PLC
European energy giants are pulling the plug on Russian oil. Shell and
PLC said Tuesday they would withdraw in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Shell also apologized for snapping up a cargo of Russian crude at a bargain after other players curtailed their purchases. The two made the moves ahead of President Biden’s ban of Russian oil and natural gas imports. American depositary shares of Shell rose 2.7% Tuesday.
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.
Ryan Cohen
wants to clean house at Bed Bath & Beyond. The billionaire co-founder of online pet-supply store
Chewy Inc.,
disclosed a 9.8% stake in the housewares retailer and is pushing it to streamline its strategy. Mr. Cohen urges the company to narrow the focus of its turnaround plan and maintain the right inventory mix to meet demand, and explore a separation of the Buybuy Baby chain or a sale of the entire company. Mr. Cohen’s purchase is reminiscent of his move to amass a position in
and lay the groundwork to take over the company’s board. Mr. Cohen now serves as chairman of the videogame retailer. Bed Bath & Beyond soared 34% Monday.
Occidental Petroleum Corp.
Carl
slipped out of his big bet on Occidental Petroleum. The activist investor sold the last of what was once a roughly 10% stake in the oil-and-gas producer as its shares surge. In a letter sent to the company’s board on March 6, the activist investor says his two remaining board representatives are also resigning. The move brings to a close one of Mr. Icahn’s most dramatic recent clashes, which began when he criticized Occidental for outbidding larger rival
Chevron Corp.
to strike a $38 billion deal to buy Anadarko Petroleum Corp. in May 2019. He also took issue with the $10 billion of financing from
Warren Buffett
that Occidental relied on to pay for the deal. Occidental shares fell 1.4% Monday.
Mandiant Inc.
Google is reaching for the cloud. The
Alphabet Inc.
unit said it reached a deal to acquire cybersecurity company Mandiant for nearly $5.4 billion, the second-largest in Google’s history. The tech giant aims to bolster its cloud unit, which is smaller than key rivals, with more cybersecurity offerings while businesses recover from a wave of attacks on their systems. The deal puts Google into more direct competition with
Microsoft Corp.
, which operates its own security-incident response business, and comes as the company faces antitrust lawsuits from the Justice Department and multiple states for allegedly anticompetitive practices. Mandiant shares fell 2% Tuesday after gaining 16% Monday.
Uber Technologies Inc.
Uber wants to hit the brakes on unionization efforts. Uber,
Lyft Inc.
and other companies that use independent contractors as drivers are launching a campaign to head off Democratic efforts to classify their workers as employees, which would let many of them unionize. The companies, which also include
DoorDash Inc.
and Grubhub Inc., plan to run TV and internet ads in the Washington, D.C., area featuring workers who say they prefer the flexibility of the independent-contractor model over that of a company employee. Labor unions say that Uber and other gig-economy companies exploit their workers by not giving them enough hours on the job to qualify for healthcare and other benefits. Uber shares rose 7.6% Tuesday.
Campbell Soup Co.
Sales cooled for Campbell. The company behind namesake soups and snacks like Goldfish crackers and SpaghettiOs on Wednesday posted lower quarterly sales as labor and supply constraints weighed on operations and profitability. Now the company faces surging costs tied to ingredients, packaging, logistics and labor. Campbell said supply-chain challenges and labor shortages hit its snack and meals-and-beverages segments. But the food company said it is seeing the labor market improve and expects its price increases to better mitigate inflation. The company reiterated its fiscal 2022 guidance, with Chief Executive
Mark Clouse
saying that demand remains strong. Campbell shares added 0.8% Wednesday.
Peloton Interactive Inc.
Peloton will take a new pricing strategy for a spin. The company on Thursday said it will start a new pricing system in which customers pay a single monthly fee that covers both the namesake stationary bike and a monthly subscription to workout courses. Peloton’s new chief executive,
Barry McCarthy,
is looking to overhaul the stationary-bike maker’s pricing strategy in a bid to turn around the company. Starting Friday, select Peloton stores in Texas, Florida, Minnesota and Denver will for a limited period offer a bike and subscription for between $60 and $100 a month; and if a customer cancels the company would take back the bike with no charge. Peloton shares lost 3.5% Thursday.
Write to Francesca Fontana at francesca.fontana@wsj.com
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