(Bloomberg) — Bayer AG is blocked from selling its controversial dicamba-based herbicide in the U.S. after an appeals court rejected a federal regulator’s permit for the product, compounding the German company’s weed-killer woes.The three-judge panel concluded the Environmental Protection Agency had “failed entirely” to acknowledge some risks dicamba poses and that the agency violated federal regulations when it extended its approval of registration for the herbicide for another two years in October 2018.The ruling means farmers who bought seeds to be used with dicamba for this year’s growing season may not be able to plant them, since pesticides can’t be sold or distributed in the U.S. without EPA registration. The decision is the latest blow to Bayer in the wake of its $63 billion takeover of Monsanto — a deal that made the German company a leader in agriculture products but also saddled it with a mountain of legal liabilities related to weed killers.“We strongly disagree with the ruling and are assessing our options,” Bayer spokesman Chris Loder said in an email. “If the ruling stands, we will work quickly to minimize any impact on our customers this season.”Bayer shares fell 2.7% in Frankfurt trading. The company doesn’t break down sales of individual products or their active substances and declined to comment on sales at stake. BASF SE, which also makes dicamba, was down 0.5%.‘Day of Reckoning’George Kimbrell, of the Center for Food Safety and a lawyer in the case, called the ruling “a massive win for the farmers and the environment.”“It is good to be reminded that corporations like Monsanto and the Trump Administration cannot escape the rule of law, particularly at a time of crisis like this,” Kimbrell said in an email. “Their day of reckoning has arrived.”A less volatile formulation of dicamba was originally manufactured by Monsanto after its blockbuster weed-killer Roundup began losing its effectiveness, and farmers had to increasingly deal with resistant “super weeds.”Dicamba is a central ingredient in Bayer’s XtendiMax, and can vaporize after being applied to crops and drift onto neighboring fields that aren’t resistant to the herbicide. It’s widely blamed for damaging 3.6 million acres of untreated soybeans in 2017, and more than 1 million acres in 2018.The EPA “substantially understated risks that it acknowledged” concerning dicamba’s use, the appeals court said. The ruling applies to other dicamba-based herbicides produced by BASF and Corteva Agriscience.“EPA is currently reviewing the court decision and will move promptly to address the court’s directive,” a spokesperson for the agency said.Sales HitBASF will probably lose about 80 million to 90 million euros in sales for the rest of this year ($90 million to $101 million) via its Engenia herbicide, which contains dicamba, Sebastian Bray, an analyst at Berenberg, said by email. That revenue hit will be bigger at Bayer, which also sells seeds tied to dicamba, Bray said.Dicamba will probably stay banned even if this ruling gets appealed, Bray said. Still, the EPA will probably re-authorize dicamba in a revised form in time for next year — and the agency could even move up that reauthorization before Dec. 20, when the current clearance was set to expire, Bray said.“We are reviewing the opinion, its impact on our FeXapan registration, and our next steps,” Gregg Schmidt, a spokesman for Corteva, said in an email. BASF had no immediate comment.In the first lawsuit over dicamba crop damage to go to trial, a jury in February hit Bayer and BASF with a $265 million damage award to a Missouri farmer who blamed the companies for destroying his peach orchards. Bayer is challenging the verdict.There are about 140 dicamba suits in total, and settling them could cost Bayer and BASF less than $1.5 billion, Holly Froum, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, said in a note Thursday.In its ruling Wednesday, the appeals court acknowledged the “practical effects” of the decision, including the cost to farmers who have already purchased soybean and cotton seeds genetically modified to withstand dicamba and planted for the purpose of using the herbicide.The court said in addition to the environmental risks, the EPA’s registration decision on dicamba failed to recognize the “enormous social cost to farming communities” where the herbicide’s use “has turned farmer against farmer, and neighbor against neighbor.” A farmer in Arkansas was shot and killed in an argument over dicamba damage in 2016, according to the ruling.The ruling applies to the 2018 dicamba registration, which expires in December, Loder said, adding that Bayer is working on a new EPA registration for the 2021 growing season and beyond.The case is National Family Farm Coalition v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 19-70115, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (San Francisco).(Updates with analyst comments in 12th paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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LVMH, the luxury goods giant, rules out buying the jeweller's shares to get it on the cheap.

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British luxury carmaker Aston Martin plans to shed up to 500 jobs as it seeks to bring its cost base into line with reduced sports car production levels, it said on Thursday. The job cuts come a week after Aston Martin confirmed that Tobias Moers, CEO of Mercedes-AMG, would become chief executive on August 1, replacing Andy Palmer. Aston Martin, famed for being fictional secret agent James Bond’s car of choice, has seen its share price plummet since floating in October 2018.

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Shares in Elastic NV (ESTC) fell 7% in after-hours trading on Wednesday after the company reported strong fiscal fourth quarter results, but disappointed with weak guidance.Specifically, Q4 Non-GAAP EPS of -$0.12 beat consensus estimates by $0.19 while GAAP EPS of -$0.38 came in $0.15 above expectations. Revenue of $123.62M surged 53.4% year-over-year thanks to better execution and broad product traction, and beat Street estimates by $6.47M.However, FY21 guidance was below consensus taking into account expected (not yet witnessed) macro headwinds. Total revenue is expected to be between $530 million and $540 million (vs consensus of $561.3M), with non-GAAP operating margin between -15% and -13%. Non-GAAP net loss per share is now guided at $0.98 and $0.85 (vs. -$1.32 expected).“We believe it is prudent to expect some near-term business headwinds as the economic impact from the COVID-19 situation further unfolds. As such, our guidance includes the expected impact of COVID‑19 on our business and results of operations based on information available to us today” the company explained.Following the report, five-star Oppenheimer analyst Ittai Kidron reiterated his ESTC buy rating while ramping up his price target to a Street-high $95 (6% upside potential).“Looking closely, while we’re mindful of a potential slowdown, we believe there are plenty of positive points for investors to take note of such as (1) a rebound in activity in April/ May after a brief pause in March; (2) strong customer metrics (>130% expansion) and broad product traction; and (3) improving margins/FCF even with planned investments” Kidron cheered.Overall, he sees multiple growth levers (upselling, new use cases, customer growth/ expansion) coupled with a conservative view from management- and as a result maintains a positive stance on the shares.Indeed, all 7 analysts coverings Elastic rating the stock a buy, giving it a Strong Buy consensus. However, shares in Elastic are currently trading up 39% year-to-date, and as a result the average analyst price target of $76 now indicates 14% downside potential. (See ESTC stock analysis on TipRanks).Related News: Zoom Lifts Full-Year Sales Guidance As Quarterly Revenue Balloons 169% Facebook And PayPal Invest In Indonesian App Gojek Amazon Leases 12 Boeing Cargo Aircraft To Meet Online Orders Surge More recent articles from Smarter Analyst: * Uber CEO Reveals Pickup In May Rides As Covid-19 Restrictions Ease * Billionaire Investor Dan Loeb’s Fund Lists Boeing As Top Winner In May * Costco Reports May Sales Jump; Top Analyst Says Stock ‘Best Positioned’ For Current Crisis * Amazon Leases 12 Boeing Cargo Aircraft To Meet Online Orders Surge

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The shares of Genius Brands International Inc. (NASDAQ: GNUS), a company until recently struggling to keep itself listed on Nasdaq, have added 2458% since May.The surge has come following a string of operational advancements and investments announced by the children entertainment company.New Network Brand The biggest of these is the anticipated launch of "Kartoon Channel" on June 15. Genius Brands said early May it was merging its two channels, "Kid Genius Cartoon Channel" and "Baby Genius TV," to create the new digital network.Kartoon Channel "will be available in over 100 million U.S. television households, and over 200 million mobile devices," and will stream on Amazon.com Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AMZN) Prime Video and Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) Apple TV, among other platforms, the company said at the time.CEO Andy Heyward described the channel as a "turning point" in a letter to shareholders, and dubbed it free Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) for kids.Genius Brands announced around the same time that a toy line for its show "Rainbow Rangers" developed by Mattel Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT) will debut at Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) stores in August.)Delisting At Nasdaq Canceled The Beverly Hills-based company announced four registered offerings of its shares in May, including .8 million and .4 million at $0.35 per share, million at $1.2 per share, and million at $1.5 per share.On May 28. Genius Brands said it had met the criteria of its shares closing at higher than $1 for ten consecutive days, and the company will no longer get delisted from Nasdaq.Price Action Genius Brands shares closed 97.3% higher at $7.93 on Wednesday. The shares traded another 9.7% higher in the after-hours session at $8.70.Image: Genius BrandsSee more from Benzinga * Zuora Shares Surge 21% As Company Reports Q1 Earnings Beat * BlackRock Sees These Opportunities As Best In Asia To Outlast Coronavirus * Google Takes Down 'Remove China Apps' With 5M Downloads(C) 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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Billionaire investor Dan Loeb’s Third Point LLC fund has Boeing Co (BA) listed among its top winners in May sending shares in the ailing planemaker up 13% on Wednesday.The stock help up its gains on Wednesday even after Loeb told CNBC that he bought Boeing debt and not stock, reversing earlier market rumors that the fund entered into an equity position. The planemaker is joined by the likes of Walt Disney (DIS) and Burlington Stores Inc. on the investor’s list of top winners in May. The hedge fund returned 1.6% on its investments in May after 7.1% a month earlier.In recent days, Boeing stock has benefited from a number of positive news. SMBC Aviation Capital announced this week that it has deferred, but not cancelled, the delivery of 68 of its 737 MAX jets until 2025. In addition, the struggling planemaker reached an agreement on a comprehensive package with German travel operator TUI to offset the financial impact of last year’s grounding of its 737 MAX jets.Last week, Boeing said it restarted 737 MAX production at its factory in Renton, Washington, albeit at a low rate and is planning to gradually ramp up production this year.Travel restrictions tied to the coronavirus pandemic have resulted in a deep cut in the number of commercial jets and services Boeing customers need over the next few years. As a result, Covid-19 has hit the planemaker very hard, with shares still down 48% since the beginning of the year.The stock surged 13% to $173.16 at the close on Wednesday and rose another 3% in after-market trading. It is up 19% so far this week.Wall Street analysts are still cautiously optimistic about the stock. Eight Buys, 11 Holds, and 1 Sell rating give Boeing a Moderate Buy analyst consensus, with the $161.61 average analyst price target reflecting 6.7% downside for Boeing shares. (See Boeing stock analysis on TipRanks).Related News: Amazon Leases 12 Boeing Cargo Aircraft To Meet Online Orders Surge TUI Strikes Compensation Deal With Boeing Over 737 MAX Jets Boeing Gets No Orders in April, Customers Cancel 737 MAX Jets More recent articles from Smarter Analyst: * Uber CEO Reveals Pickup In May Rides As Covid-19 Restrictions Ease * Elastic Falls 7% Post-Print; Top Analyst Sees Multiple Growth Levers Ahead * Costco Reports May Sales Jump; Top Analyst Says Stock ‘Best Positioned’ For Current Crisis * Amazon Leases 12 Boeing Cargo Aircraft To Meet Online Orders Surge

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