The Week's Top Stories is a guided tour through the biggest market stories of the week, from winning stocks to brutal dips to the facts and forecasts generating buzz on Wall Street.
KROGER'S CLOSURES
Kroger and Albertson's are moving closer to merging with news that they'll be selling 400 stores and a number of brands to C&S Wholesale Grocers, with several hundred more shops on the table down the line. This deal is worth about $1.9 billion and Kroger will be buying Albertson for $20 billion plus debt. Meanwhile, Kroger also announced in its latest earnings report that it'll take a $1.4 billion charge as part of an opioid settlement. Initially stocks dropped, but quickly rebounded to end Friday up 3 percent and wrap up the week in the black.
APPLE VS. CHINA
Apple stock dropped this week after reports that China banned government officials from using iPhones and phones from foreign brands. China did not confirm the reports, but investors were spooked since the country is a major market for Apple. The company's stock was down 6 percent this week, although fortunes could change in just a few days; Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 15 on Tuesday.
ROKU LAYOFFS
Roku shares are going up, but that isn't enough for about 360 people to keep their jobs. The streaming giant announced it will be cutting about 10 percent of its workforce to try and end a series of quarterly losses. The company began landing in the red after plenty of success during the Covid-era. Investors haven't seemed too concerned this year - the stock has doubled since the beginning of the year.
QANTAS CEO DEPARTS
The head of Qantas Airways announced he will be bumping up his retirement date after a series of damaging revelations about the company came to light. After 22 years with the company - 15 of them at the helm - Chief Executive Alan Joyce stepped down on Tuesday, two months earlier than planned. Among the issues making headlines recently was that the airline sold tickets on more than 8,000 flights after they had already been canceled, and failed to tell passengers in a timely manner that they would have to buy new tickets. We all know that the closer you get to your travel date, the more you have to pay, so customers were clearly outraged. The stock dropped 4 percent on the news Tuesday.
WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY CUTS OUTLOOK
The ongoing Hollywood actors and writers strikes are having an impact. This week Warner Bros. Discovery cut its outlook for the rest of the year and announced it could be on the hook for half a billion dollars because of the walkouts. The media giant owns a lot of household names in the entertainment industry, like HBO, TNT, and DC Comics, so the losses are great. The stock closed the week dow more than 11 percent.
