TRIVIA

Last week was one to forget for the U.S. retail sector. Supply chain issues and rising costs impacted sales and earnings at major companies in the sector, such as GAP, Best Buy, and Nordstrom, whose results fell well short of market expectations.

How much market capitalization did these companies lose during this "black week"?

A) US$1,000 million

B) US$5,000 million

C) US$10,000 million

D) US$15,000 million

ANSWER

C) The market capitalization of these companies is about US$10,000 million. Best Buy alone lost US$5,200 million after reporting lower-than-expected margins. Not all companies in the sector fared poorly, however; firms such as Guess and Dollar Tree Inc. reported better-than-expected results and saw significant gains in their stock prices. Now, a sign of the times: Dollar Tree raised the standard price of its products from US$1 to US$1.25, which helped its bottom line but sparked an outcry on social media against the retailer.