News in brief

Canoo deal sets up Saudi Arabian sales

Canoo Inc., an electric vehicle maker with operations in Bentonville and plans to place its headquarters there, said Wednesday that it has reached an agreement to sell its vehicles in Saudi Arabia.

The first phase of deal with GCC Olayan -- a subsidiary of Olayan Saudi Holding Company -- is for the sale, distribution, service maintenance, and repair of Canoo vehicles, according to a release. The deal also includes plans to develop a network for repair, local assembly and manufacture of Canoo vehicles.

"The Olayan Group is a global business leader with decades of experience in distribution partnerships with some of the world's leading brands and they are a proven partner to support EVs in the region," Tony Aquila, chairman & chief executive officer at Canoo, said in a statement.

During a conference call in November with analysts, Aquila said the company had more than $2 billion in its order pipeline for companies including Walmart, Utah-based van provider Kingbee and Los Angeles-based Zeeba. Initial construction of the vehicles is being handled by a third party with an expected shift of production in the first half of this year to Canoo's new Oklahoma City factory.

Shares of Canoo closed at $1.25, down 2 cents, or a bit more than 1%, in trading Wednesday on the Nasdaq.

-- John Magsam

State's milk output falls 23% from '21

Milk production in Arkansas was down in the fourth quarter as the state's herds continue to decline year-over-year.

Arkansas dairy cows produced 10 million pounds of milk in the October through December period, down 23% from the same period a year ago, but up 11% from the third quarter. A gallon of milk weighs 8.6 pounds.

During the fourth quarter of 2022, the average number of dairy cows in the state stood at 3,500 head, 1,000 head lower than a year ago and a decline of 22%, but was unchanged compared with the pervious quarter.

In the United States, milk production for the fourth quarter totaled 56 billion pounds, up 1% from a year ago. The average number of dairy cows for the period was 9.41 million head, 27,000 more than a year ago but 4,000 lower than the third quarter of 2022.

-- John Magsam

Index sits at 829.36 after gaining 7.76

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, closed Wednesday at 829.36, up 7.76.

"Equities opened sharply lower driven by negative earnings sentiment in the technology sector but the market subsequently recovered to close relatively unchanged led by financials and consumer discretionary stocks," said Leon Lants, managing director at Stephens Inc.

The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.

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