From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
APPLE HITS FB, EU HITS APPLE
Facebook stock plunged 5 percent Wednesday and the culprit behind the bad news was none other than Apple. Changes it made to iOS in order to protect consumer privacy perhaps hit the social media giant hardest. It turns out when consumers are asked whether they want to opt out of tracking they'll choose yes — and that's bad news for Facebook's ad targeting and revenue. But, it's just another bad headline for the social media giant already dealing with the fallout from the Wall Street Journal airing some of its dirty laundry. Meanwhile, Apple had its own problems this week. The European Union announced plans to force all mobile device-makers to use the same USB-C cables for charging. And when they say all, they're mainly talking to Apple, which has staunchly refused to get on board with the common charging format for the iPhone. The company has contended that forcing it to use the same charger as everyone else will stifle innovation, so now some are conjecturing that the company could just ditch ports altogether.
CRYPTO CRUMBLES
Crypto was hammered on several fronts this week as well. Early on, the values of digital coins were dropping along with the broader dip in global markets upon learning that massive Chinese property developer Evergrand was likely to miss its $83 million bond interest payment (which it did). Then, on Friday, China banned all crypto transactions, driving down the price of Bitcoin another 5 percent to around $42,000. The country is developing its own digital yuan which can be controlled by the government. Meanwhile, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said regulators are still considering the future of a central digital currency in the U.S. but also gave a nod to the private innovation in crypto that has gotten us this far.
UNIVERSAL HITS HIGH NOTE
Universal Music Group, which is tied to a few big names in the industry (Taylor Swift, BTS, Billie Eilish, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Lady Gaga, Kanye West, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj, Kendrick Lamar…you get the point), went public this week on the Euronext Amsterdam exchange. Shares soared more than 35 percent on the first day of trading Tuesday giving the music giant a valuation of more than $50 billion. Universal's legendary catalog helped insulate it against a slowdown that hit the music industry during the pandemic.
MCDONALD'S SUPERSIZES IT
McDonald's customers are coming back and the company is ready to share the wealth with investors. MickyD's announced Thursday it'll be increasing quarterly dividends by 7 percent this December. It's also restarting its stock buyback program, which it suspended when COVID hit in March 2020. In 2019 the company had spent $5 billion reclaiming stock. While that's all well and good, the thing that really has everyone talking is the chain's plan to "drastically" cut back on the plastic used in its Happy Meal toys. It plans to lean toward more eco-friendly options like cardboard. In the UK and Ireland, it already doles out soft toys or books with its burgers and nuggets. The stock ended up almost 3 percent for the week.
WHAT GOES UP...
Roku had some big swings this week. On Thursday a Guggenheim analyst changed Roku's rating to Buy, saying there's plenty of potential for overseas growth and increased ad revenue. The stock jumped 5 percent on the news. But if an industry report can raise a stock that much - it can also pull it back to Earth. Friday Well Fargo downgraded the stock citing the increase in competition. At the close of markets, the stock price was $321.89, a nudge higher than where it started the week.
