In bad news for protein-hungry Americans, beef is more expensive than ever

Meat-packing giants, meanwhile, are benefiting from beefier prices.

One of the billionaire owners of the world’s largest meat company thinks that the US isn’t producing enough beef to satisfy Americans’ increasingly protein-rich diets. He’s probably not wrong.

“The US is facing the highest beef price in history, and so the US needs to import more and more because production is not there to support the demand,” said Wesley Batista, one of the brothers behind Brazilian meat giant JBS.

While the US has long been a net exporter of beef, imports to the country are now reaching new heights as the nation tries to resolve its domestic beef supply issues, which largely stem from underinvestment in America’s cattle herd a decade ago. Even with President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs in place, the US was importing 30% more beef in the first half of the year than in 2024, as it looked to contain soaring beef prices.

Beef prices are increasing chart — Sherwood News

The growing use of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs might also be driving US beef demand. “No one knows exactly what is the impact of these new drugs, Ozempic or Mounjaro... but something is happening because protein overall became [a trend],” Batista said last month.

A lot at steak

America’s beef landscape is dominated by four big companies, which produced 81% of the nation’s beef in 2021, per a USDA report last year. And with supply tight and demand growing, beef in the US keeps getting pricier — which is making meat-packers, not least JBS, fatter.

The São Paulo-based company made almost $2 billion in profit last year, bouncing back after a loss the year before, and has continued to see a 61% year-on-year uptick in net income in the latest quarter.

Now, JBS is looking to cement its status as the top beef producer in the US, where its wider meat and food business accounted for half its revenue in 2024. With prices increasing and the fact that the business produces most of the beef for its US market on American soil, that may very likely continue to tick up in quarters to come.

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CDC signs off on narrower Covid shot recommendation

Moderna slipped after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Monday that it is adopting a narrower recommendation for when COVID-19 booster shots are appropriate.

The CDC’s recommendation aligns with what its advisory committee voted for last month, which was for a healthcare provider to sign off on each individual immunization. While that is much narrower than the broad backing of the shot, it’s less draconian than some investors previously priced in.

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Sony shares climb to their highest level in 25 years as Abenomics supporter Sanae Takaichi is likely to become Japanese PM

Shares of Sony rose 4% on Monday, sending the stock up to levels it last reached in March of 2000.

The move was even more impressive in its home listing, where the stock outperformed with a 4.75% jump on Japan’s Nikkei 225 that propelled that index to a record high on Monday.

Boosting the market was the victory of Shinzo Abe protege Sanae Takaichi in a race to lead Japan’s ruling political party, setting the lawmaker up to become the country’s first female prime minister. Takaichi, a hard-line conservative who claims Margaret Thatcher as a personal hero, advocates for “Abenomics”: higher spending and tax cuts. Takaichi previously described the Bank of Japan’s recent interest rate hikes as “stupid.”

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Klarna ticks higher as Wall Street rolls out coverage on the “buy now, pay later” giant

Shares of Klarna jumped as much as 6.5% Monday morning in early trading after a wave of analysts initiated coverage on the “buy now, pay later” giant, as the so-called post-IPO “quiet period” came to an end.

The Stockholm-based fintech company, which competes with Affirm and Afterpay, has 111 million active users and partnerships with over 790,000 merchants worldwide. Analysts highlighted Klarna’s rapid US growth, improving profitability, and ongoing BNPL adoption as reasons for optimism.

Here’s where analysts netted out:

Bank of America — Rating: Buy | Price target: $58
Citigroup — Rating: Buy | Price target: $58
Deutsche Bank — Rating: Buy | Price target: $48
BNP Paribas — Rating: Neutral | Price target: $46
UBS — Rating: Buy | Price target: $48
Goldman Sachs — Rating: Buy | Price target: $55

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Plug Power’s ascent continues as the AI boom may finally be what makes its business profitable

Plug Power investors have something more real to dream on this time.

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America’s top 1% now holds nearly a third of household wealth

Stock market rallies have added trillions to the fortunes of the wealthiest people in the US.

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