Chipotle OKs 50-for-1 stock split

In a rare move on Wall Street, Chipotle Mexican Grill’s board has approved a 50-for-1 stock split. The burrito chain lauded the proposed split as one of the biggest in New York Stock Exchange history — while noting it believed the move would also boost accessibility of the company’s stock.

But despite approval board of directors, the split isn’t set in stone yet. Chipotle still needs the greenlight from shareholders, which is expected in June.

A stock split is when a company increases its amount of outstanding shares. That changes the price-per-stock, but not the overall value of shareholders’ holdings.

French regulators fine Google $272M

France’s competition watchdog has hit Google with another big fine tied to a long-running dispute over payments to French publishers for their news. The French Competition Authority said Wednesday that it issued the $272 million penalty because of Google’s failure to comply with some commitments it made in a negotiating framework.

The dispute is part of a larger effort by authorities in the European Union and around the world to force Google and other tech companies to compensate news publishers for content.

The U.S. tech giant was forced to negotiate with French publishers after a court in 2020 upheld an order saying payments were required by a 2019 European Union copyright directive.

Retail sales increase between 2.5%, 3.5%

The largest U.S. retail trade group is forecasting that the country’s retail sales will increase anywhere between 2.5% and 3.5% this year. That’s a solid but still slower pace from the 3.6% seen last year. The National Retail Federation said Wednesday that sales should reach between $5.23 trillion and $5.28 trillion this year.

The forecast is roughly in line with the 10-year pre-pandemic average annual sales growth of 3.6%. A strong jobs market and rising wages have fueled household spending, but sales have become choppy in the face of rising credit costs and still higher prices.

Wall Street rallies to records on rate cut

Stocks rallied to more records after the Federal Reserve indicated it’s still likely to deliver the cuts to interest rates this year that Wall Street craves. The S&P 500 rose 0.9% Wednesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1%, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.3%. All three indexes hit all-time highs.

The fear coming into the day was that the Fed would trim the number of expected rate cuts this year because of some hot inflation data, but it’s still penciling in three. Traders built bets that the first cut will come in June.

— Bulletin wire reports