Business category, Page 170

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX’s futuristic Starship looked like it aced a touchdown Wednesday, but then exploded on the landing pad with so much force that it was hurled into the air. The failure occurred just minutes after SpaceX declared success. Two previous test flights crash-landed in fireballs. The full-scale...

WASHINGTON — A Federal Reserve survey of business conditions across the United States has found that economic activity was expanding at a modest pace in February. The Fed survey released Wednesday shows that the central bank’s business contacts were expressing optimism last month about a stronger rebound as more covid-19...

NEW YORK — Bed Bath & Beyond will launch a slew of new store brands to lure younger customers in a bid to energize sales at the home retail chain. The chain will begin selling eight new store brands this year, six of them in the first half of 2021....

NEW YORK — Arts and crafts retailer Michaels is going private. The retail chain, based in Irving, Texas, said Wednesday that it has agreed to be acquired by Apollo Global Management Inc. for a transaction valued at $5 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, approved by Michaels’ board, Apollo...

Technology companies led stocks lower on Wall Street as another rise in bond yields rattled investors. The S&P 500 fell 1.3% Wednesday, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 2.7%. Higher bond yields can signal that inflation could be on the way as the economy picks up. They can also make stocks...

Amazon has tweaked its iPhone app after customers said the design looked like Adolf Hitler and his mustache. The app featured the Amazon smile with a blue piece of packing tape with a jagged edge overhead. Although it was supposed to look like a cardboard Amazon package, it drew comparisons...

Intel Corp. was told to pay VLSI Technology LLC $2.18 billion by a federal jury in Texas after losing a patent-infringement trial over technology related to chip-making, one of the largest patent-damages award in U.S. history. Intel pledged to appeal. Intel infringed two patents owned by closely held VLSI, the...

Stocks are closing lower on Wall Street after a wobbly day, giving back some of their big gains from a day earlier. The S&P 500 lost 0.8% Tuesday after flipping between small gains and losses throughout the day. A day before, it leaped 2.4% for its best performance since June....

NEW YORK — Kohl’s reported mixed results for its fiscal fourth quarter, delivering a 30% increase in profits but a 10% drop in sales. Results handily beat Wall Street estimates. Online sales growth remained strong, up 22% for the latest quarter, and accounted for 42% of net sales. The Menomonee...

WASHINGTON — Drugmaker Merck & Co. will help produce rival Johnson & Johnson’s newly approved coronavirus vaccine in an effort to expand supply more quickly, a Biden administration official confirmed Tuesday. The announcement comes as the White House looks to speed the production of the single-dose vaccine. Officials have said...

NEW YORK — Target extended its strong streak through the holiday quarter and sales grew by more than $15 billion in a pandemic year, exceeding the company’s annual sales growth over the past 11 years combined. With the habits of millions altered because of the spread of covid-19 in 2020,...

Can you make money going against the Wall Street Bets crowd? Yes, but you can also lose a lot — and fast. Investors and traders who frequent the Wallstreetbets forum, part of the website Reddit, have rammed up stocks with questionable fundamentals such as GameStop Corp. (GME) and AMC Entertainment...

AUSTIN — Texas’ top utilities regulator resigned Monday in the widening fallout from blackouts triggered by an unusually heavy and widespread winter storm that left millions in the state without power and water for days. DeAnn Walker, the chairwoman of the Public Utility Commission, is the highest-ranking official to step...

The largest and oldest power cooperative in Texas is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing last month’s winter storm that left millions without power. Brazos Electric Power Cooperative, which serves 16 distribution member cooperatives that cater to more than 1.5 million Texans across 68 counties from the Texas Panhandle...

United Airlines is expanding its order of Boeing 737 Max airplanes and taking some deliveries sooner as it ramps up for an anticipated increase in travel demand. Chief Operating Officer Andrew Nocella said in a memo on Monday that the company placed an order for 25 new 737 Max aircraft...

The United Steelworkers union is preparing for a strike authorization at Allegheny Technologies Inc., the union’s international vice president confirmed Monday. Although the contract that expired Sunday was extended and employees were told to continue to report to work, “the locals have returned home with instructions to begin setting up...

Wall Street kicked off March with a broad rally Monday that sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average more than 600 points higher and gave the S&P 500 its best day in nine months. The S&P 500 climbed 2.4%, clawing back nearly all of its losses from last week. More than...

OMAHA, Neb. — Billionaire Warren Buffett encouraged investors to maintain their faith in America’s economy and the businesses his Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate owns in a reassuring letter to his shareholders Saturday. Buffett hardly even addressed the coronavirus that ravaged many businesses last year, instead focusing on the long-term prospects for...

Stocks ended a bumpy Friday mostly lower on Wall Street. Technology stocks recovered slightly following several days of heavy selling, but the Nasdaq still posted its biggest weekly loss since October. On Friday the S&P 500 gave back 0.5%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.5%. Treasury yields fell...

Apple mini stores will open in select Target locations and online this month, expanding the number of iPhones and other products available. The Monticello, Minn., store will be one of the first with the concept. The mini stores will expand to locations throughout 2021, Target said Thursday. The newly designed...

WASHINGTON — Bouncing back from months of retrenchment, America’s consumers stepped up their spending by a solid 2.4% in January in a sign that the economy may be making a tentative recovery from the pandemic recession. Friday’s report from the Commerce Department also showed that personal incomes, which provide the...

NEW YORK — Best Buy said Thursday that it laid off 5,000 full-time store workers earlier this month, even as the company’s sales soared during the pandemic as homebound people bought laptops, TVs and other gadgets. The company said it cut the jobs because more shoppers are choosing to buy...

Twitter is branching out from advertising to find more ways to make money — both for itself and for its most prolific users, whether those are businesses, celebrities or regular people. In an investor presentation Thursday, the social media company announced a new feature called “Super Follows,” which will let...

Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. HARRISBURG — Applications open next month for $145 million in state grants for small hospitality businesses, with a significant change by lawmakers intended to ensure the money...