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Ready to pounce?

With Puma’s stock under pressure, Chinese giants are circling the storied brand

With 77 years of history behind the brand, 2025 might just be Puma’s worst, as losses have piled up over the last year. At least the company’s new elite running shoe is a winner.

Claire Yubin Oh

12/3/25 5:17AM

Last week, Bloomberg reported that Fila and Jack Wolfskin owner Anta Sports was mulling a potential takeover of Puma — sending shares of the German sportswear maker up some 19% on Thursday, the most since late 2001. And Anta Sports isn’t the only suitor eyeing the discounted Puma, per sources cited in the report, as rival Chinese apparel firm Li Ning and Japan’s Asics might also be interested.

That news finally gave investors something to smile about, but it’s still nowhere close to repairing the damage of Puma’s miserable year, in which the stock has shed more than 50%. Furthermore, any potential sale is unlikely to be an easy one, as the Pinault family, which owns a 29% stake in the company, could prove an obstacle to any sale.

No room to swing a big cat

Puma has long tried to straddle the fine line between athletic apparel and fashion appeal. But squeezed by new competition in the running space from brands like On and Hoka, and facing fading customer enthusiasm even with heavy discounts, the brand’s profits have vanished. Over the last four quarters, the company has racked up the equivalent of nearly ~$330 million worth of losses, and its market cap has shrunk from nearly $20 billion in 2021 to just $3.5 billion at the time of writing.

Under its new CEO, Puma aims to return to growth by 2027 and become one of the top three sports brands globally — but with swelling excess inventory and a customer base used to seeing marked-down prices, that’s not going to be easy, and the company has already slashed ~1,400 jobs this year.

One bright spot — which reportedly shocked the people at Puma as much as everyone else — is the company’s latest elite running shoe, Fast-R, which blew the competition away in one study.

Millie Giles2h

JM Smucker says it sold $1 billion worth of Uncrustables in FY2026

After years of booming sandwich sales, JM Smucker has finally earned a billion-dollar crust.

On Tuesday, the company reported results for fiscal year 2026, highlighting better-than-expected profits driven by higher prices for coffee and sweet baked goods. However, at another point on the earnings call, CEO Mark Smucker pointed to one particularly jammy figure: in line with previous forecasts, it managed to sell $1 billion worth of its (almost always) crustless sandwiches, Uncrustables, in the last year alone.

Max Knoblauch6/8/26

Paramount reportedly offers concessions to resolve multistate antitrust investigation

Paramount has reportedly offered up some concessions in an effort to prevent an antitrust lawsuit by California and about 10 other states, according to Bloomberg reporting on Monday.

Reuters first reported on the potential suit from a group of unnamed states last week, which could throw a wrench in Paramount’s plans to buy rival Warner Bros. Discovery in a Hollywood megamerger.

The list of concessions is unknown, though Bloomberg previously reported that Paramount is open to divesting some of its kids TV assets to appease EU regulators.

Late last month, reports said US regulators appeared likely to approve the $110 billion merger, following a meeting between Paramount CEO David Ellison and DOJ antitrust staffers.

Paramount Offers Concessions to Head Off State Antitrust Lawsuit

The list of concessions is unknown, though Bloomberg previously reported that Paramount is open to divesting some of its kids TV assets to appease EU regulators.

Late last month, reports said US regulators appeared likely to approve the $110 billion merger, following a meeting between Paramount CEO David Ellison and DOJ antitrust staffers.

$98B ⛽

Max Knoblauch6/8/26

The IATA released its latest financial outlook for the airline industry over the weekend, forecasting a $98 billion jump in the sector’s collective fuel bill. The world’s largest trade group representing airlines expects the oil spike to halve profits by 49% from last year to $23 billion.

The group also expects profit margins to halve year over year, falling from 2025’s 4.2% to 2%. Still, revenue is expected to climb to $1.17 trillion from $1.07 trillion.

A surge in the cost of jet fuel has rocked US and global airlines this year, leading Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue, and others to raise fares and ancillary charges like bag fees. Low-cost carriers, which operate on smaller margins, have been squeezed the hardest, resulting in Spirit’s shutdown.

“It’s a tough year for all airlines, especially those whose balance sheets had not yet recovered from COVID. And, of course, for those operating in the Gulf,” said IATA Director General Willie Walsh, who added that demand is holding up and about half of passengers expect to spend more on travel this year. “That bodes well for a strong northern summer peak season. The big unknown is how long travelers and shippers can tolerate the higher costs of connectivity.”

Hollywood Exteriors And Landmarks - 2025

1 year into the Switch 2, we might’ve seen the top of the console market

The Switch 2 launched on this day in 2025. Amid a rough year for consoles, Nintendo has logged a good one.

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GM has reportedly rehired more than 100 former Cruise employees, 18 months after shuttering the robotaxi unit

GM has rehired more than 100 employees it let go early last year when it shuttered Cruise, its former robotaxi business, according to reporting by The Information.

The hiring spree, which also includes employees from Nvidia and Uber, is geared toward ramping up GM’s plans for personal-use self-driving vehicles and not robotaxis. The former had been the focus of Cruise, prior to GM shuttering it in 2024.

Reporting last fall revealed that GM was attempting to rehire some former Cruise employees, but the scope of that effort wasn’t clear. More than 1,000 employees were laid off when the automaker scrapped Cruise, which it invested $10 billion into.

Google’s Waymo, Cruise’s former chief rival, is now worth $126 billion after a $16 billion funding round earlier this year. The company says it’s serving 500,000 paid robotaxi rides per week in the US.