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Japanese electronics and technology company Panasonic has chosen a new chief executive after eking out a 1.2% rise in its first quarter profit.Kenneth William Sain, a former Boeing executive, will replace Yasuyuki Higuchi as Panasonic’s president and chief executive in April 2026, the company said Wednesday.Sain joined Panasonic in 2019 as CEO of Panasonic Avionics.“Ken is an exceptional leader with extensive global experience and a deep understanding of business and technology,” Higuchi said in a statement.Panasonic Holdings Corp.’s April-June profit totaled 71.46 billion yen ($483 million), up from 70.6 billion yen. Its quarterly sales declined 10.6% from last year to 1.9 trillion yen ($12.8 billion).The Osaka-based maker of home appliances, solar panels and batteries for Tesla vehicles kept its full year profit forecast unchanged at 310 billion yen ($2.1 billion), down 15% from the previous year.Panasonic said the impact from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs was not yet fully factored in. The company said it will try to minimize the effect on its operating profit with cost cuts and other measures.Consumer electronics sales were strong in Japan, Panasonic said, while they were also healthy in China, supported by subsidies.On the positive side, it said demand for AI servers and air-conditioners was expected to grow. But concerns remain about slowing demand for electric vehicles because of U.S. tariffs and the ending of tax credits.Panasonic also said it’s planning to get rolling later this year its new lithium-ion battery factory in Kansas, whose start has been delayed.Panasonic said in May that it was slashing its global workforce by 10,000 people, half in Japan and half overseas, to become “lean.” The job cuts amount to about 4% of its workforce. Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama Yuri Kageyama, AP Business Writer
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Kraft Heinz beat estimates for quarterly results on Wednesday, helped by resilient demand for its pantry staples and condiments in the United States as consumers tried to stretch their household budgets. A mix of sticky inflation and heightened economic uncertainty has forced consumers to cook more affordable meals at home instead of eating out. People prioritizing protein in their diets has also boosted demand for Kraft Heinz’s steak sauce and Worcestershire sauce. The company’s board is “working with urgency” to evaluate strategic options for some brands, executives said on a post-earnings call, following media reports earlier this month that it was exploring a spin-off of the grocery business. Kraft Heinz recorded a $9.3 billion impairment charge in the second quarter due to a steady decline in its market capitalization to $33.8 billion, with the stock value dropping about 30% since 2022. The company reiterated its annual targets and now expects a cost impact of about 100 basis points this year from President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Its shares were up 1% in early trade. The Philadelphia Cream Cheese maker has worked on introducing healthier options in some categories such as desserts to capture consumer demand, and has said it would remove food dyes from its portfolio. It also announced plans to change the packaging for Kraft Mayonnaise to highlight the absence of dyes and artificial flavors, weeks after snacks giant PepsiCo said it will rebrand its Lay’s and Tostitos chips without those substances. While Kraft Heinz’s quarterly volumes fell about 2.7 percentage points due to some weakness in categories such as coffee, cold meat cuts and ready-to-eat meals, the decline was lower than the prior quarter’s drop of 5.6 percentage points. In North America, its biggest market by revenue, volumes fell 3.4 percentage points. “Looking ahead, we continue to expect growth in our international business, but we are not contemplating an improvement in the U.S. industry for the rest of 2025,” CEO Carlos Abrams-Rivera said in a statement. With consumers seeking value, the company has been investing in promotions, and that, along with inflation, could pressure margins in the current quarter, said Arun Sundaram, analyst at CFRA Research. Net sales for the three months ended June 28 came in at $6.35 billion, beating analysts’ average estimate of $6.26 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. Its adjusted profit of 69 cents per share also beat estimates. Juveria Tabassum, Reuters
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E-Commerce
Supermans Fortress of Solitude evokes big emotions for Beth Mickle. Literally, I cry every single time that fortress emerges from the snow, the production designer tells By Design. I cry every single time we go through the doors and we go inside. As the production designer for James Gunns new Superman movie, Mickle spent months leading a team in building the fortress from scratch, using all practical effects. Her team resin-casted 242 massive crystals, some measuring 40 feet long. [Image: 2025 Warner Bros] Crews worked night and day, moving crystals from a production warehouse to the set. And thats just for one of the sets. On the newest episode of By Design, Mickle explains to hosts Liz Stinson and Mark Wilson why it was so important for her team to use practical effects and to make this take on Superman an optimistic one. [Image: 2025 Warner Bros] She also discusses working with Gunn, and where she believes AI will factor into the future of film. At the beginning of the episode, Liz and Mark discuss the latest in design news, including: whether its a vibeless summer, Metas data center tent city, and a certain copycat in the New York City mayoral race. And at the end, the hosts debate their best and worst designs of the month (MAGA Coke, Sam Altmans sunglasses, Anne Hathaway . . .). Listen now on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get podcasts.
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E-Commerce
Japanese automaker Nissan sank into a 115.8 billion yen ($782 million) loss for April-June, but promised Wednesday to return to profitability later this year.Nissan Motor Corp. did not give a full year net profit forecast. It recorded a 28.6 billion yen profit during the April-June quarter last year.Quarterly sales for the current fiscal year slipped nearly 10% to 2.7 trillion yen ($18 billion).The maker of the Leaf electric car and Infiniti luxury models said the results were better than expected.But it faces “headwinds,” including declining sales, unfavorable exchange rates and President Donald Trump’s tariffs.Ivan Espinosa, who took the helm at Nissan in April replacing Makoto Uchida, said the company’s recovery plan remained urgent. Uchida stepped down to take responsibility for the dismal fiscal results.Espinosa noted the initial steps of the company’s revival plan were kicking in, including cutting costs, realigning products, reshaping a market strategy and strengthening partnerships.“We must now go further and faster to achieve profitability. Everyone at Nissan is united in delivering a recovery that will ensure a sustainable and profitable future,” he said.Nissan, based in the port city of Yokohama, has been struggling but is promising a turnaround under Espinosa, a Mexican with two decades of experience at Nissan.The company said some of its models, such as the N7 in China and the Magnite in Mexico, have been selling well recently.Nissan recently ditched talks with Japanese rival Honda Motor Co. to set up a joint holding company. They said they will continue to cooperate on technology development.Nissan is closing its flagship factory in Oppama, Japan, outside Tokyo, by the end of the 2027 fiscal year, moving production there to another plant in southwestern Japan.Nissan is also slashing 15% of its global work force, or about 20,000 employees. That includes a 9,000 head count reduction announced late last year. Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama Yuri Kageyama, AP Business Writer
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E-Commerce
If youve been thanking the heavens for your A/C this week, spare a thought for Paul Farmer, whos enduring the peak of Arizonas summer without itby choice. Last year, Farmer went without air-conditioning out of financial necessity. This year, even with his finances in better shape, hes voluntarily forgoing it again. Since May, hes been documenting his no A/C challenge on social media, aiming to hold out until September 22, the official end of summer. View this post on Instagram A post shared by AZBACKPACK (@azbackpack) Why would anyone put themselves through that, youre probably asking? With the challenge, Farmer hopes to raise awareness, and funds, for those struggling to pay their electric bills in the extreme heat. With indoor temperatures regularly creeping toward 100 degrees, Farmer has had to get creative. Hes placed tinfoil in the windows to keep out the heat and built a makeshift air-conditioning unit using a foam cooler. At night, he mostly sleeps on the floor, surrounded by ice packs, with multiple fans blasting. @azbackpack Day 46 No A/C challenge In ARIZONA #aznoacchallenge Quiet vlog fashionable chill out(1501557) – Yu Yaguchi About 39 million Americans (roughly 12%) currently live without air-conditioning, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Many simply cant afford it. This summer, electric bills are projected to hit $784 on average, the highest cost in at least 12 years. Farmers challenge comes as more than 168 million Americans are under active heat advisories, according to the National Weather Service. Extreme heat is responsible for around 700 deaths a year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. Farmer has pledged to donate the money he saves on his bills to families in need, hoping to generate enough to pay three families electric bills for an entire year. With less than a month to go, his GoFundMe page is sitting at $2,37785% toward his $2,800 goal.
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E-Commerce
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