U.S. retail sales in December 2025 unexpectedly remained flat in December, unchanged from November, indicating a slowdown in consumer spending and the economy as a whole ahead of 2026, Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-retail-sales-unexpectedly-flat-december-2026-02-10/">notes</a>. Economists surveyed by the agency had expected a 0.4% increase in retail sales in December - a measure that mainly reflects sales of goods and is not adjusted for inflation.

U.S. retail sales in December fell short of expectations. What this means for the economy

Diageo plc

Pernod Ricard SA

Davide Campari-Milano N.V.

Brown-Forman Corporation

Remy Cointreau SA

The five largest publicly traded producers - Diageo, Pernod Ricard, Campari, Brown-Forman and Rémy Cointreau - have combined stocks of aged spirits at $22 billion, the highest level in 10 years, the Financial Times <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/9e6f024c-63b5-493f-bb35-6c1c05e90e55">wrote </a>.

People are drinking less. How alcohol producers are dealing with this 

Amazon.com, Inc.

Walmart Inc.

Alphabet Inc.

On January 15, China's Alibaba <a href="https://www.alibabagroup.com/en-US/document-1948497434959151104">announced</a> that it has begun integrating its online shopping and travel services into its Qwen AI app to create a unified platform for its 100 million users. The new features are available for public testing in China. The company has also launched an invitation-only "task assistant" feature for more complex tasks such as booking trips or building web applications.

How Amazon, Walmart and others are incorporating AI agents into their businesses

Salesforce, Inc.

Adobe Inc.

Intuit Inc.

Software companies for 2025 and early 2026 have fallen significantly in price amid fears that AI will undermine their business models

"A bogeyman for software developers: analyst considers sell-off in software stocks excessive

Dollar Tree Inc. R

Dollar General Corporation

Five Below, Inc.

In early December, several US fixed-price and discount retail chains reported growth in quarterly sales.

Which discounters are capitalizing on the tendency of US consumers to save money?   

Macy's, Inc.

Macy's sales rose 3%, its best quarterly result in three years. But the company's stock still fell

Macy's raised its earnings and sales forecast. Why did the stock fall?

Costco Wholesale Corporation

Restaurant Brands International Inc.

Yum! Brands, Inc.

Chewy, Inc.

Johnson & Johnson

Abbott Laboratories

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated

Marriott International, Inc.

Luxury brands can no longer ignore Generation X shoppers, WWD <a href="https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-features/gen-x-and-luxury-study-publicis-luxe-opinionway-1238352392/">wrote </a>Nov. 19, citing survey data from research firm OpinionWay for Publicis Luxe. For a long time, those who are now 45-60 years old have <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/gen-x-1-4-trillion-171305936.html#:~:text=%D0%92%20%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%87%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5%20%D0%B4%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%8F%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%B9,%D0%BF%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%B8%D1%8E%C2%BB%2C%20%2D%20%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%82%20%D0%A5%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%BD.">been</a> in the shadow of baby boomers and millennials in terms of consumption. Brands paid less attention to them. Perhaps for nothing.

"Lost" trillions: who will make money on generation X

When my sister and I were little, our parents gave us a beautiful colorful box with cut-out windows of different shapes and sizes for New Year's Eve. The box traditionally contained 31 chocolate figures - one for each day of January. However, by a mysterious coincidence, the chocolate ran out much sooner than February.

Wine by subscription: how services from Berlin to Singapore work

U.S. online Thanksgiving sales will grow 6% year-over-year to $8.6 billion, Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/us-thanksgiving-online-sales-expected-rise-6-salesforce-data-shows-2025-11-27/">writes</a>. This is an estimate by Salesforce, which tracks global retail shopping data. Such dynamics indicates that consumers are actively taking advantage of holiday discounts despite macroeconomic uncertainty associated with the imposition of duties, the agency notes.

Online sales for Thanksgiving in the U.S. could add 6%. Why is this important?

On Holding AG

NIKE, Inc.

lululemon athletica inc.

The shares of On Holding, a Swiss manufacturer of premium sports shoes, jumped by almost 19% on November 12, after the publication of its quarterly report, and have more than doubled over the past three years. The company will not <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/12/on-onon-earnings-q3-2025.html">offer</a> discounts on Mark's merchandise during the holiday season, and its management raised its revenue growth forecast for the next three years. At the same time, Nike - one of On's competitors - is going through some tough times. But what if their competition is not a sprint but a marathon? Independent analyst Mikhail Zavaraev discusses the long-term prospects of the two companies.

The battle of Nike vs On Holding: who has a better chance of "winning the marathon"

L'Oreal S.A.

The Estee Lauder Companies Inc.

Unilever PLC

Shiseido Company, Limited

Amorepacific Corporation

The popularity of decorative and care cosmetics among men is on the rise. It is especially noticeable in TikTok, wrote <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-11-10/men-s-makeup-influencer-bach-buquen-could-lead-the-way-for-gen-z-bros?srnd=homepage-europe&amp;embedded-checkout=true">Bloomberg</a>.

The return of metrosexuals: which companies will capitalize on men's love of cosmetics

Meta Platforms, Inc.

In October, Jimmy Donaldson, aka Mr. Beast, a global YouTube star with 450 million subscribers, launched <a href="https://www.vyro.com/">Vyro</a>, a new platform for clipping, i.e. producing short videos. The videos "masquerade" as user-generated fan content, but in reality they are elaborate advertising campaigns paid for by sponsors.