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 16, 2018).

AT&T Inc. - 6.2% Wednesday

In a landmark decision Tuesday, the U.S. Justice Department's attempt to block AT&T's proposed $81 billion acquisition of Time Warner Inc. was struck down, touching off a rally for other media stocks. The ruling clears the way for further large-scale media mergers, and investors speculate the industry-wide consolidation could be a boon to companies struggling to compete with the deep cash reserves of industry-disruptor Netflix Inc.

"If you're going to be a modern media company, you're going to need a variety of offerings," John Stankey, the AT&T executive charged with overseeing the combined company's assets, told the Journal.

Shares of AT&T fell 6.2% on Wednesday before closing the Time Warner deal a day later, while Comcast Corp.'s stock jumped 4.6% on Thursday after making an unsolicited $65 billion offer for 21st Century Fox Inc. assets and sparking a bidding war with Walt Disney Co.

USG Corp. - 3.9% Monday

Warren Buffett last year called his nearly 20-year investment in building-materials maker USG "disappointing," and in recent months his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. strayed from its usual playbook to urge the company to consider a sale. The effort paid off Monday, when the Chicago-based maker of Sheetrock gypsum drywall said it had agreed to be acquired by Gebr. Knauf KG for $7 billion. The sale allows Berkshire to unload its 31% stake without pushing down USG's stock price. Back in May, shareholders including Berkshire voted against the election of four directors to the USG board after it spurned Knauf's first two approaches--the first time Mr. Buffett said he could recall that his conglomerate has opposed a company's slate of nominees.

Dave & Buster's Entertainment Inc. - 17% Tuesday

Shares of Dave & Buster's Entertainment rose 17% on Tuesday after the company beat analysts' expectations for first-quarter earnings and announced that its current finance chief will replace longtime Chief Executive Stephen King. The gain was one of the largest since the company's 2014 initial public offering and brought shares into positive trading territory this year. Executives also touted the rollout of a line of proprietary virtual-reality video games, with its first Jurassic World-themed title debuting Thursday. The company is hoping that patrons come for the dinos and stay for dinner to end its streak of quarters with declining comparable sales, including last quarter's 4.9% dip.

Boston Scientific Corp. - 6.2% Wednesday

Boston Scientific shares took a wild ride over the past week, first soaring on a Journal report Monday that medical-device maker Stryker Corp. had made a takeover approach, and then tumbling back to where they started when Stryker said Wednesday it wasn't currently in merger talks. A deal would create a company with more than $20 billion in annual sales, offering a range of medical devices from knee and hip replacements to heart valves and endoscopes. But for now it appears the two companies aren't on the verge of being stitched together.

H&R Block Inc. - 18% Wednesday

Before the Republican tax bill passed late last year, President Donald Trump predicted that H&R Block would be "the only people that aren't going to like this." On Tuesday, the company said it plans to close about 400 U.S. offices and adjust pricing for its tax-preparation services, in part because the new tax law is expected to reduce the complexity of filing returns for millions of Americans. Another culprit: more filers are using digital tools to prepare their taxes. "We aren't as relevant as we need to be to today's consumer," CEO Jeff Jones said as he vowed to reposition the firm. The stock's 18% drop was its worst decline in 30 years.

Amazon.com Inc. - 0.4% Wednesday

Less than a month after passing it unanimously, the Seattle City Council voted Tuesday to repeal a per-employee tax on big companies that had been projected to raise about $47 million for homeless services. Skyrocketing home prices spurred by Seattle's tech boom are behind the city's large concentration of homeless people, which ranks third in the U.S. according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Seattle is also home to business giants like Starbucks Corp. and Amazon, which took an uncharacteristically aggressive tack in lobbying against the tax. Amazon, the city's largest employer, threatened to halt the planned expansion of its headquarters if the $275-per-head tax took effect, but said it would resume construction in light of the repeal.

ZTE Corp. - 42% Wednesday

Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE saw $2.7 billion of market value erased on Wednesday, as the Hong Kong-listed stock plummeted 42% in its first day of trading since the middle of April. ZTE shares were initially halted after the U.S. Commerce Department banned American companies from doing business with the Chinese firm for violating the terms of previous U.S. sanctions against Iran and North Korea in 2017. Then last week, Mr. Trump extended an olive branch, and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross offered to keep ZTE afloat in exchange for fines and management changes. The policy reversal caused the end of ZTE shares' trading hiatus, though investors are wary of the company's future viability.

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 16, 2018 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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