Shake Shack

soup season

Shake Shack is launching a French onion soup... burger

The fast-casual chain will be hoping premium upsells can fatten up its profit margins.

9/12/25 8:53AM

While many fast-food chains double down on value options, Shake Shack is going in a different direction, betting on premium menu items to lure customers in.

After launching a $10 “Dubai Chocolate Pistachio Shake,” which helped boost its second-quarter earnings, Shake Shack is back with another indulgent “innovation.” This time it’s a French onion soup burger, which sounds, of course, completely insane, but is basically just a burger topped with the likes of Gruyere cheese, caramelized onions, and roasted garlic Parmesan aioli.

America’s favorite sandwich

The soup-burger idea is only the second offering from Shake Shack’s longer commitment to a premium limited-time menu, with the company now “locked and loaded” with plans for new items over the next 18 months.

In America’s burger market, Shake Shack occupies an interesting space — toward the premium end of the “I fancy a quick burger” scene. By going all in on that message, the NYC-based chain will be hoping to reinvigorate growth and squeeze more sales out of each of its stores.

Data from QSR reveals that the average Shake Shack store generated $3.9 million last year, the fourth-highest average unit volume (AUV) of all burger chains tracked by the magazine.

That figure is some ways off of best-in-class rival In-N-Out, which sold a whopping $5.24 million worth of burgers, fries, and drinks in each of its stores last year, per QSR.

With beef prices continuing to climb — rising ~14% in the last 12 months — adding onions and cheese to a burger, rather than more beef, is a smart upsell. Will it be enough to drive customers back to Shake Shack and get its AUV closer to In-N-Out’s? Time will tell.

Millie Giles6/11/26

JM Smucker says it sold $1 billion worth of Uncrustables in FY2026

After years of booming sandwich sales, JM Smucker has finally earned a billion-dollar crust.

On Tuesday, the company reported results for fiscal year 2026, highlighting better-than-expected profits driven by higher prices for coffee and sweet baked goods. However, at another point on the earnings call, CEO Mark Smucker pointed to one particularly jammy figure: in line with previous forecasts, the company sold $1 billion worth of its (almost always) crustless sandwiches, Uncrustables, in the last year alone.

Max Knoblauch6/8/26

Paramount reportedly offers concessions to resolve multistate antitrust investigation

Paramount has reportedly offered up some concessions in an effort to prevent an antitrust lawsuit by California and about 10 other states, according to Bloomberg reporting on Monday.

Reuters first reported on the potential suit from a group of unnamed states last week, which could throw a wrench in Paramount’s plans to buy rival Warner Bros. Discovery in a Hollywood megamerger.

The list of concessions is unknown, though Bloomberg previously reported that Paramount is open to divesting some of its kids TV assets to appease EU regulators.

Late last month, reports said US regulators appeared likely to approve the $110 billion merger, following a meeting between Paramount CEO David Ellison and DOJ antitrust staffers.

Paramount Offers Concessions to Head Off State Antitrust Lawsuit

The list of concessions is unknown, though Bloomberg previously reported that Paramount is open to divesting some of its kids TV assets to appease EU regulators.

Late last month, reports said US regulators appeared likely to approve the $110 billion merger, following a meeting between Paramount CEO David Ellison and DOJ antitrust staffers.

$98B ⛽

Max Knoblauch6/8/26

The IATA released its latest financial outlook for the airline industry over the weekend, forecasting a $98 billion jump in the sector’s collective fuel bill. The world’s largest trade group representing airlines expects the oil spike to halve profits by 49% from last year to $23 billion.

The group also expects profit margins to halve year over year, falling from 2025’s 4.2% to 2%. Still, revenue is expected to climb to $1.17 trillion from $1.07 trillion.

A surge in the cost of jet fuel has rocked US and global airlines this year, leading Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue, and others to raise fares and ancillary charges like bag fees. Low-cost carriers, which operate on smaller margins, have been squeezed the hardest, resulting in Spirit’s shutdown.

“It’s a tough year for all airlines, especially those whose balance sheets had not yet recovered from COVID. And, of course, for those operating in the Gulf,” said IATA Director General Willie Walsh, who added that demand is holding up and about half of passengers expect to spend more on travel this year. “That bodes well for a strong northern summer peak season. The big unknown is how long travelers and shippers can tolerate the higher costs of connectivity.”

Hollywood Exteriors And Landmarks - 2025

1 year into the Switch 2, we might’ve seen the top of the console market

The Switch 2 launched on this day in 2025. Amid a rough year for consoles, Nintendo has logged a good one.

Max Knoblauch6/5/26

Max Knoblauch6/4/26

GM has reportedly rehired more than 100 former Cruise employees, 18 months after shuttering the robotaxi unit

GM has rehired more than 100 employees it let go early last year when it shuttered Cruise, its former robotaxi business, according to reporting by The Information.

The hiring spree, which also includes employees from Nvidia and Uber, is geared toward ramping up GM’s plans for personal-use self-driving vehicles and not robotaxis. The former had been the focus of Cruise, prior to GM shuttering it in 2024.

Reporting last fall revealed that GM was attempting to rehire some former Cruise employees, but the scope of that effort wasn’t clear. More than 1,000 employees were laid off when the automaker scrapped Cruise, which it invested $10 billion into.

Google’s Waymo, Cruise’s former chief rival, is now worth $126 billion after a $16 billion funding round earlier this year. The company says it’s serving 500,000 paid robotaxi rides per week in the US.