Outage zings mobile orders at Starbucks
NEW YORK — Starbucks customers had to wait in long lines Friday to get their caffeine fix after an outage of its app made mobile orders impossible.
The coffee chain said it was experiencing a “temporary outage” but didn’t provide any other details. The outage came on the same day Starbucks launched its holiday drinks and cups. It’s also handing out free red reusable cups.
Customers took to social media to complain about the app and the long lines they found at stores.
The app has become an important part of sales growth at Starbucks. Mobile ordering and pay made up 14 percent of all transactions from July to September.
Tesla acknowledges SEC subpoena over Model 3 production forecasts
DETROIT — U.S. securities investigators have subpoenaed information from Tesla about production forecasts for the Model 3 electric car that were made last year, the company acknowledged in a regulatory filing Friday.
The disclosure in Tesla’s quarterly financial report also says the Securities and Exchange Commission subpoena covered other public statements made about Model 3 production.
The filing adds that Tesla is cooperating with a Justice Department request for information about Model 3 forecasts.
It’s the first time Tesla has formally disclosed the SEC subpoena in a regulatory filing, but there have been widespread news reports about its investigation into production forecasts.
The Model 3 is a central part of Tesla’s plan to expand from a niche player in the luxury segment to a car maker with broader appeal.
Exxon reports best Q3 since 2014
DALLAS — Higher oil prices propelled Exxon’s third-quarter profit up 57 percent to $6.24 billion despite another drop in production.
It was Exxon’s best third quarter since 2014, when the effects of a collapse in oil prices had not yet been felt, and a sign that Big Oil is coming back. Rival Chevron Corp. reported a doubling of quarterly profit, to $4 billion.
Citi analysts said Exxon showed improved results Friday in both its production and refining segments, which “helps support the case that the business is turning.”
Oil companies are being boosted by rising crude prices. Brent, the benchmark for international oil, is up about 16 percent from a year ago, even with a dip in the last month, and the U.S. standard, West Texas intermediate, is up about 13 percent.
Shares of Exxon Mobil Corp. rose $1.28 to close at $81.95.
While profit soared, Exxon’s production continued to slide. Overall output declined 2.4 percent compared with last year’s third quarter largely because of falling production of natural gas in the United States and Europe. That continued a theme of the past couple years. Still, it was an improvement over weak second-quarter production. And it was better than analysts expected.