Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav supported CNN CEO Chris Licht during an investor conference Thursday as tension at the network rises over the decision to air a live Donald Trump town hall packed with his supporters.
Zaslav said Licht “is working really hard” to improve CNN’s brand and image, citing a recent YouGov poll that said trust in CNN has improved by 11 percentage points in the past year. For context, trust in Republican-leaning Fox News improved 17 points and trust in Democratic-leaning MSNBC improved 16 points in the same period. Trust in CBS, ABC and NBC all improved by more than CNN, as well.
Zaslav emphasized CNN’s desire for more balance on the network, citing a common refrain that he wants to ensure CNN isn’t an “advocacy network.”
“We need to show both sides of every issue,” Zaslav said.
Zaslav continues to be supportive of CNN’s decision to host the Trump town hall, according to a person familiar with his thinking. Trump is leading early polls to win the 2024 Republican nomination for president. Zaslav told CNBC earlier this month Trump, who continues to falsely claim he was the victim of election fraud in the 2020, should absolutely appear on CNN.
“He’s the frontrunner — he has to be on our network,” Zaslav said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “We’re happy he’s coming on our network.”
Amanpour slams ‘bothsidesism’
His comments came a day after veteran CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour publicly challenged the notion of covering “both sides” of the political spectrum if both sides weren’t factual. Amanpour spoke Wednesday at Columbia Journalism School’s commencement.
“Be truthful, but not neutral,” Amanpour told the graduates. She said the phrase was “her mantra.”
“Bothsidesism is not always objectivity. It does not get you to the truth. Drawing false moral or factual equivalence is neither objective or truthful. Objectivity is our golden rule, and it is in weighing all the sides and hearing all the evidence, hearing everyone and reporting everything, but not rushing to equate them when there is no equating.”
Amanpour said she met with Licht this week to convey her disappointment with airing a Trump town hall in the format in which it happened. She said Licht told her that “the execution was lacking a little,” as CNBC reported earlier this week. Amanpour noted the live audience should not have been allowed to cheer Trump’s every sentence, calling the behavior “appalling.”
At one point, Trump called town hall host Kaitlan Collins a “nasty person.” Amanpour said she would have dropped the microphone and walked out if he’d done that to her.
Amanpour said airing a taped Trump interview would have been a better solution, as it would have allowed CNN to better fight off Trump’s “disinformation and propaganda machine.” Trump is facing multiple criminal investigations and was found liable earlier this month for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll. Trump has denied Carroll’s accusations. He was also indicted in New York for allegedly falsifying business records.
Amanpour is the first significant CNN journalist to publicly criticize Licht and Zaslav’s decision to air the town hall. Several of her colleagues jumped to support her comments on Twitter, showcasing an undercurrent of dissent within the CNN ranks.
“Speaking truth to power is a fundamental part of our job but to speak truth to the power that signs your checks? @amanpour showing everyone how it’s done,” tweeted Nima Elbagir, CNN’s chief international investigative correspondent.
CNN anchor Sara Sidner tweeted “she’s a real one” about Amanpour, which CNN correspondent Erica Hill echoed.
CNN Hong Kong anchor Kristie Lu Stout said Amanpour delivered “a masterclass in journalism.”
Falling ratings, rising discontent
Licht has inherited a CNN employee base largely put in place by former chief Jeff Zucker and his predecessors. Zucker was popular as a leader with many current staff members and led the network in a hands-on style that Licht has purposefully eschewed.
Zaslav’s mission with CNN has been to shed its “left-leaning” image to a more neutral brand, he reiterated Thursday. He touted the amount of Republicans CNN has interviewed recently in his comments Thursday.
Still, the changes aren’t helping CNN’s ratings. The network’s overall audience trailed not only Fox and MSNBC but also the much smaller conservative channel Newsmax on Tuesday in the 7 p.m. ET and 8 p.m. ET hours.
CNN’s profit fell below $1 billion last year, The New York Times reported, marking a six-year low. Slumping ratings won’t help its advertising revenue this year. Warner Bros. Discovery held its upfront presentation for ad buyers this week. Licht spoke at the event.
While the business struggles, Zaslav’s comments about CNN being more politically down the middle, especially when it comes to Trump, have irritated journalists who don’t equate fighting lies with partisanship.
It’s unclear whether CNN staff members’ show of discontent with Licht and Zaslav’s recent decision making will amount to anything other than public grousing.
But as the network struggles with falling ratings and millions of Americans cancelling traditional TV each year, which eat away at CNN’s revenue and profit, Zaslav may have an unwanted distraction on his hands that may only get worse as the U.S. edges closer to the 2024 presidential election.
Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the parent company of NBC, MSNBC and CNBC.
WATCH: CNBC’s full interview with Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav
“Supply constrained,” are the two of the most important words CNBC’s Jim Cramer said he’s heard so far during earnings season and explained why this dynamic is favorable for companies.
“When you’re supplied constrained, you have the ability to raise prices, and that’s the holy grail in any industry,” he said.
Intel‘s strong earnings results were in part because of more demand than supply, Cramer suggested. He noted that the company’s CFO, David Zinsner, said the semiconductor maker is supply constrained for a number of products, and that “industry supply has tightened materially.”
Along with Intel, other tech names that are also supply constrained and performing well on the market include Micron, AMD and Nvidia, Cramer continued.
These companies don’t have enough product in part because the storage needs of artificial intelligence are incredible high, Cramer said. He added that he thinks demand has overwhelmed supply because semiconductor capital equipment companies didn’t manufacture enough of their own machines as they simply didn’t anticipate such a volume of orders.
Outside of tech, Cramer said he thinks airplane maker Boeing and energy company GE Vernova are also supply constrained, adding that he thinks the former will say it’s short on most of its planes when it reports earnings next week. GE Vernova is supply constrained with its power equipment, like turbines that burn natural gas, he continued, which is the primary energy source for the ever-growing crop of data centers.
GE Vernova and Boeing are also set to be winners because they make big-ticket items that other countries can buy from the U.S. to help close the trade deficit, Cramer added.
“In the end, we have more demand than supply in a host of industries and that’s the ticket for good stock performance,” he said. “I don’t see that changing any time soon.”
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Disclaimer The CNBC Investing Club holds shares of Nvidia and GE Vernova.
Intel snapped a losing streak of six straight quarterly losses and returned to profitability in the third quarter.
In its first earnings report since the Trump administration acquired a 10% stake in the company, the U.S. chipmaker posted strong revenue, noting robust demand for chips that it expects to continue into 2026.
Client computing revenue, which includes chips for PCs and laptops, grew 5% year over year, benefiting from PC market stabilization and artificial intelligence PC prospects.
CEO Lip-Bu Tan said in a call with analysts Thursday that artificial intelligence “is a strong foundation for sustainable long-term growth as we execute.”
The chip strength and demand were bright spots, but there were areas of concern as well, with the company’s foundry business still needing a big break.
Here are three takeaways from the chipmaker’s Q3 report:
Cash flow
“We significantly improved our cash position and liquidity in Q3, a key focus for me since becoming CEO in March,” Tan said on a call with analysts Thursday.
Intel landed an $8.9 billion investment from the U.S. government in August, along with $2 billion from Softbank, but has not yet received the $5 billion tied to a deal with Nvidia. The company expects that deal to close by the end of Q4.
With all of those transactions completed, plus the Altera sale, Intel will have $35 billion in cash on hand, CFO David Zinser told CNBC.
The U.S. government is the company’s biggest shareholder, and Intel stock is up more than 50% since Aug. 22, when Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced the deal.
“Like any shareholder, we have to keep in touch with them,” Zinser said of the U.S. stake. “We don’t tell them how the numbers are going before the quarter. We generally talk to them like Fidelity,” another Intel shareholder.
Stock Chart IconStock chart icon
Intel 3-month stock chart.
Foundry
The firm’s foundry remains a work in progress.
Revenue fell 2% over the year before, and it has yet to land a major customer.
Intel now has two fabs running 18A nodes, which are designed for AI and high-performance computing applications.
“We are making steady progress on Intel 18A,” Tan said of its latest chip technology. “We are on track to bring Panther Lake to market this year.”
Zinser said the more advanced 14A nodes won’t be put in supply until the company has “real firm demand.”
Old stuff still selling
Zinser said the company’s older chipmaking processes, or nodes, have continued to do well, “and that was probably the part that was more unexpected.”
Zinser said the chipmaker met some of the central processing unit (CPU) demand with inventory on hand, but they will be behind in Q1, “probably Q2 and maybe in Q3.”
The supply crunch has been with older Intel 10 and 7 manufacturing technologies.
Many customers are opting for less advanced hardware to refresh their operating systems, demonstrating enterprises aren’t waiting for cutting-edge chips when proven technology gets the job done.
Earnings season next week goes into overdrive as more than 150 companies in the S & P 500 report their quarterly results. Most of the “Magnificent Seven” tech firms are among them. With Tesla already out and Nvidia not out until Nov. 19, that leaves Alphabet and Club names Amazon , Apple , Meta Platforms , and Microsoft . In total, 10 companies in the portfolio are on next week’s list. Here is where Jim Cramer stands on each. Tuesday Corning reports its third-quarter earnings before Tuesday’s open. The specialty glass maker is our newest stock in the portfolio. We started a small position a couple of weeks ago to give us some room to buy on a pullback. Jim expects the company’s results are “going to be blowout” fueled by surging sales in its optical communication enterprise business tied to growing AI demand. “If you don’t have a position in Corning, you probably want to put some on before and after,” Jim said. Wednesday Boeing delivers its third-quarter results before Wednesday’s open. We’re looking out for what the non-cash charge will be for the 777x program, the company’s next-generation, long-haul jet. The aerospace giant will be raising its production of the 737 Max, making room for more deliveries and stronger free cash flow. The management team should be “talking about a series of orders,” coming in, Jim said, adding that “if you don’t have any Boeing, it’s not too late to buy.” Starbucks reports its fiscal fourth quarter after Wednesday’s closing bell. Jim believes this will be the “last bad quarter” for the coffee giant, which is still in the midst of a turnaround headed by CEO Brian Niccol, who did wonders when he led Chipotle . Jim interviewed Niccol last week and came away optimistic about the company’s trajectory in 2026. Meta is out Wednesday evening with third-quarter earnings. The social media giant is “getting a lot of advertising business, doing a lot of things very right,” Jim said. The mega cap tech giant has been at the forefront of the most talked about theme this year – and likely next — which companies will be among the AI winners. Microsoft reports its fiscal 2026 first quarter, also after the close Wednesday. Jim sees upside to the numbers, citing the Windows refresh driven by personal computer shipments and its cloud business Azure, which is “going quite well” and likely taking share in the cloud computing market. Thursday Bristol Myers Squibb reports its third quarter before the opening bell Thursday. Jim thinks the biopharmaceutical company’s results “will disappoint.” We invested in the company for the promise of Cobenfy, a prescription used to treat schizophrenia. Unfortunately, a major drug trial for a new indication went poorly. Barring any positive Cobenfy news, our thesis must be reassessed. Bristol Myers shares have lost 22% year to date. Drugmaker Eli Lilly also reports before the open. Jim said, “We’re not going to see anything rally” from the Mounjaro and Zepbound maker unless there’s a positive update on the cost of GLP-1 drugs. “That’s unfortunate because I think that [Lily] is going very, very well,” Jim said. Amazon , out with Q3 results after Thursday’s close, is going to have to show revenue acceleration “back to 2021” levels in its cloud business, Jim noted. This would help Amazon Web Services shake off the narrative that its cloud growth has seen better days. Apple also reports Thursday evening. Jim feels confident in the iPhone maker’s fiscal fourth quarter, given signals that the new iPhone models are selling better than many had expected. The stock surged to an all-time intraday high Monday after positive commentary from Wall Street analysts and upbeat iPhone demand data. Friday Linde reports its third-quarter before Friday’s open. Jim is comfortable heading into the quarter after the industrial gas giant’s recent upbeat fireside chats with analysts. Jim said he “likes that situation,” referring to the company as “one of the most reliable stocks we own for the Club.” (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long GLW, BA, SBUX, META, MSFT, BMY, LLY, AMZN, AAPL, LIN. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.