Catch up on the weekend’s top five stories with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Disney (DIS) will partially reopen its Disney Springs entertainment and shopping complex at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida on May 20, according to Reuters. Disney and unions representing workers at Florida’s Walt Disney World reached an agreement on safeguards to protect employees from the coronavirus, removing one of the company’s hurdles to reopening its popular theme parks, the publication noted. 2. Tesla (TSLA) told employees that a California county health official has now signed off on safety measures the company took last week at its car plant as it restarted production in defiance of the area’s shutdown order, Bloomberg’s Josh Eidelson reported. The Alameda County health officer’s approval means Tesla has local support to resume full production starting this week, Laurie Shelby, the company’s environmental, health, and safety vice president, wrote in an email to staff that was viewed by Bloomberg News. 3. Over the coming year, news of steps toward a COVID-19 vaccine will move markets, perhaps even more than its rational, but for now, it is too early for investors to pick winners and losers among the programs, Josh Nathan-Kazis wrote in this week’s edition of Barron’s. Nonetheless, a vaccine race does offer an opportunity for investors to make a call on the future of the global vaccine business, the author contended, noting that for an established company like Pfizer (PFE), which has spent the past few years rebuilding its research and development operation, it would be the strongest possible proof that its strategy is working. For Moderna (MRNA), it would help validate the company’s long list of experimental products, all of which rely on the same relatively unproven technology as its COVID-19 vaccine, the publication pointed out. There are, however, serious risks, with shares of smaller biotechs like Moderna, Novavax (NVAX), and Inovio Pharmaceuticals (INO) surging on enthusiasm for their COVID-19 vaccine programs, despite the companies having no marketed products. Those stocks face steep drops if their COVID-19 vaccines fall through, Nathan-Kazis added. 4. Amazon (AMZN) said it plans to begin reopening its warehouses in France next week, after resolving a dispute over working conditions with workers’ unions, The Wall Street Journal’s Sam Schechner reported. The deal, under which Amazon’s six French warehouses will reopen progressively beginning on May 19, brings a close to a dispute that has slowed Amazon’s business and fueled disputes in France, the U.S. and elsewhere over whether it is doing enough to protect the safety of workers during the coronavirus pandemic, the author added. 5. Nokia (NOK), Ericsson (ERIC), Samsung (SSNLF), ZTE (ZTCOY), Cisco (CSCO), Juniper Networks (JNPR), Ciena (CIEN), Corning (GLW), American Tower (AMT), Crown Castle (CCI), SBA Communications (SBAC) ViacomCBS (VIAC), Verizon (VZ), Procter & Gamble (PG), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Comcast (CMCSA), Merck (MRK), McDonald’s (MCD), PepsiCo (PEP), and Medtronic (MDT) saw positive mentions in this week’s edition of Barron’s, while Wayfair (W) was mentioned cautiously.
previous post