Wall Street Breakfast Podcast: Six Flags Plunges Premarket

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FUN stock plunges as fatal incident shakes Six Flags. (00:14) Disney (DIS) steps in as Character.AI files chapter 11. (00:53) Micron (MU) unleashes a record buyback. (01:50)

This is an abridged transcript.

Six Flags Entertainment (FUN) is down 7% in premarket action after falling double digits following a report that one person died and several others were injured in an incident involving a Six Flags roller coaster in Georgia.

According to media reports, witnesses say a man fell from the Goliath roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia near Atlanta.

The company said its staff and local authorities responded immediately and that it is cooperating with the authorities as they complete their investigation.

Six Flags says similar rides across its parks have been closed out of an abundance of caution.

Character Technologies has voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, according to a statement.

The company intends to continue operating as it conducts the sale process.

Disney (DIS) will serve as the stalking horse bidder for a non-exclusive perpetual license of certain intellectual property and claims in exchange for $20M and Disney’s transition services.

If the sale process does not result in a purchase that provides for a continuation of the Character.ai platform, the platform will be wound down. The deal is expected to close in late Nov. or early Dec.

Reuters earlier this month reported that chatbots created by Character.AI sometimes advised users to cut, starve, or kill themselves, citing a new filing by Kentucky’s attorney general in a lawsuit against the firm over child ‌safety.

Character.AI was founded by two former Google (GOOGL) (GOOG) employees.

Micron Technology (MU) raised its discretionary share buyback authorization to a record $35.16B, with the program set to begin on December 9, according to a recent filing.

The chipmaker’s stock has surged over 240% year to date on AI-driven memory demand but remains below its June 25 peak of $1,255.

And now for one of the top trending queries on Seeking Alpha.

Kroger (NYSE: KR) plans to eliminate approximately 3,000 corporate roles, representing roughly 37% of its corporate workforce of 8,200.

According to an internal staff memo seen by Reuters following an initial report by Bloomberg News, this is expected to happen over the next three years as it integrates artificial intelligence into its operational workflows.

CEO Greg Foran, who assumed the top role in February, informed employees in the memo that details on the specific job cuts would be shared in the coming months, according to the report.

The report stated that the planned restructuring follows a previous workforce reduction in June of last year, when Kroger eliminated about 1,000 corporate roles.

Catalyst watch:

• The three-day SEMICON West tech conference will begin. The major semiconductor industry event will include participation by Nvidia (NVDA), Lam Research (LRCX), Applied Materials (AMAT), and Micron (MU).

• Notable investor events include Workday’s (WDAY) Analyst Day and Procter & Gamble’s (PG) annual meeting.

• TechCrunch Disrupt will take place in San Francisco. Notable speakers include Rivian (RIVN) CEO RJ Scaringe, Amazon (AMZN) senior vice president Panos Panay, and Cerebras Systems (CBRS) CEO Andrew Feldman.

• Apple (AAPL) will hold a “Welcome Home” event in Tribeca, New York. The product event is expected to focus on the smart-home lineup, including potential announcements on a Siri-powered home hub, an updated Apple TV 4K, and HomePod mini models.

Stock index futures are in mixed territory.

Crude oil is down 1.8% at $92. Brent crude is down 1.6% at $104.

The FTSE 100 is up 0.7% and the DAX is up 0.6%.

One stock on the biggest movers list: NatWest Group (NWG) +3% – Shares rose after Barclays upgraded the UK lender to Overweight from Equalweight.

Economic calendar: