Facebook, Restaurant Brands, PG&E: Stocks That Defined the Week
November 01 2019 - 6:40PM
Dow Jones News
By Francesca Fontana
Facebook Inc.
Facebook gave a 'thumbs up' to political advertising during its
quarterly conference call late Wednesday, taking the opposite
position of rival Twitter Inc. on a thorny issue diving the world
of social media. Twitter announced its ban of political ads in a
series of tweets from Chief Executive Jack Dorsey minutes before
Facebook reported quarterly results. Chief Executive Mark
Zuckerberg defended the company's stance and ad-transparency
initiatives. Facebook shares gained 1.8% the next day.
Restaurant Brands International Inc.
Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen is preparing for a chicken fight. It
announced that its wildly popular spicy chicken sandwich is slated
to return on Nov. 3, reigniting competition with Chick-fil-A Inc.
The Restaurant Brands franchise sparked a social media sensation
this summer when its sandwich sold out after roughly two weeks,
prompting it to scour for more chicken breasts and buns. Popeye's
sales were up double digits in the most recent quarter due partly
to the sandwich buzz, but Restaurant Brands said Monday that sales
from its Tom Hortons franchise slipped. Restaurant Brands shares
fell 3.8% Monday.
PG&E Corp.
California is in a state of turmoil as fires and blackouts
continue, posing new liability risks for the bankrupt utility
giant. PG&E said Monday its power lines may have caused two
small fires in a San Francisco suburb over the weekend -- even as
it shut off power to an estimated 2.5 million people to try to
prevent such events. That followed a separate disclosure last week
about another line that also malfunctioned shortly before another
fire developed north of San Francisco. Shares fell 24% Monday.
Boeing Co.
Boeing's CEO faced questions from lawmakers about whether he did
enough before and after the two 737 MAX crashes that cost hundreds
of lives. Throughout a six-hour hearing Wednesday, members of the
House Transportation Committee demanded that Chief Executive Dennis
Muilenburg take personal responsibility for the fatal accidents.
The legislators and their staff unveiled internal documents that
painted the fullest picture yet of design errors that contributed
to the crashes as well as what they described as management's
disregard for safety warnings from subordinates. The chief
executive resisted calls for his resignation. Boeing shares fell
0.8% Wednesday.
Kellogg Co.
The maker of Frosted Flakes, Special K and Rice Krispies has a
problem: Americans don't want to eat cereal for breakfast anymore.
Kellogg is instead leaning on snacks like Pringles and Cheez-Its
for growth as its U.S. cereal sales continue to decline, the
company said Tuesday. Consumers have opted in recent years for more
protein-heavy meals at the start of the day and fast-food chains
have moved to expand their breakfast businesses. "What we haven't
done as an industry is respond quickly enough to some of the
trends," Chief Executive Steve Cahillane said on a conference call.
Kellogg shares gained 3% Tuesday.
General Motors Co.
The lengthy United Auto Workers strike will put a dent in
General Motors' quarterly profit. The company lowered its full-year
outlook Tuesday, saying the 40-day strike at its U.S. factories
wiped out nearly all its free cash flow for the year and will cost
the Detroit auto maker close to $3 billion in lost earnings.
Recovering from the prolonged work stoppage, which halted
production at more than 30 U.S. factories, will add to GM's
challenges in the coming months as pressures build on the car
business globally. Still, investors seemed to look past the
strike's effects, as General Motors shares gained 4.3% Tuesday.
Fitbit Inc.
Fitbit found a new workout partner. The struggling maker of
wearable fitness trackers said on Friday that it agreed to be
acquired by Google's parent company Alphabet Inc. for $2.1 billion,
or $7.35 a share in cash. The company lowered its full-year revenue
outlook in July after weaker-than-expected sales of its new
smartwatch model, Versa Lite, as it has struggled to compete with
popular offerings from rivals such as Apple Inc. The deal is
expected to close in 2020, the company said. Fitbit shares rose 16%
Friday.
Write to Francesca Fontana at francesca.fontana@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 01, 2019 18:25 ET (22:25 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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