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.
RISING CONSUMER PRICES
The Dow and S&P 500 ended the week at or near all-time highs, despite the inflationary and labor/supply constraints that have been buffeting the economy, dragging down President Biden’s approval ratings, and leading to growing concerns about the upcoming holiday season. Unilever and Procter & Gamble, two of the biggest consumer products companies in the world, said they’d keep raising prices on more household items in order to contend with rising supply chain and commodity costs. Both P&G and Unilever in the U.S., along with Danone and Nestlé in Europe, warned that cost pressures are going to start hitting their balance sheets if global economic conditions don’t improve. For now, though, those price increases are being eaten by retailers and consumers.
TECH FEELS SUPPLY CRUNCH
Not even Big Tech is safe from the supply chain issues. Shares of Snap fell almost 30 percent after the company missed revenue expectations due, in part, to Apple’s privacy changes to iOS. But the Snapchat parent also guided lower, saying advertisers have started to hold back on spending ahead of the holidays since supply chain issues are making it unclear what they'll even have to sell. After all, what point is there paying to advertise for a product that can’t get into the hands of consumers? Snap’s miss also took down Facebook, Alphabet, Twitter, and Pinterest — all of which depend heavily on a healthy digital advertising ecosystem. The worry about supply bottlenecks hitting advertisers will become more apparent when they all report earnings next week.
WEWORK'S RETURN
Two years after its IPO imploded in one of the biggest flameouts in Wall Street history, WeWork is a public company at last. The co-working startup went public through a SPAC merger with BowX Acquisition, giving it a fresh $1.3 billion in new capital and a market cap around $9 billion — a far cry from the $47 billion price tag it heralded ahead of its IPO attempt in 2019. WeWork has spent the pandemic slashing costs, cutting jobs, renegotiating leases, and closing locations to position itself for the post-COVID work landscape. And investors seem to be intrigued by the idea of a leaner, meaner WeWork: shares soared 13 percent in their debut on the NYSE.
BITCOIN HITS NYSE
The first Bitcoin exchange-traded fund launched on the NYSE this week, after getting the green light from the SEC. The ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF ($BITO) gives investors a way to trade futures contracts linked to the price of the digital coin through their regular brokerage account, a milestone in the global adoption of cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin had been on fire ahead of the expected launch and crossed $67,000 for a new all-time high before paring some gains in the back half of the week.
CAN’T STOP, WON'T STOP
Tesla shares hit a fresh intraday record on Friday, putting the electric-car maker less than $100 billion away from joining the elite $1 trillion club. (Current members: Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, Saudi Aramco). Tesla’s earnings came in better than expectations for the second quarter in a row, and the stock has been on a tear for months now as it has proved to be more resilient than competitors in the face of the global semiconductor shortage and rising costs of other raw materials, given how vertically integrated the company has become. While Elon Musk skipped the earnings call for the first time, the results spoke for themselves: net income of $1.6 billion on $13.8 billion in revenue. Deliveries for the quarter hit an all-time high, too, and are already well above 2020’s numbers with another full quarter to go.
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.
