Business News – 5-12-2021

• Wendy’s reported better-than-expected earnings Wednesday
• The company said it expects sales of its breakfast items to grow, prompting it to raise its forecast for the rest of the year
• The fast-food chain’s new chicken sandwich also boosted sales and helped it to grab a bigger piece of the competitive category
• Shares in the fast-food chain were recently down about 2%, as stocks in the broader market slumped but after its earnings were released, the stock had risen more than 5%

---

• The country is reporting 2.2 million shots per day over the past week, federal data shows, up slightly from the most recent low reported Saturday, when it dipped below 2 million for the first time since early March
• Average daily new case counts are below 40,000 per day this week for the first time since September
• Tuesday’s reported totals also included 150,000 Johnson & Johnson shots, the highest one-day total since April 1
• The latest seven-day average of J&J shots is 106,000 per day, down from a high point of 425,000 in mid-April

---

• United and Delta said they cancelled their U.S.-Tel Aviv flights scheduled for Wednesday while American’s were cancelled for Thursday as well
• The cancellations come amid a violent conflict between Israel and Hamas
• Israeli carrier El Al said it would continue to fly between the two countries
• Airlines have an average of seven flights a day scheduled to Tel Aviv from the U.S. this month, according to aviation data firm Cirium
• Israeli airline El Al said Wednesday that it planned to continue operating flights as scheduled but said that passengers can change their flights without paying a fee or cancel in exchange for a voucher

---

• Shares of secondhand retailers Poshmark and ThredUp tumbled in extended trading Wednesday, as widening losses overshadowed strong sales growth in a hot category — especially among Gen Z
• The increasing interest in secondhand retail has whet investors’ appetite to buy into a space that has seen momentum. But the latest losses sparked a sell-off
• Both retailers’ CEOs expressed optimism for future sales to rise, as people look to freshen up their closets

---

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday it recommends expanded usage of Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine for 12- to 15-year-old kids
• The recommendation from CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky comes hours after the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices issued an endorsement, which was adopted 14-0 with one person recusing themselves

---

Hertz shares surge by more than 50% after selecting $6 billion turnaround bid

• Shares of Hertz skyrocketed by as much as 68% after it selected a $6 billion turnaround bid that provides a rare payout to shareholders
• Knighthead Capital Management, Certares Management, among others, won the bid to take over Hertz in its bankruptcy reorganization, which the company hopes to exit by the end of June
• The rental car firm was among the largest companies to file for Chapter 11 during the Covid pandemic

---

• Volkswagen is planning to bring to market by 2025 a version of its upcoming microbus, a retro-styled electric van, with the ability to drive itself in certain circumstances
• VW is developing the vehicle with Argo AI, a Pittsburgh-based autonomous vehicle start-up backed by the German automaker and Ford
• The ID.Buzz models are expected to feature Level 4 autonomy, which means drivers will not be required to take over the wheel but the vehicles can only operate in specific conditions

---

• Ellen DeGeneres’ long-running daytime talk show will come to an end after 19 seasons
• In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, DeGeneres said she had planned to end the show after season 16, but agreed to extend her contract by three years
• DeGeneres said the allegations of workplace harassment did not factor into her reasoning for ending the show

---

• Tesla has “suspended vehicle purchases using Bitcoin,” out of concern over “rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining,” according to a tweet from CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday
• Support for cryptocurrency from Tesla contributed to the prices of cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin and dogecoin, skyrocketing in recent months

---

• Colonial Pipeline restarted operations around 5 p.m. ET on Wednesday
• The majority of the 5,500 mile pipeline, which supplies around half of the East Coast’s fuel, had been offline since Friday after the company fell victim to a ransomware attack
• The shutdown sparked fears of a gasoline shortage, and pushed the national average for a gallon of gas above $3 for the first time since 2014

---

• The premium for New York jet fuel is the highest it’s been since February 2020 and almost 40% more than a week ago, according to S&P Global Platts
• U.S. jet fuel prices have climbed to the highest in nearly 16 months as demand rebounds from pandemic lows
• American Airlines added refueling stops to two flights from Charlotte, North Carolina, and Southwest is flying in extra fuel to some airports affected by the pipeline outage
• Otherwise, carriers say their operations haven’t been disrupted

---

• The world could be facing a shortage of an underappreciated yet crucial commodity in the years ahead: sand
• “We don’t think about it like a strategic resource, and yet it is everywhere in our societies and our economies,” Louise Gallagher of the United Nations Environment Programme told CNBC
• However, sand use around the world has tripled in the last twenty years as global industrialization has increased

---