as the additional workers join production lines and its aluminum supplies are restored. Pickup truck sales are important to Ford because its F-Series represented 207,720 of the 545,522 of the vehicles it sold during Q3.
Read more at Ward’s Auto
Rivian to Lay Off More Than 600 Workers Amid EV Pullback
Rivian RIVN is carrying out another round of layoffs affecting around 4% of its workforce as the electric-truck maker tries to conserve cash in a world pulling back from electric vehicles. More than 600 people are slated to lose their jobs, people familiar with the matter said. At the end of last year, the company had just under 15,000 employees. A month ago, the company did a smaller round of layoffs, affecting 1.5% of its workforce. It said the move was to reduce costs ahead of the launch of a more affordable sport-utility vehicle next year.
Rivian and other EV manufacturers are being hit hard by the pullback in policies that supported the adoption of electric vehicles. The end of a $7,500 federal tax credit for consumers buying EVs is expected to tank sales. Rivian’s vehicle sales grew 32% to 13,201 vehicles in the third quarter, but the company narrowed its delivery guidance for the full year to 41,500 to 43,500 vehicles after previously forecasting as many as 46,000 deliveries. Rivian reports its full quarterly earnings on Nov. 4.
Read more at The WSJ
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