Latest news with #Chinese-imported
Time of India
6 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
PoK Karakoram highway protests: Thousands block Pakistan-China road for 3 days to protest against Shehbaz Sharif govt's policies
Thousands of residents in Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan have blocked the Karakoram Highway for the third straight day, protesting against the Shehbaz Sharif-led federal government's trade policies. The highway, which connects Pakistan to China through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), has seen a complete halt in vehicular movement since Friday. Protesters demand customs clearance of stalled Chinese consignments, accusing Islamabad of economic neglect. PoK Karakoram highway protests over stalled imports The protest began after customs authorities suspended clearance of Chinese-imported goods at Sost Dry Port nearly six months ago. Protesters claim that at least 257 consignments remain stuck at the port since December, resulting in expired goods, daily port charges, and financial losses. Protesters are demanding a one-time amnesty scheme to clear the stranded goods. 'The policies of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and Customs Department have economically murdered us,' protesters said. 'We cannot bear the losses anymore.' by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Esta nueva alarma con cámara es casi regalada en José Clemente Paz (ver precio) Verisure Undo Traders' groups lead the blockade The protest is led by the Pak-China Traders Action Committee, which includes the Gilgit-Baltistan Importers and Exporters Association, Nagar Chamber of Commerce, and various small trade bodies from Nagar, Hunza, and Gilgit. Since the protest began, long lines of vehicles have formed on both sides of the highway, leaving thousands of passengers and tourists stranded. The sit-in is taking place in Gulmat Nagar and has drawn support from traders, students, scholars, and civil society members. Live Events Recurring protests in Gilgit-Baltistan This is not the first time people in the region have taken to the streets. Last month, residents protested a proposed bill that would allow land and mineral grabs, along with prolonged power cuts. In October 2023, Skardu residents demanded the opening of the road to Kargil in India, citing rising prices and shortages of basic goods. Demonstrators have also protested what they describe as the illegal occupation of their lands, shouting slogans such as 'Kabze par kabza namanzoor' (we reject repeated occupations). Political voices join the protest Local leaders of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) met protesters and expressed support for their demands. However, efforts to persuade the demonstrators to end the blockade were unsuccessful. Javed Hussain, a local leader of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif 's own Pakistan Muslim League (N), openly criticised the federal government's handling of the issue. 'GB people have been paying all taxes, yet the FBR is reluctant to clear their consignments. The government of Pakistan even gave amnesty to high-profile terrorists. So, giving a one-time amnesty to clear 250 consignments after paying taxes was not a big demand,' Hussain told Dawn. Gilgit-Baltistan government passes responsibility Muhammad Ali Quaid, special assistant to the Chief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan, said the local administration lacked the authority to resolve the issue. He added that the matter must be handled by the federal government in Islamabad. The repeated protests across the region reflect growing frustration with the central government's economic and political approach toward POK. The continued unrest also exposes the widening gap between local needs and federal policies.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Shoemaker Looks to Outsmart Tariffs, Labor Woes with Automation Boost
A factory in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, reliant on automation, looks to help a shoe manufacturer navigate tariffs and labor shortages. The Wall Street Journal reported that Keen Footwear recently closed its facility in Portland, Oregon, with plans to relocate production to a 60,000-square-foot site in the Bluegrass State, scheduled to open next month. The company expects the new location to nearly double its domestic output and credits that growth to increased automation. Most Read on IEN: Another EV Maker Is on the Brink of Collapse Ford Worker Accused of Stealing Millions in Parts The Cybertruck's Staggering Depreciation Podcast: Car Shatters Record; Ford Worker Steals Parts; Nissan's Big Cuts Keen noted that the Kentucky plant's automation would support the 24 workers it plans to initially hire. According to the Journal, the machinery would handle mundane tasks, allowing the employees to focus on more detailed work. The report mentioned that Keen plans to expand its payroll as it increases production. The development arrives at a timely moment amid U.S. President Donald Trump's multiple tariff threats. However, the Journal reported that Keen Chief Operating Officer Hari Perumal said the decision to invest in U.S. manufacturing predates the latest trade war drama. Founded in 2003, Keen began domestically producing footwear in 2010 in response to rising Chinese manufacturing costs and a desire to diversify sourcing. Keen has since shifted production of its hiking shoes, thick-soled sandals and work boots out of China. Now, the company makes a third of its shoes at its factories in the Dominican Republic, Thailand and the U.S. The rest comes from contract manufacturers in India, Vietnam and Cambodia. Keen can avoid the new tariffs on Chinese-imported goods, but the same could not be said for the nearly 1.2 billion pairs of shoes shipped from China last year. This compares to the approximately 25 million pairs manufactured annually in the U.S., according to the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America. Click here to subscribe to our daily newsletter featuring breaking manufacturing industry news. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Forbes
23-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
ENPH Stock To $20?
CANADA - 2025/03/30: In this photo illustration, the Enphase Energy logo is seen displayed on a ... More smartphone screen. (Photo Illustration by Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) Enphase Energy's shares fell 12% in pre-market trading on Wednesday, April 23rd, following the release of its first-quarter results that presented a dismal picture despite strong year-over-year growth. Enphase Energy missed analyst expectations, reporting earnings per share of $0.68 (below the $0.73 estimate) and revenue of $356 million (slightly under the anticipated $362 million). This compares with earnings of $0.35 per share on sales of $263 million in the prior-year quarter. The primary concern for investors was the company's tariff outlook, which is expected to impact gross margins significantly—2% in Q2 and 6% to 8% in Q3. These tariffs affect Enphase's Chinese-imported battery cells, putting pressure on future profitability. The company has stated that this impact should diminish over time as it implements mitigation strategies, including sourcing components from countries other than China. Compounding these company-specific challenges are broader economic concerns. President Trump's tariff policies have increased economic uncertainty in the United States, creating an unfavorable macroeconomic environment. Combined with the existing high-interest rate environment, these factors may continue to pressure Enphase's performance. We think that these challenges could potentially drive ENPH stock price down to as low as $20 per share. Here's the thing: in a downturn, ENPH can lose; no, there is evidence, from the recent economic downturns, that ENPH stock lost as much as 75% of its value over a span of just a few quarters. Now, of course, individual stocks are more volatile than a portfolio, and in this environment, if you seek upside with less volatility than a single stock, consider the High-Quality portfolio, which has outperformed the S&P 500 and achieved returns greater than 91% since inception. Despite Enphase's strong year-over-year growth in its energy business, investors should be mindful of significant macroeconomic and geopolitical challenges. While immediate inflation concerns have subsided, the current administration's aggressive tariff and immigration policies are creating new economic anxieties that could lead to future instability. This economic uncertainty is compounded by escalating geopolitical tensions. The administration's policy initiatives have intensified trade disputes and complicated diplomatic relationships with key allies including Canada, Mexico, and European nations. Together, these factors have created a more complex and higher-risk environment for companies operating in the renewable energy sector. Notably, ENPH stock has seen an impact worse than the benchmark S&P 500 index during some of the recent downturns —a critical consideration for investors evaluating their risk tolerance in today's volatile environment. While investors have their fingers crossed for a soft landing by the U.S. economy, how bad can things get if there is another recession? Our dashboard How Low Can Stocks Go During A Market Crash captures how key stocks fared during and after the last six market crashes. ENPH stock has experienced a decline of over 40% from its recent highs of around $90 in November 2024, primarily reflecting investor concerns regarding the potential impact of tariffs on the company's business. This downward trend could persist given the prevailing macroeconomic uncertainty. Drawing a parallel with the 2022 economic downturn, during which the stock fell by 77%, a similar drop could potentially push ENPH share price to $20. While ENPH has demonstrated a high single-digit average revenue growth over the past three years, the stock still commands a premium valuation with a price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 5x, versus 2.3x for the broader S&P 500. Considering this context, investors holding ENPH stock should consider: if the share price were to fall toward $30, or $20, or even lower, would you maintain your position or be inclined to sell? Holding on to a falling stock is not always easy. Trefis works with Empirical Asset Management – a Boston area wealth manager, whose asset allocation strategies yielded positive returns during the 2008/2009 timeframe, when the S&P lost more than 40%. Empirical has incorporated the Trefis HQ Portfolio in its asset allocation framework to provide clients better returns with less risk versus the benchmark index; less of a roller-coaster ride, as evident in HQ Portfolio performance metrics. While investors have their fingers crossed for a soft landing by the U.S. economy, how bad can things get if there is another recession? See the last six market crashes compared. Invest with Trefis Market Beating Portfolios | Rules-Based Wealth
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Is Foot Locker (FL) Among the Best Apparel Stocks to Invest In?
We recently published a list of the . In this article, we are going to take a look at where Foot Locker, Inc. (NYSE:FL) stands against the other best apparel stocks to invest in. On February 25, Matt Boss, JPMorgan retail analyst, appeared on CNBC's 'Closing Bell' to discuss the retail trade. He said the market has seen the worst start to spring in around 30 years. From a weather perspective, there have been significant store closures as every part of the country, excluding the southwest, has been clobbered by unseasonable weather. On top of it, the country has seen 30% more snow, which has pressured seasonal sales. The unseasonable climate has thus created an unfavorable environment. States in the southwest, including California, which have had normal weather, have undergone a 0% change in consumer spending. In fact, consumer spending in states like California, Nevada, and Arizona was up 5%, exactly the same as the rate in November and December. READ ALSO: and . Further talking about the conditions of the market and consumers, Boss was of the opinion that a selective recession is materializing. The real force driving consumer spending is the 50% of the economy driven by higher-income consumers. He said that $60 trillion in wealth creation since 2019 is the number to be noticed here. At the low end, the consumer continues to be pressured. However, in retail, this trend means that those offering value continue to win, which is usually the case for retailers catering to value and convenience simultaneously. He said that retailers offering products that are better than a year ago and not compromising on value at the same time make up the equation on the basis of which the market is seeing real winners and losers. He also believed that consumer resilience presents a buying opportunity in the retail sector weakness. On March 3, Chris Horvers, JPMorgan head of broadlines/hardlines retail, joined CNBC's 'The Exchange' to discuss the retail trade and the weakening consumer. He said that over the past three years, the market has consumers seeking the cheapest prices, particularly in the food market, which is proving to be a tailwind for discount retailers. Thus, he thinks it would be difficult to pass along tariffs, especially in the discretionary categories. The retailers would have to eat a little bit, and so would the manufacturers. However, there is also likely to be an elasticity impact. We discussed the potential impact of Trump's tariffs on retail stocks in a recently published article on . Here is an excerpt from the article: 'The Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico and 10% tariffs on Chinese-imported goods. Analysts believe these tariffs will affect retail stocks and the goods manufactured in the tariffed countries, at least theoretically. While tariffs on Mexico and Canada have been delayed, they have kicked in for China, according to Yahoo! Finance. This has led to several retailers moving sourcing out of China to contain costs. We sifted through stock screeners, online rankings, and ETFs to compile a list of 20 apparel stocks. We then selected the top 12 most popular stocks among elite hedge funds as of Q4 2024. We sourced the hedge fund sentiment data from Insider Monkey's database. The list is sorted in ascending order of hedge fund sentiment. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter's strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (). A shopper browsing the wide selection of trendy footwear in a franchised store. Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 35 Foot Locker, Inc. (NYSE:FL) is an apparel and shoe retailer that operates in three segments: North America, Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), and Asia Pacific. Its portfolio of brands includes Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, Champs Sports, Atmos, and WSS. The omnichannel retailer operates around 2,523 stores in 26 countries across Europe, North America, New Zealand, Australia, and Asia. The company drove three consecutive quarters of positive comparable sales and year-over-year gross margin expansion, reflecting the results of its strategies in an increasingly dynamic external environment. It attained a total comp increase of 2.6% in fiscal Q4 2024, supported by share gains from its global Foot Locker and Kids Foot Locker banners. Foot Locker, Inc. (NYSE:FL) also saw a gross margin improvement of 300 basis points year-over-year, ahead of its expectations and led by merchandise margin recovery against the prior year's higher level of promotions. Foot Locker, Inc.'s (NYSE:FL) continued execution of its cost savings plan generated $35 million in fiscal Q4 2024. The company has solid operations and attained significant financial milestones in 2024, including a return to positive enterprise comp sales growth, gross margin expansion, and positive free cash flow. It expects all of these trends to continue into 2025, ranking it on our list of the best apparel stocks to invest in. Overall, FL ranks 12th on our list of the best apparel stocks to invest in. While we acknowledge the potential of FL as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than FL but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the . READ NEXT: and Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at .
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why Dollar Tree, Inc. (DLTR) is the Cheapest Retail Stock to Buy
We recently published a list of the . In this article, we are going to take a look at where Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR) stands against other cheap retail stocks to buy right now. The Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico and 10% tariffs on Chinese-imported goods. Analysts believe these tariffs will affect retail stocks and the goods manufactured in the tariffed countries, at least theoretically. While tariffs on Mexico and Canada have been delayed, they have kicked in for China, according to Yahoo! Finance. This has led to several retailers moving sourcing out of China to contain costs. Simeon Siegel, retail analyst at BMO Capital Markets, appeared in an episode of Yahoo! Finance's Opening Bid podcast. Talking about the potential effect of Trump's tariffs on retail stocks, he was of the opinion that we are focusing on tariffs more than is required. Taking a purely business perspective, he reasoned that a tariff is nothing more than a cost input going up, quite like how the cost of cotton, shipping, or labor can rise. When such cases materialize, companies take steps to deal with the rising costs, but they don't become all-encompassed by them. Siegel posited that the uncertainty surrounding this scenario is dramatically more concerning than the actual severity. Approaching the situation as an analyst, he said that he is focusing on companies with the pricing power and capability to deal with rising costs, regardless of why the costs are increasing. Healthy brands with healthy businesses are thus the way to approach this conversation. Big Tech's massive capex plans dictate the potential spending of a cumulative $325 billion in capital expenditures and investments in 2025, primarily due to a strong commitment to building AI infrastructure. While it does not seem evident, Morgan Stanley is of the opinion that retail stocks might be the overlooked winners of these significant AI investment plans. AI 'hyperscalers' are invested in a spending race, which might prove to be a tailwind hidden in plain sight for the retail sector, which is already evolving due to the technological leap surrounding AI, automation, and data. Equity analyst Simeon Gutman said that while retailers may not be as invested in pursuing AI infrastructure investments as tech companies, 'the tech capex boom suggests retailers are on the verge of and should benefit from a technology inflection.' The announced $325 billion may not be an initiative taken to directly impact the retail sector, but Morgan Stanley predicts that it may result in a capex boost amidst retailers in a position to afford it. The boom may present big-box retailers with significant investing opportunities to improve and augment automation, in-store experiences, and advertising. Consequently, market share gains may materialize for retailers in the best position to invest. We sifted through stock screeners, online rankings, and ETFs to compile a list of 30 retail stocks. We checked their forward P/E ratios (less than 15) and then selected the top 12 most popular stocks among elite hedge funds as of Q3 2024. We sourced the hedge fund sentiment data from Insider Monkey's database. The list is sorted in ascending order of hedge fund sentiment. Please note that the forward P/E ratios are as of February 11, 2025. Why do we care about what hedge funds do? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter's strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (). A shopper browsing through a discount retailers merchandise aisle filled with a wide variety of Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR) operates discount department stores and offers a wide range of merchandise under the brand names Dollar Tree and Dollar Tree Canada. Family Dollar stores offer home products, consumable merchandise, accessories and apparel, electronics, and seasonal merchandise. The company reported a revenue of $7.56 billion in fiscal Q3 2024, exceeding the forecast of $7.446 billion. Its net sales also grew significantly, primarily due to its non-comparable stores. This growth was attributed to the company's continued merchandising efforts for Family Dollar and Dollar Tree. Despite some macroeconomic challenges, Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR) is maintaining strong operational results. The company is focusing on boosting the growth of its Dollar Tree brand and is converting stores to its in-line multi-price 3.0 format. It is opening new stores and improving the in-store experience for its customers through customer service enhancements and renovations. In fiscal Q3 2024, the company converted another 720 stores to the 3.0 format, bringing the total number of converted Dollar Tree stores to around 2,300. These stores produced around 30% of the company's total net sales in fiscal Q3 2024. The company has a forward P/E of 13.63 and is trading at a 14.94% discount to its sector. Overall, DLTR ranks fifth on our list of cheap retail stocks to buy according to hedge funds. While we acknowledge the potential of DLTR, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than DLTR but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the . READ NEXT: and Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. 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