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)

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