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.
FOOT LOCKER FALLS
Shares of Foot Locker tanked 27 percent on Friday after the retailer released first quarter earnings that missed Wall Street estimates. CEO Mary Dillon pointed the finger at the "macroeconomic backdrop" and the need to aggressively mark down prices to clear out excess inventory. Now the company is anticipating squeezed margins for the upcoming quarters, with lower demand and higher levels of theft continuing to cut into profits.
VICE MEDIA DECLARES BANKRUPTCY
In what feels like the end of an era for a certain brand of millennial-focused digital journalism, Vice Media declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday. The company had struggled to find its financial footing after its rapid rise in the 2010s. The bankruptcy comes just one month after fellow digital news outlet BuzzFeed News shut down.
RETAIL ROUNDUP
Target, Home Depot, and Walmart all reported this week in a whirlwind of earnings that presented a mixed picture for the sector. Shares of Target are down nearly 4 percent for the week after seeing a surprise drop in online sales. Walmart's stock is also down despite beating estimates on earnings and revenue, with the likely culprit being a lower-than-expected adjusted earnings guidance for the coming quarter. Finally, Home Depot posted its worst revenue miss in 20 years.
NETFLIX RISES
Netflix's stock surged 9 percent on Thursday as investors got excited about the streaming giant's new advertising model. The company said that 25 percent of its new subscribers went with its cheaper, ad-supported tier that launched late in 2022. The bump marks a turnaround for Netflix, which has struggled recently to keep up subscriber growth.
SILICON VALLEY BANK CEO APOLOGIZES
Greg Becker, former CEO of Silicon Valley Bank, told lawmakers this week that he was "truly sorry" for how the failure of the lender impacted customers and shareholders. At the same time, he defended his decision to go on vacation amid the collapse. Meanwhile, regional bank stocks rallied amid a surge in investor confidence in the sector, which has struggled since the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in March. Shares of PacWest, for example, jumped 18 percent after falling 21 percent last week.
President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
Ford is recalling more than 355,000 of its pickup trucks across the U.S. because of an instrument panel display failure that’s resulted in critical information, like warning lights and vehicle speed, not showing up on the dashboard.
Nvidia reported a 56% increase in second-quarter revenue and a 59% rise in net income compared to a year ago.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos claims audiences don't want to watch Netflix movies in theaters, but that seems not to be the case recently.
Chipmaker Nvidia is poised to release a quarterly report that could provide a better sense of whether the stock market has been riding an overhyped artificial intelligence bubble or is being propelled by a technological boom that’s still gathering momentum.
Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
Low-value imports are losing their duty-free status in the U.S. this week as part of President Donald Trump's agenda for making the nation less dependent on foreign goods. A widely used customs exemption for international shipments worth $800 or less is set to end starting on Friday. Trump already ended the “de minimis” rule for inexpensive items sent from China and Hong Kong, but having to pay import taxes on small parcels from everywhere else likely will be a big change for some small businesses and online shoppers. Purchases that previously entered the U.S. without needing to clear customs will be subject to the origin country’s tariff rate, which can range from 10% to 50%.
Southwest Airlines will soon require plus-size travelers to pay for an extra seat in advance if they can't fit within the armrests of one seat. This change is part of several updates the airline is making. The new rule starts on Jan. 27, the same day Southwest begins assigning seats. Currently, plus-size passengers can pay for an extra seat in advance and later get a refund, or request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the new policy, refunds are still possible but not guaranteed. Southwest said in a statement it is updating policies to prepare for assigned seating next year.
