HP

While HP’s sales held steady last year, its profits plunged 41%. The company's biggest highlight in recent months was its successful defense against a hostile takeover bid by copy-machine giant Xerox, initiated in the fall. Xerox executives pitched the deal as a way to create a printing powerhouse while opening up the door to cost-cutting. HP, on the other hand, claimed that the deal would be bad for investors and that the PC-and-printing giant would be better off operating alone, considering that people are buying fewer printers and computers these days. Ultimately, the coronavirus and its impact on the economy forced Xerox to call off its takeover bid.