Walmart pulls its ads on X platform
Walmart Inc. said Friday that it is no longer advertising on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Walmart joins a host of major companies that have pulled their advertising dollars from the social media platform since X owner Elon Musk re-posted an antisemitic tweet last month and more recently disparaged those advertisers at a New York Times event.
In its statements to the media, the Bentonville-based retailer is not citing Musk's comments as the reason it's no longer advertising on the platform.
Walmart has reportedly said only that "we've found some other platforms better reach our customers."
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
Still, Walmart joins other major advertisers such as Apple, Coca-Cola, Comcast, the European Commission, the Walt Disney Co., IBM, Sony and the U.K. government that left X because of Musk's tweet and other objectionable content.
Walmart's move provoked a backlash of negative, often expletive-laden, comments on X, with some calling it hypocritical and "borderline disgusting."
-- Serenah McKay
Car-Mart to acquire Hot Springs business
Rogers-based America's Car-Mart has made a deal to acquire Central Auto Sales in Hot Springs, the company said Friday.
The deal to acquire the dealership assets of Allied Union Group, which does business as Central Auto Sales, is expected to close at the end of December.
"This transaction is consistent with our strategy to grow the business through acquisitions, delivering exceptional returns for our shareholders while providing exit opportunities for owner-operators and offering future growth prospects for their associates," Douglas Campbell, Car-Mart's chief executive officer, said in a statement.
Central Auto Sales was founded in Hot Springs in 1996.
"Selling our business was a difficult decision, and we have turned down several offers in the past. When America's Car-Mart approached us, we were intrigued by the synergies and similarities between our companies, and we knew it was the right fit," Stacey Steven-Assheuer said in a statement.
Car-Mart is expected to report its second-quarter earnings results on Tuesday before the market opens. Shares of Car-Mart closed at $75.47, down $4.40, or about 5%, in trading Friday on the Nasdaq. Shares have traded as low as $62.05 and as high as $127.96 over the past year.
-- John Magsam
State index finishes 16.63 points higher
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, closed Friday at 895.78, up 16.63 points.
Bank OZK shares rose 5.4% and Simmons First National Corp. shares rose 4.8%.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.