By DEE-ANN DURBIN, Associated Press

Shares of Cal-Maine Foods, the largest U.S. egg producer, fell in after-hours trading Tuesday after the company acknowledged it is being investigated by the antitrust division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Ridgeland, Mississippi-based Cal-Maine said it received notice of the investigation into egg price increases last month. Cal-Maine said it is cooperating with the investigation.

The company’s shares fell more than 4% in after-hours trading.

Egg prices have hit record highs in recent months, largely due to a bird flu epidemic that has forced farmers to slaughter more than 166 million birds, mostly egg-laying chickens.

One dozen Grade A eggs cost an average of $5.90 in U.S. cities in February, up 10.4% from a year ago. That eclipsed January’s record-high price of $4.95.

The egg price increases have put Cal-Maine, which provides around 20% of the nation’s eggs, under increased scrutiny.

On Tuesday, Cal-Maine said its sales nearly doubled to $1.42 billion in its fiscal third quarter, which ended March 1. The company said that was primarily due to higher egg prices, which averaged $4.06 per dozen during the quarter, up from $2.25 per dozen a year ago.

Cal-Maine’s sales fell short of Wall Street’s forecast of $1.43 billion, according to analysts polled by FactSet.

Cal-Maine said it sold a record 331.4 million dozen-eggs in the third quarter, a 10% increase from the same period a year ago.

Cal-Maine said it made progress on mitigating the effects of bird flu, including increasing the number of layer hens and chicks hatched and recovering from the flu-related closure of facilities in Texas and Kansas. The company said its feed costs were also down during the quarter.

Cal-Maine said its third quarter net income more than tripled to $508.5 million compared to the same period a year ago. The profit, of $10.38 per share, also fell short of analysts’ forecast of a $10.72 per-share profit.

Police arrested a 14-year-old Tuesday in the fatal stabbing of another teenager in St. Paul last week.

The teen is being held on suspicion of murder in the death of Jay’Mier K. Givens, 19, of St. Paul, said Sgt. Toy Vixayvong, a St. Paul police spokesman.

Givens died the evening of March 31. Officers responding to 911 calls found Givens outside a Dayton’s Bluff residence on Sixth Street near Birmingham Street. Givens, who Vixayvong said wasn’t connected to the residence, was stabbed multiple times and died at the hospital.

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By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A top Pentagon official said Tuesday that special operations forces do not have the authority to launch drone attacks at drug cartels in Mexico, even though President Donald Trump has designated them foreign terrorist organizations.

A view from an U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter as it flies along the US-Mexico border as part of Joint Task Force Southern Border Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Douglas, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Colby Jenkins, who is currently working as the assistant defense secretary for special operations, told a Senate committee that Trump’s designation doesn’t automatically give the U.S. military the authority to take direct action against the cartels.

Under questioning from Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat, Jenkins said it “helps us unlock the doors” for a broader government approach to the drug problem.

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Slotkin noted that Elon Musk, a top adviser to Trump on overhauling the federal government, has said the foreign terrorist designation means the U.S. can conduct drone strikes against the cartels. Musk posted that on Feb. 19 on X.

Jenkins said it doesn’t, but that now the military can provide options and be ready if Trump needs more done to protect the border.

U.S. Northern Command has increased manned surveillance flights along the U.S.-Mexico border to monitor drug cartels and the movement of fentanyl and is increasing its intelligence sharing with Mexico from those flights, Gen. Gregory Guillot told senators in February.

There are also unmanned U.S. drones conducting surveillance over Mexico’s airspace, according to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.

Trump designated many of the gangs and cartels moving those drugs into the U.S. as foreign terrorist organizations on Feb. 19, further increasing the pressure on their ability to move and providing law enforcement with what the State Department said are “additional tools to stop these groups.”

Guillot, commander of U.S. Northern Command, also told senators that he would seek expanded authority from Congress to conduct “more advise-and-assist types of operations between our forces and the tier one Mexican forces,” which are that country’s special forces units.

The University of Minnesota graduate student currently detained pending deportation proceedings will be back in court later this week.

During a hearing at immigration court Tuesday, an attorney for Doğukan Günaydın, 28, asked the court to pause the removal proceedings in order to hold another hearing to address new charges filed by the Department of Homeland Security. Those charges are not yet publicly available.

Attorney Hannah Brown said she expects Günaydın will testify during the hearing scheduled for Friday morning. Another hearing in Günaydın’s case is scheduled for next week.

Günaydın appeared remotely from Sherburne County jail, wearing an orange jail uniform.

Brown had asked Judge Sarah Mazzie to close Tuesday’s proceedings to the public. She said Günaydın’s case has received a lot of public attention and she was concerned for his privacy and safety. Judge Mazzie denied that request.

Günaydın, who is from Turkey, was arrested by ICE late last month and his student visa was revoked. He sued the government, alleging ICE violated his constitutional rights, for among other things, arresting him before DHS terminated his permission to remain in the U.S.

DHS argues that Günaydın should be deported because of a June 2023 drunken driving arrest. Günaydın pleaded guilty to gross misdemeanor DWI in March 2024.

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