WSJ What’s News - What’s News in Markets: Lunar Shot, Garden Delivery, Big Movers

Episode Date: September 21, 2024

Space exploration company Intuitive Machines got a big NASA contract, so did its stock go to the moon? And what did investors think of getting Olive Garden delivered? Plus, why did FedEx and Nike shares go in opposite directions? Host Francesca Fontana discusses the biggest stock moves of the week and the news that drove them. Sign up for the WSJ's free Markets A.M. newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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It's Saturday, September 21st. I'm Francesca Fontana for the Wall Street Journal, and this is What's News in Markets, our look at the biggest stock moves of the week and the news that drove them. Let's get to it. Great cut, Great cut. Great cut. Great cut. Because we are very cool, that is what a few of my friends and I were chanting at each other going into this week. Because after waiting and waiting since the start of the year, markets finally got an

interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday. Traders pretty much knew a cut was coming, but what was surprising to some was the size. Many were expecting a quarter percentage point, 25 basis points. But nope, we got 50, a whole half percentage point. For all the excitement, the stock market didn't explode into a rally Wednesday afternoon. But the next day we saw the exuberance we'd expected, which pushed the S&P 500 to its first record high since mid-July, and the Dow closed above 42,000 points for the first time. So the party started a little late, and it ended a little early.

Markets sobered up Friday with the major indexes ending mixed, but they still managed to notch weekly gains. One stock that really shot for the moon this week was Intuitive Machines. That's the space exploration company that landed a vehicle on the moon earlier this year, you know, bringing the US back to the moon for the first time in 50 years. I guess the pun lands better with that context, especially if you also note that the stock's ticker is lunar. L-U-N-R. I love it. On Tuesday, Intuitive announced that it was awarded a NASA contract worth up to $4.8 billion to provide communication and navigation services for the Artemis campaign, aimed at establishing a long-term U.S. presence on the

moon. I find this so interesting because we're seeing more and more of this privatization of typically state-run endeavors, like in space exploration, with Intuitive and SpaceX. In any case, on Wednesday Intuitive shares rocketed nearly 40% higher. Thursday it had another bonkers day gaining 24%. And all said and done, the stock logged a weekly gain of about 50%. Yes, five-zero. You guys might remember Olive Garden's classic slogan, when you're here, you're family. Well now you can be anywhere, thanks to a new delivery deal with Uber.

The sit-down chain's parent company, Darden Restaurants, announced this new deal on Thursday. Basically, starting with select Olive Garden locations later this year, you'll be able to order your pasta and breadsticks through the Olive Garden app and have it delivered by Uber's network of drivers. I know you all know how food delivery works, and you might be thinking, yeah, tons of restaurant chains have been delivering this whole time, especially since the pandemic, what's the big deal? Well, Darden's been a notable, long-standing holdout here, refusing to allow third-party companies to deliver its food on a large scale because it says it erodes profit and sullies the guest experience. At

least until now. Darden Chairs served up a gain of more than 8% Thursday and finished with a weekly gain of about 6%. Finally, on Friday, we had two big movers, one loser, one winner, FedEx and Nike. FedEx delivered an outlook cut in its latest quarterly report that traders weren't too enthused about. The package shipping giant also posted lower quarterly profit and revenue, as weaker-than-expected demand, particularly in the U.S. domestic package market, dragged down its results. All that dragged down its stock price, too. FedEx shares plummeted 15%

Friday. On the flip side, Nike got a big boost on news that chief executive John Donahoe is stepping down, capping his rocky tenure that caused the company to lose ground to competitors. So during COVID, Donahoe shifted Nike's focus to selling directly to consumers and cut ties with longtime retail partners like Footlocker and Macy's. The strategy backfired when the e-commerce boom faded and shopping in-person returned. Coming in to replace Donahoe will be former Nike exec Elliot Hill, who will take over as president and CEO starting October 14.

Nike shares gained nearly 7% Friday. And now you know what's news in markets this week. You can read about more stocks that moved on the week's news in The Score, my column in the Wall Street Journal's Exchange section. Today's show is produced by Pierre Bianamay and Anthony Banty, with supervising producer Michael Kosmides. I'm Francesca Fontana. Have a great weekend, and see you next Saturday.