Business Briefs – August 14, 2018

Home Depot Roars Back in The Second Quarter

ATLANTA (AP) —Home Depot handily beat expectations during the second quarter, bouncing back from a slow start to the year when terrible weather cooled construction projects. The world’s biggest home improvement retailer boosted its full-year profit and revenue forecasts Tuesday. Higher mortgage rates combined with steadily rising real estate prices have dampened home sales this summer, despite the robust economy and job market, but Americans continue to plow money into the places where they live.

Warren Buffett’s Firm Adds to Apple, Teva Investments

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Investor Warren Buffett’s company added to its stakes in Apple and Israeli drugmaker Teva Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter while tweaking several of its other stock investments.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. filed an update on its U.S. stock portfolio with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday.

Berkshire held nearly 252 million Apple shares at the end of June, up from 239.57 million in March.

The Teva investment was disclosed earlier this year and has grown to 43.2 million shares from 40.5 million in the first quarter.

German Economy Defies Trade Gloom With Strong Growth

BERLIN (AP) — Official data show that the German economy accelerated slightly in the second quarter to grow by 0.5 percent compared with the previous three-month period, performing a little better than economists had expected. Germany’s economy, Europe’s biggest, grew 0.4 percent in the first quarter — a figure that was revised upward Tuesday from the initial reading of 0.3 percent given in May. Economists had forecast a 0.4 percent increase this time.

Coca-Cola Investing in Sports Drink Maker BodyArmor

NEW YORK (AP) — Coca-Cola is taking an ownership stake in sports drink maker BodyArmor. It’s the latest move by the world’s biggest soda maker to diversify its offerings and keep up with changing tastes. The company also owns Powerade, while rival PepsiCo makes the more popular Gatorade.