Wendy’s closing 140 restaurants as it updates better performing locations

Wendy’s plans to close 140 U.S. restaurants before the end of this year, on top of the 100 it said it would close in May.

But in a conference call with investors Thursday, the company said those closures will be offset by new restaurant openings. Wendy’s said it plans to open between 250 and 300 restaurants this year.

Wendy’s President and CEO Kirk Tanner said the restaurants that are closing are underperforming compared to others.

“They’re just in locations that don’t build our brands,” Tanner said. “You look at a brand that’s 55 years old and some of those restaurants are quite out of date.”

Dublin, Ohio-based Wendy’s didn’t provide a list of the locations to be closed. But Tanner said they are spread out all over the country.

“Our focus is on building new restaurants because we know they deliver well over the average of these poor-performing restaurants,” he said.

Wendy’s had 7,292 restaurants at the end of the third quarter. More than 80% of them are in the U.S.

Contributions for Pension, retirement plan rising in 2025

The IRS on Friday announced an increase to the amount individuals can contribute to their 401(k) plans in 2025 — to $23,500, up from $23,000 in 2024.

The Internal Revenue Service detailed the increases in its annual cost-of-living adjustments for pension plans and other retirement accounts.

Workers who participate in 403(b) and the federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan will also be able to increase their annual contribution to $23,500 in 2025, up from $23,000 in 2024.

Some annual contributions remain the same. The limit on annual contributions to an IRA will remain at $7,000 and the IRA catch-up contribution limit for people 50 and over remains $1,000 for 2025.

The agency last week announced increases to the standard deduction in its annual inflation adjustments for 2025. For single taxpayers and married individuals filing separately in tax year 2025, the standard deduction is rising to $15,000 — up $400 from 2024.

For couples who file jointly, that standard deduction will be $30,000 for 2025, an $800 jump from the year prior. And heads of households will get a $22,500 standard deduction, up $600 from 2024.

Income thresholds for all seven federal tax bracket levels were also revised upward.

iPhones sales boost helps end slump

Apple snapped out of a recent iPhone sales slump during its summer quarter, an early sign that its recent efforts to revive demand for its marquee product with an infusion of artificial intelligence are paying off.

Sales of the iPhone totaled $46.22 billion for the July-September period, a 6% increase from the same time last year, according to Apple’s fiscal fourth-quarter report released Thursday. That improvement reversed two consecutive year-over-year declines in the iPhone’s quarterly sales.

The iPhone boost helped Apple deliver total quarterly revenue and profit that exceeded the analyst projections that sway investors, excluding a one-time charge of $10.2 billion to account for a recent European Union court decision that lumped the Cupertino, California, company with a huge bill for back taxes.

Apple earned $14.74 billion, or 97 cents per share, a 36% decrease from the same time last year. Revenue rose 6% from last year to $94.93 billion, about $400 million more than analysts forecast.

In other Apple news, the company agreed to buy software maker Pixelmator, adding a popular high-end photo-editing app to its lineup.

Compiled from Associated Press reports.