Markets Movers of The Week Rivian Alibaba And More Stocks

Market Movers: Rivian Joins Tesla Supercharger Network, Alibaba’s Leadership Shift, FedEx Cost-Cutting, Amazon Faces Lawsuit, Darden Restaurants’ Challenging Quarter, Overstock.com’s Bid Success

Rivian, a rising player in the electric vehicle market, has made a significant move by partnering with Tesla’s Supercharger network. In an announcement on Tuesday, the startup revealed a deal that allows its drivers to access Tesla’s fast-charging infrastructure.

This agreement follows similar arrangements recently established between Tesla and automotive rivals Ford Motor and General Motors. Starting in 2024, Rivian drivers will have access to over 12,000 Tesla Superchargers across the United States and Canada. This collaboration adds a new dynamic to the EV charging landscape as automakers rapidly adopt Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS), creating a more interconnected network. Consequently, Rivian’s shares rose by 5.5% on Tuesday, while Tesla’s shares gained 5.3%.

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In another notable development, Alibaba Group announced a leadership transition, appointing co-founder and Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai as chairman, replacing Daniel Zhang. Eddie Wu, another co-founder, will assume the role of CEO. With Tsai’s close relationship to fellow co-founder Jack Ma, he is poised to advance Alibaba’s plans for reorganization and reviving its e-commerce business. The changes will become effective on September 10. As a result of this news, American depositary shares of Alibaba experienced a 4.5% decline on Tuesday.

FedEx, seeking to counter weaker demand, aims to implement cost-cutting measures. The delivery giant reported its third consecutive quarterly revenue drop, prompting executives to implement a plan to reduce costs by approximately $4 billion over the next two years. This plan includes consolidating the Express and Ground networks, reducing flight hours, parking aircraft, and implementing higher shipping rates. FedEx foresees ongoing weaker demand after experiencing a surge in e-commerce orders due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, FedEx shares declined by 2.5% on Wednesday.

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Amazon finds itself facing legal action as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sues the e-commerce giant over alleged manipulative tactics related to enrolling users in its Prime subscription service. The FTC filed a complaint in federal court, claiming that Amazon knowingly misled millions of consumers into unwittingly subscribing to Amazon Prime and made canceling subscriptions challenging. Amazon Prime offers various benefits, including free two-day shipping, music, and video streaming, and boasts over 200 million paid members worldwide. In response to the lawsuit, Amazon shares experienced a slight decrease of 0.8% on Wednesday.

Other Market Movers:

Darden Restaurants, the parent company of Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, faced a challenging quarter in the fine dining segment. While reporting better-than-expected quarterly profit, Darden fell short of expectations with its guidance. CEO Rick Cardenas revealed that diners at higher-end steakhouses spent less on alcohol during the latest quarter.

Additionally, Darden recently acquired Ruth’s Chris Steak House for $715 million on June 14. The company also announced that Chairman and former CEO Eugene I. Lee Jr. plans to retire. As a result, Darden shares declined by 2.6% on Thursday.

Overstock.com experienced a significant boost in its shares after successfully bidding on Bed Bath & Beyond’s assets. The $21.5 million bid includes various assets such as intellectual property, business data, and the mobile platform of the bankrupt retailer. Overstock.com’s interest in Bed Bath & Beyond had been previously reported.

After struggling with losses and financial constraints, Bed Bath & Beyond filed for bankruptcy in April and attempted to mitigate losses by closing numerous stores. Following the successful bid, Overstock.com shares surged by 17% on Thursday