Are stablecoins a risk to bank deposits?
Investing.com -- The risk environment took a turn on Friday after Israel carried out a large‑scale airstrike on Iran, sending equities lower and commodities such as gold and oil higher.
Here are Investing.com’s stocks of the week.
Visa (NYSE:V), Mastercard (NYSE:MA)
Both Visa and Mastercard shares took a tumble on Friday, down around 5% (at the time of writing) after a Wall Street Journal report revealed major retailers are exploring stablecoin options to bypass traditional card payment fees.
The report states that retail giants, including Walmart (NYSE:WMT) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), have recently assessed issuing their own stablecoins in the U.S. Expedia (NASDAQ:EXPE) and several major airlines are also said to have engaged in similar discussions.
“While we acknowledge a path to cutting out network fees, this is akin to pay by bank/account-to-account (A2A) initiatives, which have seen limited consumer adoption,” said TD Cowen analysts in a note reacting to the news.
“Ultimately, we see little NT risk for V / MA given consumer behavior precedents around convenience & scaled investment that allows them to adapt to an ever-evolving payments ecosystem.”
Visa has declined over 6% in the past week, while MasterCard has fallen over 4%.
Oracle (NYSE:ORCL)
Oracle shares surged on both Thursday and Friday (despite the risk-off environment) after the company reported impressive quarterly earnings, topping consensus expectations.
The stock has risen more than 23% in the last week.
Following the report, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Oracle to Outperform from Market Perform, raising its target price for the stock to $235 per share.
BMO highlighted that Oracle’s remaining performance obligations rose 41% year-on-year to $138 billion, above consensus, and that the company expects RPO to double in fiscal 2026. The firm also pointed to a pickup in Oracle’s cloud database and software-as-a-service growth.
Boeing (NYSE:BA), GE Aerospace
Both Boeing and GE Aerospace shares fell this week after an Air India plane flying to London crashed in Ahmedabad in western India shortly after take-off on Thursday.
Citing local police, the Financial Times reported that the plane crashed "within 10 minutes" of take-off from the airport in Ahmedabad.
The plane was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. GE Aerospace’s GEnx-1B engines were said to have powered the 787 Dreamliner.
Boeing shares are down around 4.7% this week, while GE Aerospace has declined about 7.5%.
GameStop (NYSE:GME)
GameStop shares have tumbled more than 23% in the last week after a significant fall on Thursday on the back of news that it plans to offer convertible notes.
The company announced a $1.75 billion private offering of 0.00% convertible senior notes due in 2032.
The notes will be unsecured and will not bear interest or accrete in principal, with conversion terms, into cash, shares, or a mix of both, to be finalized at pricing. GameStop also granted initial buyers a 13-day option to purchase an additional $250 million in notes.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)
Tesla also made the list last week after a feud erupted between the electric vehicle giant’s CEO, Elon Musk, and U.S. President Trump.
However, the stock has rebounded this week, up over 12% after the feud cooled following a post on the social media platform X by Musk. The Tesla CEO said he “went too far,”
“I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far," wrote Musk. The U.S. President said he appreciates Elon Musk’s apology.