The week is only getting started, and yet, we have already seen a considerable amount of news surface from both the retail and technology sector. Today, we are going to be looking at Walmart, an American retail company, as well as two U.S.-based online media companies: Facebook and Twitter.
The Latest in the Retail and Technology Sector: March 27, 2018.
All three companies, Walmart, Facebook, and Twitter, made headlines today. Despite Walmart’s news being relatively positive, the retail chain moved into red territory on the stock market today, alongside Facebook and Twitter.
Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)
On Tuesday, reports emerged that Walmart will be using Tencent Holdings Limited’s (OTCMKTS:TCEHY) mobile payment system. This is important news for two reasons, in particular. First, using Tencent’s mobile payment system will allow for Walmart to further its attempt at obtaining pole position in China’s rapid-growing payments market. Second, in order to use Tencent’s immensely popular WeChat mobile payment system, Walmart had to announce that it has dropped Alibaba Group Holdings (NYSE:BAB) Alipay in all stores that are located in the western region of the country.
Dropping Alibaba might not seem like a big deal to some. After all, companies drop and pick up different companies all the time. It just depends on the direction that company wants to move in the future. However, Walmart picking up Tencent and dropping Alibaba is a little more complicated. This move is now a perfect example of how the retail market in China is divided into two groups centered around Tencent and Alibaba.
It’s unclear as of right now whether investors are pleased with this move or not, but if I could guess, I would go with the latter. Right now, Walmart is trading at $86.95, which places the stock down $0.55, or 0.63%.
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB)
The world is still wrapping its mind around the latest Facebook scandal, and it is apparent the company is doing everything in its power to save its reputation. However, one could argue that the damage has already been done. Sometimes, things are already too far gone for you to save.
On Tuesday, the Menlo Park, California-based company received a lower price target from BofA Merrill Lynch. Why? In fear of the possibility of a long, drawn-out investigation by the FTC, as well as a fear of usage erosion. This caused the stock to fall 1.6% at one point during the pre-market trade.
As of this writing, Facebook is trading at $155.83 on the Nasdaq Exchange. This puts the FB stock down $4.23, or 2.65%.
Twitter (NYSE:TWTR)
Twitter might be getting the brunt of Facebook’s mistakes. On Tuesday, short sellers at Citron Research announced that it had bet against the Twitter stock. Why? Reportedly, the authors believe that the portion of San Francisco, California-based company’s business that is data licensing seems rather conspicuous in light of Facebook’s recent problems. Citron then went on to tweet that out of all the social media companies in the U.S., Twitter is the “most vulnerable to privacy regulation.”
After the news broke, Twitter’s stock moved into the red zone. Currently, Twitter is trading at $29.13 on the New York Stock Exchange. This puts the TWTR stock down $2.78 or 8.71%.
On the upside, at least influential leaders like Elon Musk aren’t ditching Twitter like he has with Facebook, Inc.
The Takeaway
What do you think about this weeks news involving Walmart, Facebook, and Twitter? Voice your comments below!
Featured Image: twitter
