By Francesca Fontana
The Score is a weekly review of the biggest stock moves and the news that drove them.
Moderna
Falling demand for Covid shots sent vaccine stocks lower Monday.
Pfizer Chief Financial Officer David Denton said his company projects a roughly 24% Covid U.S. vaccination rate this year.
"Keep in mind the flu is probably closer to a 50% vaccination rate, so we haircut that pretty significantly for the year," Denton said at a JPMorgan conference.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently endorsed Covid boosters for everyone six months old and above, as cases increase heading into the fall months. This is also the first season that the shots aren't universally free after the U.S. public health emergency ended in May.
Moderna stock dropped 9.1% Monday.
Instacart
Instacart delivered a successful stock-market debut as the IPO market reawakens.
The grocery-delivery company began trading Tuesday on the Nasdaq exchange, after setting a price of $30 a share for its initial public offering.
Instacart, formally known as Maplebear, is one of the buzziest IPOs this year, along with British chip designer Arm and marketing-automation company Klaviyo. Arm's stock rose 25% in its recent debut, but has since pared those gains.
Grocery delivery remains competitive for Instacart and rivals Uber Technologies and DoorDash. U.S. consumers are still ordering more groceries online than they did prepandemic, but are doing so less frequently.
Instacart shares rose 12% Tuesday.
Walt Disney
Disney plans to spend big on its theme parks.
The entertainment behemoth on Tuesday outlined plans to invest $60 billion to expand its parks, cruise lines and resorts -- a division that provides its primary source of profits.
The possibilities include a "Frozen" presence at Disneyland Resort, and Wakanda from the "Black Panther" franchise could be "brought to life," the company said.
The announcement highlights a dramatic, ongoing shift in Disney's business model. The company for years relied primarily on income from its traditional cable television business to subsidize expensive and risky moves like the launch of the Disney+ streaming service.
Disney shares lost 3.6% Tuesday.
FedEx
FedEx mailed in an earnings beat for the latest quarter.
The shipping giant posted better-than-expected quarterly profit, despite a drop in revenue, and raised its full-year profit outlook.
Extensive cost-cutting efforts helped its bottom line amid a slowdown in demand. The slump, which follows a pandemic-era spike in shipping services, has increased competition between large parcel carriers.
Ahead of the coming holidays, executives said that the shipping industry will likely see a muted peak season this year.
FedEx shares rose 4.5% Thursday.
Splunk
Cisco and Splunk are combining forces to create a software giant amid an AI arms race.
Networking giant Cisco agreed to buy the security-software company for $28 billion -- its largest-ever acquisition -- as Cisco looks to tap further into generative artificial intelligence.
The combination would expand Cisco's software portfolio, produce more recurring revenue, and enable the company to provide its customers with AI and other tools, the firm said. The deal is expected to close by the end of September 2024.
Cisco previously tried to acquire Splunk for more than $20 billion, the Journal reported last year.
Splunk shares rose 21% Thursday, while Cisco shares fell 3.9%.
Big numbers:
-- Cisco will pay $157 a share in cash for Splunk, a 31% premium to
Wednesday's closing price of $119.59.
-- $28 billion: the deal to acquire Splunk
Fox Corp.
Rupert Murdoch is stepping away from his media empire.
Murdoch, 92 years old, announced Thursday that he is leaving his executive chairman post at News Corp and Fox. News Corp is the owner of Dow Jones & Co., the publisher of The Wall Street Journal.
Murdoch will be appointed chairman emeritus of each company, and his elder son, Lachlan Murdoch, will become sole chair of News Corp and will continue as Fox Corp. executive chair and CEO.
After inheriting a small Australian newspaper business, the controversial tycoon built his empire over seven decades by acquiring or creating iconic brands across publishing, television and film.
Fox shares gained 3% Thursday, while News Corp shares rose 1.3%.
Write to Francesca Fontana at francesca.fontana@wsj.com.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 22, 2023 18:48 ET (22:48 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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