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.
Wall Street had a lot to process this week. As expected, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points rather than 50 or 75 points, which markets liked. At the same time, Fed Chair Powell said more rate hikes were coming, which markets didn't like. For a minute there, it looked like the bulls might win the day. Then the latest federal jobs numbers showed the U.S. economy in January adding an extraordinary 517,000 jobs, more than double most estimates. While the report was good news for workers and the economy overall, investors saw it as more evidence that the Fed would in the short-term keep clobbering the economy with rate hikes.
META'S MEGA RALLY
The tech sector likewise had a weird week. Meta's stock was up around 23 percent on Thursday following an earnings report that showed earnings beating expectations. On top of that, a federal judge rejected a request from the Federal Trade Commission to halt its purchase of a virtual reality startup, putting some wind behind Meta's effort's to monetize the metaverse. The move helped spark a rally in tech stocks, which remain in bad shape from a brutal 2022. The bullish sentiment didn't last long, however, as other tech companies were about to report.
TECH STRUGGLES
Those tech companies happened to be some big names themselves. Apple, Amazon, and Google parent Alphabet all reported after the bell on Thursday, and it didn't paint a pretty picture. Shares of Alphabet were down around 3 percent after it reported a sizable drop in net income and plans to slow down hiring. Amazon's stock fell nearly 8 percent after the company reported its first ever unprofitable year since 2014 and its slowest ever quarter of growth. Apple, meanwhile, was actually up slightly on Friday, despite a 5 percent drop in sales from the same period last year.
BUZZFEED SELL-OFF
News that Buzzfeet planned to use AI chatbot ChatGPT for content sent its stock soaring last week, along with news that Meta planned to pay the media company millions to help get more creator content on Facebook and Instagram. This week, shares of Buzzfeed are down around 42 percent. What caused the shift? Well, one of its biggest investors pulled back on its commitment. Comcast disclosed that it sold 5,726,385 shares of Buzzfeed, of which it owned about 20 percent.
COINBASE GETS A BREAK
Shares of Coinbase, one of the last standing crypto exchanges, were up nearly 30 percent this week after a federal judge tossed out a class action lawsuit against its custody practices. The legal reprieve comes as other former rivals Gemini and crypto lender Genesis Trading undergo a crackdown from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The New York Times and President Donald Trump are fighting again. The news outlet said Wednesday it won't be deterred by Trump's “false and inflammatory language” from writing about the 79-year-old president's health. The Times has done a handful of stories on that topic recently, including an opinion column that said Trump is “starting to give President Joe Biden vibes.” In a Truth Social post, Trump said it might be treasonous for outlets like the Times to do “FAKE” reports about his health and "we should do something about it.” The Republican president already has a pending lawsuit against the newspaper for its past reports on his finances.
OpenAI has appointed Slack CEO Denise Dresser as its first chief of revenue. Dresser will oversee global revenue strategy and help businesses integrate AI into daily operations. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently emphasized improving ChatGPT, which now has over 800 million weekly users. Despite its success, OpenAI faces competition from companies like Google and concerns about profitability. The company earns money from premium ChatGPT subscriptions but hasn't ventured into advertising. Altman had recently announced delays in developing new products like AI agents and a personal assistant.
President Donald Trump says he will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. Trump said Monday on his social media site that he had informed China’s leader Xi Jinping and “President Xi responded positively!” There had been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips into China as it could help them to compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities. But there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.
U.S. sports betting is booming as NFL and college football fuel massive activity. BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt breaks down trends, growth, and what’s next.
President Donald Trump says a deal struck by Netflix last week to buy Warner Bros. Discovery “could be a problem” because of the size of the combined market share. The Republican president says he will be involved in the decision about whether federal regulators should approve the deal. Trump commented Sunday when he was asked about the deal as he walked the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honors. The $72 billion deal would bring together two of the biggest players in television and film and potentially reshape the entertainment industry.
Disney's changes to a program for disabled visitors are facing challenges in federal court and through a shareholder proposal. The Disability Access Service program, which allows disabled visitors to skip long lines, was overhauled last year. Disney now mostly limits the program to those with developmental disabilities like autism who have difficulty waiting in lines. The changes have sparked criticism from some disability advocates. A shareholder proposal submitted by disability advocates calls for an independent review of Disney's disability policies. Disney plans to block this proposal, claiming it's misleading. It's the latest struggle by Disney to accommodate disabled visitors while stopping past abuses by some theme park guests.
With a merger this big, creators, studios, and theaters all face uncertain futures. Here’s what experts are worried about and what good could come from it.
With disengagement rising and hybrid work shifting, 'Everybody Matters' author Bob Chapman explains why treating people well could define the future of work.
We sat down with Ali Furman, U.S. Consumer Markets Industry Leader at consulting firm PwC to ask what trends she garnered from the initial data this year.
