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By Ilena Peng, Bloomberg News

Halloween is shaping up to be a test for the chocolate industry, as high cocoa costs threaten to accelerate a consumer shift toward cheaper and trendier sweets such as sour gummies.

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For candy makers, Halloween remains crucial — the holiday made up nearly 18% of annual U.S. candy sales last year, second only to Christmas. But chocolate makers have been passing along costlier input prices to consumers, and that’s leaving an opening for rivals — who have already seen a shift toward non-chocolate treats — to grab more market share. read more

After a weekslong delay because of the federal government shutdown, the latest report on consumer prices has arrived, giving Americans a glimpse at how President Donald Trump’s economic policies are impacting everyday costs everywhere from the grocery store to the gas pump.

Across the board, inflation accelerated in September, with prices rising 0.3% — though slightly less than the 0.4% in August. Consumer costs are also 3% higher than they were a year ago, an increase economists largely attribute to surging food and energy costs as a result of the president’s sweeping tariffs.

Still, nine months into the second Trump administration, the data ran somewhat counter to what many economists anticipated, particularly following the latest round of import tax hikes that took effect in early August. The cost of bananas is at a record high, but beef prices have finally fallen, utility expenses are down month-over-month and other goods only saw minimal changes in cost in September.

The better-than-expected figures come as a spate of good news for money-conscious Americans, particularly as many may lose their SNAP benefits in the coming days — including nearly 2 million Illinoisans. read more

By DEE-ANN DURBIN

Starbucks halted a long sales slide in its fiscal fourth quarter as pumpkin drinks and improved service brought customers back to its stores.

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The Seattle coffee giant said Wednesday that its global same-store sales, or sales at locations open at least a year, rose 1% over last year in the July-September period. It was the first time in nearly two years that the company posted an increase in same-store sales.

That increase was largely due to international markets, where same-store sales rose 3%. In the U.S., same-store sales were flat; spending per transaction was up 1% but transactions were down 1%. Still, that was an improvement from the third quarter, when U.S. same-store sales fell 2%. read more

By BARBARA ORTUTAY

Meta’s stock slid in after-hours trading on Wednesday after the tech giant posted strong third-quarter results but warned that its expenses will be significantly higher in 2026 than this year.

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Like its rivals, Meta Platforms Inc. has been on an artificial intelligence spending spree and said its costs will grow much faster next year, driven by infrastructure costs and employee compensation as it has hired AI experts at eye-popping compensation levels.

“Employee compensation costs will be the second largest contributor to growth, as we recognize a full year of compensation for employees hired throughout 2025, particularly AI talent, and add technical talent in priority areas,” Meta said. read more

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google’s corporate parent on Wednesday announced its first-ever quarter with more than $100 billion in revenue, a milestone that illustrates the unwavering power of its internet empire amid legal and competitive threats.

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The news of Alphabet Inc.’s accelerating growth in revenue and profit comes on the heels of a court ruling in the U.S. Justice Department’s landmark monopoly case against Google’s dominant search engine that was widely seen as a mild rebuke that wouldn’t hobble the company.

Alphabet performed like a powerhouse during the July-September period, delivering a profit of nearly $35 billion, or $2.87 per share, a 33% increase from the same time last year. Revenue rose 16% from last year to $102.3 billion. Both figures easily exceeded the analysts’ projections that steer the stock market. read more