Panasonic Restructures: Job Cuts Fuel Investor Optimism

Panasonic Holdings Corp. saw its shares jump 15% in Tokyo trading, reflecting investor optimism about its restructuring efforts expected to yield financial benefits next fiscal year. The company increased its planned job cuts to 12,000, anticipating an additional ¥13 billion in cost savings starting October, contributing to a total of ¥145 billion projected for fiscal year 2024.

Separately, Alphabet Inc. announced ambitious capital spending plans, allocating up to $185 billion this year to bolster the data centers and infrastructure required for artificial intelligence leadership. This significant investment follows a quarter where Alphabet surpassed revenue projections, with Google Cloud revenue increasing by 48% to $17.7 billion. Its AI model, Gemini, is rapidly gaining users and integrating across products.

Alphabet's substantial investments are deemed essential for competing in the AI age against rivals like Microsoft and Amazon. The company highlighted that its AI infrastructure investments are driving growth across its services, with search usage reaching new heights and its Gemini app boasting 750 million active users by December. The cloud business backlog has more than doubled, reaching $240 billion, driven by enterprise AI offerings.

Despite a reported operating loss of $3.6 billion in its 'Other Bets' segment, which includes self-driving company Waymo, Alphabet's core businesses demonstrate strong momentum. YouTube's Shorts format averages 200 billion daily views, and the platform's ads and subscriptions exceeded $60 billion in 2025. Alphabet continues to be a key AI infrastructure provider, supplying specialized chips and integrating Gemini into various platforms.