Here are the stories that caught our eye this week.
YouTube advertising exodus
It wasn’t a good week for YouTube parent Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)(NASDAQ:GOOG) after several high-profile advertisers announced they were pulling their ads from the platform. The reason? Advertisers have become concerned their ads are being played before offensive videos.
Advertisers who dumped YouTube this week included Johnson & Johnson, JP Morgan, and AT&T. Alphabet shares are down nearly 4% on the week.
Sears bankruptcy concerns
Although it came as a surprise to virtually nobody who follows the company closely, Sears Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:SHLD) still made headlines this week when it disclosed to investors “substantial doubt exists related to the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.”
Sears’s CFO immediately tried to downplay the remarks, telling investors the language in the company’s annual report to the SEC was to adhere to regulatory standards. Despite the efforts to backtrack, Sears shares have still shed 6.5% of their value this week.
Beauty and the Beast performance
The live action version of Beauty and the Beast opened last weekend to strong crowds, grossing approximately $175 million in the United States alone during its first weekend. It added $182 million in international sales, putting it well on pace to hit $1 billion in total.
The debut was good enough to be the best March opening in history, and puts the Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) movie on pace to potentially be a top five movie of all time.
This could just be the beginning of a big year for Disney’s movie division, with sequels for Pirates of the Caribbean, Cars, and Star Wars all coming to theatres this year.
