By Francesca Fontana
The Score is a weekly review of the biggest stock moves and the news that drove them.
U.S. Steel
The White House is moving to block the pending sale of U.S. Steel.
President Biden is poised to block the $14.1 billion takeover by Japan's Nippon Steel using his executive powers, The Wall Street Journal reported. Biden earlier this year said that the steelmaker should remain domestically owned and operated.
U.S. Steel Chief Executive David Burritt on Wednesday told the Journal that the company would close steel mills and potentially move its headquarters if the planned sale collapsed.
Rival steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs on Thursday came out in support of blocking the acquisition and said it would be open to acquiring assets from its competitor.
U.S. Steel shares plunged 17% Wednesday.
Dollar Tree
Weaker demand is spreading from Family Dollar to Dollar Tree.
The discount retailer, which operates both chains, on Wednesday posted worse-than-expected quarterly results and cut its outlook.
Dollar Tree's namesake stores cater to suburban middle- and higher-income consumers. The company said that households with more than $125,000 in annual income started shifting to "buying for need" from "buying for want."
For the past few quarters, Dollar Tree had seen weak demand from Family Dollar's core lower-income customer base.
The company's lackluster results followed rival Dollar General's disappointing report on Aug. 29, in which Dollar General cited economic strain on its customers.
Dollar Tree shares tumbled 22% Wednesday.
Hormel Foods
Hormel's latest earnings report took a bite out of its stock Wednesday.
The maker of foods including Jennie-O, Spam and Planters reported quarterly sales that missed analysts' expectations and lowered its forecasts.
Hormel said both volumes and prices of whole-bird turkeys fell significantly, and Chief Executive Jim Snee said the company expects whole-bird turkey prices to remain under pressure through the end of the year. Meanwhile, production disruptions at its Suffolk, Va., facility weighed on Planters sales.
Sales growth for other Hormel brands, including Skippy peanut butter and Applegate organic meats, helped offset declines.
Hormel shares fell 6.4% Wednesday.
Frontier Communications
Verizon Communications is reuniting with some of its network infrastructure by buying Frontier.
The telecom giant on Thursday struck a $9.6 billion all-cash deal for fiber-internet provider Frontier. The companies said the purchase was valued at $20 billion including acquired debt. The Journal reported Wednesday that the two were in advanced talks.
Verizon would get back some of the fiber-optic lines it sold to Frontier, which has more than two million connections across 25 states. Verizon sold lines in three markets -- California, Texas and Florida -- to Frontier in 2016 for $10.5 billion.
The purchase would bolster Verizon's fiber network to compete with rivals such as AT&T and T-Mobile.
Frontier shares rocketed 38% higher Wednesday.
JetBlue Airways
JetBlue is flying higher after its third-quarter guidance boost.
The airline bumped up its capacity and revenue outlook, crediting favorable fuel prices and strength in its July bookings as tech outages caused cancellations for other carriers.
JetBlue said revenue and in-month bookings in the current quarter also improved, thanks in part to the windfall from other airlines' disruptions.
Still, air carriers face a slowdown in travel demand as consumers cut back on spending, and executives told the Journal they would discount fares to fill domestic flights and curtail fall flying capacity.
JetBlue shares gained 7.2% Thursday.
Broadcom
Broadcom's disappointing sales outlook added to the market's AI jitters.
The chip maker on Thursday posted its quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue expectations. However, Broadcom gave revenue guidance that fell short of analysts' expectations, sending the stock lower.
Semiconductor stocks, like artificial-intelligence darling Nvidia, had a volatile week, as investors weigh the durability of the AI craze. On Tuesday, Nvidia shares dropped 9.5% and erased $278.9 billion of market value, the biggest one-day market cap decline on record for any U.S. company, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
Broadcom shares lost 10% Friday.
Our weekly markets news roundup is now part of the WSJ's What's News podcast. Host Francesca Fontana discusses the biggest stock moves of the week and the news that drove them. Check it out at wsj.com/podcasts or wherever you listen.
Write to Francesca Fontana at francesca.fontana@wsj.com.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 06, 2024 17:00 ET (21:00 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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