Popeyes to bring back popular item

Popeyes is planning to bring back its hit chicken sandwich on Sunday, Nov. 3, in aslam to poultry rival Chick-fil-A, which is closed that day of the week.

The restaurant chain is hoping the sandwich will bring in more customers amid fierce fast-food competition. Popeyes debuted the sandwich in August but ran out within a few weeks, saying demand far exceeded supply. This time, franchisees are staffing up to make sure they have enough workers to make and sell the item.

The sandwich’s popularity was a boon for parent Restaurant Brands International Inc. last quarter. On Monday, Popeyes reported comparable sales, a key measure of arestaurant’s health, of 9.7 percent, almost double what analysts had projected, according to Consensus Metrix. The chicken chain “had one of its best quarters in two decades,” Jose Cil, chief executive officer of Restaurant Brands, said in an earnings statement.

Restaurant Brands, which also owns Burger King, is battling for share in an industry that’s facing declining customer traffic. Burger King reported its best comparable stores sales increase in the U.S. in four years thanks to brisk sales of Impossible Whopper.

Chains including McDonald’s Corp. are raising menu prices to keep sales climbing. Closely held Chick-fil-A has been closed on Sundays since its founder instituted the tradition in 1946 when he opened his first restaurant in Georgia.

EARNINGS

Google posts a drop of 23 percent in profit

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, said Monday that its quarterly profit fell 23 percent after it sharply increased spending, in arare financial stumble by the tech giant.

Alphabet reported that its revenue rose 20 percent to $40.5 billion for the third quarter, but that profit dropped to $7.07 billion. Profit, which came in below Wall Street expectations, was hurt by rising costs for research and development and marketing, the company reported.

Google is also facing new competition from Amazon and others. Alphabet faces other challenges. Google is squarely in the sights of regulators and politicians who want to take down a monopoly. Its employees have been unhappy with management, political conservatives accuse the company of bias and YouTube has been under attack for spreading misinformation.

TECHNOLOGY

Facebook employees oppose ad policy

Hundreds of Facebook employees have signed a letter to CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other executives saying they oppose the social network’s policy of letting politicians lie in advertisements.

The New York Times reported Monday that more than 250 workers have signed the letter urging Facebook leaders to change the policy that they say is a “threat to what FB stands for.” While that’s a small fraction of Facebook’s workforce of more than 35,000, it’s arare showing of employee dissent generally more typical of Google and Amazon.

Facebook spokeswoman Bertie Thomson says the company appreciates its employees voicing their concerns but the company “remains committed to not censoring political speech.”

The employee letter follows widespread criticism of Face-book’s ad policy.

LUXURY GOODS

Louis Vuitton makes offer to buy Tiffany

Luxury conglomerate LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton has made an offer to purchase U.S. jeweler Tiffany & Co. in a bid that could result in Chairman Bernard Arnault’s biggest takeover and expand the Louis Vuitton owner’s reach into the U.S.

Tiffany said it received an unsolicited $120-a-share proposal from the luxury giant, after the French company confirmed a Bloomberg report that it was considering a bid. Tiffany shares surged 31 percent, on track for a record one-day gain, to $129 at 2:55 p.m. Monday in New York.

The jeweler advised shareholders to take no action, saying its board is reviewing the offer.

The offer comes as Tiffany has struggled with stagnating sales as China’s slowing economy has weighed on spending by Chinese tourists, who make up a substantial portion of luxury spending. The strong U.S. dollar has also made Tiffany products more expensive for overseas consumers. Protests in Hong Kong, Tiffany’s fourth largest market, have also weighed on sales.

GEORGIA

Plant agrees to close over gas emissions

Georgia officials reached an agreement Monday to temporarily shut down a medical sterilization facility that uses agas that studies have linked to an increased risk of cancer.

A Newton County judge signed off on a deal between the state and Becton, Dickinson and Co. to close the plant in the Atlanta suburb of Covington for a week to allow officials to take air samples.

The agreement also requires the company to reduce “fugitive emissions” of ethylene oxide after it resumes operations.

The Covington plant uses ethylene oxide to sterilize urinary catheters, feeding tubes, stents and other items that hospitals rely on.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency classified ethylene oxide as a human carcinogen in 2016.

From wire reports