AT&T's stock hit a 3-year high today after the increasingly efficient company issued a promising earnings projection and announced plans to return more than $40 billion to shareholders over the next three years.
Between the lines: The telecommunications giant has been betting big on its core areas of wireless service and fiber-optic connectivity while taking steps to offload its non-core assets.
AT&T CEO John Stankey has refocused the company since taking over in 2020, when it "was bloated with debt from media acquisitions and under pressure to expand its wireless service and broadband capabilities," Bloomberg reported.
State of play: Pizza Hut today introduced a new restaurant design in the U.S., prioritizing heated pickup "cabinets," self-service ordering and a drive-thru menu.
Notably, the red-thatched hut design is long gone, replaced with a sleek modern look.
The brand has already rolled out the new design in 2,000 international Pizza Huts, but Plano, Texas, is the first in the U.S.
How it works: We weren't sure how drive-thru pizza works either, but apparently the Yum Brands chain will offer "a select list of 'ready-now' items that can be quickly ordered and picked up at the window."
A Delaware judge's ruling rejecting Elon Musk's Tesla compensation package— for the second time — is but a small setback for his finances as his net worth soars in the immediate aftermath of Donald Trump's electoral triumph.
Why it matters: Musk was already the world's richest person before the election, and now his pocketbook and his power are getting even bigger.
State of play: The announcement of the "Grand National Tour," comes less than two weeks after Lamar's surprise drop of "GNX," his fifth album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Amazon is reaching out to news publishers about opportunities to license their content for the next generation of Amazon's Alexa voice assistant, slated to debut next year, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: The company plans to debut a new, smarter version of Alexa, using generative AI to power customized responses to real-time user queries about the news.
China's Quectel is one of the world's largest manufacturers of IoT cellular modules, a key chip component, with nearly a 40% market share. Now it's licensing out its manufacturing tech and source code to an Ohio-based startup called Eagle Electronics, in a reversal of how these cross-border relationships have traditionally worked.
Why it matters: This reflects the U.S. onshoring trend for semiconductors, which is expected to intensify if President-elect Trump makes good on his threat to put new tariffs on China-made products.
BlackRock has agreed to buy private credit manager HPS Investment Partners for $12 billion in stock.
Why it matters: This would make BlackRock one of the largest players in one of Wall Street's hottest markets, with around $220 billion in private credit assets.
More than 1 in 5 workers in some U.S. cities were still clocking in from home as of 2023, per the latest census data.
Why it matters: Remote and hybrid schedules have made work versus life an easier equation for many Americans, like busy working parents — but they were never enjoyed equally nationwide.
AI-driven deepfakes weren't the disinformation catastrophe that tech companies and global governments feared ahead of a slew of major elections this year, Meta president of global affairs Nick Clegg told reporters Monday.
Why it matters: The spread of broader conspiracy theories has proven to be a much more challenging misinformation threat than AI-doctored photos or videos.
Should the U.S. government be worried about a potential threat to the dollar's status as the dominant global reserve currency? President-elect Donald Trump thinks so — but then again, he also thinks it shouldn't.
Why it matters: Trump feels so threatened by the risk posed by a rival to the dollar that he's willing to impose 100% tariffs on countries considering such a move.
OpenAI's potential plan to incorporate ads in products like ChatGPT is hardly surprising — but should still serve as a wake-up call for AI makers and users.
Why it matters: AI chatbots cost a fortune to run and remain available for free. Advertising could open up huge new revenue opportunities for OpenAI and its competitors, but it also risks separating the interests of AI companies from those of their customers.
PG-rated films have made up one-third of ticket sales at the domestic box office this year, the highest percentage since 1995.
Why it matters: "PG is the new PG-13," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. "It no longer has the stigma of not being hard-edged enough."
This column by Axios CEO Jim VandeHei first appeared in our nightly newsletter, Axios Finish Line:
Trust in journalism fell far and fast. Elon Musk and millions more argue it is — and should be — buried forever.
They say anyone with unrestrained speech — anyone on X — can easily replace a discredited media. "You are the media now," Musk repeatedlytells his 206 million followers.
