Tesla Sales Tumble, Microsoft to Cut 9,000 Workers, Centene Plunges

On this episode of Stock Movers:

• Tesla Inc.’s global sales tumbled for the second quarter in a row, leaving the carmaker in a deep hole to dig out from to avoid consecutive annual declines. The company delivered 384,122 vehicles during the last three months, down 13% from a year earlier. Tesla now has an almost 110,000-car deficit to overcome in the second half in order to return to growth this year. Sales did manage to exceed the most pessimistic analysts’ estimates, with the most bearish projecting a more than 20% decline. Tesla shares rallied on the report, rising as much as 4% at the open of regular trading Wednesday.

• Microsoft Corp. began job cuts that will impact about 9,000 workers, a second major wave of layoffs this year as it seeks to control costs. Less than 4% of the company’s total workforce will be impacted, a spokesperson said. The cuts will have an impact across teams, geographies and tenure and are made in an effort to streamline processes and reduce layers of management, the spokesperson said.

• Health insurer Centene Corp. shocked investors Tuesday when it withdrew its profit outlook on precipitously rising risks from Affordable Care Act plans, sending shares plummeting the most in almost two decades. The company appears to have been badly caught off guard by the impact of US government actions. It’s an ominous sign for insurers, whose purpose is to price for risk but have lately been blindsided by it. Shares of Centene dropped as much as 35% in New York on Wednesday, the most since 2006.

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