Category: 3. Business

If shoppers are buying before advertisers’ holiday campaigns kick in, that’s an issue for brands. “Now, the holiday shopping season starts in October. If your brand isn’t there competing during this time, you can be behind the eight ball,” said Phil Carney, manager of account management at Adroll, a digital marketing platform that’s often used by e-commerce businesses to place media buys.

The holidays are already a peak spending period for brands; globally, retailers spent $46 billion on advertising in the fourth quarter of 2024, per WARC projections. According to media agencies, so-called “holiday creep” led to some sending upper-funnel spending into flight earlier in the season in an effort to influence shoppers farther in advance of the season’s peak.

“We’ve definitely seen clients planning ahead for earlier holiday shopping,” said Ashley Terpstra, media director at Collective Measures. Upper-funnel spending — she highlighted channels such as TV, podcasts, out-of-home, YouTube, and paid social — had kicked in earlier, Terpstra said.

“We’re seeing a bigger or much bigger uptick in October, especially in the last two weeks, compared to the last handful of years,” said David Dweck, general manager at Go Fish Digital. Dweck estimated client spending in October was 2.5 times higher than in previous years but he didn’t provide a specific dollar amount. “We went into the cycle basically telling our advertisers to be prepared with multiple promo offers and to be ready to deploy them pretty quickly. We’re seeing very value-conscious consumers right now.”

Just how early brands are pushing their spend differs from vertical to vertical. Dan Rolli, chief investment officer of OMD U.S., told Digiday that in the main, advertisers are stretching budgets over a longer duration rather than adding incremental dollars. “We’re starting a lead-in to those brand-focused moments a little bit earlier… extending that flight,” said Rolli.

Programmatic and media companies have also picked up on ad spend migrating earlier in the year. John Campbell, svp entertainment and streaming solutions at Disney, said brand partners began booking holiday-related brand messaging as early as August this year, a full month earlier than usual. 

“People are thinking about it way earlier, and we’re seeing brands want to get their message out much earlier,” he said.

Oscar Rondon, vp of data and measurement solutions at Nexxen, also told Digiday that advertisers began planning for the fourth quarter earlier than usual, a sign that spending was also being spread over a longer period of time. “Anecdotally, in July and August we had several key partners starting to reach out,” he said. (Neither Campbell nor Rondon shared specific dollar projections.)

Spending on lower-funnel channels like search — heavily relied upon by brands during this key sales period — remain focused on Thanksgiving and November, the media execs suggested, indicating that Black Friday remains a powerful sales opportunity. 

Liz Cooney, group director, media strategy at Wpromote, told Digiday that 40% of the media agency’s clients had shifted more investment into September and October. “Most of the budget shift is in upper-funnel media to drive awareness and consideration as shoppers begin browsing,” she said, adding that “Conversion budgets remain focused on peak shopping periods such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday.”

But pushing campaigns to earlier in the season isn’t the only option available. While more shoppers are spending more in advance of the season, buyers warn against “leaving demand on the table” November through December. “Not being present can mean losing out on incremental purchases,” said Terpstra.

Rolli also warned against consulting consumer polls too closely. “We’ve heard early survey data that says they will be more budget-conscious… [but] even with the sales potentially starting earlier, that does not always translate to buying earlier,” he cautioned.

After all, consumer sentiment surveys have marked a gloomy tone throughout 2025, with tariffs and political strife looking large on the news agenda. Actual consumer spending data shows a more positive picture, however. “What someone says and what they do are sometimes two different things,” said Rolli.

Home loan applications have surged in response to the government’s expanded 5% deposit scheme, according to Westpac, as first home buyers pile into a hot property market accelerating at its fastest pace in years.

Applications for government-guaranteed mortgages at the big bank more than doubled in October 2025 compared to October 2024, after a 150% jump when the scheme expanded on 1 October, Nathan Goonan, the bank’s chief financial officer, said on Monday.

“The first home buyers guarantee scheme has certainly stimulated some interest,” Goonan told analysts.

“That mortgage market has been accelerated and … we’re certainly feeling that or seeing that, we’ve had increases in pretty much every channel.”

Mortgage brokers have previously reported a surge in applications from prospective buyers using the guarantee, which led to long processing delays.

Westpac declined to specify the number or value of applications but advised brokers that applications would take two weeks to process.

The 5% guarantee slashed the deposit requirements for a loan, reducing the savings wait time for many first-time homeowners.

The splash of new owner-occupiers contrasts with a market that has otherwise been dominated by investors, many of whom have used equity in their existing housing portfolios to outbid prospective first home buyers at auctions.

Westpac’s new lending to first home buyers had been going backwards, amounting to just $12bn in the 12 months before the expansion of the guarantee, down from $14bn in the previous year.

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Investor lending accounted for most of the growth in the bank’s lending over the same period, rising nearly $8bn to $44bn over the same period, while other mortgages rose about $4bn.

House prices have been helped by the Reserve Bank’s decision to cut the official cash rate on three occasions this year to 3.6%, fuelling national home lending and house price growth, which Westpac predicted would continue to accelerate over the next 12 months.

Lower interest rates have also helped more mortgage holders get on top of their repayments. The bank reported its delinquency rate for Australian home loans more than 90 days behind fell to 0.73%, from 1.12% a year ago.

Hopes of further interest rate relief were recently dashed amid signs of rising inflation.

Investors are still very active in the property market, with national data showing new loans to investors in September accelerating at their fastest monthly pace in more than a decade.

The Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority on Friday said it was carefully monitoring whether falling interest rates led to riskier lending. It was discussing limits on new investor, interest-only or small-deposit loans.

The Westpac chief executive, Anthony Miller, said the bank planned to fight for more of the investor market, while acknowledging it faced risks if it went “too far, too fast”.

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Flexible work

Miller stood firm on Monday on the organisation’s work-from-home position in the wake of a precedent-setting Fair Work Commission ruling that overturned an order from the bank for one of its employees to attend a corporate office two days a week.

“No, I don’t feel the need to change that particular setting,” Miller said.

“We have one of the most flexible work-from-home … positions in the marketplace.”

Miller said the bank was reflecting on its response to the decision and would decide on its next step within the next two weeks.

Westpac updated its sustainability report to show it has closed funding avenues available to thermal coalminers, which traditionally rely on banks for direct finance, or by raising money through the issuing of bonds.

Westpac’s report said it had “reduced to zero our corporate lending to institutional thermal coalmining customers” and no longer provided bond facilitation for customers that derived significant revenue from thermal coalmining. Thermal coal is burnt to produce electricity.

While some Australian financiers have ruled out direct loans to thermal coalmines, they have left indirect financing avenues open through bond facilitation.

Kyle Robertson, head of research at activist group Market Forces, said while Westpac had officially exited all lending to companies mining coal for power, it continued to lend significant sums to the oil and gas extraction sector.

The bank reported a 2% slide in annual profit to $6.9bn at its full-year results, down from $7.1bn a year ago.

It will pay a full-year dividend of $1.53 per share.

By Jiahui Huang

  Shares of several Chinese electric-vehicle makers surged sharply Monday, after they reported robust October sales over the weekend. 

  XPeng and NIO rose 3.8% and 2.9%, respectively by midday, after XPeng delivered a record high 42,013 units in October. NIO also posted a record sales for the month, at 40,397 units, up 93% compared with the same period a year earlier. 

  Xiaomi's shares gained 3.5% after news its delivered more than 40,000 units last month. Zhejiang Leapmotor's shares rose 0.8% after it said October sales were 84% higher at 70,289 units. 

  Zeekr Group, which is being taken private by its parent, Geely Automobile, posted strong sales of 21,423 units. 

  The auto giant BYD sold 441,706 units last month. Its shares fell 2.4% in Hong Kong weighed by news of lower net profit and revenue in the third quarter. 

  Chinese auto sector is seeing some recovery in demand as the peak season for sales approaches and as auto makers try to clear inventories in the final quarter of the year. 

  Write to Jiahui Huang at jiahui.huang@wsj.com 

  (END) Dow Jones Newswires

  November 02, 2025 23:21 ET (04:21 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

The Evolution trial (WJOG11819L) was designed to test whether radiotherapy could be safely omitted in selected patients with unresectable, locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) exhibiting high PD-L1 expression (TPS ≥50%). This patient population represents an immunologically distinct subgroup known to derive substantial benefit from PD-1 blockade, as demonstrated in prior pivotal studies such as KEYNOTE-024, -042, -189, and -407, which established pembrolizumab-based regimens as the foundation of systemic therapy in advanced NSCLC.

In this phase 2, multicentre, single-arm study, investigators sought to determine whether pembrolizumab combined with platinum-based chemotherapy, administered without radiotherapy, could achieve durable disease control and survival outcomes comparable to the standard chemoradiotherapy followed by durvalumab consolidation used in the PACIFIC trial. The rationale was to explore a radiotherapy-free, chemoimmunotherapy approach that could reduce treatment-related toxicities such as pneumonitis and esophageal injury—complications that frequently limit the feasibility of curative-intent chemoradiation and preclude up to one-third of patients from receiving consolidation immunotherapy.

Study Design and Methods

This multicentre, single-arm, phase 2 trial was conducted across nine Japanese centers under the West Japan Oncology Group (WJOG).
Eligible patients were adults (≥20 years) with unresectable, locally advanced stage IIIA–IIIC NSCLC, PD-L1 TPS ≥50%, ECOG performance status 0–1, and no prior systemic therapy. All had an indication for definitive chemoradiotherapy but received a radiotherapy-free regimen instead.

Treatment protocol:

Induction therapy (4 cycles): Pembrolizumab 200 mg every 3 weeks + platinum-based doublet chemotherapy

• Non-squamous: Cisplatin or carboplatin + pemetrexed
• Squamous: Carboplatin + nab-paclitaxel

Maintenance therapy: Pembrolizumab (± pemetrexed) every 3 weeks for up to 2 years.

• Primary endpoint: 2-year progression-free survival (PFS)
• Secondary endpoints: Objective response rate (ORR), overall survival (OS), duration of response (DOR), and safety.
• Statistical threshold: A 2-year PFS rate ≥20% was considered clinically meaningful; ≥45% was expected based on PACIFIC trial benchmarks.

Results

Between May 18, 2020, and February 22, 2022, a total of 21 patients were enrolled in the Evolution trial. The median age was 73 years, and 76% were male. All patients received pembrolizumab combined with carboplatin-based chemotherapy, followed by maintenance pembrolizumab. Nearly half of the patients (48%) were able to complete the full 2-year course of maintenance therapy. The median follow-up period was 32.5 months, allowing for mature outcome assessment.

Efficacy Outcomes

The primary endpoint was met, demonstrating strong and durable disease control:

The 2-year progression-free survival (PFS) rate was 67% (90% CI 46–83).
The median PFS was not reached, indicating that many patients remained progression-free at data cutoff.
The median overall survival (OS) was 44.4 months (32.5–NR), with a 2-year OS rate of 81%.
Tumor response was robust. The objective response rate (ORR) was 81%, including 8 complete responses and 9 partial responses. Moreover, two-thirds of patients (67%) achieved deep responses, defined as ≥80% tumor shrinkage. These deep responders had markedly improved outcomes, with a 2-year PFS of 86% compared to 29% in non-deep responders (p = 0.0173), suggesting a strong association between depth of response and long-term disease control.

PD-L1 Expression and Outcomes

Efficacy appeared closely related to the level of PD-L1 expression:

In patients with PD-L1 TPS 80–100%, the 2-year PFS was 75%, OS was 92%, and ORR reached 92%.
In contrast, those with PD-L1 TPS 50–79% had lower rates—PFS 56%, OS 67%, and ORR 67%.
These findings indicate that patients with ultra-high PD-L1 expression (≥80%) experienced the greatest and most durable benefit, reinforcing PD-L1 TPS as a predictive biomarker for selecting candidates who may achieve long-term remission with this radiotherapy-free chemoimmunotherapy approach.

Safety

All 21 patients in the Evolution trial experienced at least one adverse event during treatment, reflecting the expected toxicity profile of combination chemoimmunotherapy. Grade 3 or higher adverse events occurred in 62% of patients, while serious adverse events were reported in 33%. The most frequently observed severe toxicities were neutropenia (38%), leukopenia (19%), and pneumonia (14%), which were consistent with known effects of platinum-based chemotherapy.

Immune-related adverse events (irAEs) were documented in 33% of patients, with grade 3 or higher events in 14%. The most common immune-mediated toxicities included pneumonitis (10%), adrenal insufficiency (5%), and colitis (10%). Importantly, these immune-related events were manageable with corticosteroids and treatment interruption, and no treatment-related deaths were reported.

Overall, 24% of patients discontinued therapy due to adverse events; however, an intriguing observation emerged—three patients who stopped treatment because of immune-related toxicities, such as grade 2–3 pneumonitis or colitis, continued to experience durable disease control lasting beyond two years. This finding supports the concept that a strong immune response, even when accompanied by immune-related toxicity, may correlate with sustained anti-tumor activity and long-term remission in patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Interpretation

The Evolution trial provides the first prospective evidence supporting a radiotherapy-free, chemoimmunotherapy approach in unresectable, locally advanced NSCLC with high PD-L1 expression.
Pembrolizumab combined with platinum doublets achieved 2-year PFS and OS rates comparable or superior to historical chemoradiotherapy data with durvalumab consolidation (PACIFIC trial: ~50% 2-year PFS).
The durable responses and survival plateaus observed, particularly among deep responders and PD-L1 ≥80%subgroups, indicate potential curative intent with systemic immunochemotherapy alone.

This approach could represent a less toxic alternative for patients at high risk of radiation-induced morbidity or those ineligible for concurrent chemoradiotherapy. However, the single-arm design and small sample size necessitate randomized validation against the PACIFIC regimen.

Key Takeaway Messages

• Pembrolizumab + chemotherapy without radiotherapy achieved a 2-year PFS rate of 67% and ORR of 81%in unresectable, locally advanced NSCLC with PD-L1 ≥50%.
• Deep responders (≥80% tumor shrinkage) had markedly superior outcomes (2-year PFS 86%).
• PD-L1 ≥80% subgroup showed the highest benefit (2-year OS 92%).
• Safety profile manageable, with no new immune-related toxicities and no treatment-related deaths.
• Findings suggest a potential curative systemic therapy alternative for selected patients; a randomized comparison with chemoradiotherapy–durvalumab is warranted.

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The Workplace Fairness (Dispute Resolution) Bill (49-page / 209KB PDF) is the second piece of legislation under the Workplace Fairness Act (WFA) and was introduced in parliament on 14 October 2025, with the aim of promoting fair treatment within the workplace and smooth adjudication of disputes. If passed, it is expected to take effect by 2027.

Mayumi Soh, an expert in employment law at Pinsent Masons, said: “Employers should take note of the three-tiered framework for resolving workplace disputes and consider whether any changes will be required to its internal standard operating procedures.”

The WFA will generally apply to employers with 25 or more employees in Singapore at the initial stage. However, the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices will continue to apply to all employers regardless of their size.

“Employers and their HR teams in Singapore should also review their internal grievances procedures, if any, to ensure compliance with the new WFA legislation. Even if an employer does not meet the current minimum threshold of 25 employees, it is good practice to put in place a grievance policy to ensure that there is a formal and consistent way which the employer will consider and review potential claims,” Soh said.

The bill also prohibits adverse employment decisions based on 11 protected characteristics:  age, nationality, sex, marital status, race, religion, pregnancy, language ability, and caregiving responsibilities, disability or mental health condition.

Under the legislation, employees who believe they have been discriminated against can raise the issue through their employer’s internal grievance-handling processes. This step aims to ensure any miscommunications are clarified and to help preserve employment relationships where possible.

If the matter remains unresolved, the employee and their employer can proceed to mediation, seeking mutually agreeable outcomes within a prescribed period of time.
Finally, employees can seek adjudication through the Employment Claims Tribunal (ECT) or the High Court. The bill proposes to expand the ECT’s monetary jurisdiction from a maximum of S$30,000 (approx. US$23,196) to S$250,000 (approx. US$192,875) for discrimination claims under the WFA, with the High Court handling claims above this threshold.

Soh said: “We understand that the higher threshold is to ensure that majority of the cases can be addressed by ECT instead of going to court. It should be noted however, that it is expected that lawyers will not be able to represent employers at the ECT, similar to the current position.”

Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer spoke about recently. Cramer mentioned his discussion with the company CEO, as he commented:

“Starbucks, now under Brian Niccol, we’re slightly more than a year into his tenure, and after some fits and starts, this morning on Squawk on the Street, he told me that he’s finally ahead of plan… How’s Brian doing it? He’s doing it the Niccol way, taking care of service first. He’s got the scale. He’s got the biggest chain. He’s got the biggest drive-through, the biggest delivery. He just needed to staff all these businesses correctly… Throughput, he explained to me once, is the name of the game. You get that right, it can all come together… I wanted to come out here with something conclusive, conclusively positive about Starbucks. I simply didn’t have the confidence to truly stick my neck out… But now, with the Chinese business about to get a big partner and with cadence improving at the stores, I think it’s all coming together. Few believe the environment’s gotten tougher. Many restaurant chains have disappointed. So the turn of Starbucks is being overlooked. I’m betting that won’t last for long… What are you waiting for? It’s time to buy the stock of Starbucks.”

Pixabay/Public Domain

Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) sells coffee, tea, and food products. The company operates through brands, including Starbucks Coffee, Teavana, and Seattle’s Best Coffee.

While we acknowledge the potential of SBUX as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you’re looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

READ NEXT: 30 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 11 Hidden AI Stocks to Buy Right Now.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.