Wall Street Breakfast Podcast: T-Mobile Settles Breach Cases

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T-Mobile US (TMUS) to settle data breach cases with the FCC for $31.5M. (00:23) CVS Health (CVS) board considering company breakup as part of strategic review – reports. (01:25) PepsiCo (PEP) is reportedly on the hunt to acquire Siete Foods. (01:59)

This is an abridged transcript of the podcast.

T-Mobile US (NASDAQ:TMUS) has reached a $31.5 million settlement with the Federal Communications Commission.

The settlement is related to data breach investigations that affected millions of U.S. customers over the last three years.

The FCC said T-Mobile will pay a $15.75 million civil penalty and has agreed to spend another $15.75 million over two years to strengthen its cybersecurity program.

The settlement resolves multiple cybersecurity breach investigations involving T-Mobile from 2021, 2022, and 2023.

According to the FCC’s additional disclosures, about 76.6 million T-Mobile users in the U.S. were impacted in 2021. In 2023, about 37 million current postpaid and prepaid customer accounts were compromised.

T-Mobile will designate a chief information security officer and adopt multi-factor authentication practices, among other things, as part of the settlement.

The board of CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) is considering its options amid shareholder activist pressure and one of those options is breaking up the company.

The Wall Street Journal reported that CVS has been conferring with bankers as part of its review. Reuters first reported earlier that CVS was exploring its options, including a break up to separate its retail and insurance units.

The newspaper, citing sources familiar with the discussion, also reported that a decision is not imminent, and the review could result in no major changes.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) is reportedly in advanced talks to acquire food company Siete Foods for more than $1 billion. Sources told The Wall Street Journal that a deal could be announced soon, although other bidders are in the mix.

Siete Foods was founded in 2014 by Veronica Garza and her family in Austin, Texas. The company specializes in grain-free and dairy-free Mexican-American foods.

By 2022, it became one of the fastest-growing Latino food brands in the U.S., projecting sales of $250 million. The company’s distribution has expanded recently to include Target (TGT) and Kroger (KR) grocery stores.

PepsiCo (PEP) is lined up to report earnings on October 8.

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Catalyst watch:

• Notable investor events include Harmony Biosciences (HRMY) Investor Day event, and Apollo Global Management’s (APO) Investor Day. FedEx (FDX) will hold its Forward Service Provider Summit, Motive and Workhorse Group (WKHS) are exhibitors.

• Curbline will start trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol CURB after spinning off from SITE Centers (SITC).

• South Bow Corporation will begin trading as a standalone company after spinning off from TC Energy (TRP:CA).

• Super Micro Computer (SMCI) will begin trading on a split-adjusted basis after completing its 10-for-1 stock split.

• The President of Shopify (SHOP) will be one of the participants at the three-day Elevate Festival in Toronto.

• Infinera Corporation (INFN) will hold a special meeting to allow shareholders to vote on the acquisition offer from Nokia (NOK).

• Nike (NKE) will hold its earnings call at 4:15 pm. The company frequently issues its guidance during the call and provides an in-depth outlook by region and product type. The update from management on trends in China will also be closely watched by other consumer companies with a higher exposure to the nation, including Starbucks (SBUX), Estee Lauder (EL), and Skechers (SKX).

Now let’s take a look at the markets as of 6 am. Ahead of the opening bell today, Dow, S&P and Nasdaq futures are in the red. Crude oil is down 1.6% at $67/barrel. Bitcoin is up 0.6% at $63,000.

In the world markets, the FTSE 100 is down 0.3% and the DAX is down 0.3%. The markets in China and Hong Kong were closed today for a holiday.

The biggest movers for the day premarket: Li Auto (LI) is up nearly 4% following the announcement of a 48.9% Y/Y increase in September 2024 vehicle deliveries, reaching 53,709 units.

On today’s economic calendar:

• 9:45 am PMI Manufacturing Final

• 11:10 am Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic will moderate a session with Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook before the “Technology-Enabled Disruption: Implications of AI, Big Data, and Remote Work” conference organized by the Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta, Boston and Richmond.