The Uniqlo logo seen on a street in Warsaw, Poland, on November 28, 2025 (Klaudia Radecka/Getty Images)

QLO-UP

Uniqlo’s shiny international stores are pumping its sales as it targets Inditex’s crown

Even Uniqlo’s Japan business now sees 10% of its revenue coming from foreign tourists.

1/9/26 10:08AM

Calling all fans of Uniqlo’s round shoulder bags, baggy curve jeans, and heat-tech thermal layers: thanks to you, the Japanese retailer is thriving more than ever.

Reporting Q1 2026 results on Thursday, Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing celebrated a ~15% jump in quarterly revenue to more than 1 trillion yen and hiked its profit outlook to 450 billion yen ($2.9 billion) for 2026. Entering its fifth consecutive year of profit, the company’s growth was boosted by a pickup in international sales, even against a backdrop of US tariffs and escalating trade tensions between Japan and China, its biggest overseas market.

Made for all

Since it was founded in 1974, Uniqlo has found success with high-quality, casual, often unisex clothing — a model that worked in Japan and has since been exported around the world. That international business surpassed its domestic division back in 2018, and hasn’t faltered since.

UNIQLO’s international business — Sherwood News

Learning from its early struggles in its first years in North America, Uniqlo has now adopted a calculated and tailored expansion approach to its overseas business. In the US, for instance, it opened flagship stores in urban, high-traffic areas like Chicago, New York, and Boston, which fared much better than the suburban outlets it launched with, while in China the brand has found success opening in malls.

Rising sum

Its international popularity is also boosting sales back home, too, with record tourists visiting Japan with money to burn as the yen weakens. Fast Retailing reports that foreign visitors made up one-tenth of Uniqlo’s Japan sales for the first time in the three months through the end of November.

Fast Retailing’s next goal? Overtake Zara owner Inditex to become the world’s largest clothing retailer. With a market cap of $122 billion against Inditex’s $204 billion, it has a little ways to go yet.

Millie Giles6/11/26

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, the company sold $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.

Max Knoblauch6/5/26

Max Knoblauch6/4/26

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.