Business Highlights
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As restaurants endure economic losses, others feel pain, too
WASHINGTON (AP) — As the U.S. struggles to rebound from a now-resurgent coronavirus, restaurants seem much less likely to deliver an economic boost. They’ve suffered a heavy blow from lockdowns and occupancy restrictions, and it’s unclear how readily Americans will return en masse to dining out. Millions of restaurant jobs have vanished in the face of lockdowns. The damage extends beyond darkened kitchens and dining rooms to the farms and wineries that supply them and the shopping centers that have increasingly depended on restaurants as anchors to replace the now-vanished stores that couldn’t compete with Amazon and Walmart.
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Tesla makes $104M profit in 2Q despite factory shutdown
PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) — Tesla overcame a seven-week pandemic-related shutdown at its U.S. assembly plant to post a surprise $104 million net profit for the second quarter. It was the company’s fourth-straight positive quarter, qualifying it to be included in the S&P 500 index of corporate titans. Local government restrictions forced the electric car and solar panel maker to close its only U.S. assembly factory in Fremont, California, from March 23 to May 11. Excluding one-time items such as stock-based compensation, Tesla made $2.18 per share. That beat Wall Street estimates of a break-even quarter, according to FactSet. Revenue was down 4.9% from a year ago to $6.04 billion for the quarter. That still beat estimates of $5.15 billion.
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US sales of existing homes jump 20% after a 3-month slump
BALTIMORE (AP) — Americans stepped up their home purchases in June by a robust 20.7% after the pandemic had caused sales to crater in the prior three months. But the housing market could struggle to rebound further in the face of the resurgent viral outbreak and a shrinking supply of homes for sale. Sales of existing homes rose last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.72 million, the National Association of Realtors said. Despite the sharp monthly gain, purchases are still down 11.3% from a year ago, when homes had sold at an annual pace of 5.32 million.
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Twitter says it’s cracking down on QAnon conspiracy theory
HONG KONG (AP) — Twitter says it will crack down on accounts and content related to QAnon, the far-right U.S. conspiracy theory popular among supporters of President Donald Trump. The company said Wednesday it will ban accounts associated with QAnon content and block sharing of associated URLs. Twitter also said it will stop highlighting and recommending tweets associated with QAnon. The company said it was taking action against online behavior that could lead to offline harm. The QAnon conspiracy theory is centered on the baseless belief that Trump is waging a secret campaign against enemies in the “deep state.” Trump has retweeted QAnon-promoting accounts. Its followers flock to the president’s rallies wearing clothes and hats with QAnon symbols and slogans.
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Outbreak at Iowa pork plant was larger than state reported
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — One of the first coronavirus outbreaks at an Iowa meatpacking plant was more severe than previously known, with over twice as many workers becoming infected than the Iowa Department of Public Health publicly confirmed. The department announced at a May 5 news conference that 221 employees at the Tyson Foods pork processing plant in Columbus Junction had tested positive for COVID-19. But records show that days earlier, Tyson officials told workplace safety regulators that 522 plant employees had tested positive to their knowledge. A dozen of the plant’s roughly 1,300 workers were believed to have been hospitalized by then, and two died after contracting the virus.
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NY Times promotes executive Meredith Kopit Levien to CEO
NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Times Co. has promoted its chief operating officer, Meredith Kopit Levien, to CEO. She starts in the new role on Sept. 8, succeeding Mark Thompson, who has been president and CEO since 2012. Thompson will also step down from the board, which Kopit Levien is joining. She came to the Times in August 2013 as head of advertising from Forbes, and became responsible for the subscription and ad businesses before becoming COO in 2017. Over the past decade, The Times has successfully transformed its business into one increasingly dependent on online subscriptions and less so on ad revenues.
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Stocks close mostly higher after a choppy day of trading
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks closed with solid gains on Wall Street Wednesday but only after a choppy day of trading that pulled indexes temporarily into the red. The S&P 500 rose 0.6%. The bumpy day came as investors sized up a mix of company earnings and another flare-up in tensions between Washington and Beijing. The U.S. ordered China to close its consulate in Houston, and China said it would retaliate. United Airlines sank after its revenue plunged 87% as the coronavirus throttled air travel. Pfizer rose after the government ordered the first 100 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine the company is developing.
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The S&P 500 gained 18.72 points, or 0.6%, to 3,276.02. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 165.44 points, or 0.6%, to 27,005.84. The Nasdaq added 25.76 points, or 0.2%, to 10,706.13. The Russell 2000 index of small company stocks picked up 2.63 points, or 0.2%, to 1,490.14.