WarnerMedia names Jason Kilar new CEO

New York (CNN Business)AT&T is considering offering wireless phone plans partially paid for by advertising, CEO John Stankey said Tuesday.

“I believe there’s a segment of our customer base where given a choice, they would take some load of advertising for a $5 or $10 reduction in their mobile bill,” Stankey told Reuters. AT&T confirmed those comments to CNN Business. (The phone carrier owns CNN’s parent company, WarnerMedia.)
The new plan could come as early as “in a year or two,” he told Reuters.

While advertising-supported phones haven’t taken off in the past, despite efforts from Virgin Mobile and Sprint, AT&T (T) said it has the advantage of better ad targeting. Ads will be tailored to customers identified across multiple devices, a strategy that could also help the company sell ads for more money, Stankey said.
Stankey told Reuters the company would also benefit from running an ad-supported version of the HBO Max streaming service next year.

AT&T’s advertising business called Xandr works with data outside of the company to tailor ads, but over the long term it could face legal scrutiny and privacy concerns over using that data.
Stankey told Reuters, “I don’t know if we can count on it in perpetuity.”

PHOTOS: Plane pull raises money for Special Olympics Colorado – The Denver Post

Special Olympics Colorado held their annual Plane Pull event at The Rocky Mountain Airport in Broomfield on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2020. Teams of 10 worked together to pull a 64,000 lbs King Airplane 20 feet in the fastest time, with special precautions in place this year to limit the spread of COVID-19.

Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: Herman Miller, iRobot & more

Check out the companies making headlines after hours Wednesday:

Herman Miller — Shares of the office furniture builder jumped more than 14% on the back of better-than-expected results for the previous quarter. Herman Miller reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.24. Analysts polled by FactSet expected a profit of just 26 cents per share. Revenue was also stronger than expected at $626.8 million. The company also reestablished its quarterly dividend.

iRobot — The Roomba-maker's stock climbed more than 3% after the company disclosed the resignation of Chief R&D Officer Tim Saeger. In an 8-K filing, iRobot said Sager will remain employed by the company until his successor is hired.

Moderna — Moderna gained nearly 3% after the company announced a collaboration with Vertex Pharmaceuticals to treat cystic fibrosis using gene editing. Vertex Pharmaceuticals rose slightly in after-hours trading.

First Solar — Shares of the solar panel maker slipped 2.7% after the company announced a secondary stock offering of 8.6 million shares. Those shares will be sold by billionaire Lukas Walton. First Solar will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale. Instead, "Walton intends to use the proceeds from the sale of shares in the offering to provide funds for new impact investments across a variety of environmental and social causes," First Solar said.

Panera Introduces New Broccoli Cheddar Mac & Cheese

Panera Bread Co. (PNRA) has launched a new menu item, Broccoli Cheddar Mac & Cheese, which is combination of two of its popular dishes – Broccoli Cheddar Soup and Mac & Cheese.

The Broccoli Cheddar Mac & Cheese is now available at bakery-cafes nationwide starting at $5.79 or as part of a “You Pick 2” order, the company announced Wednesday.

Broccoli Cheddar Mac and Cheese is a new recipe from Panera and was developed by combining two distinct cheddar cheese sauces into a singular velvety blend, simmered with a burst of seasoned broccoli florets and julienned carrots.

Panera Broccoli Cheddar Mac & Cheese is also available in the refrigerated deli area at select grocery retailers nationwide as the newest addition to Panera’s line of cafe-inspired grocery products.

As part of the debut of the new menu item, Panera and two-time Grammy Award winner Michael Bolton have released a digital short called “When Some Mac Loves Broccoli Cheddar.”

“To celebrate the first-ever mash-up of two iconic Panera menu items coming together in perfect harmony, we knew we had to do something big,” said Eduardo Luz, Chief Brand & Concept Officer at Panera. “The combination of our crowd-pleasing Broccoli Cheddar Soup, with our Mac & Cheese is a true embodiment of Panera’s dedication to delicious food. We felt so passionately about the flavor combination that the love song almost wrote itself, and who better to help us announce to the world than love song legend and Panera superfan, Michael Bolton.”

LVMH Opposes Fast-Tracking Tiffany’s Suit Over Busted Deal

LVMH and Tiffany & Co. are escalating their fight over fast-tracking a lawsuit aimed at preventing the owner of bag-maker Louis Vuitton from pulling out of a $16 billion buyout of the luxury jewelry chain.

Earlier this week, a judge set Sept. 21 hearing on Tiffany’s request to get an expedited ruling on whether LVMH had proper legal grounds for torpedoing the deal — purportedly at the request of the French government.

Tiffany said Wednesday that LVMH’s filing in Delaware Chancery Court opposing fast-tracking, which wasn’t publicly available after business hours, was another attempt by the would-be buyer to “run out the clock” on the deal. The transaction has a Nov. 24 deadline.

“If LVMH were confident in its legal position, it would have no reason to oppose an expedited trial schedule,” Tiffany Chairman Roger Farah said in a statement. LVMH representatives weren’t immediately available to comment on the filing.

Tiffany counters in its court filings that LVMH sought to leverage police-brutality protests in the U.S. and fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic to negotiate a lower deal price.

The case is Tiffany & Co. v. LVMH Moet-Hennessy-Louis Vuitton SE, 2020-0768, Delaware Chancery Court (Dover).