By Francesca Fontana
The Score is a weekly review of the biggest stock moves and the news that drove them.
Boeing
A passenger plane in South Korea crashed on Dec. 29, killing nearly all of the 181 people on board, in one of the deadliest aviation disasters in recent years.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said it was leading a team of American investigators -- including representatives from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing -- to assist South Korea's officials in their probe.
The Boeing 737-800 suffered an apparent bird strike as it approached Muan International Airport, attempted to land at a high rate of speed without its landing gear down, slid off the runway and slammed into a concrete barrier.
Boeing shares lost 2.3% Monday.
Tesla
Tesla kicked off 2025 with disappointing news about its 2024 performance.
The electric-car maker's annual vehicle deliveries fell in 2024 for the first time in more than a decade. The company, helmed by billionaire Elon Musk, sold a record number of cars in the fourth quarter, but the final quarterly tally still missed analysts' expectations and fell short of the roughly 515,000 vehicles it needed to sell in the fourth quarter for Tesla to top its 2023 performance on a full-year basis.
For all of 2024, Tesla delivered 1.79 million vehicles worldwide, down about 1% from a year earlier.
Chinese rival BYD has been gaining on Tesla in recent years and continued to close the gap in 2024. BYD reported earlier in the week that its electric-car sales grew 12% last year to about 1.76 million globally.
Tesla shares dropped 6.1% Thursday.
Big Lots
Big Lots is keeping its lights on.
The discount retailer, which filed for bankruptcy in September, said that it reached an agreement with Gordon Brothers Retail Partners that would keep hundreds of stores open and save thousands of jobs.
Big Lots said the transaction will enable the transfer of assets to other retailers and companies. Variety Wholesalers intends to buy between 200 and 400 Big Lots stores and use the Big Lots brand for them. It also plans to purchase up to two distribution centers
When it filed for bankruptcy, Big Lots said it was hurt by macroeconomic factors including inflation, as its core customers pulled back on discretionary spending on home and seasonal products.
Big Lots shares surged 208% on Monday.
Unity Software
Could Roaring Kitty be backing the new buzzy stock on Wall Street?
That's one online theory to explain investor's sudden interest in Unity, the maker of videogame-creation tools with a market value of around $9 billion.
Roaring Kitty, or Keith Gill, is an investor who shot to fame in 2021 by betting on videogame chain and meme-stock sensation GameStop.
Late Wednesday, Roaring Kitty's X account posted a GIF taken from a sketch in which the comedian Dave Chappelle plays the singer Rick James, wearing a ring bearing the title of a James song: "Unity." Followers and fans quickly tried to decode the post, suggesting it might relate to GameStop, or to Unity Software.
Unity Software rose 9.1% Thursday.
U.S. Steel
President Biden kept his pledge to keep U.S. Steel domestically owned.
Biden on Friday blocked the $14.1 billion sale of the nation's third-largest steelmaker to Japan's Nippon Steel, after a monthslong review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.
The decision is a victory for the United Steelworkers union, whose leaders have opposed the deal, and clouds the future of U.S. Steel. Executives have said they might close plants and shift production to lower-cost facilities if the sale didn't go through.
Nippon Steel -- the world's fourth-largest steelmaker -- had pursued U.S. Steel as a way to enter the American market, where tariffs have helped keep prices higher.
U.S. Steel shares dropped 6.5% Friday.
Anheuser-Busch InBev
The U.S. surgeon general called for cancer warnings on alcoholic beverages, spooking investors.
In his advisory issued Friday, Dr. Vivek Murthy said the drinks should carry warnings to increase awareness that alcohol consumption is the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the U.S., after tobacco and obesity.
The recommendation to change the existing warning labels -- which would require an act of Congress -- follows a yearslong debate within the health and scientific community about how much consumption is safe for adults.
Americans are drinking less alcohol due to health concerns and changing tastes, which alcohol companies say has dented their revenue streams.
American depositary receipts of AB InBev declined 2.2% 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 out What's News in Markets at wsj.com/podcasts or wherever you listen.
Write to Francesca Fontana at francesca.fontana@wsj.com.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 03, 2025 16:16 ET (21:16 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Comments