Business 11 May 2026 - 13 May 2026

LegalZoom Drops Ahead of Shareholder Meeting as AI Fight Hangs Over Stock
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LegalZoom Drops Ahead of Shareholder Meeting as AI Fight Hangs Over Stock

LegalZoom.com traded lower in premarket Wednesday, with the stock near $6.53 as investors prepared for the company’s annual meeting. Shares have had trouble translating stronger sales into better numbers on the bottom line. The latest price was off 14.5 cents from Tuesday’s close, giving LegalZoom a market cap near $1.16 billion. The timing sets the scene. U.S. markets are open as usual, and Nasdaq’s 2026 holiday list shows the next full day off is Juneteenth, June 19. LegalZoom’s shareholder meeting is scheduled for later in the day, not on a weekend or holiday.
June 3, 2026
Unilever Shares Slip as Strong Volumes Meet a Fresh McCormick Deal Test
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Unilever Shares Slip as Strong Volumes Meet a Fresh McCormick Deal Test

Unilever PLC shares in London edged lower late in the morning, hovering at GBX 4,247—£42.47—a 0.67% drop. The stock barely budged at the open, ticked up for a moment, and then slipped back. No rush for the exits here. Instead, the shares are drifting as investors debate what Unilever’s future actually looks like. The real squeeze isn’t about how much soap, shampoo, or deodorant Unilever sells right now. It’s about whether investors still trust leadership’s big-picture bets. On Tuesday, City AM reported that Terry Smith’s Fundsmith Equity Fund dumped its Unilever shares after the McCormick food deal. Smith accused the company of ditching its “promised operational focus” and chasing breakups instead. A prominent exit like that, especially after years in
May 13, 2026
BAT shares extend rally as FDA shift gives Vuse and Velo a cleaner U.S. read
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BAT shares extend rally as FDA shift gives Vuse and Velo a cleaner U.S. read

British American Tobacco moved higher in London Wednesday, building on a strong surge that set it apart during Tuesday’s sluggish trading. Shares traded at GBX 4,713.78 according to Google Finance, a 1.72% gain and close to the upper end of the morning’s moves—just shy of the 52-week peak at GBX 4,876.92. Investors reacted after U.S. regulators offered more clarity. The FDA’s latest enforcement guidance signals it won’t be targeting some e-cigarette and oral nicotine pouch products that haven’t secured final authorization yet, as long as their premarket applications are still pending. Those applications—required before companies can legally introduce new tobacco products—remain under review.
May 13, 2026
Intertek’s EQT Rally Turns a Slow Valuation Argument Into Deal Math
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Intertek’s EQT Rally Turns a Slow Valuation Argument Into Deal Math

The board’s tone shifted, and Intertek’s chart followed. The shares jumped 365p to 5,665p by 09:10 BST, brushing close to a new 52-week high. They’d started the day at 5,710p, then moved between 5,660p and 5,722.41p. Even so, the price stayed below the total economic value in EQT’s offer—investors signaling they think the deal is probable, not guaranteed. “Minded” stood out in the morning’s updates. Intertek indicated it would be minded to back EQT’s final conditional proposal—if a firm offer lands with the same financial terms, and pending due diligence and signed agreements. That marks a notable departure from its outright rejection of previous bids at £51.50, £54, and £58 per share.
May 13, 2026
CSL’s sell-off deepens as $5 billion writedown turns a profit miss into a trust problem
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CSL’s sell-off deepens as $5 billion writedown turns a profit miss into a trust problem

CSL’s selloff isn’t just about the disappointing number. The latest figure points to something deeper—a sign that the previous CSL model was simply too generous. CSL last changed hands at A$98.55, having swung between A$94.76 and A$100.00 during Tuesday’s session on 4.66 million shares. That came right after Monday’s punishing drop—shares plunged 15.96% to close at A$100.75, bottoming out earlier at A$93.64. Not long ago this was considered a perennial safe bet on the ASX. The 52-week peak, for reference, is still way up at A$275.79.
May 12, 2026
Why Exeo and IIJ’s AI Edge Data Center Deal Matters in Japan
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Why Exeo and IIJ’s AI Edge Data Center Deal Matters in Japan

Exeo Group and Internet Initiative Japan are teaming up to build and market edge data centers tailored for AI workloads. Exeo plans to roll out its “Exeo Edge Data Center Solution” beginning May 11. Unlike distant cloud hubs, an edge data center is a compact facility sited near where data is created or processed. It’s all about timing. Firms want AI inference—feeding trained models data to churn out real-time results—close to where the action happens: on factory floors, near inspection gear, in research labs or at medical centers. That’s where lags, bandwidth bills and sensitive data headaches make cloud solutions clumsy.
May 12, 2026
Toyota Industries’ 77-Year Market Run Is Ending After Toyota Group Buyout Vote
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Toyota Industries’ 77-Year Market Run Is Ending After Toyota Group Buyout Vote

KARIYA, Japan, May 12, 2026, 23:02 JST Shareholders at Toyota Industries signed off Tuesday on a share consolidation plan, setting up the forklift and auto-parts maker to exit both the Tokyo and Nagoya exchanges on June 1, according to the company. That would close the book on a public listing stretching back to May 1949, when the stock first hit the boards in Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka.
May 12, 2026
Lufthansa’s $7.7 Billion Airbus-Boeing Jet Order Signals A Long-Haul Reset
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Lufthansa’s $7.7 Billion Airbus-Boeing Jet Order Signals A Long-Haul Reset

Lufthansa Group is set to spend $7.7 billion at list prices on 20 new long-haul jets, locking in 10 Airbus A350-900s and 10 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners as part of a broad fleet renewal. The German airline group's supervisory board signed off on the order Monday, following a green light from its executive board. Timing is a key factor here. Lufthansa is moving to secure extra widebody capacity—think large, twin-aisle jets for long-haul runs—as European carriers continue grappling with high fuel bills, labor issues, and slow aircraft handovers. The freshly ordered jets won’t arrive until sometime between 2032 and 2034, placing the deal well past the present travel cycle.
May 12, 2026
Sun Life SME Workplace Savings Push Follows Strong Board Vote: What Investors Should Know
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Sun Life SME Workplace Savings Push Follows Strong Board Vote: What Investors Should Know

Sun Life has launched two workplace savings plans for Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises after shareholders re-elected its full slate of directors, tying a governance update to a fresh push into employer-backed retirement savings. The timing matters because Sun Life is trying to sell more to smaller employers while staff retention and household financial stress remain live issues. Research by The Harris Poll Canada for Sun Life found 76% of working Canadians want employers to play an active role in financial security, while only 41% said they currently receive workplace savings support at work.
May 12, 2026
Nidec’s New Quality-Fraud Scare Hits After Accounting Crisis — And Investors Have One Big Question
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Nidec’s New Quality-Fraud Scare Hits After Accounting Crisis — And Investors Have One Big Question

Suspected quality fraud at Nidec Corp. has prompted the company to prepare for an outside-led investigation, with a committee of external lawyers possibly taking the reins as early as May 13, Kyodo reported Tuesday. The compliance headache for the Japanese motor giant appears to be growing. According to Nikkei, there are allegations tied to motor parts, including over 1,000 instances connected to design changes and how they were managed. Awkward timing here. The report landed post-Tokyo close, leaving Nidec shares finishing 2.87% higher at 2,829 yen. Earlier, they'd spiked to 2,914 yen—a 2026 intraday peak—as sentiment shifted. Investors were starting to view the Kyoto-based group less as a new product risk and more as an accounting-cleanup play.
May 12, 2026
EQT’s $3.8 Billion Tabelog Deal Puts Kakaku.com on Track to Leave Tokyo Market
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EQT’s $3.8 Billion Tabelog Deal Puts Kakaku.com on Track to Leave Tokyo Market

EQT, the Swedish private equity group, said Tuesday it’s moving to take Kakaku.com private with a tender offer valuing the Japanese firm—behind the Tabelog restaurant guide and Kakaku.com’s popular shopping portal—at 593.51 billion yen, or roughly $3.76 billion. The bid comes in at 3,000 yen per share. This deal’s timing is key, dropping right into the middle of a jockeying match for Japanese internet businesses. LINE Yahoo and Bain Capital have reportedly put in a bid for Kakaku.com, Bloomberg reported via TBS, with LINE Yahoo eyeing possible synergies among Yahoo! Japan, Kakaku.com, and Tabelog.
May 12, 2026
Fuji Media’s First Operating Loss Shows Sponsor Exodus Is Still Hurting Japan TV
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Fuji Media’s First Operating Loss Shows Sponsor Exodus Is Still Hurting Japan TV

Fuji Media Holdings reported an operating loss of 8.77 billion yen for the year ended March 2026, swinging from an 18.29 billion yen profit the previous year. The company blamed the downturn on the lingering impact of a sexual misconduct scandal that dented its mainstay TV ad revenues. Net sales came in at 551.87 billion yen, up just 0.2%. Net income landed at 6.50 billion yen, marking a recovery from last year’s 20.13 billion yen loss. The company’s full-year loss delivers more than just a blow to its image—it’s now showing up in the numbers. Jiji said Fuji Media just posted its first annual operating loss since 2008, the year it adopted a certified broadcast holding-company structure, a regulatory framework
May 12, 2026
DeNA Founder Tomoko Namba Returns as CEO as AI Bet Meets Profit Drop
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DeNA Founder Tomoko Namba Returns as CEO as AI Bet Meets Profit Drop

DeNA on Tuesday announced founder Tomoko Namba is set to take over as president and CEO on June 27, bringing her back to lead the company as it pushes to ramp up efforts in gaming, AI, and new business areas. Shingo Okamura, who currently holds both roles, will step into the chairman position if shareholders sign off at the upcoming annual meeting. No subtlety in the numbers. DeNA posted a weaker outlook for the year to March 2026: revenue slipped 9.9% to 147.7 billion yen, operating profit tumbled 35.5% to 18.69 billion yen, and profit attributable to owners dropped 21.3% to 19.05 billion yen. Slower momentum in its games segment, as the initial rush for “Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket”
May 12, 2026
Siemens Energy Raises Buyback to €3 Billion as AI Data Center Demand Turns Into Cash
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Siemens Energy Raises Buyback to €3 Billion as AI Data Center Demand Turns Into Cash

Siemens Energy is bumping up its share buyback target for 2026 to as much as 3 billion euros, up from the previous 2 billion, after reporting a 42% jump in pre-tax free cash flow, the company announced Tuesday. The overall buyback initiative, which could reach up to 6 billion euros by 2028, stays the same. What’s changed: the rush for power gear is no longer just bookings on paper—Siemens Energy is finally seeing cash flow. The company locked in record orders at 17.7 billion euros, with its backlog swelling to a record 154 billion, fuelled by U.S. projects, gas services, and grid tech. German outlet Maschinenmarkt highlighted the impact of AI data centers gulping electricity.
May 12, 2026
Vodafone Share Price Slips After Earnings: Three UK Deal and UBS Sell Call Raise the Stakes
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Vodafone Share Price Slips After Earnings: Three UK Deal and UBS Sell Call Raise the Stakes

Vodafone slipped 3.0% to 116.80 pence in London morning action on Tuesday, despite the telecoms company projecting improved earnings for the coming year and pointing to a streamlined business after a three-year shakeup. On Monday, the shares hit their highest mark since August 2022. The stakes are rising as investors look to see if Vodafone’s rapid share-price surge holds up through CEO Margherita Della Valle’s next act: taking full command of VodafoneThree in the UK, turning things around in Germany, and keeping cash returns flowing. The company has already shed weaker businesses in Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands—now, it’s doubling down on Germany, the UK, and Africa.
May 12, 2026
Why Sony Stock Jumped 5.7% Today Despite Its Bungie Problem
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Why Sony Stock Jumped 5.7% Today Despite Its Bungie Problem

Sony Group’s U.S.-listed shares jumped 5.66% to close at $21.29 on Monday, drawing unusually heavy trading as investors reassessed the company after a large buyback plan, a music-rights push and fresh chip-sector moves. The ADR — an American depositary receipt, a U.S.-traded certificate for a foreign share — traded about 16.2 million shares, far above its 50-day average of about 5.7 million. The timing matters because the rally followed a choppy read on Sony’s story. TipRanks said recent pressure centered on a $765 million impairment tied to Bungie, the U.S. game studio, even as BofA lifted its Sony price target to $34 from $30.67 and kept a Buy rating, citing solid core businesses.
May 12, 2026
Blue Zones’ 38th Record Profit Plan Puts Yaoko’s Tokyo Expansion in Focus
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Blue Zones’ 38th Record Profit Plan Puts Yaoko’s Tokyo Expansion in Focus

Blue Zones Holdings, which owns Japanese supermarket Yaoko, expects its ordinary profit to hit a record for the 38th consecutive year, citing steady food demand and an expanding network of stores across Tokyo and surrounding areas. The forecast is under scrutiny now with Blue Zones fresh on the market—formed just last October 2025 after a share swap that folded Yaoko in as a full subsidiary. Its debut annual results arrive as Japanese food retailers deal with inflation, climbing wages, steeper construction costs, and stepped-up cross-format competition.
May 12, 2026
Alphabet’s Nvidia Chase Hits A $660 Billion Wall As AI Chip Rally Returns
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Alphabet’s Nvidia Chase Hits A $660 Billion Wall As AI Chip Rally Returns

Nvidia pulled further ahead of Alphabet on Monday, tamping down speculation that Google’s parent might overtake it as the world’s most valuable company. Shares of Nvidia changed hands at $219.44, giving the chipmaker a market cap of roughly $5.37 trillion. Alphabet’s Class A stock sat at $388.64, valuing the company around $4.71 trillion. This shift matters as the AI trade divides into two groups. Nvidia keeps its grip on the hardware core. Alphabet, on the other hand, is betting that controlling search, the cloud, AI models, plus its own chips, could unlock the bigger payoff.
May 12, 2026
Lufthansa Orders 20 Airbus And Boeing Long-Haul Jets In $7.7 Billion Fleet Push
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Lufthansa Orders 20 Airbus And Boeing Long-Haul Jets In $7.7 Billion Fleet Push

Lufthansa Group has signed off on a $7.7 billion order for 20 new long-haul jets—ten Airbus A350-900s and ten Boeing 787-9s—part of its strategy to refresh its fleet well into the next decade. Lufthansa’s supervisory board gave the green light to the deal on Monday, following management’s move to order ten jets apiece from both models. The new aircraft are scheduled for delivery between 2032 and 2034, aiming to swap out older, less efficient long-haul planes.
May 11, 2026
Air France-KLM Name Could Disappear as SAS Deal Pushes ‘Blue Group’ Rebrand Talk
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Air France-KLM Name Could Disappear as SAS Deal Pushes ‘Blue Group’ Rebrand Talk

Air France-KLM hasn’t made a call yet on whether to rebrand the group, following Dutch media speculation that its bid for control of SAS might push the Franco-Dutch airline toward a more neutral label like “The Blue Group.” The company described group name talks as “only logical,” given plans to expand its portfolio of brands, in comments to AeroTime. NL Times, referencing De Telegraaf, noted the Air France-KLM name could vanish from the holding’s identity. Timing is key here: SAS is on track to shift from being a partner to a potential subsidiary. Air France-KLM is set to ramp up its ownership in SAS, eyeing a jump to 60.5% from its current 19.9% stake by purchasing shares from Castlelake and
May 11, 2026
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