Wall Street Ends Higher as S&P 500, Nasdaq Extend Gains Ahead of Holiday Week 
Italy Fines Apple €98.6 Million Over App Store Dominance 
BOJ Minutes Reveal Growing Debate Over Interest Rate Hikes and Inflation Risks 
Texas App Store Age Verification Law Blocked by Federal Judge in First Amendment Ruling 
BlackRock-Backed Global Ports Deal Faces Uncertainty Amid Cosco Demands 
Boeing Wins $2.04B U.S. Air Force Contract for B-52 Engine Replacement Program 
German Exports to the U.S. Decline Sharply as Tariffs Reshape Trade in 2025 
Asian Stocks Rise as Wall Street Tech Rally Lifts Markets, Yen Slumps Despite BOJ Rate Hike 
U.S. Dollar Slips as Yen Finds Support on Intervention Signals and Geopolitical Risks Rise 
Why U.S. Coffee Prices Are Staying High Despite Trump’s Tariff Rollbacks 
Novo Nordisk Stock Surges After FDA Approves Wegovy Pill for Weight Loss 
FTC Praises Instacart for Ending AI Pricing Tests After $60M Settlement 
Roche CEO Warns US Drug Price Deals Could Raise Costs of New Medicines in Switzerland 
California Regulator Probes Waymo Robotaxi Stalls During San Francisco Power Outage 
Google and Apple Warn U.S. Visa Holders to Avoid International Travel Amid Lengthy Embassy Delays 
Oil Prices Edge Higher as Strong U.S. Growth and Supply Risks Support Market 
AstraZeneca’s LATIFY Phase III Trial of Ceralasertib Misses Primary Endpoint in Lung Cancer Study 
Syracuse, N.Y.-based Carrols Restaurant Group (CRG) expects the surging omicron variant to have likely hurt its Burger King sales in the last two weeks of the month.
Carrols owns 1,000 Burger King units.
According to Carrols CEO Dan Accordino, they believe the initial impact of the omicron variant began slowing sales trends in the last two weeks of December.
Previous to that, Carrols’ Burger King restaurants demonstrated strong sequential improvement in comparable restaurant sales, improving through the last three months of 2021.
Same-store sales of the company’s Burger King restaurants rose 7.4 percent in the quarter ended Dec. 31 after posting a 9.7 percent increase in November.
Despite the December slowdown, its same-store sales still increased 8.3 percent in the month.
Carrols operates nearly one in seven Burger King restaurants in the US, its results impact the brand.
Burger King had been struggling in the US, triggering management changes.
Most of Carrols’ Burger King units are in the Northeast, which is the hardest hit by the omicron variant.
Burger King sales were due largely through average check 12.1 percent growth, including menu price increases and fewer promotions. Traffic at the company’s restaurants dropped 4.2 percent.
Carrols also operates 65 Popeyes restaurants, whose fourth-quarter same-store sales increased 1 percent.
