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.
Wealthfront’s CFO Alan Iberman talks the $2.05B IPO and the major moment for robo banking as the company bets on AI, automation, and “self-driving money."
A rare magnum of Dom Pérignon Vintage 1961 champagne that was specially produced for the 1981 wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana has failed to sell during an auction. Danish auction house Bruun Rasmussen handled the bidding Thursday. The auction's house website lists the bottle as not sold. It was expected to fetch up to around $93,000. It is one of 12 bottles made to celebrate the royal wedding. Little was revealed about the seller. The auction house says the bids did not receive the desired minimum price.
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.
