banked historic profit last year as the pandemic receded and the war in Ukraine pushed oil prices to multiyear highs, with its shares climbing 53% for the year while other sectors tumbled.
The U.S. oil company in its quarterly earnings reported Friday that it collected $35.5 billion in its highest-ever annual profit in 2022, more than double the prior year and about one-third higher than its previous record in 2011. Almost $50 billion in cash streamed in from its oil-leveraged operations, another record that is underpinning plans to pay investors through a new $75 billion share-repurchase program over the next several years.
Newsletter Sign-up
What’s News
Catch up on the headlines, understand the news and make better decisions, free in your inbox every day.
That payout, announced Wednesday, is roughly equivalent to the stock-market value of companies such as the big-box retailer
Target Corp.
, the pharmaceutical firm
Moderna Inc.
and
Airbnb Inc.
Chevron, the second-largest U.S. oil company after
Exxon Mobil Corp.
, posted revenue of $246.3 billion, up from $162.5 billion the previous year. The San Ramon, Calif., company reported a fourth-quarter profit of $6.4 billion, up from $5.1 billion in the same period the prior year.
The fourth-quarter results came short of analyst expectations, and Chevron shares closed down more than 4% Friday.
For all of its recent winnings, though, Chevron and its rival oil-and-gas producers could face a rockier year in 2023, according to investors and analysts, if an anticipated slowdown in U.S. economic growth dents demand for oil, and if China’s reopening from strict Covid-19 restrictions unfolds slowly.
U.S. oil prices have held steady this year, but are off about 36% from last year’s peak. The industry is proceeding with caution, holding capital expenditures for 2023 below prepandemic levels and saying production will grow only modestly. Chevron has said it plans to spend about $17 billion in capital expenditures this year, up more than 25% from the prior year, but $3 billion less than it planned to spend in 2020 before Covid-19 took root.
Oil companies are still outperforming other sectors such as tech and finance, which have seen widespread job cuts in recent weeks. The energy segment of the S&P 500 index has climbed 43.7% over the past year, compared with a 6.7% drop for the broader index.
Chevron Chief Executive Mike Wirth said the company is unsure of what 2023 will bring after global energy supplies were squeezed because of geopolitical events last year, particularly in Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said markets appeared to be stabilizing.
“We certainly have seen a very unusual and volatile year in 2022,” Mr. Wirth said, noting the European energy crisis has proven less dire than anticipated thanks to milder winter weather, growing natural gas inventories in Europe. “China’s economy has been slow throughout the year, which looks to be turning around. It’s good that markets have calmed.”
Chevron projects its output in the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico to grow at a slower pace this year.
Photo:
David Goldman/Associated Press
Chevron hit a record in U.S. oil-and-gas production in 2022, increasing 4% to about 1.2 million barrels of oil equivalent a day, stemming from its increased focus on capital investments in the Western Hemisphere, particularly in the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico, where it boosted output 16% last year. Worldwide, Chevron’s oil-and-gas production was down 3.2% compared with the prior year, at 2.99 million barrels of oil-equivalent a day.
Its overall return on capital employed came in at 20%, it said.
“There aren’t many sectors generating the type of free cash flow that energy is right now,” said
Jeff Wyll,
an analyst at investment firm Neuberger Berman, which has invested in Chevron. “The sector really can’t be ignored. Given the supply-demand balance, you have to have some things go wrong here to see a pullback in oil prices.”
Even so, institutional investors have shown limited interest so far in returning to the energy sector, after years of poor returns and heightened concerns about their environmental impact prompted large financiers to sell off their stakes in oil-and-gas companies or stop investing in drillers outright.
Pete Bowden,
global head of industrial, energy and infrastructure banking at
Jefferies Financial Group Inc.,
said energy companies in the S&P 500 index are throwing off 12% of the group’s free-cash flow, but only account for about 5% of the index’s weighting—an indication their stock prices are lagging behind.
Investors’ concerns around environmental, social and governance-related issues are a constraint on the share prices of energy companies, “yet the earnings power of these businesses is superior to the earnings power of companies in other sectors,” he said.
Chevron and others have faced criticism from the Biden administration and others that they are giving priority to shareholder returns over pumping oil and gas at a time when global supplies are tight and Americans are feeling pain at the pump. On Thursday, the White House assailed Chevron’s $75 billion buyout program, saying the payout was proof the company could boost production but was choosing to reward investors instead.
Pierre Breber,
Chevron’s finance chief, said the company expects oil prices to be volatile but within a range needed to sustain its dividend and investments. There are some optimistic signs, he added, including that the U.S. economy grew faster than expected in the fourth quarter, at 2.9%.
“Supply is tight. Oil-field services are near capacity, and we continue to have sanctions on Russian production,” Mr. Breber said. “You’re seeing international flights out of China are way up, and low unemployment in the U.S.”
Mr. Breber said Chevron’s output in the Permian this year is expected to grow at a slower pace, around 10%, because it has exhausted much of its inventory of wells that it had drilled but hadn’t brought into production.
Exxon, which has typically posted quarterly earnings on the same day as Chevron, will report Tuesday. Analysts expect it will also post record profit for 2022, according to FactSet.
Both companies expect to slow their output growth this year in the Permian, considered their growth engine. The two U.S. oil majors, which had been growing output faster in the U.S. than most independent shale producers, are beginning to step up their focus on shareholder returns and allow output growth to ease, said Neal Dingmann, an analyst at Truist Securities.
“This has all been driven by investor requirements,” Mr. Dingmann said.
The headline-grabbing expansion of layoffs beyond high-growth technology companies stands in contrast to historically low levels of jobless claims and news that companies such as
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.
and
Airbus SE
are adding jobs.
This week, four companies trimmed more than 10,000 jobs, just a fraction of their total workforces. Still, the decisions mark a shift in sentiment inside executive suites, where many leaders have been holding on to workers after struggling to hire and retain them in recent years when the pandemic disrupted workplaces.
Live Q&A
Tech Layoffs: What Do They Mean?
The creator of the popular layoff tracker Layoffs.fyi Roger Lee and the head of talent at venture firm M13 Matt Hoffman sit down with WSJ reporter Chip Cutter, to discuss what’s behind the recent downsizing and whether it will be enough to recalibrate ahead of a possible recession.
Unlike
Microsoft Corp.
and Google parent
Alphabet Inc.,
which announced larger layoffs this month, these companies haven’t expanded their workforces dramatically during the pandemic. Instead, the leaders of these global giants said they were shrinking to adjust to slowing growth, or responding to weaker demand for their products.
“We are taking these actions to further optimize our cost structure,”
Jim Fitterling,
Dow’s chief executive, said in announcing the cuts, noting the company was navigating “macro uncertainties and challenging energy markets, particularly in Europe.”
The U.S. labor market broadly remains strong but has gradually lost steam in recent months. Employers added 223,000 jobs in December, the smallest gain in two years. The Labor Department will release January employment data next week.
Economists from Capital Economics estimate a further slowdown to an increase of 150,000 jobs in January, which would push job growth below its 2019 monthly average, the year before pandemic began.
There is “mounting evidence of weakness below the surface,”
Andrew Hunter,
senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics wrote in a note to clients Thursday.
Last month, the unemployment rate was 3.5%, matching multidecade lows. Wage growth remained strong, but had cooled from earlier in 2022. The Federal Reserve, which has been raising interest rates to combat high inflation, is looking for signs of slower wage growth and easing demand for workers.
Many CEOs say companies are beginning to scrutinize hiring more closely.
Slower hiring has already lengthened the time it takes Americans to land a new job. In December, 826,000 unemployed workers had been out of a job for about 3½ to 6 months, up from 526,000 in April 2022, according to the Labor Department.
“Employers are hovering with their feet above the brake. They’re more cautious. They’re more precise in their hiring,” said
Jonas Prising,
chief executive of
ManpowerGroup Inc.,
a provider of temporary workers. “But they’ve not stopped hiring.”
Additional signs of a cooling economy emerged on Thursday when the Commerce Department said U.S. gross domestic product growth slowed to a 2.9% annual rate in the fourth quarter, down from a 3.2% annual rate in the third quarter.
Not all companies are in layoff mode.
Walmart Inc.,
the country’s biggest private employer, said this week it was raising its starting wages for hourly U.S. workers to $14 from $12, amid a still tight job market for front line workers. Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. said Thursday it plans to hire 15,000 new employees to work in its restaurants, while plane maker Airbus SE said it is recruiting over 13,000 new staffers this year. Airbus said 9,000 of the new jobs would be based in Europe with the rest spread among the U.S., China and elsewhere.
General Electric Co.
, which slashed thousands of aerospace workers in 2020 and is currently laying off 2,000 workers from its wind turbine business, is hiring in other areas. “If you know any welders or machinists, send them my way,” Chief Executive
Larry Culp
said this week.
Annette Clayton,
CEO of North American operations at
Schneider Electric SE,
a Europe-headquartered energy-management and automation company, said the U.S. needs far more electricians to install electric-vehicle chargers and perform other tasks. “The shortage of electricians is very, very important for us,” she said.
Railroad CSX Corp. told investors on Wednesday that after sustained effort, it had reached its goal of about 7,000 train and engine employees around the beginning of the year, but plans to hire several hundred more people in those roles to serve as a cushion and to accommodate attrition that remains higher than the company would like.
Freeport-McMoRan Inc.
executives said Wednesday they expect U.S. labor shortages to continue to crimp production at the mining giant. The company has about 1,300 job openings in a U.S. workforce of about 10,000 to 12,000, and many of its domestic workers are new and need training and experience to match prior expertise, President
Kathleen Quirk
told analysts.
“We could have in 2022 produced more if we were fully staffed, and I believe that is the case again this year,” Ms. Quirk said.
The latest layoffs are modest relative to the size of these companies. For example, IBM’s plan to eliminate about 3,900 roles would amount to a 1.4% reduction in its head count of 280,000, according to its latest annual report.
As interest rates rise and companies tighten their belts, white-collar workers have taken the brunt of layoffs and job cuts, breaking with the usual pattern leading into a downturn. WSJ explains why many professionals are getting the pink slip first. Illustration: Adele Morgan
The planned 3,000 job cuts at SAP affect about 2.5% of the business-software maker’s global workforce. Finance chief
Luka Mucic
said the job cuts would be spread across the company’s geographic footprint, with most of them happening outside its home base in Germany. “The purpose is to further focus on strategic growth areas,” Mr. Mucic said. The company employed around 111,015 people on average last year.
Chemicals giant Dow said on Thursday it was trimming about 2,000 employees. The Midland, Mich., company said it currently employs about 37,800 people. Executives said they were targeting $1 billion in cost cuts this year and shutting down some assets to align spending with the macroeconomic environment.
Manufacturer
3M Co.
, which had about 95,000 employees at the end of 2021, cited weakening consumer demand when it announced this week plans to eliminate 2,500 manufacturing jobs. The maker of Scotch tape, Post-it Notes and thousands of other industrial and consumer products said it expects lower sales and profit in 2023.
Newsletter Sign-up
What’s News
Catch up on the headlines, understand the news and make better decisions, free in your inbox every day.
“We’re looking at everything that we do as we manage through the challenges that we’re facing in the end markets,” 3M Chief Executive
Mike Roman
said during an earnings conference call. “We expect the demand trends we saw in December to extend through the first half of 2023.”
Hasbro Inc.
on Thursday said it would eliminate 15% of its workforce, or about 1,000 jobs, after the toy maker’s consumer-products business underperformed in the fourth quarter.
Some companies still hiring now say the job cuts across the economy are making it easier to find qualified candidates. “We’ve got the pick of the litter,” said
Bill McDermott,
CEO of business-software provider
ServiceNow Inc.
“We have so many applicants.”
At
Honeywell International Inc.,
CEO
Darius Adamczyk
said the job market remains competitive. With the layoffs in technology, though, Mr. Adamczyk said he anticipated that the labor market would likely soften, potentially also expanding the applicants Honeywell could attract.
“We’re probably going to be even more selective than we were before because we’re going to have a broader pool to draw from,” he said.
Across the corporate sphere, many of the layoffs happening now are still small relative to the size of the organizations, said
Denis Machuel,
CEO of global staffing firm Adecco Group AG.
“I would qualify it more as a recalibration of the workforce than deep cuts,” Mr. Machuel said. “They are adjusting, but they are not cutting the muscle.”
Write to Chip Cutter at chip.cutter@wsj.com and Theo Francis at theo.francis@wsj.com
Canceled or delayed flights can cost travelers money. Getting an airline to pay you back for expenses like hotel stays and rental cars isn’t impossible, but it can involve lots of legwork.
Southwest pledged to provide refunds to passengers on canceled or significantly delayed flights between Dec. 24 and Jan. 2, but the airline is also providing reimbursement for additional expenses including the cost of staying at a hotel or renting a car. Passengers were also given 25,000 frequent-flier points in a move by Southwest executives to win them back.
Airline passengers “have very few rights,” said
Paul Hudson,
president of FlyersRights, a consumer advocacy organization. Getting the remuneration that passengers believe they are entitled to can come down to perseverance and communicating extensively with the airline over an extended period.
Here’s what travelers need to know about their rights on domestic flights in the U.S. and how to get reimbursed.
My flight was canceled. Can I get a refund?
Airline customers are entitled to a refund if a flight is canceled for any reason or “significantly delayed” and they opt not to travel, according to rules from the Transportation Department. This policy extends to nonrefundable tickets. The DOT determines on a case-by-case basis whether passengers are entitled to a refund for a delayed flight.
While airlines are required to provide refunds in these circumstances if requested, they aren’t barred from offering other forms of redress first. Carriers will often offer a passenger the opportunity to rebook on another flight or a voucher or credit that could be used for future travel.
In these situations, customers will need to speak with an airline representative and request an “involuntary refund,” Mr. Hudson said. Not all customer-service staff will be familiar with this phrase, he warned, but he described it as “the magic words” to use to get a refund quickly.
I had to stay in a hotel because of a flight delay. Am I entitled to reimbursement?
Additional compensation beyond a refund of airfare and other fees isn’t required by the DOT. Still, most airlines have policies on what they will cover.
If a plane has a technical issue or the flight isn’t properly staffed, an airline’s compensation policy typically will kick in. If the delay or cancellation is due to weather, passengers may be out of luck getting assistance.
The DOT maintains a dashboard spelling out what is covered under the customer-service policies at the 10 largest domestic airlines in the U.S. in cases where cancellations or delays were under the carrier’s control. Each of these major airlines has put these policies in writing, making the commitments enforceable, a DOT spokeswoman said in an email.
My checked luggage went missing. What does the airline owe me?
If a checked bag is delayed, missing or damaged, the airline is liable and must reimburse the traveler. For domestic flights, airlines are only required to cover up to $3,800.
Apart from being required to reimburse passengers for the value of items that were lost or damaged, carriers must also compensate people for incidental expenses such as purchasing replacement clothing or medications. Airlines cannot set an arbitrary daily limit for those expenses, though they can require receipts or other proof for valuable items that were lost, according to the DOT.
I can’t rebook with my airline. Are they required to book me on another airline?
Before the airline industry was deregulated in the U.S. in the 1970s, carriers were required to rebook passengers with other airlines in instances where flights were canceled or delayed. “Now, it’s strictly voluntary,” said Mr. Hudson.
Some carriers have formal relationships with other airlines that allow them to rebook reservations at no additional cost, whereas others may buy tickets from competitors for stranded passengers. Southwest said it bought tickets on other airlines during its meltdown, and
Spirit
did the same during its 2021 meltdown.
I was bumped from my flight by my airline. Is that allowed?
Airlines have come under fire in recent years for the practice of overselling flights and then bumping passengers. The practice is allowed, as long as you haven’t boarded the plane. If you’ve already boarded, the airline can remove you from the flight for safety, security or health reasons.
If a passenger is involuntarily bumped, the carrier must provide a written statement of the flier’s rights and how the company decides who is bumped. They may be provided a refund, but they aren’t guaranteed additional compensation.
To be eligible for compensation, the traveler must have a confirmed reservation, have checked in on time and have arrived at the departure gate on time, the DOT states on its website.
If all those conditions apply—and the airline cannot rebook the passenger on a flight that gets them to their destination within one hour of their original scheduled arrival—compensation is calculated based on the price of the original ticket, the length of the delay and whether the flight is domestic or international. Compensation ranges from up to $775 for short delays to no more than $1,550 for longer delays.
are among the tech heavyweights featured in a packed week of earnings that investors will probe for indicators about the broader economy.
Other tech companies scheduled to report their latest quarterly reports include Google parent company
Alphabet Inc.
and
Microsoft Corp.
Investors also will hear from airlines such as
Southwest Airlines Co.
and
JetBlue Airways Corp.
, automotive companies
General Motors Co.
and
Ford Motor Co.
, and energy giants
Chevron Corp.
and
Exxon
Mobil Corp.
Nearly a third of the S&P 500, or 161 companies, are slated to report earnings in the coming week, according to FactSet. Twelve bellwethers from the Dow Jones Industrial Average, including
Boeing Co.
and
McDonald’s
Corp., are expected to report as well.
The flurry of results from a broad set of companies will give a sense of how businesses are faring as they deal with inflation denting consumer spending, ongoing supply-chain challenges and a stronger dollar.
People awaited the release of Apple’s latest iPhones in New York last month. The company will report quarterly results on Thursday afternoon.
Photo:
ANDREW KELLY/REUTERS
One area holding up to the challenges has been travel. Several airline companies have reported that consumers still have an appetite to spend on trips and vacations. On Friday,
American Express Co.
raised its outlook for the year in part because of a surge in travel spending.
“We expected the recovery in travel spending to be a tailwind for us, but the strength of the rebound has exceeded our expectations throughout the year,” American Express Chief Executive
Stephen Squeri
said.
In addition to airlines reporting, companies such as car-rental company
Hertz Global Holdings Inc.
and lodging companies
Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc.
and
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Inc.
will offer reads into leisure spending.
Overall, earnings for the S&P 500 companies are on track to rise 1.5% this period compared with a year ago, while revenue is projected to grow 8.5%, FactSet said.
Other companies will serve as a gauge for how consumers have responded to higher prices and whether they have altered their spending as a result.
Coca-Cola Co.
and
Kimberly-Clark Corp.
on Tuesday and
Kraft Heinz Co.
on Wednesday will show how consumers are digesting higher prices.
Mattel Inc.,
set to report on Tuesday, will highlight whether demand for toys remains resilient. Rival
Hasbro Inc.
issued a warning ahead of the holiday season.
United Parcel Service Inc.
will release its results on Tuesday and provide an opportunity to show how it is faring ahead of the busy shipping season. The Atlanta-based carrier’s earnings come weeks after rival
FedEx Corp.
warned of a looming global recession and outlined plans to raise shipping rates across most of its services in January to contend with a global slowdown in business.
Results from credit-card companies
Visa Inc.
and
Mastercard Inc.
will offer insights into whether inflation has finally put a dent in consumer spending after both companies reported resilient numbers last quarter.
Wireless carrier
T-Mobile US Inc.’s
numbers on Thursday will give more context to mixed results from competitors
Verizon Communications Inc.
and
AT&T Inc.
AT&T
issued an upbeat outlook on Thursday after its core wireless business exceeded the company’s expectations, whereas Verizon on Friday said earnings tumbled as retail customers balked at recent price increases.
Other notable companies lined up to report include
California’s Legislature passed a bill Monday to create a government panel that would set wages for an estimated half-million fast food workers in the state, a first-in-the-U.S. approach to workplace regulation that labor union backers hope will spread nationally.
The bill, known as the Fast Act, would establish a panel with members appointed by the governor and legislative leaders composed of workers, union representatives, employers and business advocates. They would set hourly wages of up to $22 for fast food workers starting next year and can increase them annually by the same rate as the consumer-price index, up to a maximum of 3.5%.
A previous version of the bill passed by the state Assembly in January also allowed the council to oversee workplace conditions such as scheduling and made restaurant chains joint employers of their franchise’s employers, potentially opening them to liability for labor violations.
Representatives for companies including
McDonald’s Corp.
,
Yum Brands Inc.
and
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.
succeeded in having those provisions removed in the state Senate via amendments over the past week, though they still oppose the bill.
“This is the biggest lobbying fight that the franchise sector has ever been in,” said
Matthew Haller,
president of the International Franchise Association, a trade group whose members own many fast food restaurants.
Newsletter Sign-up
The 10-Point.
A personal, guided tour to the best scoops and stories every day in The Wall Street Journal.
A University of California, Riverside School of Business study commissioned by the franchisee association found that setting minimum wages between $22 and $43 would generate a 60% increase in labor costs and raise fast-food prices by about 20%.
California’s current minimum wage is $15 and is set to increase by 50 cents on Jan. 1.
The final version of the Fast Act passed both houses of the Democratic-controlled state Legislature on Monday. In both the Assembly and the Senate, all of the “yes” votes came from Democrats and every Republican who voted opposed the bill.
Democratic Gov.
Gavin Newsom
now has until Sept. 30 to decide whether to sign or veto the bill.
Mr. Newsom hasn’t taken a public stance on the current version of the bill, but his Department of Finance opposed the original version.
Labor unions backing the measure have long struggled to organize fast food workers, in part because the industry’s franchise model means there are so many different employers.
California lawmakers first floated the bill last year, with proponents arguing that tighter regulations were needed to protect fast food workers, who are overwhelmingly Black or Latino and who they say experience unpaid overtime and other labor violations.
The average U.S. home earned more last year than the average American worker. Prices for homes, groceries and gas are rising faster than Americans’ wages and that may be why sentiment and confidence have been so low recently. WSJ’s Dion Rabouin explains. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Despite the recent changes, proponents said the bill is still a significant step forward. Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, a former Democratic legislator who introduced the bill when she was in the Assembly, said it moves California closer to a labor model used in Europe where unions negotiate for wages and work conditions in an entire sector, rather than company-by-company.
“It’s still a big bold idea. And just the notion of giving workers a voice at the table will be fundamentally different for those workers,” said Ms. Gonzalez Fletcher, who now leads the California Labor Federation, the state’s largest union umbrella group.
The recent amendments call for the council to shut down in 2028 unless it is renewed, though inflation-adjusted wage increases for workers would continue.
The bill covers fast food restaurants that are part of a chain, that have limited or no table service and where customers order their food and pay before eating. The chain must have 100 or more locations nationally, up from 30 in a previous bill version.
California accounts for around 14% of total U.S. restaurant sales, and policy in the state tends to affect the rest of the sector, Citigroup Global Markets Inc. analysts wrote in a client note earlier this month.
Service Employees International Union President
Mary Kay Henry
said she hoped the bill would be a catalyst for similar movements across the country.
Investors have begun to ask about the act’s potential implications for restaurant chains at a time when companies are struggling with high food and labor costs, Wall Street analysts said.
“Obviously, we think it’s problematic on many, many fronts,” said
Paul Brown,
chief executive of Dunkin’ and Arby’s owner Inspire Brands Inc., in an interview. “I think it’s actually trying to solve a problem that doesn’t exist.”
have together spent more than $1 million to lobby lawmakers between 2021 and June 30 of this year, primarily on the Fast Act, state records show.
The International Franchise Association, which represents some 1,200 franchise brands, has spent $615,000 lobbying against the Fast Act and other legislation in that time.
Disclosures for lobbying spending since July 1 aren’t due until later this year, but industry advocacy against the bill has ramped up considerably during that time, people familiar with the effort said.
Labor unions have collectively spent more than $5 million to lobby the Legislature since the beginning of 2021, mostly on the Fast Act, state records show.
McDonald’s has encouraged franchisees around the country to email California lawmakers urging them to vote against the bill, according to a message viewed by The Wall Street Journal.
State Sen. Shannon Grove, a Republican, said on the Senate floor Monday that McDonald’s representatives told her that if the Fast Act becomes law, the company could stop expanding in California or leave altogether.
“Could we really survive without the golden arches?” Ms. Grove said.
Write to Heather Haddon at heather.haddon@wsj.com and Christine Mai-Duc at christine.maiduc@wsj.com
U.S. stocks rose Wednesday as investors considered another wave of corporate earnings reports and after a key reading on the services sector hit a three-month high.
The S&P 500 rose 1.1%, recouping losses after it fell Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.9%. The Nasdaq Composite gained 1.8%.
Stocks had come under renewed pressure in recent days from geopolitical tensions, as U.S. House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi
met with Taiwan’s president despite warnings from China. Meanwhile, Federal Reserve officials said the central bank is likely to continue raising interest rates at coming meetings, dampening hopes in markets that slowing economic growth could mean a change in policy.
But some better-than-expected earnings reports amid low liquidity in August are lifting sentiment, investors say.
“Markets are taking a bit of a breather to assess what’s going on globally. There is still a lot of inflation, central banks are keeping that hawkish rhetoric and we get some geopolitics on top of that,” said Olivier Marciot, global macro portfolio manager at Unigestion. But earnings have been pretty good, in terms of beating expectations, he added.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.805% from 2.740% Tuesday. Weak economic data have weighed on yields in recent days, according to Michael Hewson, markets analyst at CMC Markets. There are “raised concerns that the U.S. economy could well be slowing sharply,” he said.
There have been concerns about the pace of the economy, and even whether a new recession is coming, but the U.S. services sector continued to expand in July, according to a report from the Institute for Supply Management. The ISM’s index of conditions for businesses like restaurants, hotels and retailers hit a three-month high in July.
The broader problem for investors is that whether or not the economy is technically in recession, inflation and the pressure it puts on the Fed to raise rates is resulting in an environment for investors that is fundamentally different from anything they have seen over the past several decades, said Eaton Vance portfolio manager Aaron Dunn. That won’t end soon, he said.
There has been a bounce back recently in some of the more beaten-up stocks, he said, but those hoping the growth trade returns may be disappointed. “Equities returns are going to be a grind.”
In corporate news,
PayPal
shares jumped 10% after hedge fund Elliott Management confirmed it has a $2 billion stake in the payments company. Starbucks rose 2.7% after it said demand is still strong and raising prices partially offset higher labor costs.
Vaccine maker
Moderna
rose 16% after it posted earnings above analysts’ estimates and said it would begin a new $3 billion share repurchase program.
Airbnb
declined 4.7% after it said it swung back to profit but its outlook disappointed investors. Online dating group
Match
tumbled 17% after posting results that missed estimates and said the CEO of Tinder is leaving the firm.
Chip maker
Advanced Micro Devices
fell 3% after it reported a drop in profit and issued guidance for the current period that came below Wall Street’s expectations.
Clorox,
MGM Resorts,
and insurers
MetLife
and
Allstate
are scheduled to report earnings after markets close.
Oil prices fell after an OPEC+ meeting where a committee suggested a smaller-than-expected production increase, according to delegates. U.S. crude fell 2.5% to $92.10.
Traders worked on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday.
Photo:
ANDREW KELLY/REUTERS
Overseas, the pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 ticked up 0.4%. British-listed cybersecurity firm
Avast
soared 43% after a U.K. regulator said it has provisionally cleared
NortonLifeLock’s
$7.3 billion acquisition of the company. French
bank Société Générale
rose 2.9% after reporting a narrower loss than analysts expected, despite its exit from Russia.
In Asia, major benchmarks were mixed. The Shanghai Composite Index ticked down 0.7%, extending losses after it closed down 2.3% on Tuesday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.4% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.5%.
Write to Anna Hirtenstein at anna.hirtenstein@wsj.com
Global companies have racked up more than $59 billion in losses from their Russian operations, with more financial pain to come as sanctions hit the economy and sales and shutdowns continue, according to a review of public statements and securities filings.
Almost 1,000 Western businesses have pledged to exit or cut back operations in Russia, following its invasion of Ukraine, according to Yale researchers.
Many are reassessing the reported value of those Russian businesses, as a weakening local economy and a lack of willing buyers render once-valuable assets worthless. Companies under U.S. and international reporting standards have to take impairment charges, or write-downs, when the value of an asset declines.
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS
When or how do you expect companies to recover from their losses in Russia? Join the conversation below.
The write-downs to date span a range of industries, from banks and brewers to manufacturers, retailers, restaurants and shipping companies—even a wind-turbine maker and a forestry firm. The fast-food giant
McDonald’s Corp.
expects to record an accounting charge of $1.2 billion to $1.4 billion after agreeing to sell its Russian restaurants to a local licensee;
Exxon Mobil Corp.
took a $3.4 billion charge after halting operations at an oil and gas project in Russia’s Far East; Budweiser brewer
Anheuser-Busch InBev SA
took a $1.1 billion charge after deciding to sell its stake in a Russian joint venture.
“This round of impairments is not the end of it,” said Carla Nunes, a managing director at the risk-consulting firm Kroll LLC. “As the crisis continues, we could see more financial fallout, including indirect impact from the conflict.”
The financial fallout of the conflict isn’t significant for most multinationals, in part because of the relatively small size of the Russian economy. Fewer than 50 companies account for most of the $59 billion tally. Even for those, the Russian losses are typically a relatively small part of their overall finances. McDonald’s, for example, said its Russia and Ukraine businesses represented less than 3% of its operating income last year.
Some companies are writing off assets stranded in Russia. The Irish aircraft leasing company
AerCap Holdings
NV last month took an accounting charge of $2.7 billion, which included writing off the value of more than 100 of its planes that are stuck in the country. The aircraft were leased to Russian airlines. Other leasing companies are taking similar hits.
Other businesses are assuming that they will realize no money from their Russian operations, even before they have finalized exit plans. The British oil major
BP
PLC’s $25.5 billion accounting charge on its Russian holdings last month included writing off $13.5 billion of shares in the oil producer
Rosneft.
The company hasn’t said how or when it plans to divest its Russian assets.
BP’s $25.5 billion accounting charge on its Russian holdings include writing off $13.5 billion of shares in oil producer Rosneft.
Photo:
Yuri Kochetkov/EPA/Shutterstock
Even some companies that are retaining a presence in Russia are writing down assets. The French energy giant
TotalEnergies
SE took a $4.1 billion charge in April on the value of its natural-gas reserves, citing the impact of Western sanctions targeting Russia.
The Securities and Exchange Commission last month told companies that they have to disclose Russian-related losses clearly, and that they shouldn’t adjust revenue to add back the estimated income that has been lost because of Russia.
Bank of New York Mellon Corp.
, which in March said it had stopped new banking business in Russia, appeared to breach this guidance when it reported its results for the first three months of this year. The New York custody bank in April reported $4 billion in revenue under one measure that included $88 million added to reflect income lost because of Russia.
A BNY Mellon spokesman declined to comment.
Investors appear to have mixed reactions to the write-downs, partly because most multinationals have relatively small Russian exposure, academic research suggests.
Financial markets are “rewarding companies for leaving Russia,” a recent study by Yale School of Management found. The share-price gains for companies pulling out have “far surpassed the cost of one-time impairments for companies that have written down the value of their Russian assets,” the researchers concluded.
Bank of New York Mellon said earlier this year that it had stopped new banking business in Russia.
Photo:
Gabriela Bhaskar/Bloomberg News
Research using a different methodology found a more subtle investor reaction. Analysis by Indiana University professor Vivek Astvansh and his co-authors of the short-term market impact of more than 200 corporate announcements revealed a marked trans-Atlantic divide. Investors punished U.S. companies for pulling out of Russia, and non-American companies for not withdrawing, the analysis found.
More write-downs and other Russia-related accounting charges are expected in the coming months, as companies complete their planned departures from the country.
British American Tobacco
PLC, whose brands include Rothmans and Lucky Strike, said on March 11 it had “initiated the process to rapidly transfer our Russian business.” That transfer is still ongoing, according to a BAT spokeswoman. BAT hasn’t taken an impairment in relation to the business.
Accounting specialist
Jack Ciesielski
said companies might hold off announcing a write-down until they have a good handle on how big the loss will be.
“You don’t want to put a number out there until you’re confident that it’s not likely to change,” said Mr. Ciesielski, owner of investment research firm R.G. Associates Inc.
The ruble’s recovery is helping Russia prop up its economy and continue its Ukraine war effort. WSJ’s Dion Rabouin explains how Russia boosted its ailing currency and how it is affecting the global economy. Illustration: Ryan Trefes
Many companies are giving investors rough estimates about what to expect on Russia-related losses.
The manufacturer
ITT Inc.,
which has suspended its operations in Russia, said last month it expects a $60 million to $85 million hit to revenue this year because of a “significant reduction in sales” in the country. That is a small slice of the $2.8 billion in total revenue for the maker of specialty components for the auto, aerospace and energy industries.
As sanctions weaken the Russian economy, businesses still operating there are reassessing their future earnings and booking losses. Ride-sharing giant
Uber Technologies Inc.
in May took a $182 million impairment on the value of its stake in a Russian taxi joint-venture because of forecasts of a protracted recession in the Russian economy. Uber said in February it was looking for opportunities to accelerate its planned sale of the stake.
—Thomas Gryta and Nick Kostov contributed to this article.
U.S. stock indexes were mixed at the opening Tuesday as investors geared up for the Federal Reserve’s policy decision this week and evaluated a batch of earnings.
The S&P 500 rose 0.3% in early trading. The benchmark stocks gauge rose 0.6% Monday, its third gain in four trading days. The technology-focused Nasdaq Composite added 0.4% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was about flat.
Those moves belied a tense mood among investors expecting the central bank to accelerate its tightening of monetary policy this week, the latest step in inflation-fighting efforts that have already raised borrowing costs throughout the economy this year, scrambling stock and bond markets.
Traders are reacting to a slew of big companies’ latest reports and financial forecasts. Pfizer fell 0.7% after forecasting lower revenue than predicted by analysts. Investment firm KKR rose about 2% after swinging to a loss.
Estee Lauder
lost 4.4% after the company lowered its revenue and earnings outlook.
Elliott Investment Management disclosed a roughly 6% stake in Western Digital, pushing shares of the data-storage company up 12%.
Rockwell Automation
said quarterly earnings tumbled, sending shares down 14%.
The yield on 10-year Treasury notes topped 3% for a second straight day before slipping back to 2.928%, compared with 2.995% Monday. Yields, which move inversely to bond prices and are a reference for borrowing costs throughout the economy, have shot to their highest levels since 2018 in anticipation of higher interest rates.
They have also dragged up government borrowing costs globally. The yield on 10-year German government bonds, the benchmark in Europe, surpassed 1% Tuesday for the first time since 2015, before slipping back to 0.935%.
Overseas stock markets wavered. The Stoxx Europe 600 gained about 0.3%, led by shares of banks and oil-and-gas companies on a busy day for earnings in the region.
BP shares rose 3.1% after the oil producer reported underlying profit of $6.2 billion, when stripping out a pretax accounting charge related to its decision to exit its Russia holdings.
BNP Paribas
posted a jump in earnings, sending shares of the French lender 4.3% higher.
Sweden’s OMX Stockholm All-Share steadied, edging up 0.1%. On Monday, the market was among the worst affected by a flash crash in European shares sparked by an erroneous sale by
Citigroup.
Mainland Chinese markets were closed for a public holiday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged up 0.1%.
All eyes are on the Federal Reserve’s next steps.
Photo:
BRENDAN MCDERMID/REUTERS
All eyes are on the Fed’s next steps as the central bank tries to tap the brakes on the fastest pace of inflation in decades. Rising rates have combined with coronavirus shutdowns in China and the war in Ukraine to send jitters through stock markets this year.
Rate-setting officials will gather Tuesday for a two-day policy meeting. At its conclusion Wednesday, the Fed is expected to raise interest rates by a half percentage point, the first such increase in 22 years and following on from a quarter-point rise in March.
Investors will also seek details from Chairman
Jerome Powell
on the central bank’s plans to reduce its bondholdings. Officials have recently indicated that they will allow $95 billion in securities to mature every month, unwinding another form of stimulus lavished on markets during the pandemic.
“It appears that the war in Ukraine hasn’t derailed the Fed in the slightest,” said
Gregory Perdon,
co-chief investment officer at
Arbuthnot Latham.
Financial conditions have already tightened significantly, Mr. Perdon added, pointing to a strengthening dollar, the increase in Treasury yields and rising mortgage rates.
Earnings season continues apace.
Airbnb,
ABNB -4.98%
Starbucks,
Lyft
and
American International Group
are on the block after markets close.
Broadly positive corporate reports have failed to steady the market in recent weeks. Earnings growth is in line with historical norms at about 11% annually, according to Deutsche Bank analysts, while margins have remained near record levels despite rising input prices.
In commodities, Brent-crude futures prices slipped 1% to $106.55 a barrel. Traders are awaiting a meeting of ministers from OPEC members and their allies including Russia on Thursday, and monitoring shutdowns in China that are curbing fuel demand.
A European Union proposal to ban Russian crude oil by the end of the year is due to be circulated to member states Tuesday.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has indicated that the central bank is likely to raise interest rates by a half percentage point at its meeting. Photo: Samuel Corum/Getty Images
Write to Joe Wallace at joe.wallace@wsj.com and Matt Grossman at matt.grossman@wsj.com.
Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Inc., a Chicago-based restaurant group, has added a 3% “processing fee” to checks at many of its restaurants.
Harley-Davidson Inc.
added a charge last year to its motorcycles to cover rising material costs.
Peloton Interactive Inc.
in January began charging $250 for delivery and setup of some of its indoor bikes, a service that was previously included free.
Companies are finding all kinds of ways to make consumers pay for rising costs. Often that is not reflected in the posted price.
The Labor Department’s consumer-price index, which measures how much consumers pay for goods and services, rose to 7.5% in January compared with the same month a year earlier—the biggest rise since February 1982.
The index accounts for some changes that raise consumers’ costs, such as smaller package sizes and some fees attached to hotel packages or car purchases. But it can miss other ways in which dollars don’t stretch as far– a hotel that changes sheets only between guests, a theme park that cancels its free airport shuttle, or an auto dealer that requires customers to buy a protective paint coating with a car.
With supply-chain challenges, pent-up demand and a tight labor market leading to inflation, businesses are looking for subtle ways to pass along rising costs. Particularly in the food business, companies have long used what the industry calls weight-outs, or shrinking package contents instead of raising prices, during economic distress periods such as the 2007-2009 recession.
“There is a lot more to come,” said
Doug Baker,
head of industry relations for FMI, a food-industry trade organization. “Everything is on the table in an effort to deal with those cost increases, and at the same time, not make it too difficult for consumers to shop.”
A global computer-chip shortage has reduced vehicle inventories just as Americans were buying cars in record numbers, pushing up prices for new vehicles. In many cases, they are selling for thousands of dollars above manufacturers’ suggested retail prices, said Tom McParland, founder of Automatch Consulting, which helps consumers find vehicles.
“They’re calling it a market adjustment fee,” said Mr. McParland. “That’s the new thing they are doing: hiding markups with substantially overpriced accessories like mud flaps and cargo protectors.”
Ford Motor Co.
and
General Motors Co.
have said they are cracking down on dealerships using that tactic.
Harley fees
Base prices on Harley-Davidson’s motorcycles haven’t gone up much in recent years, the Milwaukee company said. But to cover rising costs, it added a mandatory materials surcharge last year, which dealers are passing on to customers. Dealers said the fee, which varies based on the model, is easier for the company to adjust than base motorcycle prices when costs decrease.
Dealers said the fee is $850 to $1,500 a bike. Harley this week told analysts that the surcharges helped boost revenue during the fourth quarter last year.
Harley-Davidson added a fee to its motorcycles to cover rising material costs; a dealership in Louisville, Ky., this week.
Photo:
Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg News
Some restaurants are adding new fees in response to escalating costs for food and packaging, and for wage increases executives say are needed to keep cooks and servers.
Brinker International Inc.’s
Maggiano’s Little Italy in October 2020 started charging $5 for a second, to-go pasta dish offered as part of a two-entree deal. For about a decade before the pandemic, the chain had offered a second classic pasta dish free.
“We’ve had no push back,” Maggiano’s president Steve Provost told investors last October. A Brinker spokeswoman said the price change allowed the company to invest more in the value of its carry-out offerings.
When Michael Pfeifer, a marketing professional, picked up the check for his meal at
RPM
Seafood in Chicago this week, he was surprised to find a 3% Covid surcharge added to the bill. “What’s next?” he said. “A dishware rental fee?”
The fee, added in the spring of 2020, offsets the cost of pandemic-related government regulations and mandates, said RJ Melman, president of Lettuce Entertain You, which owns RPM. “These fees can be removed and refunded for any guest that requests,” he said, “no questions asked.”
Peloton, according to its website, is adding the new $250 fees on bikes and a $350 delivery-and-setup fee for some of its treadmills. It cut the price of its original stationary bike in August to $1,495 from $1,895. With the added fees, the total price is now back up to about $1,745, as the company dealt with slowing demand and its own rising costs.
Peloton declined to comment on the fees. In an earnings call on Tuesday, Peloton CFO
Jill Woodworth
said that the fees could cut into consumer demand but that they were part of a “critical learning” process as the company restructures and cuts costs for the post-pandemic era.
Walt Disney Co.
’s Disney World in Orlando stopped offering free airport shuttles—known as the Magical Express—this year, leaving Disney guests to pay for their own transportation. The parks added several fees last year while keeping the base ticket price at $109. A fast-pass system that let park guests make reservations for rides, which used to be free, was discontinued and replaced by a new system that costs $15. And some popular rides, like Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and Space Mountain, now cost between $7 and $15, on top of the park admission ticket.
Disney offers “a wide range of options to match different budgets and interests,” said Disney spokesman Avery Maehrer.
At its theme-park restaurants, Disney is trying to avoid across-the-board price increases, Disney CFO
Christine McCarthy
told analysts in November. “We can substitute products. We can cut portion size, which is probably good for some people’s waistlines,” she said. “But we aren’t going to go just straight across and increase prices.”
Consumer backlash
Consumer pressure has led some companies to back off added fees, including
Frontier Group Holdings Inc.
The airline, which uses a la carte pricing that lets frugal travelers choose to forgo amenities, in May 2021 added a $1.59-per-flight-segment Covid-related fee. After consumer backlash, Frontier in June stopped breaking it out as a component of its base fare but it didn’t stop charging it. Frontier didn’t respond to requests for comment.
In a press release it said: “The charge, which was included in the airline’s total promoted fare versus an add-on fee, was meant to provide transparency and delineate what portion of the fare was going toward COVID-related business recovery.”
Some of
Marriott International Inc.’s
Autograph Collection hotels had been charging a “sustainability fee” of about $5 a night. The company that manages the properties, Innkeeper Hospitality Services LLC, says it covered things like more-efficient HVAC systems.
They stopped charging the fee several weeks ago, “because we understand that while we believe in environmentally responsible stewardship, not everyone cares about our planet’s health,” IHS CEO Amrit Gill said. He said Marriott had asked the company to stop charging the fee. Marriott declined to comment.
The Biden administration has begun to look into some forms of hidden fees, which it calls “junk fees.” The administration says the amount being charged is not always tied to the costs faced by the company providing the goods or services. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is seeking public input on financial services, such as bank overdraft fees, while the Transportation Department is planning actions on airline baggage fees.
John Fiorello, a father of four in Torrington, Conn., was dismayed to see prices rising in his local grocery-store aisles but was initially pleased to see that the blocks of cheese he usually buys hadn’t gone up much in price—perhaps 10 cents, he said. Then he noticed that the package had shrunk, to 12 ounces from 16.
“I picked up the block and said, ‘this is definitely smaller,’ ” Mr. Fiorello said. “It just adds an extra layer of stress.”
Shrinkflation, as economists call it, tends to be easier for companies to pass on to consumers. Despite labels that show price by weight, research shows that most customers look at only the overall price.
The food industry has long shrunk package contents instead of raising prices during economic-distress periods; a Salt Lake City grocery store in October.
Photo:
George Frey/Bloomberg News
“There are sizes that people remember, like a half gallon of ice cream,” said John Gourville, a Harvard Business School professor. “Once you break from iconic sizes, it’s pretty easy to move from 13 ounces to 12 ounces.”
Over the years, tuna cans have come to contain less tuna and toilet-paper rolls less tissue, said
Burt Flickinger III,
managing director of Strategic Resource Group, a consulting firm that works with consumer-product companies. “Historically,” he said, “it’s called a ‘cheater pack.’ ”
Companies have become more sophisticated and use multiple tactics to protect their profitability, he said. They can pull back on discounts, stop making low-selling products and create new varieties that sell for higher prices
Downsized Oreos
Oreo-maker Mondelez International Inc. raised prices by an average of 6% to 7% in the U.S. last month, but it wasn’t enough to make up for its higher costs, the company said. So Mondelez has been introducing new sizes and flavors it says are more profitable.
Oreo’s new 110th Birthday chocolate confetti-cake cookies cost about 10 cents more than regular Double Stuf Oreos at several grocery stores, even though the new flavor comes in a slightly smaller package. At a
Target Corp.
store in Chicago, the limited-edition birthday Oreos, which came out January, cost $3.79 for a 24-cookie package and the Double Stuf ones cost $3.69 for a 30-cookie package.
Retailers set the final prices. Mondelez said it charges the same for the two products, and its limited edition flavors are typically different-sized packages than regular ones. A Target spokesperson said: “We’re priced competitively throughout the markets we do business.”
Economists and analysts at the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics monitor prices of thousands of goods and services. They can account for shrinkflation, because they track the cost of certain products by weight and quantity—so a cereal box that costs the same amount but now has 30% less volume would be registered as a price increase.
They said their efforts can’t identify every fee or dropped amenity, such as a hotel room rate that remains the same but that no longer includes fresh towels or a hot breakfast. “We do not capture the decrease in service quality associated with cleaning a room every two days rather than one,” said Jonathan Church, a BLS economist.
Disney World in Florida added several fees last year while keeping the base ticket price at $109; the Magic Kingdom last summer.
Photo:
Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/Associated Press
Jeremiah Mayfield and Carlos Larrea stayed at Alohilani Resort in Honolulu in December and opted for a $75 a-night upgrade to “club level” for free food and drinks. But they said they could rarely use it because the resort didn’t have enough staff to replenish the club-level amenities. After complaining, they were offered free dinner.
Alohilani General Manager Matthew Grauso said that quality and efficient guest service are top priorities and that he tries to remedy any shortfalls immediately, adding, “The pandemic has presented a unique set of challenges within the hospitality industry.”
“We gave them hell for it,” Mr. Mayfield said. “We paid $800 a night. We never expected it would be so scarce in terms of service and amenities.”
Many hotel chains are replacing complimentary hot breakfast buffets with a snack bag. Some fitness centers and pools remain closed, and housekeeping doesn’t refresh rooms daily. Some guests feel like they are getting less for their money.
InterContinental Hotels Group
PLC, which owns Holiday Inn, said it has been working with hotels to return amenities and make it right if guests aren’t satisfied. “Hotel teams have been overcoming many challenges including supply chain and labor shortages, changing health guidance and regulatory requirements,” an IHG spokesperson said.
On a recent trip to St. Louis, Meg Hinkley booked a Holiday Inn because it said online that it offered room service. When she arrived, the restaurant was closed, so there was no room service. She said she would have stayed at a lower-priced hotel if she had known. “I was paying for that convenience.”
—Heather Haddon and Bob Tita contributed to this article.
Write to Annie Gasparro at annie.gasparro@wsj.com and Gabriel T. Rubin at gabriel.rubin@wsj.com
Schweitzer Mountain has 2,900 acres, great snow and stunning lake views; it’s Idaho’s largest ski terrain area.
Most people have never heard of it.
“We have no lift lines. It’s low-key, it isn’t pretentious and there’s a strong sense of community,” says David Thompson, a retired surgeon from Houston who bought a ski-in, ski-out house there with views of Lake Pend Oreille in 2009 for $850,000.
It isn’t easy to get to Schweitzer—the closest major airport is in Spokane, Wash., about a two-hour drive, including a steep road with sharp switchbacks. The two fastest routes from Idaho’s capital, Boise, are 10-12 hours and involve going through either Washington or Montana.
There aren’t many shops and hotels right at the mountain’s base, and cell and internet service can be spotty in the area. Residents have to pick up their mail in the village.
This coming season, the base village of Schweitzer will look very different with the addition of an angled, contemporary, glass and steel hotel and restaurant, designed by hip Portland firm Skylab Architecture.
Schweitzer
Schweitzer is in the midst of a dramatic transformation, aiming to become a destination resort. Last season it added seven runs and two lifts.
Schweitzer
Locals say Schweitzer’s terrain is varied and the mountain is typically uncrowded, with no lift lines most days.
Schweitzer
Newsletter Sign-up
Real Estate
From aspirational residences to major commercial deals.
But Schweitzer is in the midst of a dramatic transformation, aiming to become a destination resort. Last season it added seven runs and two lifts and joined the Ikon Pass, a 47-mountain destination ticket that gives members access to elite ski areas around the world, including Aspen, Colo., Jackson Hole, Wyo., Utah’s Deer Valley, Vermont’s Killington and Zermatt in Switzerland.
The resort village, with a year-round population of about 65, currently looks like a giant construction site, as the resort embarks on a multiphase rollout of residential development. An angled, contemporary glass-and-steel hotel and restaurant, designed by hip Portland, Ore., firm Skylab Architecture, is rising amid the more traditional alpine condos and lodges. The skeletons of new modern houses and townhouses bolstered by steel rods now inundate the steep slopes.
Demand for real estate is so high that there are currently no houses on the market for sale and only two condos—a stark difference from the 40-50 units for sale in the wider area at any given time in the past, says Patrick Werry, an agent with Century 21 Riverstone. Home prices have risen 40% over the past year in this resort village of about 700 homes.
Last year Schweitzer joined the Ikon pass, a 47-mountain destination ticket that gives members access to elite ski areas around the world, including Aspen, Colo., Jackson Hole, Wyo., Utah’s Deer Valley, Vermont’s Killington and Zermatt in Switzerland.
Photo:
Schweitzer
“Everyone is trying to get on the bandwagon,” says Craig Mearns of M2 Construction, which has a three-year waiting list to even start building a custom house. Its latest spec project sold out in a month, even when prices increased from $550,000 to $950,000 for a unit.
What’s happening at Schweitzer is happening all over Idaho. The state is in the midst of a ski renaissance. As its resorts expand their ski terrain and add amenities, demand for homes is booming.
“Idaho is attracting people who want a smaller resort experience—the feel that other Western resorts used to offer but don’t anymore,” says Thomas Wright, president of Summit Sotheby’s International Realty.
Idaho’s ski resorts are scattered across the state and their characters are as different as the terrain that surrounds them, from the arid, celebrity-infused Sun Valley, to the insular, pine-tree dense village of Tamarack, north of Boise. All the way east is the wilder, remote Grand Targhee, in the Teton Range, located in Alta, Wyo., just on the border with Idaho. But the appeal of all these places is the same: low-key, uncrowded skiing with consistent snow.
At Tamarack, the insular, pine-tree dense village north of Boise, the snow is consistently powdery, there are almost never lift lines and there’s lots of backcountry skiing. Opened in 2004, then shut in 2008 due to bankruptcy, Tamarack is in the midst of a resurgence. The resort’s lifts currently service about 1,000 acres of skiable terrain. VIDEO: Todd Meier for The Wall Street Journal
Real-estate agents say the demand for ski resort homes is an offshoot of the demand for homes in Idaho overall, a movement fueled by the pandemic, with people looking for properties with more space and, in some cases, more lax Covid restrictions. (Idaho is currently in a hospital resource crisis because of its high rate of Covid.)
Idaho’s home prices have grown 42% in the past two years—twice the national average and the highest of all the states, according to Nik Shah, CEO of Home LLC., a down payment assistance provider.
“Most of my friends are like ‘Idaho, what’s there?’ My response is, ‘exactly—it’s because you don’t know about it,’ ” says Harmon Kong, a 57-year-old investment adviser from Lake Forest, Calif.
Mr. Kong and his wife, Lea Kong, fell hard last year for Tamarack and bought two places: a ski-in ski-out, three-bedroom, three-bathroom penthouse condo in the fall of 2020 for $1.8 million, and three-bedroom, three-bathroom chalet nearby for $1.28 million.
Harmon Kong, an investment advisor from Lake Forest, Calif., and his wife Lea Kong fell hard last year for Tamarack and bought a three-bedroom, three-bathroom penthouse ski-in ski-out condo there in the fall of 2020.
Kyle Green for The Wall Street Journal
The living room area as seen from the upstairs in the condo owned by Harmon and Lea Kong at Tamarack.
Kyle Green for The Wall Street Journal
The kitchen area of the condo owned by Harmon and Lea Kong in Tamarack.
Kyle Green for The Wall Street Journal
The main bedroom of the condo owned by Harmon and Lea Kong in Tamarack.
Kyle Green for The Wall Street Journal
Tamarack has applied to the U.S. Forest Service for permits to add seven to nine new lifts, including a gondola, and more than double its size by adding 3,300 new acres of ski terrain and a new summit lodge.
Kyle Green for The Wall Street Journal
Mr. Kong was used to skiing at Heavenly Ski Resort in Lake Tahoe, Calif., which he likens to Disneyland because of the crowds. At Tamarack, he says the snow is routinely powdery, there are hardly ever lift lines and there’s lots of backcountry skiing.
Opened in 2004, then shut in 2008 due to bankruptcy, Tamarack is in the midst of a resurgence. The resort’s lifts currently service about 1,000 acres of skiable terrain and it has applied to the U.S. Forest Service for permits to add seven to nine new lifts, including a gondola, and more than double its size by adding 3,300 new acres of ski terrain and a new summit lodge.
Building is underway on ambitious, multiphase residential development projects, which will result in 2,043 residential units, including about 1,000 hotel rooms and a mix of condos, estate homes, townhomes, cottages and chalets. Tamarack is in the process of starting a charter school. The average sold price for a home in Tamarack, which has about 450 homes in all, has grown 80% over the past two years, according to the Mountain Central Association of Realtors.
To attract more skiers, this past year Tamarack joined the Indy Pass, which includes small, independent resorts around North America. The resort’s president Scott Turlington is aiming for 500,000 skier visits over the next couple of seasons (up from 120,000 last season), which he acknowledges might make him persona non grata among some of the current homeowners. “If I do my job properly I won’t be the most popular person,” he says.
Ski Magazine readers voted Sun Valley the country’s top ski resort in Western North America in 2021, in part because of its comparably short lift lines. However, last year it became a partner in the Epic pass, a move that could bring more skiers. Sun Valley has been growing its ski operations. Last season it added 380 acres of skiable terrain on Bald Mountain and a new high-speed chairlift. VIDEO: Sun Valley Resort
Still, Mr. Turlington says, “We want to maintain our rugged individualism and independent spirit. It’s a very different feeling here than at one of the top resorts.”
The top ski resort in Idaho is Sun Valley. In fact, Ski Magazine readers voted Sun Valley the top ski resort in Western North America in 2021, in part because of its comparably short lift lines. It’s located in an arid, high-altitude and desert-like environment and its famed Sun Valley Lodge has walls lined with photos of celebrities like Marilyn Monroe, Ernest Hemingway and Tom Hanks. Business moguls and world leaders convene there every summer for the annual Allen & Company conference.
Sun Valley has also been growing its ski operations. Last season, it added 380 acres of skiable terrain on Bald Mountain and a new high-speed chairlift. It became a partner in the Epic Pass, which includes mountain resorts like Colorado’s Vail, Utah’s Park City and Whistler in Canada, a move to bring more skiers to the mountains.
Sun Valley Resort’s vice president and general manager Pete Sonntag says the resort has no plans to expand further for now. “Our goal is never about competing for the most skiers. It’s about improving the guest experience,” he says, adding, “The remote location will keep it from feeling overrun.”
But, like many resort towns, the issue of development and affordable housing is a hot topic right now. “There’s a huge concern about people getting priced out,” says Katherine Rixon, a real-estate agent with Keller Williams Sun Valley. Property values have appreciated so much that many owners of rental properties are cashing out of the market, leaving their tenants having to find a new place to live in an already tight rental environment. And at the same time, rental rates have doubled in the past year. There are a number of government and nonprofit groups working on increasing housing for the workforce, she says.
The number of sold homes was up 71% in August compared with a year earlier, the median price was up 20%, and the number of homes for sale down 56%. A three-bedroom, three-bathroom townhouse Ms. Rixon sold at Sun Valley last year for $2 million just resold for $3.6 million.
“People here complain when there’s four people in the lift line,” says Jean-Pierre Veillet, a real-estate developer. He moved with his family this summer from Portland, Ore., to Bellevue, about half an hour from Sun Valley’s main town of Ketchum, in part because his 15-year-old son Oliver is a ski racer and was attending a boarding school in the area.
Jean-Pierre Veillet and Summer Veillet bought a four-bedroom, two-bathroom, 3,000 square foot house with a library, a three-car garage and a barn on 10 acres for $1.3 million in March.
Gabe Border for The Wall Street Journal
The house Mr. and Ms. Veillet bought was in good shape and located in Bellevue about half an hour from Sun Valley’s main town of Ketchum.
Gabe Border for The Wall Street Journal
The couple moved from Portland, Ore. in part because their fifteen-year-old son Oliver is a ski racer and was attending a boarding school in the area.
Gabe Border for The Wall Street Journal
The Veillets built a wood-framed growing dome made from polycarbonate panels that houses areas for growing vegetables and for breeding tilapia.
Gabe Border for The Wall Street Journal
Zealand Veillet, 10, Summer, Veillet, Jean-Pierre Veillet and Oliver Veillet, 15.
Gabe Border for The Wall Street Journal
Mr. Veillet, 50, and his wife, Summer Veillet, 45, bought a four-bedroom, two-bathroom, 3,000-square-foot house with a library, a three-car garage and a barn on 10 acres for $1.3 million in March. They’d been looking for a house in Ketchum and Hailey, the two towns in the area which are closer to the slopes, but gave up after not finding anything for a year.
Mr. Veillet still works in Portland, and even though that’s not far geographically, getting back and forth is strenuous because there are no nonstop flights to the small Sun Valley airport. The Veillets say there are pros and cons of living there: the skiing is great, Oliver is thriving, and their younger son, Zealand, who is 10 and is home-schooled, is getting a great education from the growing, fishing and renovating the family is doing.
On the other hand, the internet is terrible, there can be fierce windstorms and there’s no food delivery service. “It’s been a hard transition. It can be hard to slow down and make a change in life,” says Mr. Veillet.
David and Kimberly Barenborg just moved to Ketchum, into a five-bedroom, five-bathroom, over 4,000-square-foot log cabin-style house with a guest cottage in a quiet neighborhood right along a stream. They bought it for about $4 million in August after they sold their house in the Seattle suburb of Mercer Island.
David Barenborg and Kimberly Barenborg, with their dogs Gunner and Big, just moved to Ketchum, the town closest to the Sun Valley lodge.
Gabe Border for The Wall Street Journal
The Barenborgs bought a five-bedroom, five-bathroom, over 4,000-square-foot log cabin-style house with a guest cottage in a quiet neighborhood right along a stream.
Gabe Border for The Wall Street Journal
Ms. Barenborg, a designer and an underwater photographer, plans on renovating the house, including the fireplace in the living room.
Gabe Border for The Wall Street Journal
Mr. Barenborg, who co-founded a financial advisory firm, wanted somewhere that had sun, felt safe and where he could ski, bike and fish. “It’s just play time,” he says. “I’m so happy here.”
Gabe Border for The Wall Street Journal
The Barenborgs say Ketchum feels like a real community and not just a resort town where people have vacation homes.
Gabe Border for The Wall Street Journal
Mr. Barenborg, 60, who co-founded a financial advisory firm, wanted somewhere that had sun, felt safe and where he could ski, bike and fish. “It’s just play time,” he says. “I’m so happy here.”
The only catch is the threat of development on a 65-acre dog park and green space that’s directly across the creek from their new home. He is working to help the town raise the $9 million the developer is asking for the property. He says the process has been slow going but the community is starting to see the value of protected green space. “Everyone is overwhelmed by what’s going on,” says Mr. Barenborg, referring to the rapid growth that’s stressing the town’s infrastructure.
The rapid growth is also increasing jobs, but Heidi Husbands, a council member in Hailey, says Sun Valley is currently facing a shortage of workers because people can’t afford to live there anymore. Ketchum approved funding for an affordable housing project, but it is still controversial. At one point the town considered allowing workers to put tents in a park, but that idea was canceled.
Schweitzer Mountain resort, owned by Seattle-based McCaw Investment Group, plans to add a whole new ski area, with four new lifts and a new lodge ove the next five to 10 years.
Photo:
Schweitzer
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS
Do you think the demand for ski resort homes is a passing trend, or could it mark a long-term shift? Join the conversation below.
Some residents of Schweitzer are also worried about more crowds, traffic and a shortage of housing. The resort, owned by Seattle-based McCaw Investment Group, just sold out a 35-lot subdivision and broke ground on an addition to a condo building. In a few weeks, it will start building a new residential neighborhood with cabins before embarking on several others later next year. In five to 10 years, the resort plans a whole new area, with four new lifts and a new lodge.
The potential impacts from climate change are also an issue. Schweitzer CEO Tom Chasse says, “Strategically, we are concerned about the snow level. We are seeing a change in precipitation. The snow lines have been moving up for the last few seasons. So we want to make sure we have lift access to the higher elevations and we are doing feasibility studies on adding snow-making on the lower levels.”
However, Mr. Chasse says the resort has plenty of room to grow. “We want to increase our sophistication level,” he says.
Schweitzer’s CEO Tom Chasse says the resort has plenty of room to grow. “We want to increase our sophistication level,” he says.
