American Airlines, Starbucks, Netflix: Stocks That Defined the Week
January 24 2020 - 7:18PM
Dow Jones News
By Francesca Fontana
American Airlines Group Inc.
Worries about a mysterious pneumonia-like virus are circulating
through the airline industry as more people in China choose not to
travel. Typically hundreds of millions visit family or take a
vacation during the Lunar New Year holiday. This year many are
staying closer to home due to the coronavirus, part of a class of
pathogens that cause a range of respiratory illness. The number of
confirmed cases of coronavirus tripled Monday and accelerated
through the week. Shares of American Airlines fell 4.2%
Tuesday.
Starbucks Corp.
First Starbucks tossed its plastic straws. Now it wants to cut
its water use and the amount of trash it sends to landfills over
the next decade, the latest big company to set fresh targets for
limiting its environmental impact. Starbucks said Tuesday it will
aim to serve more coffee in reusable cups, curb food and packaging
waste and set a more environmentally friendly menu. New stores will
make more efficient use of energy and water, and the company plans
to improve environmental practices among its coffee growers and
other suppliers. Shares fell 1.2% Tuesday.
Uber Technologies Inc.
Uber might give drivers the green light to set their fares.
Drivers who ferry passengers from airports in Santa Barbara, Palm
Springs and Sacramento can charge up to five times the fare Uber
sets on a ride, a test that began Tuesday. The experiment is part
of Uber's effort to strengthen its case that its drivers operate
with some degree of independence. Earlier this month, Uber capped
its commissions on rides across California. Last month, it allowed
drivers in the state to see where riders were going, letting them
choose the trips they wanted to take. Shares gained 7% Tuesday.
Netflix Inc.
Foreign features are now in vogue at Netflix, where an overseas
expansion is providing more new streaming subscribers as the U.S.
slows. Netflix said Tuesday that it added 423,000 domestic
subscribers in quarter, lower than its forecast of 600,000. It beat
its expectations for subscriber growth overseas. The streaming
giant faces heightened competition from a gaggle of domestic rivals
including Walt Disney Co.'s Disney+ streaming platform and Apple
Inc.'s Apple TV+. This spring, Comcast Corp.'s NBCUniversal and
AT&T Inc.'s WarnerMedia plan to introduce their
direct-to-consumer streaming services: Peacock and HBO Max,
respectively. Shares fell 3.6% Wednesday.
Express Inc.
The fashion retailer said it would close about 100 stores by
2022, including nine stores that closed last year and 31 that will
close by the end of the month. The store closures are part of a
broader overhaul, as the company anticipates $80 million in cost
cuts over the next three years, including $55 million primarily
related to job cuts it disclosed last week. It is cutting 10% of
the positions at its Columbus, Ohio, headquarters and its design
studio in New York City. Express also said it is planning to
relaunch its loyalty and private-label credit card this fall as
part of the effort. Shares gained 21% Tuesday.
Match Group Inc.
Online dating now has an alarm. Tinder plans to start offering
users an option to hit a panic button, receive check-ins and summon
authorities to their location. To offer the service, Tinder parent
company Match Group is taking a stake and board seat in an app
called Noonlight that tracks users' locations and notifies
authorities if safety concerns arise. Tinder plans to debut the
feature free for U.S. users at the end of January. Match Group
didn't disclose the size of the investment. Shares fell 1.2%
Thursday.
Intel Corp.
Intel Corp.'s customers are clearly hungry for more chips. The
company posted strong fourth-quarter earnings that benefited from
an upswing in personal-computer shipments and robust demand for
server farms that need chips to store large amounts of data. The
results are the latest sign technology companies expect healthy
demand at the start of this year despite wider expectations for
only a modest economic rebound this year. Still, Intel is facing
challenges, including chip supply shortages, loss of market share
and turmoil from the U.S.-China trade tussle. Intel shares rose
8.1% Friday.
Write to Francesca Fontana at francesca.fontana@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 24, 2020 19:03 ET (00:03 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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