The Toyota bZ4X displayed at the Philadelphia Auto Show, Friday, Jan. 27, 2023, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
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.
FED PAUSE
It was a jam-packed week for macro-economic developments. First, the consumer price index showed inflation continuing to slow, rising a meager 0.1 percent month-over-month and 4 percent from 12 months ago. Also, the Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at about 5 percent, pausing a tightening cycle that began in early 2022 — even as it said that at least two more rate increases are in store for this year.
HEALTH SHOCK
UnitedHealth Group's stock plunged on Wednesday after the health insurer revealed that a spike in surgeries was pushing up costs. The stock fell 6.4 percent, one of its biggest decline ever. Chief Financial Officer John Rex blamed the cost increases on "pent-up demand" from the elderly, who put off surgeries, such as knee replacements, during the pandemic. The sell-off was a drag on the rest of the stock market, though the major indexes bounced back before the end of the trading week.
CAVA SOARS
The IPO market has been relatively quiet since the most recent bull market took hold, but the Mediterranean restaurant chain Cava breathed some life back into it this week with a blockbuster debut. The stock skyrocketed 117 percent on Thursday, closing above $43 per share and giving the company a market cap of nearly $5 billion. The chain started in 2006 and entered the emerging fast casual market in 2011, bolstered by other brands such as Chipotle Mexican Grill. Cava's sales shot up nearly 13 percent in 2022.
TOYOTA TOPS OUT
Toyota Motor's stock shot up 10 percent this week, marking the automaker's best week on Wall Street since 2009, after it disclosed plans for a next generation of electric vehicles. The stock usually doesn't make such large moves, but the latest news restored confidence in the company's EV strategy, which was previously criticized for lacking ambition compared to rival firms. The first line-up of new EVs will launch in 2026.
The Tony Awards on Sunday lured 4.85 million viewers to CBS, its largest broadcast audience in six years. CBS says Monday that Nielsen data shows the telecast — hosted by “Wicked” star Cynthia Erivo — scored a 38% increase over last year’s 3.53 million viewers. That’s the largest audience for the Tonys since 2019, when the telecast that year nabbed 5.4 million viewers and “Hadestown” was crowned best new musical. The latest version also had to compete with the second game of the NBA Finals, between the Thunder and Pacers,
After stumbling out of the starting gate in Big Tech’s pivotal race to capitalize on artificial intelligence, Apple tried to regain its footing Monday during a developers conference that focused mostly on incremental advances and cosmetic changes in its technology.
Six weeks before UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down outside a Manhattan hotel last December, Luigi Mangione mused about rebelling against “the deadly, greed fueled health insurance cartel” and expressed that killing the executive “conveys a greedy bastard that had it coming."
Shaquille O’Neal and Allen Iverson once clashed on the court in the 2001 NBA Finals, but now the basketball legends are joining forces to revive the Reebok brand they helped make iconic.
Midea is voluntarily recalling about 1.7 million of its popular U and U+ Smart air conditioners because pooled water in the units may not drain fast enough, leading to mold growth.
