By Francesca Fontana
The Score is a weekly review of the biggest stock moves and the news that drove them.
PacWest sparked a regional-banks rally to start the week.
The beleaguered regional lender said it would sell a $2.6 billion property-loan portfolio to Kennedy-Wilson Holdings, per a regulatory filing. PacWest has said it would explore asset sales to boost liquidity.
PacWest shares jumped 20% Monday.
Other moves:
-- Western Alliance: +10% -- KeyCorp: +4.7%
Chevron is doubling down on shale. The oil giant is acquiring rival driller PDC Energy, which holds stakes in Texas and Colorado, deepening Chevron's commitment to oil-and-gas drilling in the U.S.
In buying PDC Energy, Chevron is aiming to build a bigger foothold in two prolific oil patches, particularly the Denver-Julesburg shale basin that straddles Colorado and Wyoming -- a region where Chevron already has a large stake.
The tie-up comes after big oil firms raked in record profits in 2022, as oil and gas prices hit multiyear highs following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Now the companies are flush with cash, and investors are watching for a potential wave of deal making.
PDC Energy shares gained 7.2% Monday.
Zoom Video Communications
The onetime pandemic darling beat first-quarter earnings expectations and reported an improved full-year forecast.
But investors appeared to focus more on Zoom's outlook for the second quarter, which implied slowing growth of enterprise sales to large and midsize businesses.
While the videoconferencing company grew rapidly earlier in the pandemic, its growth has cooled as people return to offices and in-person activities.
Zoom shares dropped 8.1% Tuesday.
Target
Target said Tuesday it would remove some Pride Month products from stores after a backlash from customers caused employees to feel unsafe.
For over a decade, the retailer has sold a selection of often rainbow-adorned clothing and other items related to the LGBT community's summer celebration. Target has always received some criticism for the collection, but this month the negative reaction has taken a more aggressive turn, particularly in recent days, a spokeswoman said.
In some cases, people have confronted store workers, knocked down Pride merchandise displays and made threatening social-media posts with video from inside stores, the spokeswoman said. Target will continue to sell Pride-related items in stores, but will remove some items that have been at the center of the most confrontational behavior.
Target shares lost 2.8% Wednesday.
Abercrombie & Fitch
Abercrombie shares soared Wednesday, after the specialty apparel and accessories retailer reported a surprise fiscal first-quarter profit.
Rising demand for dresses and pants drove an unexpected lift in first-quarter sales, which boosted its revenue outlook for the year.
"They're back at the office. They're celebrating with their friends," Chief Executive Fran Horowitz said on a call with analysts. "They're going out and we're there and servicing them for all of those occasions."
Other moves:
-- Kohl's: +7.5% Wednesday. The department-store chain posted a surprise
quarterly profit.
-- American Eagle Outfitters: --12% Thursday. The apparel company forecast a
sales decline for the second quarter.
Nvidia
Nvidia issued a strong sales forecast due to rising demand for artificial-intelligence technology. The chip giant's shares rocketed 24% higher Thursday, boosting other chip makers and shares tied to AI.
The move marks the largest one-day percentage increase for Nvidia since 2016. With its finish Thursday, the chip maker added $183.8 billion to its market capitalization, per Dow Jones Market Data -- ending just shy of joining a small club of companies worth more than $1 trillion.
Other moves:
-- Nasdaq Composite: +1.7% -- Advanced Micro Devices: +11% -- Microsoft: +3.9%
Write to Francesca Fontana at francesca.fontana@wsj.com.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 26, 2023 16:03 ET (20:03 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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