Against the trend: five companies that are losing investors' money outside the crisis

Against the background of general market optimism and series of S&P 500 and Nasdaq records, companies going through difficult periods stand out in particular. Oninvest analyst Konstantin Gnenny chose five U.S. companies whose businesses have been affected by tariff wars, China's economic slowdown and changes in consumer preferences. What lessons can investors draw from these crises?

The maker of Corona and Modelo beer is going through a rough patch. Its market capitalization is less than $30 billion, well below historical highs. The stock has lost more than 30% since peaking in 2024 and about 25% since the beginning of this year.

The company's latest challenge is declining consumption among key audiences due to the Donald Trump administration's immigration policies. According to Reuters, Constellation Brands has seen a significant slowdown in beer consumption, especially among Hispanic consumers, who have become fewer to attend public events following the tightening of the

Financials reflect these challenges. In the fiscal first quarter ended May 31, 2025, net sales were $2.52 billion versus analysts' expectations of $2.55 billion (according to data from LSEG). Sales in the company's beer segment, the largest source of revenue, fell 2.6%, contrasting with a 6.4% increase in the same period a year earlier. Operating margin in the beer business fell 150 basis points to 39.1%. Comparable earnings per share came in at $3.22 versus guidance of $3.31.

The situation is exacerbated by tariff wars. Tariffs on beer imports, as well as beer cans being hit by aluminum duties, have negatively impacted alcohol producers. Constellation Brands has been no exception. In June, Trump announced a doubling of duties on steel and aluminum imports to 50%.

Additional problems are created by changing public perceptions of alcohol - people have become less likely to drink, especially the younger generation.

Nike Corporation of America is going through one of the toughest periods in history. Shares trade around $72 with a market capitalization of $107 billion, well below peak levels. The stock has lost more than 24% over the past five years.

Dramatic was June 2024, when the company experienced the worst day in its 44-year history of trading on the stock exchange. Shares crashed by 20% in one session following the release of the statements.

Nike's problems have been building up for years. According to The Wall Street Journal, the company experienced a slowdown in sales as it decided to switch from producing popular affordable athletic shoe models to producing limited edition sneakers, ultimately missing out on the new wave of running popularity. Nike's level of innovation fell as the company focused on a few older models.

The Trump administration's trade policies have dealt an additional blow this year. According to Yahoo Finance, in late June, the company's chief financial officer Matthew Friend called the imposed U.S. duties "a new and significant cost driver." 

Nike expects a negative impact of the duties on gross margin and an overall cost increase of approximately $1 billion. 

For the company, the imposition of duties is critical in terms of geography of production. Nike said it plans to reduce its dependence on China to produce goods sold in the United States. Currently, Chinese suppliers account for about 16% of the shoes Nike imports into the US. It wants to reduce that share to "high single digits" by the end of the current fiscal year.

To mitigate the impact of the duties, the company also announced plans for "spot price increases" in the U.S. starting this fall. 

Nike's revenue in China fell 20% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 ended May 31. All of this affected the company's total results - its combined revenue of $11.1 billion, down 12%. 

Shares of the owner of the Chrysler, Jeep, Ram, Peugeot and Fiat brands have lost more than 35% over the past six months and 12.7% over the past five years. 

The financial figures demonstrate the scale of the crisis. According to the company's report, net income in 2024 collapsed 70% to €5.5 billion ($5.76 billion) and adjusted operating profit plunged 64%. Revenue fell 17% to 156.9 billion euros ($164.5 billion), with consolidated shipments falling 12%.

The decline in the US market was particularly painful. According to the report, U.S. sales in 2024 fell 15% to 1.3 million vehicles. This is in stark contrast to sales growth at major competitors General Motors (+4.3%) and Ford (+4%), notes TipRanks.

Virtually all of the company's brands showed declines. Sales of key brands Jeep and Ram fell 9% and 19%, respectively, while Chrysler, Dodge and Alfa Romeo posted even steeper declines of 7% to 29%. Only the Fiat brand posted a 154% increase to 1,528 vehicles thanks to demand for the new Fiat 500e compact electric car.

The company faced severe liquidity problems. Free cash flow was negative €6 billion in 2024, due to lower revenues and higher capital expenditures to adjust production. Total vehicle inventories at December 31 were 268,000 units lower year-on-year, including a 20 percent decline in inventories at dealers in the U.S. to 304,000 units.

The crisis was exacerbated by management problems. The company's poor results for three consecutive years led to the resignation of CEO Carlos Tavares on December 1, 2024. 

Despite the gloomy numbers, the company remains optimistic about 2025, though U.S. import duties could cost the company up to $1.7 billion in profits. Stellantis plans to launch new models, including the all-electric Jeep Wagoneer S, Jeep Recon and hybrid Jeep Cherokee. Wall Street analysts give the stock a "moderate buy" rating with an average target price of $14.88, implying a potential upside of 18.75%. 

The U.S. cosmetics company is in a major downturn. Shares have collapsed 78% from a peak of $374 in January 2022 to a current $87. The market capitalization has decreased by more than $100 billion in three years. 

The main problem is the critical dependence on the Chinese market. Under the leadership of former CEO Fabrizio Freda, the company invested heavily in China, building an extensive distribution network. By 2021, the Asian region accounted for about 34% of revenue - $5.49 billion of total revenues. That was significantly more exposure than most Western companies.

The strategy worked before the pandemic. According to data from McKinsey, the number of Chinese households buying luxury goods doubled between 2008 and 2014. But the Chinese consumer boom has collapsed - Estée Lauder's Asia-Pacific sales dropped to $4.89 billion in 2024, down 16% from the 2021 peak.

Large investments made in anticipation of the Chinese boom have been particularly painful. Estée Lauder invested $1 billion in 2018 to set up a manufacturing facility in Japan to serve Chinese consumers faster. That facility is now operating underutilized due to weak demand, hurting the company's profits, wrote Fortune. The financial results reflect the magnitude of the crisis. In October 2024, the company shocked shareholders by cutting its dividend nearly in half to conserve cash. In fiscal 2024, which ended June 30, revenue was $15.6 billion - 12% below the 2022 peak. Net income fell 60% to $409 million, and in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, the company recorded a net loss of $156 million. In January 2025, the company was taken over by Stephane de la Favery, who became the first CEO not from the Lauder family in the company's history. The new chief will have the daunting task of stemming the decline in sales in China, making the global supply chain more efficient, and attracting younger customers through platforms like TikTok.

Intel's problems have been piling up for decades because of a series of strategic mistakes. The company refused to produce processors for the first iPhones because Apple offered a price below Intel's expectations, and as a result missed the mobile revolution. In 2017-2018, Intel missed another historic opportunity by rejecting OpenAI's offer to invest $1 billion for a 15% stake - management didn't believe in the prospects for generative AI. The scale of the failure became evident in August 2024, when Intel lost 26% of capitalization in a day - the worst drop since 1982. The company was forced to cut 15,000 employees and suspend dividends.

Intel shares are now trading around $20 with a market capitalization of $90 billion. They have fallen nearly 60% in price over five years while the S&P 500 has risen more than 50% over the same period. According to Reuters' sources, new CEO Lip-Bu Tan is considering stopping marketing the advanced 18A manufacturing process (1.8-nanometer chips) to external customers and focusing on the more advanced 14A (1.4nm) technology.

This potential shift in focus could be extremely costly. According to Intel's CEO, customers are showing little enthusiasm for the 18A chips, a disappointment after the company invested "billions of dollars" in the process. Industry experts predict the shift in focus will cost Intel "hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars" in write-offs, Reuters writes.

The company's financial situation leaves much to be desired. Intel recorded its first GAAP loss in nearly 40 years. The company reported a loss  $0.67 per share for the second quarter of fiscal 2025, well above Barchart's projected expected loss of $0.14 per share. For the full fiscal year 2025, losses are forecast to narrow 64.7% to $0.30 from $0.85 in 2024, but actual second quarter results were significantly worse than forecast.

The competitive position continues to deteriorate. According to Investing, Intel is losing the battle for big contracts to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company as giants like Apple, MediaTek, Qualcomm, AMD and Broadcom are already committed to TSMC's 2nm process.

Financial metrics paint a bleak picture. As of early 2025, the company has a negative profit margin of 36.19%, negative EPS of $4.48, and free cash flow leverage of minus $7 billion, underscoring a significant cash burn from manufacturing investments.

Analysts are skeptical. According to Barchart, among the 38 analysts covering the stock, only one recommends them as a "strong buy," 32 recommend a "hold," and five recommend a "strong sell." The average target price is $22.68, which is close to current trading levels.

Analyzing the failures of these corporations, we can identify three key systemic problems of modern business. The first is overdependence on the Chinese market, which is experiencing a structural slowdown after decades of rapid growth. The second is trade wars and tariff policies that create unpredictable costs for global supply chains. The third is the inability to adapt to rapidly changing consumer trends, especially among younger buyers.

For investors, these stories are a reminder that even in an era of record indices, it is important to analyze the fundamental risks of individual companies. Diversification and a cautious approach to corporations with high concentrations of geographic or operational risk are becoming critical in an environment of increasing global uncertainty.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor