By Francesca Fontana
Walt Disney Co.
Layoffs are still sweeping Corporate America. Disney started its first wave of layoffs in its plan to cut 7,000 jobs, including the elimination of its metaverse division and more than 300 streaming employees in Beijing. Electronic Arts Inc. and Roku Inc. also reported job cuts, while Meta Platforms Inc. plans lower bonus payouts and more frequent employee performance assessments amid its own revamp. Disney shares gained 1.6% Monday.
First Citizens Bancshares Inc.
Silicon Valley Bank has a new owner. First Citizens Bancshares Inc., one of the nation's largest regional banks, is buying large pieces of the lender after its collapse sent tremors through the banking system. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said First Citizens is acquiring all of Silicon Valley Bank's deposits, loans and branches. The sale marks a milestone in regulatory efforts to clean up after two of the largest bank failures in history, at a time when investors are on edge about the health of the global financial system. First Citizens shares surged 45% Monday.
Salesforce Inc.
Salesforce has shaken off an activist investor. Elliott Management Corp. no longer plans to nominate directors to the cloud company's board, the two sides said Monday, avoiding a proxy fight at a coming shareholder meeting. Elliott decided to back down after Salesforce's better-than-expected financial results, as well as other recent changes made by the company such as cutting costs, boosting share buybacks and disbanding a mergers-and-acquisition committee. The activist investor was one of several that had been lobbying for change at Salesforce following a turbulent stretch and a slowdown in revenue. Salesforce shares added 0.6% Monday.
Lyft Inc.
Lyft has a new driver at the wheel. The ride-hailing firm is tapping a board member as its new chief executive, as its two co-founders step back from managing the company, the company said Monday. Lyft is grappling with competition and a battered stock price as it struggles to keep up with larger rival Uber Technologies Inc. New CEO David Risher will take over from Logan Green, who co-founded Lyft with current President John Zimmer. The pair will retain their seats on the board but won't participate in running the company day-to-day. Lyft shares dropped 7.6% Tuesday.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
Alibaba is splitting up. The Chinese e-commerce giant said it plans to divide itself into six independently run companies that could seek separate IPOs, effectively dismantling the empire built over two decades by entrepreneur Jack Ma. The company's various businesses will be split up into six major areas: cloud computing, Chinese e-commerce, global e-commerce, digital mapping and food delivery, logistics, and media and entertainment. Alibaba's reorganization comes after Chinese authorities signaled in recent months they were winding down a sweeping regulatory crackdown on the country's powerful tech sector. American depositary shares of Alibaba soared 14% Tuesday.
Walgreens faces a slow recovery from staff shortages. The second-biggest U.S. drugstore chain said that hundreds of its pharmacies continue to operate at reduced hours because of a continuing industrywide pharmacist shortage. Walgreens said that 500 stores resumed normal pharmacy operating hours, while 1,900 still have shortened schedules. Executives said the chain will have fewer pharmacy hours through the end of August. Despite the challenges, Walgreens reported a 3.3% rise in sales in its latest quarter, with same-store sales up 3.1% from a year earlier at U.S. locations. Walgreens shares gained 2.7% Tuesday.
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.
Bed Bath & Beyond is warning of bankruptcy -- again. The beleaguered home-goods retailer said it would terminate a fundraising deal with Hudson Bay Capital Management and instead try to sell up to $300 million of common stock in the open market. Bed Bath & Beyond said that if its public offering fails to come through, the company expects to file for bankruptcy protection, likely wiping out holders of its common stock. The company broke off the equity-raising deal with Hudson Bay after reporting another sharp drop in quarterly sales. Bed Bath & Beyond plunged 26% Thursday to hit a record low of 59 cents.
Write to Francesca Fontana at francesca.fontana@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 31, 2023 18:12 ET (22:12 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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