Business Highlights
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The owners of nearly half a million polluting Volkswagens in the U.S. will have the option of selling them back to the company or getting them repaired at VW's expense, under a deal announced Thursday by a federal judge.
The judge involved with a tangle of litigation for VW did not elaborate and warned attorneys not to talk about the negotiations, saying that it could cause confusion among customers.
After lagging its peers in the early stages of Page's reign, the company has since delivered returns that trounced both the Standard & Poor's 500 and Apple shares.
Since Page took the helm in 2011, Alphabet's stock has soared 163 percent, creating an additional $300 billion in shareholder wealth.
Some of Alphabet's gains evaporated late Thursday after the company announced first-quarter earnings and revenue that fell below analyst projections.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A rising number of Americans are preparing to renovate their homes this year, a potential boost for the economy, according to projections released Thursday by Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies.
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors' first quarter profit more than doubled as all of its business units posted improved numbers including record pretax earnings in North America.
DALLAS (AP) — Southwest Airlines packed even more people on its planes, notched a record first-quarter profit of $511 million, and said solid bookings have continued into April.
[...] the sales growth fell short of Wall Street's expectations and the company's stock fell 5 percent to $57.58 in after-hours trading.
NEW YORK (AP) — SunEdison, a one-time star in the alternative energy field, filed for bankruptcy protection Thursday after years of rapid-fire acquisitions left the solar company in a desperate cash situation.
BEIJING (AP) — Regulators told Chinese banks on Thursday to finance steel exports to help reduce a supply glut in a move tha