12:13 PM EDT, 09/19/2024 (MT Newswires) -- All three major US stock market indexes were up in late-morning trading Thursday, with the Nasdaq Composite leading the way, surging 2.7%, as Wall Street reacts to the Federal Reserve's decision to lower interest rates by 50 basis points.

In company news, Darden Restaurants ( DRI ) and Uber Technologies ( UBER ) said Thursday they signed a multiyear exclusive delivery partnership. The deal will begin initially with a limited number of Olive Garden ( DRI ) locations in late 2024, with national expansion expected to be completed by May 2025, the companies said. Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed. Darden also reported fiscal Q1 adjusted net earnings from continuing operations Thursday of $1.75 per diluted share, down from $1.78 a year earlier and below the Capital IQ consensus analyst estimate of $1.83. Fiscal Q1 sales were $2.76 billion, up from $2.73 billion a year ago but below the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. The company said it continues to expect fiscal 2025 diluted net earnings from continuing operations of $9.40 to $9.60 per share. Analysts polled by Capital IQ expect $9.52. Shares of Darden were up 7.8% near noon, while those of Uber ( UBER ) were up 3.1%.

Many of the major social media and video streaming companies have been surveilling consumers to monetize their personal information and have failed to protect users online, especially teens and children, the Federal Trade Commission said Thursday in a staff report. The report is based on responses to orders issued in December 2020 to some of the biggest social media and video streaming services, including Twitch-owner Amazon.com ( AMZN ) , Meta Platforms ( META ) , Alphabet's (GOOG) YouTube ( GOOG ), X (formerly Twitter), Snap (SNAP), TikTok-owner ByteDance, Reddit ( RDDT ) and WhatsApp. The companies collected troves of data and engaged in broad data sharing "that raises serious concerns regarding the adequacy of the companies' data handling controls and oversight," the FTC said. Furthermore, based on the data collected, the companies maintained that no children were on their platforms because they did not allow children to create accounts nor were their services directed at children, the FTC said. Shares of Amazon ( AMZN ), Meta, Alphabet, Snap and Reddit ( RDDT ) were up 1.5%, 4.1%, 2.1%, 6.1% and 2.6%, respectively.

KKR (KKR) and German billionaire Mathias Dopfner have agreed to split Axel Springer in two, the German media company said Thursday. Under the new corporate structure, Axel Springer's media assets, including BILD, Business Insider, POLITICO and WELT, will remain privately owned by Friede Springer and Dopfner, who will jointly hold close to 98% ownership. The classifieds businesses -- StepStone, AVIV Group and finanzen.net -- will become separate joint ventures under the majority ownership of KKR and CPP Investments, with Axel Springer retaining a minority stake. The restructuring is expected to close in Q2 2025, pending regulatory approvals. Shares of KRR were up 2.9%.

Toronto-Dominion Bank Group (TD) President and Chief Executive Bharat Masrani said Thursday he intends to retire on April 10, 2025, after 38 years at the Bank. The bank's board of directors said it intends to make Raymond Chun, group head for Canadian Personal Banking, Masrani's successor as president and CEO. The board also said that, starting Nov. 1, Chun will join the board of directors and become chief operating officer. Shares of TD Bank were up 2.6%.

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