Axios Closer

March 20, 2025
Thursday ✅.
Today's newsletter is 673 words, a 2½-minute read.
🔔 The dashboard: The S&P 500 closed down 0.2%.
- Biggest gainer? Darden Restaurants (+5.8%), the Olive Garden parent, on its Q3 results and outlook. (See below.👇)
- Biggest decliner? Accenture (-7.3%), the consulting company, disappointed investors with its fiscal Q2 results.
1 big thing: DoorDash adds BNPL
DoorDash said today it's adding Klarna's buy-now-pay-later payment options into the delivery app.
- Why it matters: Enjoying a sandwich today and paying for it some other time just got a lot easier, exactly the kind of decision BNPL watchdogs fear can saddle consumers with "phantom debt."
Zoom in: Klarna will provide multiple payment options for DoorDash, including:
- Pay immediately.
- "Pay in 4," which allows customers to pay in four equal interest-free installments.
- "Pay Later," which allows them to defer payments until what Klarna calls "a more convenient time."
State of play: DoorDash rival Grubhub was already offering Klarna payment services.
- But DoorDash is the market leader in restaurant delivery services, commanding nearly 63% of the market, according to Earnest Analytics, making its move into BNPL a seismic moment for the payment option.
- In addition to food, DoorDash also offers delivery from a wide variety of other retailers.
💭 Our thought bubble via Axios Pro: Fintech Deals co-author Ryan Lawler: This deal is less about adding a buy-now-pay-later offering to DoorDash customers, and more about Klarna pitching itself as the default payment platform for everyday spending categories.
The intrigue: The announcement comes as Klarna is barreling toward an IPO in pursuit of a $15 billion valuation.
2. Olive Garden economics
Olive Garden owner Darden Restaurants reported earnings today, providing investors with more inputs on two evolving questions: the appetites of increasingly pessimistic consumers, and how exposed restaurants are to the impacts of tariffs.
- Answer: So far so good, and no sweat.
What they're saying: "People, even if they say they're feeling less optimistic, we haven't seen a huge correlation between that and dining out," Darden CEO Rick Cardenas said on the company's earnings call. "Right now, we're still feeling okay about it."
- Yes, but: That spending might be dependent on income growth continuing to outpace inflation, Cardenas said. "It doesn't mean that [confidence] won't change in the future."
On tariffs, despite them being "top of mind" at Darden, the company said only 20% of its food costs come from foreign products.
- And "we could switch easily to domestic" sources for "a portion" of it, CFO Rajesh Vennam said today on an earnings call.
Market impact: Darden shares rose 5.9%.
3. Thursday catch-up
🔩 Tesla is recalling substantially all units of the Cybertruck pickup over a defect that could cause a panel to fly off in traffic. The vehicle has been dogged by quality issues. (Axios)
🇪🇺 The European Union is postponing retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. — including 50% on American whiskey — until mid-April. The EU cited a desire for "additional time for discussions." (BBC)
🌍 Amazon is now selling carbon credits to business customers, suppliers and others. The company said buyers must commit to publicly report their greenhouse gas emissions. (Reuters)
🌖 Aerospace company Rolls-Royce is in discussions to provide micro-nuclear reactors for lunar exploration purposes. The manufacturer, which is separate from the automaker of the same name, hopes to send a reactor to the moon by the early 2030s. (Bloomberg)
4. Celtics set new record
The Boston Celtics have agreed to be sold to private equity investor Bill Chisholm for an initial $6.1 billion, with the final valuation to reach $7.3 billion, Axios has learned from sources familiar with the situation.
- Why it matters: This is the most ever paid for a professional sports team, topping the $6 billion that Josh Harris paid in 2023 for the NFL's Washington Commanders.
Zoom in: The deal is split into two parts. The initial purchase this summer of a majority stake is at the $6.1 billion valuation, but the rest is expected to be valued at a whopping $7.3 billion.
Zoom in: Chisholm, born and raised in Massachusetts, is the billionaire co-founder of Symphony Technology Group.
- Also participating is Sixth Street Partners, which earlier this week agreed to acquire a 10% stake in MLB's San Francisco Giants.
Look ahead: The NBA still would need to approve the sale, which most likely will be near or after the season ends.
- Chisholm, meanwhile, is said to still be looking for co-investors on the deal.
Today's newsletter was edited by Pete Gannon and copy edited by Sheryl Miller.
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