McDonald's, Under Armour, Walt Disney: Stocks That Defined the Week
November 08 2019 - 5:52PM
Dow Jones News
By Francesca Fontana
National Beverage Corp.
LaCroix is losing more of its fizz. Shares of the company that
produces the flavored seltzer drink fell 11% Thursday after
Coca-Cola Co. announced its own bubbly water brand called AHA. It's
a late entry to the category popularized by LaCroix maker National
Beverage Corp. But LaCroix has lost market share over the past year
as new drinks crowd store shelves, including PepsiCo Inc.'s Bubly.
Coca-Cola's new offering comes after a previous flavored seltzer
line called Dasani Sparkling didn't gain traction.
McDonald's Corp.
McDonald's fired Chief Executive Steve Easterbrook because of
his consensual relationship with an employee. The burger giant
announced his firing Sunday, after the board voted Friday to
terminate Mr. Easterbrook. He resigned from McDonald's board as
well, writing in an email to McDonald's employees that he had
violated company policy on personal conduct. McDonald's said Mr.
Easterbrook would be succeeded immediately by Chris Kempczinski,
the chain's U.S. president. McDonald's Corp. later said its top
human-resources executive also left the company. Shares fell 2.7%
Monday.
Under Armour Inc.
Under Armour shares fell nearly 19% Monday after the company
confirmed it was the subject of a federal investigation into its
accounting practices. On Sunday, The Wall Street Journal reported
that the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange
Commission were examining the sportswear maker's revenue
recognition practices and whether it shifted sales from quarter to
quarter to make them appear stronger. After the Journal published
the article, Under Armour said it is cooperating with investigators
and that it began responding in July 2017 to requests for documents
and information relating primarily to its accounting practices and
related disclosures.
HP Inc.
Xerox Holdings Corp. would like to hit 'print' on a purchase of
HP, after making a cash-and-stock offer for the maker of personal
computers and printers. The proposed deal, first reported by The
Wall Street Journal, would join two household names that have been
trying to retool their businesses as the need for printed documents
declines. Both companies are in cost-cutting mode and a union could
afford new opportunities to shed expenses -- to the tune of more
than $2 billion, The Journal reported. The news lifted shares of
both companies. HP shares gained 6.4% Wednesday, and Xeros gained
3.6%.
Adidas
The footrace between Adidas and Nike is heating up. Adidas said
in its latest quarterly report Wednesday that it has been growing
sales around the world, but Nike Inc.'s rising dominance in shoe
technology could put pressure on the German sportswear. For weeks,
the sneaker industry has been focused on Nike's Vaporfly shoes,
which have slashed race times for recreational runners according to
running app Strava, powered two record-shattering marathons and
reignited talk of footwear regulation in professional running.
American depositary shares of Adidas fell 5.4%.
Walt Disney Co.
Disney has a new story to tell about its future. The company's
hit movies, led by "The Lion King" and "Toy Story 4," once again
helped drive strong quarterly results, but the company is largely
looking beyond the theater to a new streaming service that launches
next week. Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger has spent billions of
dollars buying franchises, from the Avengers to Star Wars, that
will soon be put to the test with the new Disney+. Overall,
Disney's profit slumped by more than half to $1.05 billion, hurt by
a sharp rise in costs stemming in part from the Disney+ production
costs. Shares rose 3.8% Friday.
T-Mobile US Inc.
T-Mobile is dialing up a deep discount. The No. 3 carrier by
subscribers unveiled a monthly data plan Thursday that starts at
$15 as it responds to critics that its planned merger with Sprint
Corp. will lessen competition. T-Mobile said it would sell phone
plans with 2 gigabytes of high-speed data for $15 a month, one of
the lowest entry-level prices from a major U.S. provider, if its
Sprint takeover is allowed to proceed. The company previously
charged $30 for its lowest-cost unlimited plan. AT&T Inc.'s
prepaid Cricket service offers a similar 2GB plan for $30 a month,
while Sprint's Boost charges $35 a month for 3GB. T-Mobile shares
fell 1.1% Friday.
Write to Francesca Fontana at francesca.fontana@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 08, 2019 17:37 ET (22:37 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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