Axios

Kids saving for the latest Barbie or a shiny new Monopoly game may have to fill their piggy banks a little bit more.

Details: Both Hasbro and Mattel say they might raise prices for toys and games in response to rising costs for toy materials, as demand soars. The toymakers expect to see higher prices for resin packaging material — plus increased ocean freight costs amid the global shipping bottleneck. They’re getting ready to pass that on to consumers — likely in the second half of this year.

Internships are one "area of the job market that’s still ailing," new data from job listing site Indeed shows.

• The share of internship postings is down 15% from 2020 — and 39% from 2019.

Big Tech had a record 2020. The party might not be over.

What's new: Alphabet just reported record first-quarter sales.

Google's parent company Alphabet blew past Wall Street expectations on revenue and earnings per share during the first quarter, the tech giant said Tuesday.

Why it matters: Much of that growth can be attributed to YouTube, which grew its revenue by nearly 50% year-over-year last quarter.

DoorDash's new pricing tiers for restaurants reveal that there's no magical math that can keep customer fees and restaurant commissions low — one group will have to bear the cost.

Why it matters: During the pandemic, food delivery companies like DoorDash came under fire for charging high fees to restaurants, and faced tacit criticism that they didn't give up their own margins to help both drivers and eateries earn more.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in an Instagram Live chat with Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri on Tuesday that the company is building new tools to help creators make money off of commerce.

Why it matters: Facebook is just starting to venture into the creator economy. In order to continue to attract creators, it needs to help ensure there are better ways for creators to get paid.

McSweeney's, the 23-year-old nonprofit publishing company, tripled its readership during the pandemic, executive director Amanda Uhle tells Axios.

By the numbers: 2020 book sales were up 55% year over year, thanks to moving its mostly brick and mortar book sales line to its website.

Chloé Zhao's historic Oscar win to become the first Chinese person and woman of color to win for Best Director on Sunday has gone nearly unmentioned in Chinese media, the New York Times reports.

Why it matters: The Chinese government typically loves to flaunt when its citizens excel on the world stage. But Zhao has been critical of China's communist government, and her win for the film "Nomadland," which also won Best Picture, has largely been censored in the country.

Sunday night's Oscars telecast was a ratings dud, with viewership falling below 10 million for the first time ever, but the reaction from movie theater owners, and other in-person entertainment operators pummeled by the pandemic, was wild applause.

Behind the scenes: 2020 was supposed to be the year that streaming killed cinemas, as we'd all become enamored with watching new feature films from the couch. But most of us didn't, as reflected by the record-low Oscars ratings.

Group Nine Media, the digital company that houses internet brands like NowThis, The Dodo, PopSugar, Thrillist and Seeker, drove over 200,000 subs to discovery+ in Q1, sources tell Axios.

Why it matters: Discovery, Group Nine Media's largest minority investor, has leaned more into its partnership with Group Nine as it ventures into streaming.

Phones and streaming platforms have turned music rights into something like a digital annuity that more investors have become interested in buying.

Why it matters: Investors want income independent from politics or the rest of the market and they see music as that potential source of cash flow. 

The days of unwieldy internet user tracking by advertisers are coming to an end, sending the web's largest publishers scrambling.

Why it matters: The new online privacy changes are a massive pivot from the decades-long practice of selling hyper-targeted ads to users based on their web history. Many big web publishers rely on targeted ads to support their businesses.

Podcasts have historically been open and freely distributed, but new subscription offerings for podcasts from Apple and Spotify aim to challenge that status quo.

Between the lines: As the subscription podcast ecosystem develops, it wouldn't be surprising if other major podcast publishers start to toy with the idea of putting some of their podcasts behind a paywall.

Banking giant Citigroup said that last year it declined 11 "transaction opportunities" around coal mining or coal-fired power as a result of recently launched climate policies.

Why it matters: The tally, part of a wider ESG report released Monday, provides a rare glimpse at specific business fallout of Wall Street giants' growing restrictions on certain types of fossil finance.

NBC Sports, which has been the NHL's sole national rights holder for the entirety of the Ovechkin/Crosby Era (2004–present), is getting out of the hockey business.

Driving the news: Starting next season, all nationally-televised NHL games will be broadcast by ESPN and Turner Sports.

Spotify on Tuesday launched its new subscription podcast platform that gives creators the ability to create podcasts exclusively for paid subscribers on and off Spotify.

Why it matters: The move follows Apple's announcement last week that it has launched a new podcast subscription service within Apple podcasts.

Employers are taking a harder look at mental health benefits and employee resource groups as they design their post-COVID benefits packages, according to a new survey by Willis Towers Watson.

Details: 51% of employers said mental health is among their top three benefit priorities; and 33% said the same for employee resource groups.

Tesla's latest earnings report beat expectations handily, thanks largely to its investment in bitcoin and regulatory credits, but the stock fell by as much as 3% in after-hours trading.

By the numbers: Tesla reported revenue of $10.4 billion and a record-high $438 million in net profits. The company said it made $101 million from the sale of some of its bitcoin holdings after investing $1.5 billion in February.

Concerns about higher taxes and inflation pushed the S&P 500 to its first weekly loss since mid-March last week, but Monday began where that week ended with stocks moving higher.

What's happening: While traders are largely looking past inflation worries, even after last week's IHS-Markit purchasing managers index showed yet another record high reading for prices, company executives are not.

The free speech debate that has engulfed social media platforms is now extended to any information gatekeeper, even those not obligated to host anyone's speech.

The big picture: More books have been canceled recently by publishers wary of the potential blowback they could face for giving controversial figures or ideas a platform. Some publishers are facing pressure from frustrated employees to censor controversial authors or ideas.

Europe seems poised to set the global standard for vaccine passports, now that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has signaled that vaccinated Americans will be allowed to travel to the continent this summer.

Why it matters: Opening up travel to vaccinated Americans will bring new urgency to creating some kind of trusted means for people to prove they've been vaccinated.

There are millions of Americans who have the skills to get higher-level, higher-paying jobs but aren't considered for those roles because they don't have college degrees.

Why it matters: Companies hire based on credentials, not skills — and that's limiting the economic mobility of millions of skilled workers without degrees and leaving firms with smaller pools of talent.

The pandemic-wracked job market has continued to steadily heal since President Biden took office, helped along by mass vaccinations that have rekindled an economic reopening.

The latest sign: New unemployment filings — one proxy for layoffs — have hit pandemic-era lows in recent weeks. The data is volatile, but the milestone is noteworthy.