Topic: How To Invest

Stock Pickers Digest Hotline – Friday, June 16, 2017

Article Excerpt

AMAZON.COM INC., $987.71, symbol AMZN on Nasdaq, is buying organic grocery chain Whole Foods (symbol WFM on New York) for $13.7 billion in cash. Whole Foods stores will continue operating under that name as a separate unit of Amazon.com. Whole Foods’ CEO John Mackey will stay on to lead that company, which will keep its headquarters in Austin, Texas. Whole Foods has more than 460 stores in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. In 2016, it had sales of roughly $16 billion. Whole Foods has been under pressure from activist investor Jana Partners, which had called on the retailer to sell itself. Jana had criticized Whole Foods for its poor performance. The purchase illustrates Amazon’s growing interest in groceries. The company already has its own delivery service, AmazonFresh, and it continues to experiment with a “click and collect” model. That lets customers buy groceries online, then pick them up in person. Whole Foods is a good fit with the company’s overall plans. Amazon will likely…