Business category, Page 62

Two qualities of outstanding companies are high profitability and low debt. Let’s look at a handful of companies that can boast both. Among the largest 2,000 U.S. companies, about 27% have high profitability, as gauged by a return on stockholders’ equity of 20% or more. About 15% of companies have...

NEW YORK — Seriously overdue credit card debt is at the highest level in more than a decade, and people 35 and under are struggling more than other age groups to pay their bills. The share of credit card debt that’s severely delinquent, defined as being more than 90 days...

NEW YORK — Kia America is recalling nearly 463,000 Telluride SUVs — and urging owners to park their cars outside and away from other structures until an issue posing a fire hazard is fixed. The front power seat motor on the affected Tellurides from the 2020-2024 model years might overheat...

WASHINGTON — America’s employers added a strong 272,000 jobs in May, accelerating from April and a sign that companies are still confident enough in the economy to keep hiring despite persistently high interest rates. Last month’s sizable job gain suggests that the economy is still growing steadily, propelled by consumer...

NEW YORK — They are called zombies, companies so laden with debt that they are just stumbling by on the brink of survival, barely able to pay even the interest on their loans and often just a bad business hit away from dying off for good. An Associated Press analysis...

This story first appeared in How We Care, a weekly newsletter by Spotlight PA featuring original reporting and perspectives on how we care for one another at all stages of life. Alana Griffin was employed and on maternity leave when she and her infant son moved into a Tampa, Florida,...

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Electric vehicles have built up enough momentum from job growth and investments to steer past any roadblocks from Donald Trump and other critics, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday. The Democratic governor said the thousands of EV-related jobs springing up across the country, including in rural GOP...

NEW YORK — The arrest of an executive at The Epoch Times in a money-laundering scheme this week has drawn attention to a media outlet that has lived largely in the shadows since its founding in 2000 and a transformation during the Trump administration. Federal prosecutors in New York charged...

NEW YORK — Walmart is offering new perks for its hourly U.S. workers, ranging from a new bonus plan to opportunities to move into skilled trade jobs within the company. The perks program announced Wednesday comes as the nation’s largest private employer says it’s seeing a decline in worker turnover....

Discount retailer Dollar Tree says it’s looking at strategic options for the Family Dollar stores that it owns, including a possible sale of the segment. Dollar Tree said Wednesday that alternatives also include a spinoff or other disposition of the business. Dollar Tree acquired Family Dollar nearly a decade ago...

NEW YORK — The chief financial officer of The Epoch Times, a conservative multinational media company, is accused of taking part in a multi-year scheme to launder tens of millions of dollars in fraudulently obtained unemployment benefits and other funds, according to an indictment unsealed. Arrested on Sunday, Weidong “Bill”...

Defying bad news, several chief executive officers bought their own companies’ stock last month. Here are four cases that caught my eye. Skyworks Solutions CEO Liam Griffin spent just over $1 million to buy 11,142 shares at Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS). That brings his total holding to 153,431 shares, worth...

Relatives of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting are asking a bankruptcy judge to liquidate conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ media company, including Infowars, instead of allowing him to reorganize his business as they seek to collect on $1.5 billion in lawsuit verdicts against him. Lawyers for the families...

NEW YORK — The typical compensation package for chief executives who run companies in the S&P 500 jumped nearly 13% last year, easily surpassing the gains for workers at a time when inflation was putting considerable pressure on Americans’ budgets. The median pay package for CEOs rose to $16.3 million,...

FRANKFURT, Germany — Saudi Arabia and allied oil producing countries on Sunday extended output cuts through next year, a move aimed at supporting slack prices that haven’t risen even amid turmoil in the Middle East and the start of the summer travel season. The OPEC+ alliance, made up of members...

TOLEDO, Ohio — Donald Trump says the Biden administration’s policy to promote electric vehicles is a “radical plan” that would kill the economy in automaking states. Republican allies in the petroleum industry have spent millions on ads that say President Joe Biden’s tax credit for EV buyers will cost Americans...

The Ligonier Country Market has been a popular fixture in the Ligonier community for nearly 50 years, drawing visitors from throughout the area to shop for everything from fresh produce and baked goods to handwoven rugs and wood crafts. But Ligonier Township officials are wondering whether the seasonal Saturday morning...

UPMC has moved a step closer to buying Washington Hospital by reaching an agreement with the state Attorney General that is designed to ensure patients with health insurance other than the UPMC Health Plan will have the opportunity to have in-network benefits to the hospital’s services. The voluntary compliance agreement...

All regulatory approvals outside of the U.S. related to the proposed merger of U.S. Steel and Japan’s Nippon Steel have been approved, the companies announced Thursday. The $14.9 billion merger deal was approved by 99% of U.S. Steel’s voting shareholders on April 12. The companies said the regulatory approvals were...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday gave homeowners another chance to force Bank of America and other large banks to pay interest on mortgage escrow accounts. The court unanimously threw out an appeals court ruling in favor of Bank of America, which has refused to pay interest on money...

McDonald’s is fighting back against viral tweets and media reports that it says have exaggerated its price increases. In a post on the company’s website Wednesday, McDonald’s U.S. President Joe Erlinger said reports suggesting the price of the average Big Mac has doubled since 2019 were false. McDonald’s said the...

WASHINGTON — Hopes for interest rate cuts this year by the Federal Reserve are steadily fading, with a stream of recent remarks by Fed officials underscoring their intention to keep borrowing costs high as long as needed to curb persistently elevated inflation. A key reason for the delay in rate...

ConocoPhillips is buying Marathon Oil in an all-stock deal valued at approximately $17.1 billion as energy prices rise and big oil companies reap massive profits. The deal is valued at $22.5 billion when including $5.4 billion in debt. Crude prices have jumped more than 12% this year and the cost...

Newly published research by a University of Pittsburgh doctorate student estimates that up to 40% of the lithium needed in the U.S. could be extracted from wastewater created by unconventional drilling operations in Pennsylvania. Most batteries used in technology — like smartwatches and electric cars — are made with lithium,...