Businesses from multiple sectors are cutting financial guidance amid growing uncertainty as President Donald Trump’s trade war boosts costs, reverses supply chains and stirs up concerns about the global economy.
Revenues on Thursday revealed that businesses around the world had hit a wall of uncertainty in the first quarter.
Comments from the biggest packaged food company highlighted concerns among businesses and investors that Trump’s tariffs and his attacks on US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell would undermine confidence on Main Street.
Revenue Reports Show Hesitancy
“Some political decisions, economic decisions made, have undermined the trust of already soft consumers,” Nestle CEO Laurent Frixe told reporters in a revenue call.
Dove Soap Maker Unilever, who also reported revenue, described the “declination of consumer sentiment” in the North American market.
Stocks drifted on Thursday, and dollar rebounds flare up as investors tried to pick and choose fast-changing announcements about the Trump administration’s tariffs and the Federal Reserve leadership of the US Central Bank.
Most of the tariffs have been suspended for 90 days until July 8th, but as well as the eye-opening taxation of goods imported from China, there remains a 10% universal fee and additional obligation on aluminum, iron and automobile imports.
The Trump administration will consider lowering tariffs during the dispute on imported Chinese goods between the two countries, sources told Reuters on Wednesday.
With the first quarter revenue season entering its second busiest week, businesses had set plans to count the costs of chaos and stem the fallout.
Procter & Gamble, Soda and Snacks giant PepsiCo and medical device maker Thermo Fisher Scientific have become the latest company to cut annual profit forecasts, citing trade disruptions. American Airlines has withdrawn its 2025 financial guidance and reflects its peers.
Thermo Fisher also warned of the impact of the Trump administration’s proposed cuts on academic research funding.
Hyundai Motor said it has launched a task force to handle the response to tariffs and moved production of several Tucson crossover vehicles from Mexico to the US.
“We expect challenging business outlooks to continue to strengthen the trade war and a variety of other unpredictable macroeconomic factors,” he said.
The automaker also said it is considering whether to move production of several US-affiliated cars from South Korea elsewhere, and will reaffirm its annual revenue targets.
Hyundai and affiliate KIA, the world’s third largest automotive group, generate about a third of global sales from the US market, with imports accounting for about two thirds of US automotive sales.
China’s e-commerce giant JD.com said 3,000 companies have already made inquiries about the 227 billion yuan ($273.5 billion) fund, announced on April 11, helping exporters sell their products freely next year.
Consumer emotions fall
In addition to worry about economic weakness, the German government cut its growth forecast for 2025 on Thursday, seeing a stagnation rather than an expansion of 0.3% as uncertainty from the global trade conflict hampers growth and attenuates investment.
And in another indication that attracts consumer confidence, Essity CEO Magnus Groth told Reuters that Swedish tissue makers have seen a decline in demand for hygiene products from hotels and restaurants in North America as people may be eating out and not traveling.
It reflected warnings from Chipotle Mexico’s grill late Wednesday, urging Americans to eat out less due to growing economic uncertainty, and the food chain cuts sales prospects.
Nokia, a telecom equipment manufacturer, flagged the short-term disruption from US tariffs, but Dassault Systèmes, which sells software to vehicle manufacturers, plane manufacturers and defense companies, predicted profit margins and knocked on stocks with tariff-related market volatility.
Nestle and Unilever have earned more quarterly sales than expected, but they and their big brand rivals are mitigating US price increases to avoid losing shoppers to retailer cheaper private label brands.
It may help ease concerns that tariffs will drive a surge in inflation and slow the US economy, but other companies, including Ray-van makers Esilolluxottica, LG Electronics and Interperumum, say they are hiking US prices or may do so.
“With our eyes looking ahead, we are expected to see more volatility and uncertainty, particularly related to global trade development. We expect this to increase supply chain costs,” PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Ramon Ragualta said Thursday.
“At the same time, consumer conditions in many markets remain restrained and have similarly uncertain outlook.”