AMZN Amazon.com Inc

By Francesca Fontana 

Walmart Inc.

Walmart hopes to put a smiley face on more than 400,000 of its workers. On Thursday, America's largest private employer promised to raise hourly wages to an average above $15 for its U.S. workers in digital and stocking roles. Its minimum starting wage for those workers remains $11 an hour, while rivals Amazon.com Inc., Target Corp. and Best Buy Co. pay U.S. workers a starting hourly wage of $15. Walmart shares lost 6.5% Thursday.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Goldman Sachs is bringing its investing expertise to the masses. The elite Wall Street firm is set to unveil Marcus Invest, a low-cost digital platform that allocates and automatically rebalances individuals' wealth across portfolios of stocks and bonds based on the models developed by its investment-strategy committee. Goldman has historically targeted wealthy clients with more than $10 million in assets for its wealth-management services, while the account minimum for Marcus Invest customers is just $1,000. The new platform will be tucked into Goldman's existing Marcus consumer-banking app and website, which also offers savings accounts, unsecured personal loans and budgeting software. Goldman Sachs shares gained 1.8% Tuesday.

Marriott International Inc.

The man who built Marriott into a global colossus died Monday. Arne Sorenson was the first person outside the founding family to head the hotel company. A Lutheran missionary's son who was born in Japan and grew up in Minnesota, Mr. Sorenson became CEO of Marriott in 2012 and continued to serve in the role after he was diagnosed with stage 2 pancreatic cancer in May 2019. Marriott prevailed over rival bidders in 2016 with its $13 billion acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., creating a giant with 30 brands including Ritz-Carlton and Sheraton. Marriott shares added 0.7% Tuesday.

Verizon Communications Inc.

Warren Buffett is making a big new bet on the telecommunications industry. The billionaire's conglomerate purchased $8.6 billion in stock in Verizon Communications Inc., the largest U.S. mobile carrier. Berkshire Hathaway also purchased $4.1 billion in the oil company Chevron Corp. The investments show Berkshire's confidence in the long-term value of these traditional U.S. corporations and their respective industries, despite short-term struggles. In 2020, Chevron had its worst year since 2016, and Verizon's fourth-quarter profit fell after it reported higher costs and added fewer new customers than usual. Verizon shares gained 5.2% Wednesday.

Amazon.com Inc.

New York state is taking Amazon to court. State Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against the online retail giant on Tuesday, accusing the company of not doing enough to protect its New York workers from the coronavirus. Ms. James's suit claims that Amazon failed to comply with state cleaning and disinfection requirements at its facilities, nor did it adequately notify employees of infected co-workers. Last week, Amazon sued Ms. James in an attempt to stop New York from taking legal action against the company over its handling of worker safety during the pandemic and the firing of one of its warehouse workers last year. Amazon.com shares rose 1.2% Wednesday.

NXP Semiconductors NV

Chip makers are powering down their Texas factories due to the winter storm. The state has asked semiconductor companies such as NXP Semiconductors and Samsung Electronics Co. to shut down operations in Austin to help conserve energy during the catastrophic weather hitting parts of the South. The conditions left millions of Texans without power for days, and the outages prompted local officials to ask companies to reduce operations to minimize demand on the region's power grid. The factory disruptions come at a critical time for the chip industry, which already faces a shortage due to surging demand during the pandemic. NXP shares fell 2% Thursday.

GameStop Corp.

Lawmakers want answers on what drove the wild rally in GameStop's shares last month. On Thursday, top executives of Robinhood Markets Inc., Reddit Inc. and others faced questions from the House Financial Services Committee about their roles in the saga. The short squeeze, during which a group of online traders helped send shares of the videogame retailer surging before the stock crashed, led to questions about the market's integrity and set off federal probes into possible market manipulation. Robinhood Chief Executive Vlad Tenev used his oral testimony to apologize to customers for suspending GameStop trading during the frenzy, and Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said that activity on his company's social-media platform during last month's trading craze was "well within normal parameters." GameStop shares fell 11% Thursday.

Write to Francesca Fontana at francesca.fontana@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 19, 2021 19:40 ET (00:40 GMT)

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Gráfico Histórico do Ativo
De Mar 2024 até Abr 2024

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Gráfico Histórico do Ativo
De Abr 2023 até Abr 2024