Latest news with #Japanese-based
Business Mayor
14-05-2025
- Business
- Business Mayor
Sony shares rise about 2% in volatile trading following share buyback announcement
Global Economy May 14, 2025 A file photo of Hiroki Totoki, Sony Group Corporation executive, delivering a keynote address at CES 2025 in Las Vegas, on January 6, 2025. Artur Widak | Nurphoto | Getty Images Sony Group shares rose about 2% Wednesday in volatile trading after the Japanese conglomerate announced a 250 billion yen ($1.7 billion) share buyback and operating income beat estimates. Operating income for the last three months of the financial year came in at 203.6 billion yen, beating mean analyst estimates of 192.2 billion yen, though it was down 11% from the same period last year. In the earnings report, the Japanese-based electronics, entertainment and finance company announced a stock buyback of shares worth 250 billion yen. Sony also provided details on a partial spinoff of its financial unit. The company plans to distribute slightly more than 80% of the shares of common stock of the spinoff to shareholders of Sony Group through dividends. The financial unit will list its financial operation this year and will be classified as a discontinued operation in Sony's accounting from the current quarter, the company added. However, Sony's outlook for the current financial year ending in March was lackluster. The company forecasted its operating profit to rise a slight 0.3% to 1.28 trillion yen, after flagging a 100 billion yen hit from U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war. Yet, Sony clarified that the estimated tariff impact did not reflect the trade deal made between the U.S. and China on May 12 and that the actual impact could vary significantly. Read More China Industrial Profits Return to Growth READ SOURCE
CNBC
14-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Sony shares rise about 2% in volatile trading following share buyback announcement
Sony Group shares rose about 2% Wednesday in volatile trading after the Japanese conglomerate announced a 250 billion yen ($1.7 billion) share buyback and operating income beat estimates. Operating income for the last three months of the financial year came in at 203.6 billion yen, beating mean analyst estimates of 192.2 billion yen, though it was down 11% from the same period last year. In the earnings report, the Japanese-based electronics, entertainment and finance company announced a stock buyback of shares worth 250 billion yen. Sony also provided details on a partial spinoff of its financial unit. The company plans to distribute slightly more than 80% of the shares of common stock of the spinoff to shareholders of Sony Group through dividends. The financial unit will list its financial operation this year and will be classified as a discontinued operation in Sony's accounting from the current quarter, the company added. However, Sony's outlook for the current financial year ending in March was lackluster. The company forecasted its operating profit to rise a slight 0.3% to 1.28 trillion yen, after flagging a 100 billion yen hit from U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war. Yet, Sony clarified that the estimated tariff impact did not reflect the trade deal made between the U.S. and China on May 12 and that the actual impact could vary significantly.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Ford and Stellantis address tariff turmoil with bold 'made-in-America' ad campaigns
In what some industry experts see as a Hail Mary ahead of May 3 — the day President Donald Trump is expected to implement 25% tariffs on all auto parts imported into the United States — Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis have taken to running ad campaigns to tout their American manufacturing might. Industry experts view the ads as an effort to influence Trump to exempt parts from 25% tariffs in the days ahead. Earlier this month, Trump imposed 25% tariffs on imported vehicles to the United States, though he has hinted at possibly pausing those. Experts said beyond showing Washington how dedicated to America the companies are, the ads are meant to assure Wall Street of the automakers' strength against some tariffs and to calm their employees and consumers by reasserting that they will continue as American companies. Even South Korea-based automaker Hyundai put an ad in the Wall Street Journal on April 19 to tell readers that its pricing would remain unchanged. Japanese-based automaker Toyota has been running TV spots promoting that it designs, engineers and makes the Tundra pickup in the United States. General Motors is the only Detroit-based automaker that is not running any ads about its U.S. commitment or its pricing strategy, GM spokesman Kevin Kelly confirmed April 21. He did not offer a comment on why, but said, "We have and will continue to find memorable ways to communicate with our customers, reminding them about our core strengths and our American roots. After all, there's only one brand in America that's synonymous with baseball, hot dogs and apple pie. What's more American than that?' Industry experts said the advertising Ford and Stellantis have done is a smart tactic for turbulent times as the auto industry awaits word on what Trump will do about parts tariffs on May 3. "It's important at this time to get ahead of the information game as much as possible," said Marick Masters, professor emeritus of business in the Department of Management at the Mike Ilitch School of Business at Wayne State University. "This is a way to give a clear message, that they can back up with statistics. They're sending a message to the president, the other stakeholders that they're trying to reach, including the union, that they are a company that has invested a lot in America." Masters said the ads will probably not move the needle much in terms of increasing vehicle sales, but it's a statement that gives their employees and dealers a lot to talk about when they meet with customers. "Ford is trying to reach both Washington, D.C., and rural America," said Art Wheaton, director of labor studies at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations. "It is not the first patriotic ad from Ford. Similar ads have been run for 9/11 and other times of crises. Getting the message out now is a direct response to tariffs and economic uncertainty. It allows people some comfort in their buying decision and sends a strong message to Congress as they need to revise their tariffs on auto parts." Wheaton said he believes that Ford "desperately" wants to avoid the upcoming parts tariffs, noting that while Ford assembles 80% of its vehicles in the United States, about half of the parts it uses are imported. "The parts tariffs can be devastating to the industry if imposed," Wheaton said. Harley Shaiken, a labor expert and professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, said the automakers' ads serve a dual purpose: To remind consumers that the auto companies are on board with building vehicles in America, since that is the emphasis out of Washington. "Second, to make the same point for Trump and advisers," Shaiken said. "The primary goal here is political, not so much driving sales as impressing Washington. What will really drive or retard sales is the sticker on the window and tariffs." Ford started its made-in-America campaign earlier this month. As the Detroit Free Press reported on April 3, Ford debuted a 30-second TV and social media spot called "Ford Motor Company: From America, For America," along with its employee pricing for everyone campaign that runs through June 2. Last weekend, the company expanded the campaign to add full-page print ads in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Detroit News, The Detroit Free Press and other publications to "really tell the Ford story," Phil O'Connor, global director of marketing communications for Ford Blue and Ford Model e, wrote in a media release. The print ad is titled "Always moving forward. Never leaving America behind." Ford starts by addressing a notion that American car companies have offshored everything. In its case, Ford said, the opposite is true. The ad notes how Ford manufactures more cars in the United States than any other automaker, with nearly 80% of the vehicles it sells here being made here. That was a message the automaker pushed during its contract talks in 2023 with the UAW, noting the financial cost Ford shouldered to ensure it had more factories and more union-represented workers in the States than others, Masters said. Ford said it also exports more vehicles than any other automaker. On April 18, however, the Free Press reported Ford has stopped shipping several vehicles made in Michigan and Kentucky to China due to tariffs. Ford also said it employs more hourly union-represented people here than any other carmaker. The ad then says its "values run deeper than the value of the dollar. Our real bottom line? It's the people who make America." "We've stepped up for our country during world wars, a global pandemic, and too many economic upheavals to count. Through those trials, our commitment to America has only gotten stronger. So while nobody can say for certain what the future holds, we can tell you exactly where we'll be," the ad said. Ford spokesman Said Deep told the Free Press on April 21 the reason for the print ad was to take Ford's message a step further than what was in the 30-second TV spots. "We felt the newspaper ad put more depth into it: That we are the right brand at the right time and it's about being supportive to America," Deep said. "We have an opportunity right now to help people with employee pricing and we can do that because we build more cars in America than anybody else." As to whether Ford hopes the ads will reach the influential halls in the nation's capital ahead of May 3 to alleviate some tariff pressure on parts, Deep said he could not speak to that. But, he added, "Obviously, there's a lot of uncertainty and this is a way to say you can count on Ford." Mark Truby, Ford's head of public relations, told the Free Press the ad has been a success with the public. "In today's communications world, it's remarkable that a simple and powerful newspaper advertisement has struck such a chord," Truby told the Free Press on April 21. "We have had people around the country clip it out and mail it to us thanking us for investing in America. It's been widely shared on Facebook, LinkedIn." Stellantis started running "America's Freedom of Choice" ads on April 4. It offers employee pricing or current cash incentives options on eligible models across Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram brands until April 30. Some of the ads bragged about Stellantis brands' U.S. heritage, including reminding people of Jeep's hero role during World War II, according to published reports. The ads said Jeep was 'America's most patriotic brand,' and Ram trucks are 'built from the ground up in America," according to Carscoops. Stellantis had to tentatively remove the ads to tweak the messaging after independent watchdog group, Truth in Advertising, told the automaker it had a problem with the word "built" based on terms laid out by the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC requires for any car to say it is built in the United States, it must contain 'no — or negligible — foreign content,' Truth in Advertising explains. No Jeep, Dodge or Ram vehicle meets that criteria, it said. Stellantis vehicles are more accurately described as American-assembled using imported parts. A Stellantis spokesperson confirmed that the ads have been adjusted, and continue to run through this month. The truth is that most vehicles that are assembled in the United States contain imported parts. As the Free Press reported in January, the Tesla Model 3 is the most American-made car by content, but even 12.5% of its parts are imported. The Free Press reported earlier this month that Ford CEO Jim Farley spoke to Fox News about how Ford uses thousands of imported parts in the cars it builds in the United States, and that creates great concern for how it could impact Ford's costs even in assembling cars domestically. According to a Reuters report that cited data from research firm GlobalData, half of the cars sold in the U.S. last year were imported. GM imports 46% of its car sales, and Ford is at 21%. A spokesperson for GlobalData did not respond to a Free Press inquiry to confirm those figures and provide a figure for Stellantis. But the data is enough for one industry observer to view the ad campaigns out of Stellantis and Ford with skepticism. "If you want to be in fashion, you proclaim your American heritage, even if you are a French-Italian company or a Detroit-based company whose cars and trucks are about half made in the U.S.," said Erik Gordon, area chair of entrepreneurial studies at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. "We are easily fooled, but what many Americans want is a vehicle that is assembled by U.S. workers, using parts made by U.S. workers, and that doesn't cost over $40,000." Jamie L. LaReau is the senior autos writer who covers Ford Motor Co. for the Detroit Free Press. Contact Jamie at jlareau@ Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. To sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ford and Stellantis ramp up 'American pride' ads as tariff battle looms Sign in to access your portfolio
Business Insider
24-04-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Meta Platforms (META) Opens ‘Threads' App to Advertisers Worldwide
Meta Platforms (META) has opened up its Threads app, the company's answer to X/Twitter, up to all advertisers worldwide. Stay Ahead of the Market: Discover outperforming stocks and invest smarter with Top Smart Score Stocks. Filter, analyze, and streamline your search for investment opportunities using Tipranks' Stock Screener. In a company blog post, Meta said that all 'eligible advertisers globally' can now run advertisements on Threads, marking an expansion from the company's initial testing with only a few U.S. and Japanese-based companies. The move is expected to provide Meta Platforms with a lucrative new revenue stream at a time when many individuals and businesses are moving away from rival X/Twitter. 'These ads will be delivered in select markets at launch and will roll out to additional markets as we continue to test and learn,' reads Meta Platforms' blog post. Meta's testing of Threads ads is the company's first foray into generating revenue for its Twitter-like service that launched in summer 2023. Big Bucks Executives at Meta have sought to downplay the potential revenue that could be generated from advertisements on Threads, which claims to have 320 million monthly active users. In January, Meta Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Susan Li said during an earnings call that the company's introduction of ads on Threads 'will be gradual.' However, many analysts who cover Meta Platforms see big bucks ahead from Threads ads, saying that the social media platform could be a major source of revenue for the company. Bullish analysts note that X, formerly known as Twitter, generated advertising revenue of more than $5 billion at its peak in 2021. Meta said in January of this year that Threads was adding more than one million new users per day. META stock has declined 11% this year. Is META Stock a Buy? The stock of Meta Platforms has a consensus Strong Buy rating among 46 Wall Street analysts. That rating is based on 42 Buy, three Hold, and one Sell recommendations issued in the past three months. The average META price target of $712.86 implies 36.99% upside from current levels.
USA Today
23-04-2025
- Automotive
- USA Today
Ford and Stellantis address tariff turmoil with bold 'made-in-America' ad campaigns
Ford and Stellantis address tariff turmoil with bold 'made-in-America' ad campaigns Show Caption Hide Caption Trump's auto tariffs to hit $460 billion of US vehicle, parts imports As Donald Trump's 25% tariff on U.S. auto imports kicks in, the levies look set to upend the industry. A Reuters calculation shows the duties will hit some $460 billion worth of cars and parts every year. The U.S. president says that will create jobs and boost the economy. Ford Motor Co. ran several full page ads in major newspapers touting the automaker's strong American manufacturing presence. Industry experts said the ads are a tactic to offer assurance to investors, employees and consumers of their continued American presence. Industry experts said the automakers hope to influence the Trump administration to ease up on tariffs. In what some industry experts see as a Hail Mary ahead of May 3 — the day President Donald Trump is expected to implement 25% tariffs on all auto parts imported into the United States — Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis have taken to running ad campaigns to tout their American manufacturing might. Industry experts view the ads as an effort to influence Trump to exempt parts from 25% tariffs in the days ahead. Earlier this month, Trump imposed 25% tariffs on imported vehicles to the United States, though he has hinted at possibly pausing those. Experts said beyond showing Washington how dedicated to America the companies are, the ads are meant to assure Wall Street of the automakers' strength against some tariffs and to calm their employees and consumers by reasserting that they will continue as American companies. Even South Korea-based automaker Hyundai put an ad in the Wall Street Journal on April 19 to tell readers that its pricing would remain unchanged. Japanese-based automaker Toyota has been running TV spots promoting that it designs, engineers and makes the Tundra pickup in the United States. General Motors is the only Detroit-based automaker that is not running any ads about its U.S. commitment or its pricing strategy, GM spokesman Kevin Kelly confirmed April 21. He did not offer a comment on why, but said, "We have and will continue to find memorable ways to communicate with our customers, reminding them about our core strengths and our American roots. After all, there's only one brand in America that's synonymous with baseball, hot dogs and apple pie. What's more American than that?' Industry experts said the advertising Ford and Stellantis have done is a smart tactic for turbulent times as the auto industry awaits word on what Trump will do about parts tariffs on May 3. "It's important at this time to get ahead of the information game as much as possible," said Marick Masters, professor emeritus of business in the Department of Management at the Mike Ilitch School of Business at Wayne State University. "This is a way to give a clear message, that they can back up with statistics. They're sending a message to the president, the other stakeholders that they're trying to reach, including the union, that they are a company that has invested a lot in America." Trying to reach Washington, D.C. Masters said the ads will probably not move the needle much in terms of increasing vehicle sales, but it's a statement that gives their employees and dealers a lot to talk about when they meet with customers. "Ford is trying to reach both Washington, D.C., and rural America," said Art Wheaton, director of labor studies at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations. "It is not the first patriotic ad from Ford. Similar ads have been run for 9/11 and other times of crises. Getting the message out now is a direct response to tariffs and economic uncertainty. It allows people some comfort in their buying decision and sends a strong message to Congress as they need to revise their tariffs on auto parts." Wheaton said he believes that Ford "desperately" wants to avoid the upcoming parts tariffs, noting that while Ford assembles 80% of its vehicles in the United States, about half of the parts it uses are imported. "The parts tariffs can be devastating to the industry if imposed," Wheaton said. Harley Shaiken, a labor expert and professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, said the automakers' ads serve a dual purpose: To remind consumers that the auto companies are on board with building vehicles in America, since that is the emphasis out of Washington. "Second, to make the same point for Trump and advisers," Shaiken said. "The primary goal here is political, not so much driving sales as impressing Washington. What will really drive or retard sales is the sticker on the window and tariffs." The Ford advertised message Ford started its made-in-America campaign earlier this month. As the Detroit Free Press reported on April 3, Ford debuted a 30-second TV and social media spot called "Ford Motor Company: From America, For America," along with its employee pricing for everyone campaign that runs through June 2. Last weekend, the company expanded the campaign to add full-page print ads in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Detroit News, The Detroit Free Press and other publications to "really tell the Ford story," Phil O'Connor, global director of marketing communications for Ford Blue and Ford Model e, wrote in a media release. The print ad is titled "Always moving forward. Never leaving America behind." Ford starts by addressing a notion that American car companies have offshored everything. In its case, Ford said, the opposite is true. The ad notes how Ford manufactures more cars in the United States than any other automaker, with nearly 80% of the vehicles it sells here being made here. That was a message the automaker pushed during its contract talks in 2023 with the UAW, noting the financial cost Ford shouldered to ensure it had more factories and more union-represented workers in the States than others, Masters said. Ford said it also exports more vehicles than any other automaker. On April 18, however, the Free Press reported Ford has stopped shipping several vehicles made in Michigan and Kentucky to China due to tariffs. Ford also said it employs more hourly union-represented people here than any other carmaker. The ad then says its "values run deeper than the value of the dollar. Our real bottom line? It's the people who make America." "We've stepped up for our country during world wars, a global pandemic, and too many economic upheavals to count. Through those trials, our commitment to America has only gotten stronger. So while nobody can say for certain what the future holds, we can tell you exactly where we'll be," the ad said. 'We are the right brand at the right time' Ford spokesman Said Deep told the Free Press on April 21 the reason for the print ad was to take Ford's message a step further than what was in the 30-second TV spots. "We felt the newspaper ad put more depth into it: That we are the right brand at the right time and it's about being supportive to America," Deep said. "We have an opportunity right now to help people with employee pricing and we can do that because we build more cars in America than anybody else." As to whether Ford hopes the ads will reach the influential halls in the nation's capital ahead of May 3 to alleviate some tariff pressure on parts, Deep said he could not speak to that. But, he added, "Obviously, there's a lot of uncertainty and this is a way to say you can count on Ford." Mark Truby, Ford's head of public relations, told the Free Press the ad has been a success with the public. "In today's communications world, it's remarkable that a simple and powerful newspaper advertisement has struck such a chord," Truby told the Free Press on April 21. "We have had people around the country clip it out and mail it to us thanking us for investing in America. It's been widely shared on Facebook, LinkedIn." The Stellantis message Stellantis started running "America's Freedom of Choice" ads on April 4. It offers employee pricing or current cash incentives options on eligible models across Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram brands until April 30. Some of the ads bragged about Stellantis brands' U.S. heritage, including reminding people of Jeep's hero role during World War II, according to published reports. The ads said Jeep was 'America's most patriotic brand,' and Ram trucks are 'built from the ground up in America," according to Carscoops. Stellantis had to tentatively remove the ads to tweak the messaging after independent watchdog group, Truth in Advertising, told the automaker it had a problem with the word "built" based on terms laid out by the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC requires for any car to say it is built in the United States, it must contain 'no — or negligible — foreign content,' Truth in Advertising explains. No Jeep, Dodge or Ram vehicle meets that criteria, it said. Stellantis vehicles are more accurately described as American-assembled using imported parts. A Stellantis spokesperson confirmed that the ads have been adjusted, and continue to run through this month. It's 'in fashion' to proclaim an American heritage The truth is that most vehicles that are assembled in the United States contain imported parts. As the Free Press reported in January, the Tesla Model 3 is the most American-made car by content, but even 12.5% of its parts are imported. The Free Press reported earlier this month that Ford CEO Jim Farley spoke to Fox News about how Ford uses thousands of imported parts in the cars it builds in the United States, and that creates great concern for how it could impact Ford's costs even in assembling cars domestically. According to a Reuters report that cited data from research firm GlobalData, half of the cars sold in the U.S. last year were imported. GM imports 46% of its car sales, and Ford is at 21%. A spokesperson for GlobalData did not respond to a Free Press inquiry to confirm those figures and provide a figure for Stellantis. But the data is enough for one industry observer to view the ad campaigns out of Stellantis and Ford with skepticism. "If you want to be in fashion, you proclaim your American heritage, even if you are a French-Italian company or a Detroit-based company whose cars and trucks are about half made in the U.S.," said Erik Gordon, area chair of entrepreneurial studies at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. "We are easily fooled, but what many Americans want is a vehicle that is assembled by U.S. workers, using parts made by U.S. workers, and that doesn't cost over $40,000." Jamie L. LaReau is the senior autos writer who covers Ford Motor Co. for the Detroit Free Press. Contact Jamie at jlareau@ Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. To sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.
