Summary:
One day after Celsius Holdings crashed 18% following a dismal second-quarter earnings report, Rockstar Energy founder Russ Savage told CNBC that he has amassed a 4.7% stake, equivalent to more than 12 million shares, and wants to gut incompetent management and install himself as CEO in a bid to turn around the struggling beverage company.
Here's more from CNBC:
Savage's stake amounts to roughly 4.7% of the company and would be worth about $300 million at current stock levels.
While Savage has been quietly advising Celsius to change its cost structure and marketing strategy for over a year, he now says new leadership is needed.
"The CEO, the COO, the brand manager and the marketing manager all need to be fired," Savage told CNBC.
. . .
Savage, who was born Russell Weiner and started Rockstar with a $50,000 mortgage against his California condo, said he offered advice to Celsius over a year ago, but was largely ignored. He said Celsius has too many layers of management, with too many costs, and no real accountability.
"They need one person making the decisions, paying attention to every detail, not a group of people in a firing squad," he said.
. . .
"Once you lose shelf space, you're dead," he said. "The chains will give it to Red Bull or Monster."
Savage said he's offering to take over as CEO before the problems become too deep to fix. When building Rockstar, he said he managed every detail -- from sales and marketing to sponsorships, packaging, distribution and innovation. He said the same type of cost-conscious, driven leader is needed at Celsius.
"I'm publicly volunteering to do it," he said. "The CEO has lost credibility with the investment community."
The CNBC headline catapulted the stock 12% higher by late morning in New York. Shares have yet to recover all of yesterday's losses following the dismal earnings report. More details can be viewed below.
Latest short data from Bloomberg shows about 20% of the float is short.
Squeeze candidate?
Celsius Shares Crash As Revenue Misses EstimatesCelsius Holdings, the Florida-based beverage company with a portfolio of some of America's top-performing energy drinks, reported weaker-than-expected second-quarter results, as revenue, adjusted earnings, and profitability missed Wall Street estimates.
Second-quarter adjusted earnings fell to 36 cents per share from 47 cents a year earlier, below the 41-cent Bloomberg Consensus estimate. Revenue increased 11% to $817.9 million but missed the $872.6 million estimate, with North American sales of $790.7 million also falling short.
Profitability deteriorated despite sales growth. Gross margin narrowed to 48.1% from 51.5% as promotional activity, channel mix, and aluminum inflation weighed on results. Net income fell 45% to $55.3 million, while adjusted earnings declined to 36 cents per share from 47 cents. Adjusted EBITDA dropped 12% to $184.2 million.
2Q Earnings Snapshot:
Adjusted EPS 36c vs. 47c y/y, estimate 41c (Bloomberg Consensus)
EPS 14c vs. 33c y/y, estimate 40c
Revenue $817.9 million, +11% y/y, estimate $872.6 million
Gross margin 48.1% vs. 51.5% y/y, estimate 48.6%
Adjusted Ebitda $184.2 million, -12% y/y, estimate $198.4 million
Celsius shares plunged 16% in premarket trading.
"During the second quarter of 2026, we made meaningful progress in advancing Celsius Holdings as a scaled portfolio of leading brands. We delivered a double-digit increase in second-quarter revenue, completed the Rockstar integration, and maintained gross margin near first-quarter levels despite a challenging commodity environment," CEO John Fieldly wrote in a press release.
Celsius Holdings' portfolio, which includes CELSIUS, Alani Nu, and the U.S. and Canadian Rockstar Energy business, accounts for about 20% of U.S. ready-to-drink energy sales. PepsiCo serves as the company's primary distribution partner.
Notably, the national average price for regular 87-octane gasoline remained mostly above $4 per gallon in the quarter, a key threshold at which consumer behavior begins to shift through trade-downs and reduced discretionary purchases. Goldman Sachs analyst Bonnie Herzog previously flagged a slowdown in energy-drink demand beginning in mid-May. Read the full note here.
Tyler Durden Fri, 08/07/2026 - 12:15Authored by Ezra Reguerra via CoinTelegraph.com,
Senate Republican leaders are expected to leave for their August recess without voting on crypto market structure legislation, delaying consideration of the bill until at least September, according to a report from Politico.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune confirmed that the chamber would not vote on the legislation before the recess, citing Democratic opposition and saying it would be prioritized when senators return next month.
“The Dems are insistent on no Clarity vote,” Thune said, according to comments his office provided to Cointelegraph. “I worked with sponsors of the bill. Senator Lummis was great, and we’re getting that queued up first thing when we come back.”
The postponement leaves one of the crypto industry’s top legislative priorities unresolved and compresses the Senate’s timetable for advancing the bill. Without sufficient Democratic support, Republicans may struggle to secure the 60 votes generally needed to overcome a filibuster.
Crypto Council for Innovation CEO Ji Hun Kim called the postponement “disappointing” but said the direction of the legislation had not changed.
“Every day without such a framework pushes American users and builders offshore and leaves consumers at risk,” Kim said in comments provided to Cointelegraph.
September delay narrows path for CLARITY ActThune’s remarks come after comments from Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott, who said on Thursday the chamber should hold its first vote on the CLARITY Act before the recess “without any question.”
Scott said Thune still had time to schedule the procedural vote and that Republicans were gaining support for it.
The CLARITY Act would establish a federal framework for digital asset markets and clarify how oversight is divided between the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Citing three people with knowledge of the matter, Politico reported that the CLARITY Act lacks Democratic support. Negotiations remained underway.
Thune may still file cloture before the recess. This procedural step could position the bill for a vote when senators return in mid-September, but it would not constitute a vote on the legislation, according to two people cited by Politico.
Cointelegraph also asked Thune’s office to confirm whether he intended to file cloture before the Senate leaves for recess, but has not received a response to the question by time of publication.
The sources said Democrats have declined to approve a time agreement that would expedite the Senate’s remaining pre-recess business and allow the crypto bill to reach the floor.
According to the report, Republican leaders would need unanimous consent from all 100 senators to complete the outstanding items without extending the session deep into next week.
Tyler Durden Fri, 08/07/2026 - 12:00Unlike recent extremely volatile months, consumers expectations for inflation in July barely budged as disclosed today by the latest NY Fed Survey, which showed that inflation expectations in one year fell slightly to 3.6% from 3.7% prior. Estimates for price increases in three and five years remained at 3.3% and 3%, respectively, although the 3Y inflation forecast did dip notably, if not enough to move it by a significant digit.
Gas price growth expectations rebounded partially after their sharp decline in June, increasing by 1.4% to 2.9%.
Away from inflation, labor market expectations were mixed, with the mean probability of higher US unemployment rate increasing by 1.1 ppt to 42.8%...
... and the mean probability of losing one’s job in the next twelve months increasing by 0.1 ppt to 14.2 percent; however, this was offset by the mean perceived probability of finding a job if one’s current job was lost, which increased by 1.3% to 46.2% the highest this year. That increase was most pronounced among those who have a high school degree or less and those living in a household where income is under $ 50,000 per year.
Earlier on Friday, the government employment report showed employers cut jobs in July and the labor-force participation continued to slide. The jobless rate declined to 4.1%.
Recent data pointed to a strengthening of the American consumer. Spending rose more than expected in the three months through June, and the University of Michigan’s gauge of sentiment increased to a five-month high in July.
In the New York Fed report, more households said their current financial situation was better than last year, and more said their finances will stay about the same in 2027.
Still, the average perceived probability of missing a minimum debt payment in the next three months increased, especially among in households where annual income is below $ 50,000.
Consumers were also more optimistic about the stock market, with the probability that stock prices will be higher a year from now reaching the highest level of the series since April 2021.
Tyler Durden Fri, 08/07/2026 - 11:45