By Francesca Fontana 

Macy's Inc.

It was a painful week for employees of some of America's biggest retailers as tens of thousands of workers learned their paychecks would soon end. Macy's said Monday that it would furlough the majority of its 125,000-person workforce, but would keep paying health benefits and cover 100% of premiums at least through May. Gap Inc. also is furloughing the majority of store workers in the U.S. and Canada, but will continue to pay applicable benefits until stores reopen. Macy's shares fell 2.9% Monday.

Johnson & Johnson

A Covid-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson could be ready in early 2021. The drugmaker, one of many companies at work on a vaccine for the infectious disease, said Monday that human trials would begin by September at the latest. J&J could get approval under an emergency-use authorization to make the vaccine widely available early next year, and the company said the vaccine, if successful, would be affordable and would be sold on a not-for-profit basis. It would try to scale its global manufacturing capabilities to make more than one billion doses of a Covid-19 vaccine by the end of next year. J&J shares gained 8% Monday.

Walmart Inc.

The country's largest private employer is taking steps to limit workers' exposure to coronavirus. Walmart said Tuesday that it will start taking temperatures of U.S. store workers at the start of each shift and will offer masks for employees who wish to wear them. Workers with a temperature of 100 degrees or higher will be sent home with pay and will be unable to return until fever-free for three days. Walmart has also been closing its U.S. locations overnight to allow for cleaning, installing sneeze guards at registers and promoting social distancing with signs. Walmart shares lost 1.4% Tuesday.

Amazon.com Inc.

The country's escalating public-health crisis has tested America's e-commerce giant. As Amazon has struggled to meet high volumes of orders, the strain showed in shortages, delays and worker unrest, including some walkouts, no-shows and Covid-related sickness. At times Amazon has had to operate warehouses with half the typical number of workers, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. Amazon said Thursday that it has filled 80,000 jobs in the span of a few weeks and announced a raft of worker protections. Meanwhile, the coronavirus crisis is strengthening some of its other businesses, as companies rely on Amazon Web Services as employees work remotely and customers stream content on Amazon Prime. Amazon shares fell 0.7% Tuesday.

Whiting Petroleum Corp.

U.S. shale driller Whiting Petroleum filed for bankruptcy protection Wednesday, becoming the first sizable fracking company to succumb to the crash in oil prices. The coronavirus pandemic has sapped oil demand at the same time Saudi Arabia is pressing a price war against Russia. Meanwhile, many U.S. oil drillers face pressure to meet hefty debt obligations they took out from banks and bondholders to make America into the world's largest oil-and-gas producer. A number of oil-and-gas companies have either warned they may not stay current on their debts or hired restructuring advisers to negotiate with creditors. Whiting shares plummeted 45% Wednesday.

3M Co.

3M said it can't make N95 masks fast enough to keep up with requests for the protective gear. Its chief executive told The Wall Street Journal that demand "exceeds our production capacity," despite doubling production in recent months. The company also faces new pressure from President Trump, who on Thursday invoked the Defense Production Act and required 3M to prioritize respirator orders from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 3M said it would work with the U.S. on those orders but said it had refused a Trump administration request to stop exporting some of its U.S.-made masks to Canada and Latin America. 3M shares lost 3% Friday.

Alphabet Inc.

Alphabet's Google is your new social-distancing monitor. The search giant said it would help public-health officials use its vast storage of data to track people's movements amid the coronavirus pandemic. The initiative, introduced by the company late Thursday, uses a portion of the information it has collected on users, including through Google Maps, to create reports on the degree to which locales are abiding by social-distancing measures. The "mobility reports" will be posted publicly and show, for instance, whether particular localities, states or countries are seeing more or less people flow into shops, grocery stores, pharmacies and parks. Alphabet shares fell 2.2% Friday.

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 03, 2020 18:34 ET (22:34 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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