Paramount layoffs, Academy Sports, J.M. Smucker: Trending Tickers

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3 days ago

Paramount Global (PARA, PARAA) will be cutting 3.5% of its global workforce as part of its current cost-cutting strategy. This comes after Disney (DIS) announced it will be laying off hundreds of workers around the world.
Academy Sports and Outdoor (ASO) is widening its full-year net sales forecast as it preps for a multitude of scenarios under President Trump's tariff policies.
Snack brand J.M. Smucker Company's (SJM) full-year guidance for its fiscal 2026 fell short of Wall Street's expectations.
To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Morning Brief here.
Now time for some of today's trending tickers. We're watching Paramount Academy Sports and JM Smucker. Let's first stop check in on Paramount, cutting three and a half percent of its US workforce as part of its continued cost cutting. The layoffs come as Paramount seeks regulatory approval for its proposed merger with Skydance media. You're taking a look at shares. They are flat, moving just barely to the downside here. Uh, according to some of the reporting and a memo, uh, observed by and seen by CNBC, uh, they say that they recognize how difficult this is and are thankful for everyone's hard work and contributions, but the change is necessary to address the environment they're operating in and best position Paramount for success. That coming from the executives according to this memo. Um, also, they had a staff reduction of 15% back in August 2024.
Yeah, I I was thinking it's it's not too significant in comparison. Obviously significant for the folks impacted. It's a little over 500 if you take a look at the percentage compared to the recent regulatory filing from December where the company said they had about 18,500 full-time and part-time employees. What's interesting too is that in a memo that's been reviewed by other news outlets, it looks like the company is signaling that this is just US-based for now. Though that could potentially, of course, go a little bit more global over time. And this is just one of the many things that the company is dealing with as they continue to pursue that merger with Skydance media that's been held up in a legal battle, uh, that has ensued, especially following the result of some coverage from CBS during the presidential elections. So of course, we'll continue to monitor those developments for you. Next up here, Academy Sports widening its full-year net sales forecast accounting for multiple tariff scenarios. Sporting goods retailer topping expectations for the first quarter, despite sales declining from a year prior. You can see those shares up over four and a half percent. Another beneficiary this earnings cycle of being able to come out and say, hey, actually, not only are we going to be okay in the face of tariffs, but we're going to do better than we had previously anticipated.
Yeah, the company's saying that Air Jordan gave it some wings here in the statement here from the CEO, Steve Lawrence, um, the opening of five new stores, plus the biggest brand launch in the company's history with the addition of Jordan Brand or what kind of continue to add to the progress over their strategic initiatives they've mentioned here. They're taking a look at the year-to-date move here though, still a lot of ground to make up for Academy sports, and this has been an interesting sector within the retail space or segment within the retail space to track, uh, especially knowing the tie-up between Foot Locker and Dick's Sporting Goods. Uh, very competitive measure there, and we'll see how Academy sports also continues to make its own play very well known to consumers and to its partners in business here. Uh, they did say that they continue to see strong growth though in traffic from higher income consumers. That's noteworthy. They believe their focus on remaining the value player in their space though will allow them to continue to take market share moving throughout the rest of 2025 here. Finally, let's go where the Uncrustables go, JM Smucker, issuing a disappointing outlook for fiscal 2026. The packaged food company reporting mixed results for the fourth quarter with net sales declining 3% from a year earlier. You're taking a look at shares down by about six and a half percent. Uh, I sent a few questions into the company and their leadership. We've had Mark Smucker on quarter after quarter and have had the opportunity to even go out to Orville, Ohio and see exactly what this full operation is about. Uncrustables continues to put this team on its back here. Uh, continues to outperform and perform across consumer segments. Uh, they had mentioned in response to one of my questions to them, proud of the growth that they've demonstrated on that. Uh, also though, on the tariff side, they had to acknowledge there. They said they're monitoring and assessing changes to trade policy and tariffs and working with some of the industry associations and policymakers to achieve the best outcome for their consumers. And then just lastly here, they did acknowledge where they're looking across within the portfolio of sweet baked snacks. Um, and so narrowing some of their priorities around their new leadership and evaluating the product assortment there. It'll be interesting to see what decisions come as a result of that evaluation.
Yeah, that reduced profitability in the sweet baked goods that you mentioned, Brad, a key sticking point in the analyst commentary here. Jeffrey's calling it out. We also had a note from TD Cowen saying that they provide the company provided a big blow to the bull case, surprising Wall Street with guidance coming in here, and that some of the tariff headwinds on coffee elasticity were also a potential surprise. Having said that, they also mentioned that this is a company that tends to guide more conservatively. So I think that's important for investors to monitor, and that TD Cowen describes this as a potential clearing event, uh, where you could see investors kind of fleeing the stock pricing in the impact of tariffs, and then potentially coming back in if you do start to see any retail trends leading to more strength for some of those individual sectors within the company. You can scan the QR code below to track the best and worst performing stocks with Yahoo Finance's trending tickers page.