Amazon.com, Tiffany, Walt Disney: Stocks That Defined the Week -- WSJ
November 30 2019 - 03:02AM
Dow Jones News
By Francesca Fontana
This article is being republished as part of our daily
reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S.
print edition of The Wall Street Journal (November 30, 2019).
Amazon.com Inc.
The holiday shopping scramble is on. Online sales on
Thanksgiving Day were up 15% from a year ago, according to Adobe
Analytics. Amazon.com is spending $1.5 billion in the fourth
quarter to expand its free one-day shipping program while many
traditional retailers are struggling to keep pace. Still, Walmart
Inc. and Target Corp. have held their ground by increasing their
delivery capabilities or getting shoppers to pick up online orders
at their stores. Amazon shares added 1.2% Wednesday.
Tiffany & Co.
Tiffany might get some of its old shine back in a new deal. LVMH
Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA said Monday that it is taking over
Tiffany in an agreement valued at more than $16 billion. The
classic American jewelry brand has struggled with weak demand at
home and abroad. In acquiring Tiffany, the European luxury
conglomerate behind Louis Vuitton and Bulgari is making a bet on
China's economy and its consumers, whose fast-rising incomes have
made them the luxury industry's most important customers. Tiffany
shares gained 6.2% Monday.
Walt Disney Co.
Elsa and Anna are back. Walt Disney's "Frozen 2" brought some
much-needed heat to the domestic box office, opening with a
record-setting $127 million in the U.S. and Canada the weekend
before Thanksgiving, according to preliminary studio estimates. The
sequel to the 2013 blockbuster wasn't as well-reviewed by critics
as its predecessor, but that didn't seem to keep audiences away and
the opening was the highest ever for Walt Disney Animation Studios.
The original "Frozen" made its debut with $93.9 million over the
long Thanksgiving weekend in 2013, eventually grossing $400 million
domestically and nearly $1.3 billion world-wide. Disney shares
gained 0.9% Monday.
Best Buy Co.
Best Buy is poised to have a happy holiday season. The
electronics retailer reported another quarter of rising sales
Tuesday, boosted by online orders, and executives gave a more
upbeat forecast for the pivotal winter shopping season than they
did during the summer. In August, Best Buy lowered its sales and
earnings targets, citing the impact of U.S. tariffs on Chinese-made
goods. The company said higher tariffs on Chinese goods didn't
materially impact its results, but CEO Corie Barry noted that Best
Buy did raise prices on some items, such as small televisions, as a
result of the tariff increases. Best Buy shares gained 9.9%
Tuesday.
AmerisourceBergen Corp.
Federal prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into
whether pharmaceutical companies intentionally allowed opioid
painkillers to flood communities, employing laws normally used to
go after drug dealers, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. If
it results in criminal charges, the probe could become the largest
prosecution yet of drug companies alleged to have contributed to
the opioid epidemic. At least six companies have said in regulatory
filings that they received grand-jury subpoenas, including
AmerisourceBergen and McKesson Corp. AmerisourceBergen shares fell
3.1% Tuesday, and McKesson shares lost 4.9%.
Boeing Co.
Boeing faces a new hurdle to get its grounded 737 MAX fleet back
in the air. Federal regulators now intend to inspect and sign off
on every jet individually before delivery to airlines, the Federal
Aviation Administration said Tuesday in a letter to the plane
maker, a signal that resuming MAX flights will be more complicated
and perhaps more time-consuming than previously projected. The FAA
stripped Boeing of longstanding authority to perform such
pre-delivery safety checks and signoffs of MAX planes on its own in
another public pushback by the agency against company pressure to
accelerate the reinstatement. Shares fell 1.5% Wednesday.
Deere & Co.
The world's largest seller of farm machinery predicted Wednesday
that sales and profit would fall next year, as Chief Executive John
May said lingering trade tensions along with a year of difficult
growing and harvesting conditions have caused many farmers to
become cautious about making big investments in new equipment. The
company cut production of farm equipment by 20% over the summer to
reduce inventories of unsold equipment. Deere also said it would
initiate a voluntary layoff program for salaried employees. Shares
fell 4.3% Wednesday.
Write to Francesca Fontana at francesca.fontana@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 30, 2019 02:47 ET (07:47 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Feb 2024 to Mar 2024
Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2023 to Mar 2024