PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon’s Multnomah County, home to Portland, has added the state’s largest natural gas utility to its $51.5 billion climate lawsuit against fossil fuel companies over their role in the region’s deadly 2021 heat- dome event.

The lawsuit, filed last year, accuses the companies’ carbon emissions of being a cause of the heat-dome event, which shattered temperature records across the Pacific Northwest. About 800 people died in Oregon, Washington state and British Columbia in the heat wave, which hit in late June and early July 2021.

An amended complaint was filed this week, adding NW Natural to a lawsuit that already named oil giants such as ExxonMobil, Chevron and Shell as defendants. It accuses NW Natural, which provides gas to about 2 million people across the Pacific Northwest, of being responsible for “a substantial portion” of greenhouse gas emissions in Oregon and deceiving the public about the harm of such emissions.

NW Natural said it can’t comment in detail until it has completed reviewing the claims.

“However, NW Natural believes that these new claims are an attempt to divert attention from legal and factual laws in the case. NW Natural will vigorously contest the County’s claims should they come to court,” it said in an emailed statement.

According to the Center for Climate Integrity, it is the first time a gas utility has been named in a lawsuit accusing fossil fuel companies of climate deception. There are currently over two dozen such lawsuits that have been filed by state, local and tribal governments across the U.S., according to the group.

The amended complaint also added the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine, which describes itself as a research group on its website, to the lawsuit. The group has opposed the concept of human-caused global warming. A request for comment sent Friday to the email address on its website was returned to sender.

Multnomah County is seeking $51.5 billion in damages, largely for what it estimates to be the cost of responding to the effects of extreme heat, wildfire and drought.

“We’re already paying dearly in Multnomah County for our climate crisis — with our tax dollars, with our health and with our lives,” county chair Jessica Vega Pederson said in a statement. “Going forward we have to strengthen our safety net just to keep people safe.”

After the initial complaint was filed last year, ExxonMobil said the lawsuit didn’t address climate change, while a Chevron lawyer said the claims were baseless.

When contacted for comment Friday, Shell said it was working to reduce its emissions.

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“Addressing climate change requires a collaborative, society-wide approach,” it said in an emailed statement. “We do not believe the courtroom is the right venue to address climate change, but that smart policy from government and action from all sectors is the appropriate way to reach solutions and drive progress.”

The case is pending in Multnomah County Circuit Court.

By Allison Lampert and David Shepardson

(Reuters) -Boeing will cut 17,000 jobs — 10% of its global workforce — delay first deliveries of its 777X jet by a year and record $5 billion in losses in the third quarter, as the U.S. planemaker continues to spiral during a month-long strike.

CEO Kelly Ortberg said in a message to employees that the significant downsizing is necessary “to align with our financial reality” after an ongoing strike by 33,000 U.S. West Coast workers halted production of its 737 MAX, 767 and 777 jets.

“We reset our workforce levels to align with our financial reality and to a more focused set of priorities. Over the coming months, we are planning to reduce the size of our total workforce by roughly 10 percent. These reductions will include executives, managers and employees,” Ortberg’s message said.

Boeing shares fell 1.1% in after-market trading.

The sweeping changes are a big move by Ortberg, who arrived in August at the helm of the beleaguered planemaker promising to reset relations with the union and its employees.

Boeing recorded pre-tax earnings charges totaling $5 billion for its defense business and two commercial plane programs. On Sept. 20, Boeing ousted the head of its troubled space and defense unit Ted Colbert.

Boeing, which reports third-quarter earnings on Oct. 23, said in a separate release it now expects revenue of $17.8 billion, a loss per share of $9.97, and a better-than-expected negative operating cash flow of $1.3 billion.

Analysts on average were expecting Boeing to generate quarterly cash burn of negative $3.8 billion, according to LSEG data.

Thomas Hayes, equity manager at Great Hill Capital, said by email that the layoffs could put pressure on employees to end the strike.

“Striking workers who temporarily do not have a paycheck do not want to become unemployed workers who permanently do not have a paycheck,” Hayes said. “I would estimate the strike will be resolved within a week as these workers do not want to find themselves in the next batch of 17,000 cuts.”

Reaching a deal to end the work stoppage is critical for Boeing, which filed an unfair-labor-practice charge on Wednesday accusing the machinists union of failing to bargain in good faith. Ratings agency S&P estimated the strike is costing Boeing $1 billion a month and the company risks losing its prized investment-grade credit rating.

Ortberg also said Boeing has notified customers that it now expects first delivery of its 777X in 2026 due to challenges in development, the flight-test pause and the work stoppage. Boeing had already faced issues with certification of the 777X that had significantly delayed the plane’s launch.

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“While our business is facing near-term challenges, we are making important strategic decisions for our future and have a clear view on the work we must do to restore our company,” Ortberg added.

Boeing will end its 767 freighter program in 2027 when it completes and delivers the remaining 29 planes ordered but said production for the KC-46A Tanker will continue.

The company said in light of the job cuts it would end a furlough program for salaried employees announced in September.

Even before the strike began on Sept. 13, the company had been burning cash as it struggled to recover from a January mid-air panel blowout on a new plane that exposed weak safety protocols and spurred U.S. regulators to curb its production.

Boeing on Friday faced a court hearing in Texas in front of a judge who will decide whether to accept the planemaker’s offer to plead guilty to fraud under a deal with the Justice Department.

Boeing has agreed to pay up to a $487.2 million fine, spend at least $455 million on improving safety and face three years of court-supervised probation and independent oversight.

Also Friday, a federal watchdog said the Federal Aviation Administration was “not effective” in overseeing Boeing production.

Reuters reported this week Boeing is examining options to raise billions of dollars through a sale of stock and equity-like securities.

These options include selling common stock as well as securities such as mandatory convertible bonds and preferred equity, according to the sources. One of the sources said they suggested to Boeing that it should raise around $10 billion.

The company has about $60 billion in debt and posted operating cash flow losses of more than $7 billion for the first half of 2024.

Analysts estimate that Boeing would need to raise between $10 billion and $15 billion to maintain its ratings, which are now one notch above junk.

“For those of us that have watched Boeing closely, the company’s announcement of delayed delivery and labor downsizing across all management and employment levels is not much of a surprise as their cash and credit reserves dwindle,” said Michael Ashley Schulman, partner at Running Point Capital Advisors. “Their credit rating and share price has been at risk for the better part of a decade because of mismanagement and the stubbornness displayed in the strike may be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.”

(Reporting By Allison Lampert and David Shepardson. Additional reporting by Shivansh Tiwary; editing by Rod Nickel, David Gregorio and Diane Craft)

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Are you looking for reliable income stocks to add to your portfolio this month? Dividend Aristocrats – companies with at least 25 consecutive years of dividend growth – offer some of the most compelling opportunities due to their stability and consistent payouts.

Let’s check out three dividend aristocrats, including two real estate investment trusts (REITs), that you could buy today.

Don’t Miss:

Essex Property Trust

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) owns and manages apartment communities across West Coast markets in the United States. As of June 30, its portfolio comprised 255 apartment communities containing over 62,000 apartment units.

Essex pays a quarterly dividend of $2.45 per share, which equates to an annualized dividend of $9.80 per share and gives its stock a yield of about 3.4% at the time of this writing.

Essex has been a Dividend Aristocrat for years. It has raised its annual dividend payment for 29 consecutive years and its 6.1% hike in February puts it on track for 2024, the 30th consecutive year with an increase.

McDonald’s Corporation

McDonald’s (MCD) is the world’s largest food service retailer, with more than 40,000 locations in over 100 countries. The company proudly notes that independent local business owners own and operate approximately 95% of its restaurants.

McDonald’s pays a quarterly dividend of $1.77 per share, which equates to an annualized dividend of $7.08 per share and gives its stock a yield of about 2.3% at the time of this writing.

While its yield may be under 3%, McDonald’s makes up for this with its impressive track record of dividend growth. It has raised its annual dividend payment for 47 consecutive years and its 6% hike in September marked the 48th consecutive year with an increase.

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Federal Realty Investment Trust

Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT) owns and manages retail and mixed-use properties across major U.S. markets, including Boston, Chicago, Miami, New York City and Philadelphia. As of June 30, its portfolio comprised 102 properties containing approximately 27 million square feet.

Federal Realty pays a quarterly dividend of $1.10 per share, which equates to an annualized dividend of $4.40 per share and gives its stock a yield of about 4% at the time of this writing.

Federal Realty has the longest consecutive record of dividend growth in the REIT industry. It has raised its annual dividend payment each of the last 56 years and its 0.9% hike in August marked the 57th consecutive year with an increase.

Wondering if your investments can get you to a $5,000,000 nest egg? Speak to a financial advisor today. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you up with up to three vetted financial advisors who serve your area, and you can interview your advisor matches at no cost to decide which one is right for you.

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This article Dividend Aristocrats to Buy in October: 3 Stocks for Steady Growth and Income originally appeared on Benzinga.com

Shipments of artificial intelligence (AI) servers have shot up remarkably in the past couple of years as cloud service providers have been investing huge amounts of money in infrastructure that’s capable of training AI models, as well as for AI inferencing purposes to deploy those models in real-world applications.

Market research firm TrendForce estimates that the global AI server market could hit a whopping $187 billion in revenue this year, up by 69% from 2023. Several companies are already benefiting big time from this huge end-market opportunity. From chip manufacturers such as Nvidia to custom chip producers such as Broadcom and server solutions providers such as Dell Technologies, there are multiple ways to invest in the booming AI server market.

In this article, however, we will take a closer look at the prospects of Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU) and Marvell Technology (NASDAQ: MRVL), two companies that make critical components that go into AI servers.

Micron Technology’s high-bandwidth memory chips are in terrific demand

High-bandwidth memory (HBM) is used in AI server chips such as graphics processing units (GPUs) because of its ability to enable faster transfer of data to reduce processing times and boost performance, as well as reduce power consumption. The demand for HBM is so strong that Micron says that it has sold out its entire capacity for this year and the next.

Even better, Micron management points out that it “will have a more diversified HBM revenue profile” for 2026 thanks to the new business that it has landed for its latest HBM3E chip. The chipmaker points out that it has already begun shipments of this new chip to its customers for approval.

Micron claims that HBM3E consumes 20% less power and provides 50% more capacity as compared to rival offerings. The company expects to start the production ramp of HBM3E in early 2025 and increase its output as the year progresses. Even better, Micron is confident that it will continue to gain more share in the HBM market.

Singapore-based news channel CNA points out that Micron is reportedly aiming to grab 20% to 25% of the HBM market by next year. That is likely to give Micron’s growth a big boost next year as it expects the HBM market’s revenue to jump to an impressive $25 billion in 2025 from just $4 billion in 2023.

An expansion of the end market along with Micron’s focus on grabbing a bigger share of the HBM space are the reasons the company’s revenue is expected to jump by a stunning 52% to $38 billion in the current fiscal year (which started on Aug. 30). Meanwhile, analysts are forecasting Micron’s earnings to increase to $8.94 per share from $1.30 per share in the previous year.

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Micron is expected to keep growing at a terrific pace in the next fiscal year as well.

Buying shares of Micron Technology right now could turn out to be a smart move for investors looking to benefit from the growing deployment of AI servers. The stock has a forward earnings multiple of just 11, while its price/earnings-to-growth ratio (PEG ratio) of just 0.16 further reinforces the fact that it is incredibly undervalued with respect to the growth that it is forecast to deliver.

Marvell Technology is getting a nice boost because of its custom AI chips

Marvell Technology is known for manufacturing application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), which are custom chips designed to perform specific tasks. It is worth noting that the demand for these custom chips deployed in AI servers is increasing since major cloud service providers such as Meta Platforms, Alphabet‘s Google, and Amazon are looking to reduce their costs by developing in-house processors.

As a result, ASICs are expected to account for 26% of the overall market for AI server chips in 2024. Even better, the deployment of ASICs in AI servers is expected to increase at a nice clip in the future and open a potential revenue opportunity worth an impressive $150 billion. Marvell is already capitalizing on this lucrative opportunity.

The company’s overall revenue was down 5% year over year in the second quarter of fiscal 2025 (for the three months ended Aug. 3) to $1.27 billion thanks to the weakness in the carrier infrastructure, consumer, automotive, and enterprise networking end markets. However, it delivered a tremendous year-over-year increase of 92% in data center revenue to $881 million.

There is a good chance that Marvell’s data center business will continue to grow at a healthy clip as the company’s AI chip production is set to ramp up, as pointed out by CEO Matt Murphy on the latest earnings conference call:

As a result, Marvell is expecting its data center business’s growth to “accelerate into the high teens sequentially on a percentage basis” in the current quarter, which would be an improvement over the 8% sequential growth it reported in the previous quarter. This explains why Marvell’s guidance for the current quarter points toward an improvement in its financial performance.

The company is expecting revenue of $1.45 billion in fiscal Q3, up from $1.42 billion in the same quarter last year. So, Marvell is set to return to growth from the current quarter, and analysts are expecting it to deliver robust growth over the next couple of fiscal years.

Additionally, analysts are expecting Marvell’s earnings to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 21% for the next five years. So, investors looking to get their hands on a semiconductor stock to benefit from the growing demand for custom AI chips can consider adding Marvell Technology to their portfolios. Its growth is set to accelerate thanks to the tremendous opportunity in the AI server market.

Should you invest $1,000 in Micron Technology right now?

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) Servers Are Set to Become a $187 Billion Industry in 2024: 2 Hot Stocks That Are Set to Soar Thanks to This Massive Opportunity was originally published by The Motley Fool

• Chinese stocks are poised for a huge run-up in the next year, according to Renaissance Macro’s Jeff deGraaf.

• The research firm CEO said perfect conditions are aligning for additional gains exceeding 50%.

• Other notable investors have been looking to buy the dip in Chinese stocks amid continued stimulus efforts.

China’s stock rally isn’t over — and the nation could have the perfect cocktail of ingredients to stage a monster run-up over the next year, according to one Wall Street forecaster.

Jeff deGraaf, the CEO of Renaissance Macro Research, says he sees China’s benchmark stock index climbing to 6,000 over the next year. That implies a 54% increase from the CSI 300’s current levels, thanks to the right mix of conditions in Beijing that should power equities higher, he told Bloomberg on Friday.

“Skepticism, valuation, stimulus, momentum and a trend change,” deGraaf said of China’s investing environment, adding that it was “one of the best set-ups” he’s seen over his 35-year career.

Chinese stocks have been on a roller coaster in recent weeks after Beijing announced its latest monetary stimulus package, which included lowering interest rates and pumping the stock market with $114 billion. The package sparked the steepest rally in Chinese stocks since 2008 before it quickly fizzled, a sign investors were disappointed Beijing didn’t announce more stimulus measures.

Markets, though, are expecting the nation to announce a fresh fiscal stimulus package at a briefing on Saturday, potentially reviving the bull case for stocks. Most investors expect China to add 2 trillion yuan, or $283 billion, in fiscal stimulus through 2025, according to a Bloomberg poll of market participants.

“We see the policy response as self-preservation, a reaction to the weakness and a potential Mario Draghi-esque ‘Do what it takes’ moment for China,” deGraaf said, later urging investors to “keep stops in place” when betting on Chinese stocks.

Other traders on Wall Street have shown interest in buying the dip in Chinese equities, despite fear that Beijing’s economic slowdown could stick around.

Investors poured a record $39.1 billion into Chinese stock funds in the week ending October 9, according to EPFR Global data cited by Bank of America in a note.

“We buy any China dips,” BofA strategist Michael Hartnett wrote in a note. Stimulus efforts will continue to “be used aggressively to boost domestic animal spirits and demand,” he added.

Additionally, the Shenzhen Huaan Hexin Private Investment Fund Management Co., a Chinese hedge fund up 800% since 2017, also says it’s buying the dip in technology stocks listed in Hong Kong. The Hang Seng Index has dropped 3% over the last five trading days, but is still up 27% from levels at the start of the year.

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“Such a correction is more like a buying opportunity,” Yuan Wei, the fund’s founder, said in an interview with Bloomberg this week. “If you compare to their fundamentals, the stocks remain very cheap.”

China’s onshore market has a 50% chance of starting a new bull run, as opposed to a short-term bounce, and the bear market in equities should be over by now, Yuan said.

“The market is just rebounding from an extremely bearish level to a level that’s still undervalued,” he later added.

Other strategists on Wall Street have made bullish calls on Chinese equities in recent weeks, with eyes on continued stimulus measures in Beijing. Goldman Sachs predicted China’s stock market could rally another 20%, thanks to “more substantial policy measures” and Chinese stocks being oversold, strategists said in a note.

Read the original article on Business Insider

(Reuters) – A U.S. appeals court on Friday put on hold approvals and permits necessary to allow a Kinder Morgan subsidiary to construct a 32-mile gas pipeline in Tennessee, at the urging of environmental groups.

The proposed Cumberland Project, set to be constructed by Kinder Morgan’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline, could transport about 245,000 dekatherms per day of additional natural gas to power supplier Tennessee Valley Authority.

On a 2-1 vote, Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals put a hold on the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation’s order issuing a water quality certification and the Army Corps of Engineers’ issuance of a permit.

The request for a stay was filed by environmental organizations Appalachian Voices and Sierra Club, which claimed the pipeline’s construction could have detrimental impact on the environment.

The court said a stay was appropriate for it to have the time to consider the merits of the environmental groups’ case.

It said further arguments in the case would be heard in December.

A Kinder Morgan spokesperson said the company does not agree with the court’s decision, which it will continue to review while evaluating its options.

Appalachian Voices and Sierra Club did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

(Reporting by Vallari Srivastava in Bengaluru and Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Shreya Biswas)