The U.K. antitrust watchdog launched an initial merger probe into the proposed $1.2 billion acquisition of Huel by Danone BN 1.25%increase; up pointing triangle to examine whether the deal would lessen competition in the country.

Danone, the French food company behind Activia yogurt and Evian water, agreed to buy the British supplier of plant-based food powders and meal-replacement drinks earlier this year.

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US listed Abbott Laboratories shares jumped 12% after the healthcare company reported stronger second-quarter sales and raised its full-year earnings outlook. The company said second-quarter sales rose 13% on a reported basis and 4.8% on a comparable basis.

Abbott reported GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.53, while adjusted diluted earnings per share came in at $1.31, excluding specified items. The company also raised its full-year 2026 adjusted diluted EPS guidance to a range of $5.45 to $5.60. The company had earlier guided for adjusted EPS of $5.38 to $5.58. It reaffirmed its full-year comparable sales growth guidance of 6.5% to 7.5%.

“Our second-quarter results reflect the momentum we are building,” said Robert B. Ford, chairman and chief executive officer of Abbott. “We expect this momentum to continue and drive accelerating sales and earnings growth in the second half of the year.”

Sales momentum lifts sentiment

The rise in Abbott shares suggests investors were encouraged by the company’s sales growth and the higher profit forecast. The company’s comparable sales growth measure includes the prior and current year sales of Exact Sciences, the cancer diagnostics company Abbott acquired on March 23, 2026.

Also Read: ‘We faltered, did not move quickly:’ How IBM CEO Arvind Krishna’s statement led to $70 billion wipeoutComparable sales growth excludes foreign exchange impact and certain revenue linked to compensation payments received by Abbott’s Structural Heart business under a multi-year agreement with a competitor. The final payment under that agreement was recognised in the first quarter of 2026.
Product pipeline remains active
Abbott also highlighted progress across its medical device and diagnostics pipeline.

In April, the company completed enrolment in its TECTONIC US pivotal trial. The trial is evaluating Abbott’s investigational Coronary Intravascular Lithotripsy system, which is designed to treat severe calcium build-up in coronary arteries before stent implantation.

At the Heart Rhythm Society conference in April, Abbott presented late-breaking data from four clinical trials. The data showed strong clinical outcomes across its pulsed field ablation and conduction system pacing portfolios.

In May, Abbott secured CE Mark approval for Libre Duo, which it described as the world’s first dual glucose-ketone biowearable sensor. The device gives real-time visibility into glucose and ketone levels. This can help people with diabetes detect rising ketone levels, which may lead to diabetic ketoacidosis, a serious condition.

Abbott also completed its submission to the US Food and Drug Administration seeking approval for its Amulet 360 left atrial appendage device.

The parent company of 7-Eleven convenience stores shed more light on its plan to close hundreds of stores in the U.S. this year.

Parent company Seven & i Holdings indicated in a filing earlier this year that it planned to close 645 7-Eleven stores in the company’s fiscal year 2026.

Seven & i Holdings’ latest quarterly earnings report included a presentation about the company’s various initiatives, including the restructuring of its store network amid the closure plans as well as conversion, remodels and new openings.

It said that it plans to close 200 unprofitable 7-Eleven stores in fiscal year 2026, with 45 stores closed to date.

POPULAR CONVENIENCE STORE CHAIN TO CLOSE HUNDREDS OF STORES

The company also said that it plans to convert 350 of its convenience stores to wholesale fuel sites in the fiscal year, with 72 stores having been converted as of the first quarter.

Seven & i Holdings is planning to convert 390 stores to franchises this fiscal year and has done 43 to date.

Despite the company’s pullback, it’s also pursuing selective expansion and is planning to open 205 stores this year. The presentation noted it had opened 30 to date in the first quarter.

CONSUMER INFLATION COOLED MORE THAN EXPECTED IN JUNE AS GAS PRICES FELL

Seven & i Holdings’ plans to remodel 200 stores this fiscal year are expected to get underway in the second half of the fiscal year.

Overall, the plans outlined by the company earlier this year show the total number of 7-Eleven stores in the U.S. declining from 12,712 as of February to 12,272 at the end of the year, for a net decrease of 440 stores.

In late 2024, the company reported having 13,145 7-Eleven locations.

WHITE HOUSE, GAS STATIONS POINT FINGERS OVER STUBBORN PRICES WHILE LOCATIONS THAT SLASHED PRICES SEE BOOM

The company’s North American business has faced softer performance amid declines in customer traffic, according to company data.

The planned closures come as Seven & i Holdings looks to streamline operations and optimize its store portfolio. The company didn’t disclose which specific locations will be affected by the closures.

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FOX Business’ Bradford Betz contributed to this report.

General Mills is pulling more than 735,000 Pillsbury bread rolls from shelves due to concerns the products may contain glass.

The recall affects certain frozen Pillsbury bread rolls, including “Hard Roll Dough” and “Kaiser Roll Dough” products, according to a recall report shared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The FDA classified the recall as Class II on July 13. A Class II recall means that using the product could cause “temporary or medically reversible” health consequences.

BMW RECALLS NEARLY 30K VEHICLES OVER ENGINE STARTER DEFECT THAT COULD CAUSE FIRE

The affected units include 3,080 cases of Pillsbury “Hard Roll Dough” products, with 180 units per case. They have “Better if Used by” dates of Oct. 12, 2026, and Oct. 13, 2026, with lot numbers 11JUN6JL and 12JUN6JL.

The recall also includes 1,260 cases of Pillsbury “Kaiser Roll Dough” products, with 144 units per case. Those products have a “Better if Used by” date of Oct. 13, 2026, and lot number 12JUN6JL, as noted in the report.

CUISINART STAINLESS STEEL PROPANE GRILL SOLD AT LOWE’S AND WALMART RECALLED OVER SHATTERING GLASS RISK

The recalled cases amount to roughly 735,840 rolls.

The products were distributed in Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming, the FDA said.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
GIS	GENERAL MILLS INC.	38.74	+1.52	+4.10%

MORE THAN 1.7M GRILL BRUSHES RECALLED OVER BRISTLE HAZARD, RISK OF ‘SERIOUS INTERNAL INJURIES’

The recall comes amid several other recent food safety alerts.

The FDA also recently upgraded a recall of certain Utz Quality Foods potato chips to its highest risk classification, warning that the products could cause serious health consequences or death if contaminated with salmonella.

FOX Business reached out to General Mills for comment.

FOX Business’ Brittany Miller contributed to this report.

The group’s newest deals are on home turf

Acquisitive North East wealth management group Fairstone has snapped up two independent North East firms.

The fast-growing group has agreed deals with Sunderland-based Grainger Financial Planning and Morpeth’s Riverstone Wealth Management. It follows partnerships with Fairstone beginning in 2024 and following the group’s downstream buy-out model which allows a period of investment support and integration before a full acquisition.

Grainger Financial Planning serves almost 400 clients with £120m of client assets under management. It offers a range of financial planning and wealth management services and has been advising clients for more than 15 years.

Meanwhile, Riverstone Wealth Management was set up in 2009 and provides financial advice to more than 65 clients with £63m of client assets under management.

Paul Clough, firm principal at Grainger Financial Planning alongside Mike McGurrell, said: “We’re really pleased to be joining Fairstone – as a company based in Sunderland, like ourselves, it genuinely feels like we’re coming home. Joining Fairstone gives us the opportunity to grow the business while maintaining our commitment to providing trusted, independent financial advice.

“The additional support we’ve received on things like regulatory and compliance matters has freed up more of our time to spend with clients and seen the range of services we can offer widen.”

Mark Wiseman, founder and firm principal at Riverstone alongside brother Ian Wiseman, said: “Working with the Fairstone team over the past two years has been great and we’re looking forward to a really bright future. One of the big benefits which we have found is the ability to grow our client base by using the resources, experience and expertise which Fairstone offers us.

“We are already providing an increasing number of people with trusted, independent financial advice and I’m confident that this will continue now that we are part of Fairstone.”

Fairstone describes itself as one of the fastest-growing financial services organisations in the UK and Ireland. It employs more than 1,350 people serving over 60,000 wealth clients with client assets under management of more than £22bn.

Steve Easter, managing director for Fairstone’s Northern region, said: “It is fantastic to be able to welcome Paul, Ian, Mark and the Grainger and Riverstone teams to Fairstone. The acquisition of both firms demonstrates our commitment to further growth in our North-East heartland and to bringing on board ambitious, growing financial advice and wealth management firms.

“With our group headquarters in Sunderland, we know from first hand that this region is home to a thriving community of entrepreneurs, business owners and families who are creating and preserving significant wealth, and who value the kind of long-term, trusted relationships that sit at the heart of good financial advice.

“In acquiring Grainger and Riverstone, we’re bringing on board firms which share those values, strengthening our ability to support clients across the region and helping them to build their financial futures with confidence.”

​Short sellers targeting SpaceX shares ​are sitting on an estimated $8.7 billion in paper profit ​since the rockets-to-AI firm’s initial public offering last month, as its stock slipped below the IPO price, according to data and analytics firm Ortex Technologies.

Short sellers, who borrow ‌shares to ⁠sell them ⁠and later buy them back at a lower price for a profit, have ​pressed their bearish bets on SpaceX as the company’s shares slipped toward its IPO price ​of $135 from a post-IPO high of $225.64. SpaceX shares have been volatile, experiencing brief bouts of strength before slipping back.

On Wednesday, the stock dropped below ​its initial public offering price for the ⁠first time before ‌recovering to close just above that level. “SpaceX has ​been a ​rollercoaster for the short sellers, and it has ended ⁠up firmly in their favor,” Ortex co-founder Peter Hillerberg said.

“Rather ​than take profits, the bears kept adding the whole ​way down.” Almost half of SpaceX’s tradable shares, about 49% of the free float, are now out on loan, according to Ortex. “We believe most of that is short selling,” Hillerberg said. SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

SpaceX’s lofty valuation makes it ‌a target for short sellers skeptical of its rich price tag, but strong retail and institutional interest as well as ​CEO Elon Musk’s ​history of public battles ⁠against short sellers make bearish bets against the company a risky proposition. The weakness in SpaceX shares reflects in part investor concern over debt-funded AI spending.

The ​stock’s sizable short position could inject further volatility into the shares, with every dollar SpaceX shares move worth more than $300 million to the short side, Ortex estimates. That means the stock could swing hard in either direction. SpaceX shares were up about 1% to $136.28 on Thursday.

A White House teleprompter operator is being investigated over allegedly using inside information to place bets and make nearly $100,000 on US President Donald Trump’s speeches.

Gabriel Perez, who had worked at the White House since 2016, is accused of placing bets on words the president would use during major public addresses, including the State of the Union speech.

The trades were made on Kalshi, a prediction markets platform where users can bet on real-world events. The firm confirmed it reported the activity to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which regulates the platform.

Kalshi froze Perez’s account before any profits could be withdrawn, according to reports.

The platform told the BBC its analysts noticed unusual betting on “mention markets” – contracts where users predict whether a speaker will use common terms, such as specific countries, economic words, or campaign slogans, in March.

“The words of political leaders like Presidents and Fed chairs cause billions of dollars of movement in FX markets, oil futures, [and] the stock market,” Kalshi said.

Using account data, the company found the user was a federal employee operating White House teleprompters.

The exchange froze more than $90,000 before it could be withdrawn.

Robert DeNault, Kalshi’s head of enforcement, said the firm flagged the trades and had handed evidence to regulators.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Trump was aware of the teleprompter operator and that staffer was now on unpaid leave, before adding Perez would no longer work at the White House.

The story, first reported by ABC News, has been confirmed by the BBC’s US partner, CBS News.

Sources said Perez has been “fully cooperative” with the CFTC.

ABC said federal prosecutors in Manhattan declined to open a criminal case.

When contacted by the BBC to confirm it was investigating, the CFTC said it could not “confirm or deny” any probe.

The move follows a management buyout of the business last year

Yorkshire civil engineering and surfacing contractor SGH Civils and Surfacing Ltd has secured a six-figure funding package.

The Denaby Main-based business was helped by PMD Business Finance to get the asset financing package to support its investment in new fleet, including commercial vans and heavy construction vehicles. Bosses who staged a management buyout last year say the move has allowed them to support local employment.

SGH began in the mid-1990s and was known as Eco Power Civil Engineering Ltd, before rebranding in 2025 following the buyout deal led by Shaun Hardisty which saw it separate from the wider Eco Power Group. The firm employs 30 staff and carries out a wide range of civil engineering projects across the Yorkshire region in the commercial, residential, industrial and infrastructure spheres.

It also works with local authority and private sector clients across the UK on surfacing projects.

Mr Hardisty said: “Our new identity reflects our ambition to build on the strong reputation the business has developed over many years. We remain committed to operating from our base in Denaby Main and continuing to support projects across Doncaster and the wider Yorkshire region.

“Since we completed the management buyout in August last year, our focus has been on investing in the growth of the business. We have invested £400,000 in a new fleet of commercial vehicles and added to our yellow plant fleet, ensuring we are fully equipped to deliver high quality civil engineering and surfacing services for our clients while continuing to support local employment.”

PMD also used the Government Growth Guarantee Scheme to provide additional growth capital whilst also facilitating a asset refinancing facility to reduce on-going monthly debt commitments.

Kai Wynne-Jones, structured finance director at PMD Business Finance, said: “We’re delighted for Shaun and his team as they embark on this exciting new chapter following the management buyout. We are pleased to have provided a bespoke funding solution that not only meets SGH’s current needs but also supports its ambitious growth plans and we look forward to supporting the team as they continue to drive the business forward”