The daily business briefing: February 19, 2016

John Deere tractors for sale at a dealership in Albion, Ill.

(Image credit: AP Photo/ Seth Perlman)

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1. Deere earnings fall but beat expectations
2. Facebook and Twitter side with Apple in FBI encryption fight
3. McDonald's franchisees skeptical about turnaround plan
4. California gas leak permanently plugged with cement
5. Airline complaints rise despite service improvements

published 19 February 2016

1. Deere earnings fall but beat expectations

Deere & Co. on Friday posted quarterly earnings that beat Wall Street expectations, but were lower than a year earlier due to the downturn in the global farm economy. Net income was 80 cents per share. Analysts had predicted 70 or 71 cents per share, down from $1.12 in the same period a year earlier. The agricultural equipment manufacturer forecast sales to fall about 10 percent this year. Deere shares fell by 2 percent in pre-market trade, and are down by 13 percent over the last 12 months.

Facebook and Twitter on Thursday joined Google in backing Apple's decision to fight a government order to help the FBI crack the code of San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook's iPhone. Facebook said the move would weaken security and set a "chilling precedent." Prosecutors in a similar case last year said Apple had accessed iPhones for law enforcement 70 times since 2008, although Apple opposed compliance before, too. Former CIA chief Gen. Michael Hayden also sided with Apple, saying, "America is simply more secure with unbreakable end-to-end encryption."

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A 2015 internal survey found that only 14 percent of McDonald's U.S. franchisees believed the fast-food chain's comeback plan was working. McDonald's is trying to refresh its image and in October announced an all-day breakfast menu to boost sagging sales. The survey was conducted before the menu announcement. It found that the percentage expressing pride in being a McDonald's owner fell to 77 percent from 84 percent a year earlier. A company spokesman said the results were "hardly surprising" because they came "before McDonald’s ended the year with momentum."

California officials announced Thursday that a natural gas leak in Porter Ranch had been permanently sealed. The leak of methane and other compounds forced thousands of people to leave their homes as Southern California Gas worked on a fix. Crews last week temporarily stopped the leak by injecting heavy fluids into the well, and this week followed up by plugging it with cement. Now the gas company is developing a proposal to mitigate damage to the environment.

Complaints by airline passengers increased by 30 percent in 2015, even though carriers did a better job arriving on time and keeping track of luggage, the Transportation Department reported Thursday. There were 20,170 complaints — up from 15,539 in 2014 — about a wide range of glitches, including flight problems, baggage, reservations, ticketing, customer service, and discrimination. Melanie Hinton, of the trade group Airlines for America, said the complaint rate "remains remarkably low," around two per 100,000 travelers.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.