FX.co ★ Belt-tightening: what companies will have a tough time this year

Toshiba

Enormous problems are experienced by Toshiba Corp. in its Westinghouse division, which builds nuclear power plants. It was expected that the company would increase revenue thanks to the innovative system used earlier for the construction of four factories in the south-eastern part of United States, but in fact, everything turned out to be massive overexpenditures. Now, the whole company faces bankruptcy as a result of debts of billions of dollars.

The Japanese conglomerate has developed a plan to overcome the current impasse. If Westinghouse declares bankruptcy, it will be possible to receive assistance from the governments of the United States and/or Japan.

Sears

Sears Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHLD), one of the most well-known companies in American retailing, met with difficulties. The company will almost certainly go bankrupt. It was caused by high competition from Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and other providers of Internet trading.

Even if Sears Holdings will stay afloat by the end of the year, the forecast does not cease to be pessimistic. The volume of sales in Sears and Kmart stores is rapidly declining. The Sears stock fell by 90% from record highs. The SHLD shareholders are unlikely to be able to benefit in the long term.

Theranos

In 2014, Elizabeth Holmes announced that she invented the Theranos technology, where one drop of blood showed more information than regular tests through a syringe. All the media were trumpeting about the new fantastic method. The Theranos value was more than $9 billion. But in the autumn of 2015, The Wall Street Journal published an article where the revolutionary method was questioned. Legal battles began. The net cost of Theranos, which managed to earn millions at the peak of popularity, today may be zero. But the ArsTechnica online media reported that without taking into account debts, the company's cash amounted to $150 million.

Oil and gas industry

The decline in oil and gas prices had a negative impact on oil and gas sphere. As a result, Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) and Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK) have decreased since the beginning of the year.

Tidewater Inc. (NYSE: TDW), which serves floating drilling platforms, concluded an agreement on bankruptcy to preserve some value for TDW shareholders. The bankruptcy procedure is currently postponed.

The Venezuelan state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA), announced the beginning of the process of interest payments on its bonds.

Harley-Davidson

Youth does not seem to be so interested in automobiles as their parents and to consider them as a hobby or a mode of mobility.

Alliance Bernstein lowered the Harley-Davidson rating. The outlook for the company is disappointing: a negative growth will be observed in the coming five years.

BlackBerry

In the middle of 2016, BlackBerry's share in the world market of smartphones did not achieve 1 percent. Such a low percentage was due to the suspension of the company's development process and the sharp drop in sales. It made BlackBerry stop producing smartphones in 2016 and, instead, to develop software.

Tiffany&Co

Some media reports that the company is on the verge of bankruptcy, but so far the information has not been officially confirmed. One thing's for certain, a well-known jewelry store are, indeed, facing serious difficulties. After the chief director Frederick Kumenal retired from business, stock prices declined. Even the commercial with the participation of Lady Gaga did not work. According to Bloomberg, the projects, which attracted baby boomers, are not interesting for the current trendsetters. A growing share of jewelry sales accounts for men who buy presents for their wives and girlfriends.

Twitter

Even the fact that Twitter is the preferred means of communication for the current US president does not save the situation. The company is campaigning to ensure that new social networking platforms, such as Snapchat and Instagram, attract more people's attention. In 2016, there was an attempt to sell Twitter, but potential partners refused the deal.

We can only guess what future awaits the company, but at the moment, according to the Twitter reports, the number of the social network's users is gradually decreasing, and the company's income is declining.

Macy's

The problems of the famous Macy's department store have been discussed for a long time. But everything led to intense competition from retailers, including online stores, changes in customer habits and high labor costs. Now, Macy's announced new leaders at the head of senior positions. Forbes evaluates the new strategy with optimism. It aims to consolidate operations into "five business families" (Ready to Wear, Center Core, Beauty, Men's and Kids, and Home).

Sistema

The scale corporate war between Rosneft OJSC and Sistema JSFC has had a lasting and deep effect. According to the settlement agreement, the Joint Stock Financial Corporation should pay Bashneft 100 billion rubles until March 2018, then mutual claims will be resolved. However, Sistema will have to pay at its own expense and borrowed funds. A loan of 40 billion rubles will be provided to the corporation by the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), another 40 billion rubles - by Sberbank. Sistema has to pay a significant amount and to find several tens of billions of rubles to pay back the loans.