This week the WWE performs its finishing move on Wall Street, Tesla and Snap struggle to impress the market and Alphabet’s robo-taxi means no more small talk with your Uber driver. These are the five big stories from the week that was.
1. Finishing move
World Wrestling Entertainment is defying market trends this year, with shares up more than 50% this year. The S&P 500, by comparison, is down more than 20% this year.
WWE’s uptick comes as live wrestling events returned after months of Covid restrictions with industry insiders even believing the company is an acquisition target.
2. Snapped
Snap shares plunged more than 25% in after-hours trading after reporting its slowest quarterly sales growth ever, attributed to a drop in marketer spend.
The social media company spent the quarter refocusing its business, announcing a 20% cut to its workforce. Snapchat shares are down 77% this year.
3. Tough to please
Tesla reported a near-record quarterly profit and posted quarterly revenue of $21.5 billion, its highest ever, but fell short and missed analysts’ expectations.
The EV company cut its 2022 vehicle-delivery target, citing changes to the way it distributes its vehicles. Tesla shares fell 6% on the news.
4. No small talk
Waymo, Alphabet’s driverless-vehicle unit, will launch its self-driving ride-hailing service in Los Angeles.
The robo-taxi offering will begin with a safety driver behind the wheel and only be available to employees initially. The company declined to offer an official timeline for a public launch.
5. Don’t watch without me
Netflix shares rocketed more than 15% this week as the streaming giant added 2.41 million subscribers for the quarter, more than double what was expected.
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