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McDonald’s to transition to buying only cage-free eggs over next 10 years

McDonald’s Corp. said it will transition to using only cage-free eggs over the next 10 years for all its nearly 16,000 restaurants in the U.S. and Canada. McDonald’s USA buys about 2 billion eggs a year, and McDonald’s Canada buys 120 million eggs, to serve on breakfast sandwiches. Since 2011, only about 13 million eggs bought a year are cage free. “Our customers are increasingly interested in knowing more about their food and where it comes from,” said McDonald’s USA President Mike Andres. “Our decision to source only cage-free eggs reinforces the focus we place on food quality and our menu to meet and exceed our customers’ expectations.” McDonald’s follows a number of food service companies moving to cage-free eggs, including General Mills Inc. , Wal-Mart Stores Inc. , Starbucks Corp. and Kellogg Co. . McDonald’s stock, which is still inactive in premarket trade, has gained 2.2% over the past three months, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost 7.2%.

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Celanese announces new $1 billion share buyback program

Celanese Corp. said Wednesday its board has approved a new $1 billion share buyback program. The specialty materials company said it will execute the program over the next two years. The approval is equal to about 11% of the company’s outstanding shares. Shares were not yet active in premarket trade, but are up 0.7% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has lost 4.4%.

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Japanese PM Abe pledges cut in corporate tax rate

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the government plans to lower the country’s corporate tax rate, according to media reports Wednesday. The rate, which stands around 35%, will be lowered by at least 3.3 percentage points in fiscal 2016, Abe reportedly said at an event in Tokyo. “It is unclear, however, how much of this reflects legislation already passed in March,” Adam Cole, head of G10 FX strategy at RBC Capital Markets, said in a note. Abe also said his government will “aim to go beyond that if possible”, according to reports. Japanese stocks surged Wednesday, leaving the Nikkei Average up 7.7%, its biggest jump since October 2008.

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Men’s Wearhouse reports Q2 net sales of $920.1 million, Jos. A. Bank struggles

Men’s Wearhouse Inc. on Tuesday reported a second-quarter net sales decrease of 1.1% to $920.1 million, missing the FactSet consensus of $946.8 million. Adjusted earnings per share were $1.07 for the quarter ending August 1. The FactSet consensus was $1.05. Comparable sales increased among most of the company’s brands: 3.1% at Men’s Wearhouse, 0.7% at Moore’s, and 6.7% at K&G. Jos. A. Bank comparable sales, however, fell 9.4%. “Now that we have a full year under our belt, we have become even more convinced that changing the promotional messages to be clear and compelling without unusual quantity requirements, like buy one get three free offers, will broaden the appeal of the Joseph A. Bank brand,” said CEO Doug Ewert.

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Yahoo drops request for tax-free spinoff of Alibaba stake

Yahoo Inc. disclosed in a filing Tuesday that it has dropped its request for a tax-free spin-off of the Web company’s remaining stake in Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. The company said that it was informed by the Internal Revenue Service on Sept. 2 that the government entity did not plan to grant Yahoo’s February request for ruling on a tax-free spin-off, which had sparked big gains in Yahoo stock from investors hungry to access the cash pile locked up within struggling Yahoo. Yahoo noted its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that the IRS had not completely ruled that the entity was taxable, and that it would continue to consider options, including continuing with the spin-off attempt. Yahoo, which announced the departure of its chief accounting officer late Friday afternoon, saw shares fall more than 4% at times in after-hours trading Tuesday after the stock closed with 2.2% decline at $30.90.

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