Pippa Stevens of CNBC.com brings you the most important business news headlines. In today’s show, Phil LeBeau describes how airlines are calling pilots to work as they prepare for a busier summer schedule now that so many Americans are vaccinated. In addition, Brian Schwartz explains his reports on the corporate reaction to the new voting laws, which critics say harms the voting rights of people of color.
Disney, Geico and other corporations have supported Florida lawmakers who now sponsor restrictive voting bills
Florida Republican lawmakers, who received corporate support from Disney and other major companies during their campaigns, are now sponsoring a number of bills that could restrict access to voting in the key state.
The Brennan Center for Justice lists three Florida proposals that it says would, in their current form, constitute electoral restrictions. State lawmakers sponsoring these bills have seen contributions from media giants Disney and Charter, GEO Group prisons, insurance company Geico and travel planner Expedia, along with CenturyLink and other massive corporations. CenturyLink was renamed Lumen Technologies in 2020. These companies have so far remained silent on the issue of voting rights.
A Roth Capital analyst says Tesla shares are worth $ 150 – a 78% discount
Tesla shares are overvalued and worth just $ 150, according to Craig Irwin, a senior research analyst at Roth Capital, who said the electric car maker needs to do more to justify its nearly $ 700 share price.
Shares of Tesla closed at $ 691.05 overnight, while investors cheered the electric vehicle manufacturer’s anticipated deliveries.
But the possibility of Tesla beating the estimates is “clearly already under evaluation,” Irwin told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Tuesday. The company’s valuation of about $ 660 billion is close to the total size of the US and European car markets, even if it is only a “minor player,” the analyst said.
Topps to go public through SPAC transaction as baseball card company ventures into NFTs
Topps, best known for its baseball cards and the Bazooka line of candy, has agreed to go public through a merger with Mudrick Capital Acquisition Corporation II, a special-purpose acquisition company that rates Topps at 1.3. billions of dollars.
Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner will remain Topps’ president. Mudrick Capital and the funds and accounts managed by Gamco Investors and Wells Capital Management are expected to invest another $ 250 million in SPAC. Private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners plans to sell most of its property in Topps, but Eisner’s Tornis Company will run all of its equity in the new merged company.