The Score: The Story of the Business Week in 7 Stocks -- WSJ

By Laine Higgins 

This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (June 2, 2018).

JPMorgan Chase & Co. - DOWN 4.3% Tuesday

U.S. bank stocks went for a wild ride over the past week, plummeting Tuesday on fears that Italian political tumult could spark a crisis in Europe, and dipping again Thursday amid heightened trade tensions. But they recovered some ground Friday after a sunny U.S. jobs report. JPMorgan was the S&P 500's worst performer Tuesday with a 4.3% dip. By the end of the week, the bank's stock was trading 2% off last Friday's close.

Walt Disney Co.- DOWN 2.5% Tuesday

The debut of Walt Disney's "Solo: A Star Wars Story" grabbed the top spot at the weekend box office, but investors weren't getting cocky. Solo's $84.8 million in North American ticket sales through Sunday were the weakest since Disney relaunched the Star Wars franchise in 2015, and the movie also opened at less than light speed overseas. The company was dealt another blow later Tuesday when its ABC network canceled hit TV show "Roseanne" after a racist tweet from lead actress Roseanne Barr. The move opened a big hole in the network's prime-time schedule.

Dick's Sporting Goods Inc. - UP 26% Wednesday

Shares of Dick's Sporting Goods had their best day ever Wednesday, rising 26% after the company reported its first quarter of results since halting sales of assault-style rifles in the aftermath of the school shooting in Parkland, Fla. As expected, hunting sales fell, but the overall results were better than many observers had anticipated and the company raised projections for the rest of the year. Guns are a low-margin business for retailers, so the decision helped improve Dick's profit margins, and analysts expect the company's results will continue to improve.

Walmart Inc. - UP 2.1% Wednesday

In an attempt to attract and retain workers in one of the tightest labor markets since World War II, Walmart announced it would heavily subsidize the cost of online college tuition for its U.S. store workers pursuing degrees in business and supply-chain management from three schools. Walmart, with 1.5 million domestic employees, is the largest private employer in the U.S.. The company did not disclose the price tag of the program, which it will phase in over a year, but said it selected the three nonprofit schools based on their programs for adult students.

Sears Holdings Corp.- DOWN 12% Thursday

Sears shares plummeted Thursday after the embattled discount retailer announced plans to close more than 60 unprofitable stores. Sears has been closing hundreds of locations in recent years, selling brands and spinning off divisions to stay afloat amid mounting losses and the defection of customers. Investors, suppliers and landlords have grown increasingly concerned about the company's future. Its struggles showed no sign of abating in the latest quarter, its 26th consecutive period of declining sales, with merchandise sales down 34%, same-store sales down 13% and a net loss of $424 million.

General Motors Co. - UP 13% Thursday

GM got a leg up in the race to develop commercial autonomous vehicles on Thursday after Japan's SoftBank Group Corp. unveiled a $2.25 billion investment in its driverless-car unit, GM Cruise. GM's stock soared 13% as investors heralded the deal as a potential tide-turner for the 110-year-old company that previously struggled to match the hype of its Silicon Valley competitors, electric-car maker Tesla Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s self-driving car subsidiary Waymo. GM has been testing autonomous electric cars and plans to launch a driverless ride-hailing service in several cities next year.

Facebook Inc. - UP 1.2% Friday

What data-privacy scandal? Shares of Facebook Inc. on Friday hit a new record high for the first time since February's Cambridge Analytica data-breach revelations. The stock rose 1.2% on a day when news broke that the social-media giant was close to announcing the first crop of news shows that will air exclusively on its video platform, Watch, starting in July. Facebook will fully finance the video content, which will likely come from Fox News and CNN. Separately, the company said it was scrapping its trending-topic feature.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 02, 2018 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)

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