Hologic Q2 guidance disappoints

Medical technology company Hologic, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOLX) reported mixed fiscal first quarter results and provided weaker-than-expected guidance for the current quarter, sending shares down 3.4% in after-hours trading Wednesday.

For Q1 2025, Hologic posted adjusted earnings per share of $1.03, beating analyst estimates of $1.01. Revenue came in at $1.02 billion, slightly below the consensus forecast of $1.03 billion but up 0.9% YoY.

However, the company's outlook for Q2 fell short of expectations. Hologic forecast Q2 adjusted EPS of $1.00-$1.03, below the $1.04 analysts were projecting. Q2 revenue guidance of $995 million to $1.005 billion also missed the $1.033 billion consensus estimate.

"Our financial results for the first quarter of 2025 were consistent with our guidance overall," said Stephen P. MacMillan, Hologic's Chairman, President and CEO. " Total (EPA:TTEF) revenue finished in line with our guidance on a constant currency basis, and improved profitability helped us post non-GAAP earnings per share at the high end of our range."

For the full fiscal year 2025, Hologic lowered its revenue guidance to $4.05-$4.1 billion from its previous outlook of $4.15-$4.2 billion, citing currency headwinds and weakness in breast health capital sales. However, the company maintained its full-year adjusted EPS forecast of $4.25-$4.35.

Diagnostics revenue grew 5.1% to $470.6 million in Q1, while Breast Health revenue declined 2.3% to $369.1 million. Surgical revenue increased 2.5% to $166.3 million.

The company repurchased 6.8 million shares for $517 million during the quarter. Hologic ended Q1 with $1.78 billion in cash and cash equivalents.

https://www.investing.com/news/earnings/hologic-shares-fall-3-as-q2-guidance-disappoints-93CH-3851895

Becton Dickinson looks to separate life sciences unit

 Becton Dickinson said on Wednesday its board has authorized a plan to separate its life sciences unit as the medical device maker aims to focus on its core business.

The company has been restructuring its business portfolio in recent years, having previously divested its diabetes care and surgical instrumentation unit.

Becton's life sciences division makes diagnostic products such as those used to detect infectious diseases and cancers.

Earlier this week, the Financial Times reported activist investor Starboard Value had taken a stake in Becton and was pushing the company to sell its life sciences unit.

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/becton-dickinson-looks-separate-life-215215171.html

'Rubio defends Darren Beattie for senior State Department job'

 U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday defended Darren Beattie whom the Trump administration has appointed to a top State Department role, adding that his focus would be on eliminating censorship.

Darren Beattie has been named the acting undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs, a senior State Department official said earlier this week, a role that determines the tone of America's public messaging in the world.

Rubio declined to comment on Beattie’s statements and did not respond when asked if he had seen Beattie’s X account, where he has advocated for white men being "in charge" and questioned U.S. policy toward Taiwan in posts.

Rubio said the administration has a nominee for a permanent person to take up the position, but that while acting as the top public diplomacy official, Beattie will be focused on not allowing the department to be involved in censorship.

"In the meantime, he's someone who was brought on board because he's strongly committed to ending the censorship programs that were being operated out of the State Department, which can no longer continue and will no longer continue," Rubio said, without clarifying what he meant by censorship at the State Department or providing evidence of such programs.

It was unclear who has been nominated to take up the role on a permanent basis, and Senate confirmation could take time. Beattie would require Senate confirmation to serve on a permanent basis.

Beattie's earlier social media posts have come under the spotlight since his appointment, prompting a warning from Jewish advocacy group Anti-Defamation League which said he "has no place in a role representing American values abroad."

He was terminated as a speech writer for Trump after The Washington Post in 2018 reported that he had spoken at a conference attended by well-known white nationalists.

In a post on X last October, Beattie wrote that America's national ideology is based on "coddling the feelings of women and minorities, and demoralizing competent white men" 

https://www.investing.com/news/world-news/rubio-defends-rightwing-ideologue-tapped-for-senior-state-department-job-3852113

FCC Chairman Releases Full Transcript Of 'Spliced' Kamala Harris 60 Minutes Interview

 FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on Wednesday released the full transcript of former Vice President Kamala Harris' interview with '60 Minutes' on CBS which the network deceptively edited to make her sound competent while giving an answer on Israel.

To recap, a pre-interview teaser had Harris blathering her usual word-salad over whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was listening to the Biden administration, to which she said:

"Well Bill, the work that we have done has resulted in a number of movements in that region by Israel that were very much prompted by, or a result of, many things, including our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region."

But in the version that aired on 60 Minutes, Harris' answer was: "We are not going to stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end."

Now that we have the transcript, we can clearly see that '60 Minutes' completely cut the word-salad out, and only included the last half of her answer.

Was CBS also taking money from USAID?

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/fcc-releases-full-transcript-spliced-kamala-harris-60-minutes-interview

Trump Effect Is Real: Google Ditches DEI Hiring Targets

 About a month after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg nuked the social media company's diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, Google appears to have followed suit. As the woke tide recedes in Silicon Valley and the federal government, a new era of meritocracy emerges across America under President Trump's second term. 

Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday afternoon that Google will no longer set hiring targets based on diversity, such as race and gender, to expand its workforce. The report is based on an internal memo the company sent employees this morning. 

After making diversity hiring pledges following George Floyd's death in 2020, Google appears to have ended its goal of increasing the proportion of "leadership representation of underrepresented groups" by 30% by 2025. 

WSJ pointed out, "Parent company Alphabet's GOOGL annual report released Wednesday omitted a sentence stating the company was "committed to making diversity, equity, and inclusion part of everything we do and to growing a workforce that is representative of the users we serve." The sentence was in its reports from 2021 through 2024." 

Remember, Google CEO Sundar Pichai became a social justice warrior during the BLM riots, donating millions of dollars to DEI causes. 

The email said the big tech firm has reviewed recent court decisions and executive orders signed by President Trump that eliminate DEI in federal agencies, the military, and federal contractors, adding that "it's evaluating changes to our programs required to comply" with federal law. 

Google clarified that it will continue opening and expanding offices in metro areas with diverse workforces: "We'll continue to invest in states across the U.S.—and in many countries globally—but in the future we will no longer have aspirational goals." 

"Google has always been committed to creating a workplace where we hire the best people wherever we operate, create an environment where everyone can thrive, and treat everyone fairly," the email said, adding, "That's exactly what you can expect to see going forward."

Google's move to kill DEI hiring targets comes about one month after Zuckerberg eliminated not just DEI - but also eliminated "politically biased" fact-checkers. 

Google and Meta are the latest mega-corporations to roll back toxic DEI initiatives, following Walmart and McDonald's.

Over a year ago, Robby Starbuck's campaign to end DEI in corporate America ignited this trend. 

The tide has turned in corporate America, and Trump has made sure Marxist DEI initiatives will be eliminated across the government and military. Corporate America appears to have received this memo. 

We're sure the purple-haired Google employees are having meltdowns this afternoon. 

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/trump-effect-real-google-ditches-dei-hiring-targets

Trump administration weigh adding Temu, Shein to forced labor list

 The Trump administration is weighing whether to add Temu and Shein to a forced labor list in a major blow to the Chinese fast-fashion giants, soon after President Trump imposed tariffs on China, according to a report.

Officials are discussing whether to add Temu and Shein to the Department of Homeland Security’s forced labor list, two sources familiar with the discussions told Semafor.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The label would be another strong clampdown on the Chinese firms, after President Trump’s 10% tariffs on China earlier this week ended a longtime trade loophole – which will likely force Temu and Shein to raise their prices, and see their packages stuck at customs for weeks.

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Both Temu and Shein have denied the accusations of widespread forced labor, even after Shein last year revealed it found two instances of child labor within its supply chain.

“Temu strictly prohibits the use of forced labor and enforces our Third-Party Code of Conduct, which bars all forms of involuntary labor,” a spokesperson for Temu, which is owned by PDD Holdings, said in a statement. 

“Sellers and business partners must ensure their own — and their suppliers’ — full compliance with this code and relevant laws,” the spokesperson said.

Temu added that its cotton-based products only account for about 1% of its sales, and that it does not “facilitate the importation of cotton-based products into the United States.”

The spokesperson said more than 50% of its US gross merchandise value comes from local sellers and warehouses.

Shein told Semafor it is not aware of any consideration to be placed on the forced labor list.

“A complete and fair review of the facts would demonstrate we are in full compliance with the UFLPA,” a Shein spokesperson told The Post in a statement. “We have made it our priority to implement best in class standards.”

In 2023, a bipartisan investigation by the House select committee found that Temu was likely shipping goods made with forced labor into the US on a “regular basis.”

The report also condemned Shein’s abuse of the de minimis exemption, which allowed sellers to avoid paying taxes on packages worth less than $800 – the trade loophole that Trump ended on Tuesday through his tariffs on China.

US representatives early last year reportedly started pressuring the Biden administration to ban Temu imports and add the e-commerce site to the forced labor list, which Congress established in 2021, according to The Information.

Meanwhile, Shein is facing increased scrutiny in the European Union over its product safety standards.

During a press conference on Wednesday, lawmakers warned that Shein has been flooding the EU with cheap imports presenting serious health and safety risks to consumers.

https://nypost.com/2025/02/05/business/trump-administration-considers-adding-temu-shein-to-forced-labor-list-report/