Panasonic will lay off 10,000 employees in 2025, targeting 5,000 jobs in Japan and another 5,000 overseas.

The Osaka-based group, which employs nearly 230,000 people globally, is restructuring its operations after reporting a 17.5% drop in net profit to ¥366 billion for the year ended March 31.

The company expects profit to fall another 15% this year, with sales down 8%.

This move is part of a broader efficiency drive triggered by weakening demand for electric vehicle batteries, ongoing structural inefficiencies, and growing uncertainty around trade tariffs, particularly in relation to the United States and China.

Cuts to hit Japan and global units

Panasonic stated that the cuts will be executed across both domestic and international operations, with 5,000 positions to be eliminated in Japan and the remaining 5,000 overseas.

These reductions will be implemented in accordance with local labour laws and regulations.

The company clarified that it will “reevaluate the numbers of organisations and personnel actually needed” as part of its ongoing review of efficiency across group companies.

The job reductions will be largely implemented during the current financial year and are aimed at addressing persistent structural challenges within the group.

These include redundancies in non-manufacturing functions and declining productivity across certain divisions.

In February, Panasonic had already signalled a management reform programme to address these issues and improve profitability by at least ¥150 billion (approximately $1 billion).

EV demand and tariffs a concern

The decision to restructure comes at a time when Panasonic, a key battery supplier to Tesla, is grappling with weakening global demand for electric vehicles (EVs).

The slowdown in EV adoption has impacted its automotive battery business, which had been one of the company’s major growth drivers in recent years.

Panasonic said it is also monitoring the evolving US trade tariff situation, although the current earnings forecast does not yet factor in any impact from these potential policy shifts.

The group’s latest financial results indicate broader macroeconomic pressures are taking a toll.

Net profit fell to ¥366 billion for the year ending March 2025, and Panasonic expects profits to dip further in the next twelve months. CEO Yuki Kusumi had earlier told Nikkei that job cuts were necessary for Panasonic to remain competitive against global peers.

He emphasised that, while the company had expanded its workforce during strong earnings periods, it now had to adjust to shifting market realities.

Panasonic’s strategy to reset its core businesses

The restructuring also reflects Panasonic’s attempts to reposition its core businesses amid changing consumer and industrial demand.

Once a global leader in consumer electronics, the company has diversified into sectors like housing, energy, and automotive technologies.

However, its performance in these sectors has faced headwinds due to weak demand, supply chain constraints, and rising operational costs.

Panasonic’s future plans centre around recalibrating its internal structures, particularly in non-manufacturing divisions, to reduce overheads and focus on more profitable areas.

The group has committed to taking both short-term and long-term measures to mitigate external risks, including trade tariffs and supply disruptions.

While the company has not disclosed specifics on which departments or roles will be most affected, the equal distribution of cuts between Japan and overseas operations signals a group-wide reassessment.

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Lyft Inc (NASDAQ: LYFT) rallied more than 20% on Friday morning after reporting its financial results for the first quarter that topped Street estimates on most fronts.   

But factors beyond the numbers are contributing to the rise in LYFT shares.

For starters, the company’s board authorised a significant boost to the stock buyback programme.

According to Lyft, as much as $500 million of it will be executed over the next year.

The share repurchase plan indicates management’s confidence in what the future holds for Lyft stock through the remainder of 2025.

Lyft is not seeing signs of a consumer slowdown

Investors are cheering Lyft’s Q1 earnings release this morning also because David Risher, its chief executive, said the American consumer was not showing any signs of a slowdown yet.

Concerns of a potential recession in the back half of this year have been brewing lately in the wake of the Trump administration’s aggressive tariffs on friends and foes alike.

However, “our team is stronger than it’s ever been, and the consumer demand is absolutely there,” Risher told CNBC in a post-earnings interview on Friday.

Including today’s gain, Lyft shares are up well over 50% versus their low in early April.

Highlights from Lyft’s Q1 earnings release

On Friday, the ride-hailing giant reported a 13% year-on-year increase in gross bookings to $4.16 billion for its fiscal Q1.

Analysts had called for a marginally lower $4.15 billion instead.

According to the Nasdaq-listed firm, the total number of rides in the first quarter also went up 16% to 218.4 million, handily beating experts’ forecast of 215.1 million.

Lyft stock is up also because the San Francisco headquartered firm turned a profit (a cent per share) in its recently concluded quarter, a meaningful improvement from 8 cents a share of loss last year.

Note that LYFT is not a dividend stock, though.  

Is it too late to invest in Lyft stock?

The only metric on which Lyft disappointed in its fiscal Q1 was revenue that printed at $1.45 billion (up 14% annually).

Street was at a slightly higher $1.47 billion instead.

Still, Eric Sheridan – a Goldman Sachs analyst continues to see upside in LFYT to $20 on “a rapid cadence of product innovation in consumer offerings and rising driver supply affinity enhancing the forward growth trajectory.”

Sheridan is convinced that Lyft will benefit from self-driving vehicles as “AV operators and fleet owners continue to enter into partnerships in the coming years.”

Last night, Lyft guided for a further mid-teen percentage increase in ride bookings for its fiscal Q2.

All in all, the investment firm is bullish since the company’s stock price appears “dislocated from its earnings power in the next 2-3 years.”

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Canadian unemployment rose to 6.9% in April, the highest level since November, as US tariffs on major exports started hitting the country’s important manufacturing and trade-dependent parts of the economy, Statistics Canada reported on Friday.

The increase in unemployment, with roughly 1.6 million Canadians out of work, shows mounting hurdles in an economy that is already showing symptoms of strain as trade tensions escalate.

The number of unemployed persons rose by 39,000 in April alone, a 2.6% increase over the previous month and 14% more than a year ago.

The headline employment figure indicated a modest growth of only 7,400 net jobs in April, after a loss of 32,600 posts in March.

The modest increase fell slightly short of analyst forecasts, which were for 2,500 new positions.

The unemployment rate in April matched the November 2024 reading, which was the greatest level outside of the COVID-19 pandemic era in the previous eight years.

The results imply that the United States’ most recent wave of tariffs, which included levies on Canadian steel and aluminium in March and broader taxes on vehicles and other commodities in April, is eroding Canada’s labour market resiliency.

Manufacturing takes the hit

The industrial sector contracted sharply in April, shedding 31,000 jobs. Statistics Canada ascribed much of this reduction to the impact of US tariffs, which have caused significant uncertainty for businesses that rely on cross-border trade.

Retail and wholesale trade also saw job losses, indicating that the consequences of the tariffs are spreading beyond heavy industry.

The employment rate, which measures the proportion of the working-age population that is employed, dropped to 60.8%, a six-month low.

The indicator has been under pressure during 2023 and early 2024, with population growth frequently outpacing employment creation.

Notably, while population growth has slowed since February, employment increases have yet to recover.

The public sector hiring was a rare bright spot. Employment in that area increased by 23,000 in April, thanks in part to temporary recruitment for the federal election.

Nonetheless, the growth was insufficient to offset losses elsewhere in the economy.

Labour market frictions intensify

The job market appeared to become more chaotic. In April, 61% of those who were unemployed in March remained unemployed, which is nearly four points higher than the previous year.

In April, Canadians looking for work had lengthier periods of unemployment due to worsening labour market circumstances, indicating a cooling trend, according to the survey.

Average hourly wage growth for permanent employees remained at 3.5 per cent in April, a key input that the Bank of Canada looks at when assessing wage growth as a potential contributor to inflation.

But this kind of stable wage gain will probably do little to ease fears of a softening labour market.

Markets prepare for June rate cut

Financial markets reacted to the labour report by increasing expectations of monetary easing from the Bank of Canada.

Currency swap market bets now indicate a 55% possibility of a 25 basis point drop at the central bank’s June meeting.

Following the labour market report, two-year Canadian government bond yields decreased 3.3 basis points to 2.586%, while the Canadian currency rose slightly, trading at 1.3909 to the US dollar (71.90 cents).

The Bank of Canada has cautioned that declining exports, increasing prices, and weak hiring prospects may necessitate decisive action.

As trade problems worsen and layoffs increase, policymakers appear more likely to provide short-term assistance to bolster a weakening economy.

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Brazil’s CSN Mineração (CMIN3), the mining arm of steel giant CSN, reported a net loss of R$357 million (approximately $69.5 million) in the first quarter of 2025, a significant decrease from the previous quarter’s net profit of over R$2.0 billion ($389.2 million).

According to InfoMoney, the company’s downturn was primarily caused by exchange rate fluctuations affecting its foreign currency cash holdings.

Adjusted net revenue in Q1 was R$3.41 billion ($662.9 million), a 12.7% decrease from the fourth quarter of 2024.

The reduction was mostly caused by normal seasonality and significant rainfall, which hindered transit quantities.

Despite the quarter-over-quarter reduction, revenue increased by 21.7% year on year, thanks to improved operational efficiency and a more advantageous exchange rate scenario, according to InfoMoney.

Stable prices, rising costs

Unit net revenue was US$61.96 per ton, unchanged from both the prior quarter and year-ago quarter, which is consistent with relatively flat iron ore prices during the period.

COGS for 1Q25 were R$2.24 billion ($435.5 million), up 5.3% from 4Q25 due to increasing purchases of grade ore and high freight charges.

CSN Mineração achieved a strong cash cost per ton of US$21.0/t, a marginal (2.9%) increase q-o-q but a significant (11.0%) year-on-year improvement due to recent operational efficiency gains.

Gross profit for the quarter was R$1.17 billion ($227.4 million), down 34.1% from 4q24.

The gross margin fell to 34.4%, attributable mostly to a lesser dilution of fixed costs as volume fell.

However, compared to the same period the previous year, gross profit climbed by 28.4%, with a margin improvement of 1.8 percentage points.

Administrative and financial pressures

General and administrative expenses increased to R$57.6 million ($11.5 million), a 16.9% uptick quarter-over-quarter, driven by a one-off effect.

Nonetheless, despite a higher sales volume, these costs were 21.1% lower than those in Q1 2024, indicating a turnaround in cost control initiatives.

Equity income was R$37 million ($7.2 million), a decrease of 16.4% compared to the fourth quarter due to seasonality and lower rail logistics activity via the MRS railroad.

One of the reasons behind the quarterly loss was the impact of the weaker currency on CSN Mineração’s dollar-denominated cash reserves.

Shareholder returns of $252.8 million have been approved

CSN Mineração’s board approved a substantial shareholder distribution of R$1.3 billion ($252.8 million).

This included R$1.09 billion ($212 million) in interim dividends and R$210 million ($40.8 million) in interest under equity (JCP).

The business indicated that stockholders on record as of Monday, May 12, will be eligible for the distribution.

The payment will be finished by December 31, 2025, with the exact date to be revealed later.s.

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Shares of Expedia Group fell sharply by more than 8.5% on Friday after the company reported first-quarter revenue that came in below Wall Street expectations, signalling a slowdown in US travel demand.

The online travel platform posted revenue of $2.98 billion, falling short of the $3.01 billion expected by analysts surveyed by LSEG.

The decline marks a concerning signal for the broader travel industry, which had been hoping for a strong summer season.

Analysts attributed the weaker-than-expected results to economic pressures weighing on consumer spending, particularly in the United States, where Expedia generates about two-thirds of its revenue.

At least 13 brokerages reduced their price targets on the stock post the earnings announcement.

Large US presence adds to the drag as inbound travel is affected

Expedia’s performance reflects growing consumer caution in the face of elevated interest rates, lingering inflation, and geopolitical uncertainty, including the impact of ongoing trade tensions.

“It’s all just a bit more pronounced in the case of Expedia, with a bigger US presence than peers,” said BTIG analyst Jake Fuller.

According to Barclays analysts, the recent results confirm that US travel has entered a slower phase.

Piper Sandler said commentary around US inbound travel and the B2C business was “discouraging”, and suggested a “tough slog from here”.

The brokerage downgraded the stock.

“Expedia will continued to have balanced risk/reward profile due to its ‘outsized exposure’ to the US demand environment, which makes up around two-thirds of its revenue,” Wedbush said in a Friday note.

US demand has demonstrated the greatest signs of uncertainty of softer consumer spending in the near term, Wedbush analysts said, lowering its price target to $165 from $180.

Analysts caution that low Canadian inbound travel to the US could dent summer play

One of the most striking data points was a nearly 30% drop in bookings to the US from Canada.

Analysts at Truist highlighted that tensions between the two countries may have begun discouraging cross-border travel.

This slump is significantly steeper than the 7% overall decline in international inbound bookings.

Analysts warned that the geopolitical strain could further dent sentiment during the summer season, especially if diplomatic ties do not stabilize.

They particularly cautioned about Canadian inbound travel to the US, which took a hit even though souring geopolitics only took hold in the final weeks of the quarter.

Core profit margin likely to be met despite weakening travel demand

Despite the gloom, Expedia Group is expected to stay on course to meet its core profit margin targets despite signs of weakening travel demand, according to a note from Oppenheimer on Friday.

The investment firm pointed to the company’s disciplined cost controls as a key factor supporting its margin resilience.

Chief Financial Officer Scott Schenkel told investors during an earnings call on Thursday that the online travel platform now anticipates its full-year EBITDA margin will expand by 75 to 100 basis points.

That marks an improvement over its earlier forecast of a 50-basis-point increase, according to a transcript from FactSet.

Despite the improved profitability outlook, Expedia revised its revenue growth guidance downward.

Management now expects revenue to rise by 2% to 4% over the full year, compared with a prior projection of 4% to 6%.

For the current quarter, the company forecasts revenue growth in the range of 3% to 5%, along with a similar 75 to 100 basis point increase in EBITDA margin.

Stock performance hinges on the macroeconomic picture

While gross bookings missed forecasts, Expedia managed to deliver adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization above expectations.

The company’s business-to-business segment showed relatively stronger performance thanks to its wider international reach.

Still, the outlook remains tepid.

The company’s second-quarter and full-year guidance fell modestly below consensus expectations.

“While Expedia investors do value profitable growth, returning to a focus on profitable growth isn’t the messaging those investors want to hear right now, even if it is the right move,” Benchmark analyst Daniel Kurnos says in a research note.

There needs to be a better growth component to the Expedia story for the stock to really work, the analyst says.

“That said, it probably wouldn’t take much for shares to pick up some low-hanging fruit as long as the broader macroeconomic picture doesn’t get worse.”

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