Business Highlights

By The Associated Press

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Restaurants, delivery apps still at odds as demand grows

NEW YORK (AP) — Diners got used to delivery during the pandemic, and the habit may stick long after dining rooms reopen. But restaurants and delivery companies remain uneasy partners, haggling over fees and struggling to make the service profitable for themselves and each other. Companies like DoorDash and UberEats helped many restaurants stay in business during lockdowns throughout the pandemic. But it also came at a price. The companies could charge commission fees of 30% or more per order, hurting restaurants’ already meagre profits. Some restaurants, fed up with the fees, have since started their own delivery or dropped off the platforms altogether. Delivery companies are trying to keep them in the fold with lower-priced services and relief funds. But they’re not making money either.

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Dogecoin has its day; cryptocurrency is latest ‘meme’ craze

NEW YORK (AP) — Dogecoin has had its day. After fans of the cryptocurrency touted April 20, long an unofficial holiday for marijuana devotees, as “Doge Day,” Dogecoin failed to come close to the $1 target that supporters hoped to reach. That would have been an astonishing ascent from the roughly half of a cent that a Dogecoin was fetching at the start of the year. Dogecoin traded around 33 cents Tuesday afternoon. Supporters are trying to help Dogecoin shed its image as a joke cryptocurrency. But critics say people buying Dogecoin now are likely setting themselves up for pain.

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Apple unveils new products, schedules privacy crackdown

SAN RAMON, Calif. (AP) — Apple is sprucing up its own product line as it prepares next week’s rollout of a long-awaited software update could hurt other companies by preventing apps from tracking the online activities and whereabouts of iPhone users. The timing of the free software upgrade to the iPhone trickled out during a series of announcements that Apple made Tuesday during a pre-recorded event. Apple revealed in a footnote that an software update called iOS. 14.5 will come out next week after a seven-month delay. It will include a privacy tool that will make it more difficult for apps to collect personal information to help sell ads.

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Stocks close lower on Wall Street, led by tech and banks

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks closed lower on Wall Street, led by drops in technology companies and banks. The S&P 500 gave back 0.7%, pulling the index further below the record high it set on Friday. Small-company stocks, which have been beating the rest of the market in recent months, fell more than other sectors. Investors are focusing on company earnings reports that are steadily coming out this week. On average, analysts expect profits across the S&P 500 to be up 24% from a year earlier, according to FactSet. Kansas City Southern rose after another Canadian railway company made an offer for the railroad.

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Netflix’s subscriber growth, stock zapped as pandemic eases

SAN RAMON, Calif. (AP) — Netflix’s rapid subscriber growth is slowing far faster than anticipated as people who have been cooped at home during the pandemic are able to get out and do other things again. The video streaming service added 4 million more worldwide subscribers from January through March, its smallest gain during that three-month period in four years. The performance announced Tuesday was about 2 million fewer subscribers than both management and analysts had predicted Netflix would add during the first quarter. It marked a huge comedown from the same time last year when Netflix added nearly 16 million subscribers amid pandemic-driven lockdowns that created a captive audience for the video service.

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CN bids $33.7B for Kansas City Southern, tops $25B proposal

NEW YORK (AP) — A bidding war is breaking out for Kansas City Southern, with Canadian National Railway making a $33.7 billion cash-and-stock offer for the railway. The bid trumps a $25 billion cash-and-stock proposal made by Canadian Pacific last month. Shares of Kansas City Southern jumped more than 15% Tuesday. CN’s stock fell almost 7%. CN said its offer is worth $325 per Kansas City Southern share. Kansas City Southern shareholders would receive $200 in cash and 1.059 shares of CN common stock for each share. But any deal could face tough scrutiny from regulators who haven’t approved a major railroad merger since the 1990s.

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CSX 1Q profit dips 8% but railroad sees economy growing

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — CSX Corp. says its first-quarter profit declined 8% due to higher expenses, but the railroad says it expects to benefit as the U.S. economy strengthens further over the rest of the year. The Jacksonville, Florida-based company said Tuesday that it earned $706 million, or 93 cents per share, during the quarter. That’s down from $770 million, or $1 per share, a year ago. The results fell short of Wall Street expectations. But CSX reiterated that it expects volume to grow this year at a faster pace than the the economy, which is recovering from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

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The S&P 500 fell 28.32 points, or 0.7%, to 4,134.94. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 256.33 points, or 0.8%, to 33,821.30. The Nasdaq slid 128.50 points, or 0.9%, to 13,786.27. The Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks shed 43.79 points, or 2%, to 2,188.21.

The Associated Press

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