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Data is everywhere, but insights are rare.
I know this firsthand from years working agency-side in digital marketing and analytics for global brandsoptimizing billions in media spend, tracking behaviors across platforms, and measuring every available data point across the customer journey.
We operated inside complex martech platforms, developed and owned by big tech companies, designed to automate and optimize a massive online ecosystem of messaging and signals. Managing these systems required deep expertise and continual training.
Entire agency teams were dedicated to client accounts, structured by campaign and channel. Being data-driven was tablestakes. We continually optimized ad copy, inventory sources, channel mix, tactics, spend ratesyou name it. We endlessly reviewed ad exposure reports and conversion models, aiming to give clients a clear view of campaign performance.
Yet, year after year, many media plans looked remarkably similar, and many of the dashboards and reports we built went largely unused. It wasnt for lack of effort or interestit was because the sheer volume of information (and competing priorities) made it difficult to extract clear, actionable insights. Clients didnt need more information; they needed more direction.
Heres the truth: Most dashboards are dense, nuanced, and missing the context or causality needed to drive strategic change.
Clients arent looking for more charts. Theyre looking for clear answers.
Our brains are wired for clarity, not clutter
A recent Caltech study found that while our sensory systems can intake up to 1 billion bits of information per second, our conscious minds can process only about 10 to 60 bits per second. This staggering gap highlights the brains limited capacity to consciously manage the flood of incoming data.
Our sensory systemsoptimized for speed and pattern recognitionoperate largely automatically and unconsciously. In contrast, higher-order cognitive functions like decision making and reasoning, managed by the prefrontal cortex, are slow, effortful, and resource-intensive.
Dashboards often overload our fast, automatic brain systems without effectively supporting the slower, more deliberate systems we rely on to make meaningful decisions.
The real competitive edge: Turning data into insight
Over the past few years, Ive combined my background in architectural design, marketing, and cloud technology to create solutions that bring new visibility into built environments.
Brands today are seeking tools to power and measure their in-person spaces and many existing platforms fall short. They often fail to integrate critical variables like behavioral patterns, emotional sentiment, geography, time of day, affect heuristics, and even weather.
By weaving deeper, real-time context into physical spaces, brands can create more responsive, more personalized, and ultimately more valuable experiences.
Were entering a new phase where platforms must go beyond trackingthey must deliver strategic, insight-rich functionality. They must act like trusted confidants: capable of processing vast amounts of data behind the scenes and surfacing simple, powerful next steps.
In this new era, decision making should feel more intuitive and more informed at the same time.
Welcome to the age of answers
The online dashboard era is ending.
Were entering what I call the age of answerswhere the next generation of tools, especially in the real world, will surface context, causality, and clear actions.
These tools will make us feel smarter, fasterunlocking new forms of value, new competitive edges, and a better relationship with the flood of data surrounding us.
James Chester is cofounder and CEO of WVN.
If youve ever felt like your pet knows exactly when to pull you away from the stress of your computer screen, you arent alone.
A landmark study surveying over 30,000 pet owners in 20 different countries found that 78% of dog or cat owners report that their pets remind them to take breaks during work or tasks, with 50% of the participants saying this happens daily. The study, which was conducted by YouGov on behalf of Mars, is the largest international survey of its kind in the world.
The findings resonated deeply with David Reilly, global VP at Mars.
If my dog’s at daycare, I don’t take a break at lunch time, he says. But if my dog’s not at daycare, somehow miraculously, I find the space to create up an hour to take my dog on a walk.
Knowing that his relationship with his own pet had such an impact on his mental health, Reilly was excited by the data.
I think 46% of people globally report their mental well-being is their number-one health priority and 56% of the population of the world has a pet. So if we can help unlock this idea that the pet could be your well-being superhero . . . then theres a real opportunity there, he says.
To do this, the Mars team needed to seek further expertise. We have a deep knowledge of pets and we actually have a deep knowledge of the bond between people and pets. But we aren’t experts in human mental health, says Reilly. The solution was to collaborate with consumer mental health company Calm.
Together, Mars and Calm collaborated on a collection of content meant to help pet lovers think about their bond with their pets as ways to improve their own well-being. Its launch marks the first pet-inspired collection featured on Calm.
[Image: Mars, Calm]
The content on Calm will include:
A series of sleep stories inspired by the emotional connection between people and their pets.
A series of guided meditations meant to help listeners reflect on the ways pets support their mental wellness.
A series of breathing exercises.
On Marss pet advice platform Kinship, Mars and Calm are launching the interactive quiz My Pet Guru, which helps pet owners learn which of six wellbeing superpowers their pet has based on questions about their personalities and behaviors.
Together, were helping more peopleand their petsexperience the proven benefits of the human-animal bond through real stories, science-backed tools, and supportive content, says Greg Justice, chief content officer at Calm.
Once the insights are rich . . . it doesn’t need to be overly clinical says Reilly. The researchers, pet experts, and content creators, worked together to find the sweet spot of ensuring that the content was true to what we’d heard, but also really accessible and also engaging for pet owners or other people who love pets.
Mars and Calm are also seeking touching stories from pet owners to inform the wave of pet stories from Calm. What I’m looking forward to, honestly, is hearing the stories that people share. Pets genuinely make a really incredible impact on people’s lives, says Reilly.
The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more.
The world is at an inflection point unlike any before. AI isnt just a toolits a tidal wave, rewriting the rules of power, wealth, and survival.
The corporate dream is in flux. The systems we were taught to trustcollege degrees, career ladders, the safe path to successare morphing in real time. AI is detonating industries, stripping white collar jobs down to algorithms, while the value of human labor is being rewritten before our eyes. The workers we once ignoredthe welders, the electricians, the buildersare skyrocketing in demand.
This is not a prediction. Its happening now.
The AI arms race: The new Manhattan Project
AI is both an unprecedented tool of creation and a force of destruction, reshaping economies, governments, and labor forces at breakneck speed. According to Peng Xiao, CEO of G42, AI is the defining technology of our eraan essential utility that will reshape economies and societies, much like electricity did in the past.
AI is recalibrating industries at an unimaginable pace. Meanwhile, the jobs AI cant touchconstruction workers, electricians, welders, mechanicsare becoming more valuable than ever.
The AI wrecking ball: Skip Wharton?
In 2019, an MBA from an elite school was the equivalent of winning the professional lottery. Today? AI-powered algorithms run finance, operations, and consultingfaster, cheaper, and without a 401(k).
Companies like OpenAI, DeepMind, and Anthropic have unleashed AI models that make traditional knowledge workers obsolete. Banks are automating the work of employees. At the Cisco AI Summit in Palo Alto this year, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon noted that AI could draft 95% of an S1 document for IPO filing.
A recent report states that 23% of 2024 Harvard Business School grads were still unemployed 3 months after graduation. Over 4 million members of Gen Z in the U.S. are currently not employed nor matriculated in school, joining the NEET movement instead: not in education, employment, or trainingand prioritizing self-actualized careers outside of traditional degrees.
Meanwhile, something unexpected is happening on the other side of the labor market
The jobs AI cant kill (yet)
AI cant repair a busted water main, install solar panels, or build a skyscraper. Industry-defining laborers dont disappearthey evolve. In the 19th century, steam engine workers shaped economies. In the 20th century, oil refinery workers fueled the modern world. In the 21st century, AI maintenance workers, robotics technicians, and skilled tradespeople will be the ones keeping automation in check.
Skilled labor jobsonce dismissed as fallback careersare now in high demand. The average salary for an electrician in major U.S. cities now outpaces some college-degree salaries. An achievable salary for an elevator technician or power plant operator? Over $100,000. In an age where AI strips knowledge jobs down to data points, the ability to physically build and repair may become the new currency of success.
Geopolitics, immigration, and the 2025 labor crisis
Theres another wrench in the systemimmigration crackdowns and labor shortages. The U.S. has escalated mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. The fallout? Potentially, abandoned construction sites, rotting crops, and shuttered restaurants.
The solution? More automation. Chick-fil-A introduced lemon-squeezing robots, cutting 10,000 hours of labor. But heres the twist: Robots break down. Robots need maintenance. AI cant currently fix AI. The labor shortage is fueling demand for highly paid, hands-on workers who keep machinesand societyrunning.
AI: The new arms race
The world is racing to control AI, much like the atomic race of the last century. But this war isnt fought with bombsits fought with data, computing power, and intelligent automation.
Nations, tech giants, and corporate behemoths are pouring trillions into agentic AIa new breed of AI that autonomously executes tasks. Yet even with AI agents taking over workflows, humans will still be essential. AI still needs oversight. AI still needs repair. AI still needs direction.
Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, says it best: No AI can replace 100% of a job, but many can replace 80% of what we do. We are literally at the beginning of a new Industrial Revolution.
Social media and the collapse of the corporate dream
Some Gen Z and Millennials are rejecting corporate jobs. Social media has reshaped the perception of work. Why grind in a cubicle when you can make a living flipping houses on YouTube? Why get an MBA when you can have a lucrative career teaching people how to weld on TikTok? Why work a 9-to-5 when Kylie Jenner built a billion-dollar empire from Instagram?
At the same time, these generations are about to inherit an unprecedented $100 trillion from baby boomersthe wealthiest generation in history. But this isnt just a transfer of capital; its a transfer of knowledge, control, and priorities.
The new elite arent climbing the corporate laddertheyre building their own empires.
As MrBeast puts it: “The creator economy is only going to get bigger.”
The new workforce hierarchy: Who wins and who loses?
AI isnt eliminating laborits creating a new elite class of skilled workers required to manage and maintain automation. While AI wipes out jobs, the long-term trajectory is clear:
New industries will emerge.
Humans will train AI-powered agents and tools.
AI maintenance, robotics, and automation oversight will become critical fields.
History prove that every disruptive technology creates new opportunities. Wages for some technical jobs are soaring past white collar salaries. The real winners of the AI revolution wont be consultants in boardroomstheyll be the workers keeping the machines running.
Elon Musk once said: AI will make jobs kind of pointless.
Correction: AI might make your degree pointless. The future belongs to those who can do what AI cant.
Scott Cullather is chairman and chief growth officer of INVNT.
The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more.
Imagine someone with Parkinsons sipping their morning coffee with a steady hand. A person with chronic pain or overactive bladder enjoying simple pleasures like going to the movies, taking a road trip, and a restful sleep. A life changed and potentially saved because signs of colorectal cancer were caught and treated early.
These examples represent real people whose lives were changed with healthcare technology. Medical devices and therapies that once seemed like sci-fi are now alleviating pain, restoring health, and extending lives. Artificial intelligence, data, and robotics rightfully get credit for supercharging many recent health tech breakthroughs, but innovation will always be powered by people. Behind every new product is a team of individuals who grew up tinkering, dreaming, and embracing challenges, while ultimately dedicating their careers to improving lives.
Yet, as optimistic as we are about the future of health tech and the people behind it, a global talent shortage of 4.3 million tech workers by 2030 threatens innovation. Making matters more urgent, a looming shortage of 11 million health workers could disproportionately impact health outcomes in low-income regions. These arent merely statistics. If left unaddressed, workforce shortages could stall the development of life-saving therapies and compromise the quality of care that all of us deserve. We cant allow that to happen.
Could a global challenge also be a needed solution? We think so.
Despite global workforce shortages, theres a generation at risk of being left behind. Currently 80% of young adults from low-income communities globally are not able to find a secure job and 65% of students in primary school today will work in jobs that dont currently exist. Many of these will be in fields where early exposure to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) is critical.
This raises important questions: What if we could equip a generation with the critical skills needed to meet workforce shortages while also breaking cycles of poverty? And, what if we could change the trajectory of lives while also saving them?
We believe this isnt only possibleits essential. Here are three key things that need to happen:
1. College degrees are valuable, but can no longer be the only path to entry
In health tech we see how personalization is driving better health outcomes. Now, paths and preparation for careers in our industry (and other innovation-driven fields) must follow suit. The next idea that sparks a health tech breakthrough could come from anywhereor anyone.
But heres the stark reality. There are bright students who face significant barriers to a post-graduate degree, even after theyre accepted into a program. According to Jobs for the Future, only 14% of low-income students who attend a four-year college will graduate.
We must open new paths to health tech jobs; skills-based training, apprenticeships, and credentialing can all be effective alternatives. At Medtronic weve already worked with InStride to shift 150+ roles from degree-based to skills-based hiring, but we know more must be done.
2. Students need hands-on STEM experiencesearly and often
Research from Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation found that three-quarters of Gen Z youth are enthusiastic about STEM fields, but only 29% would rank a STEM role as their top career choice. Lack of exposure to STEM concepts, and their real-world application, could be fueling this gap.
Similarly, the Smithsonian Science Education Center conducted a five-year study in North and South Carolina. They found that hands-on, innovative STEM education not only improved science achievement but also enhanced reading, math skills, and essential workforce skills like collaboration, problem solving, and creativity. These foundational skills are key to preparing students for future jobs. But students must also know jobs existand see themselves in them.
3. Building awareness of health tech careers must be a priority
Every day, health tech innovators are harnessing groundbreaking technologies to improve lives and help close critical gaps in our global healthcare system. Yet despite its cool factor most students will never hear about the health tech industry unless they or a loved one need it.
To combat this, we are launching Medtronic Sparka 10-year initiative that aims to address the growing health tech talent gap through three programs: Medtronic Spark Innovator Labs, Medtronic Spark Credentials, and the Medtronic Spark Scholarship. These programs aim to propel 1 million students from low-income households into health tech careers.
We know we cant do it alone, but were committed to sparking a conversation that we believe can help fuel the future of healthcare. Our goal isnt to merely touch young peoples lives. It is to truly change the trajectory of their lives with opportunities in health tech that have potential for lasting generational impact.
Because at its core, innovation isnt just about technologyits about people.
Torod Neptune is senior vice president corporate marketing and global chief communications officer at Medtronic and chairman of Medtronic Foundation. Sally Saba, MD is the president of Medtronic Foundation and global chief inclusion and diversity officer at Medtronic.
Google’s logo just got a little bit blurrier. In a new logo quietly rolled out across iOS and Pixel, the search giant ditches its color-blocked G for gradients.
Google’s new logo keeps the same letterform, as well as the bright red-yellow-green-blue color sequence, but now those colors blur into each other. The new G is Google’s biggest update to its visual identity since retiring serifs for its current sans-serif font, Product Sans, in 2015.
[Images: Google]
Why a gradient?
In 2013, Google was among the first tech companies to move from skeuomorphic, dimensional lettering to a flat logo design. It arguably ushered in the blanding eraa moment when companies embraced simpler sans-serif logos. This was both an aesthetic and utilitarian choice: A simple, flat design conveyed the sense of efficient functionality that underpins modern technology. It also made it easier for companies to show up across the many screens and media required in the current media landscape.
Google’s G took this idea even further, reducing the company’s famous wordmark down to a single letter icon in 2015. That first G was playful enough with is color blocking. But a decade on, it’s easy to see how it feels representative of a different moment on the internet.
A gradient is a safe choice for the new G. Tech has long been a fan of using gradients in its logos, apps, and branding, with platforms like Instagram and Apple Music tapping into the effect a decade ago. Still today, gradients remain popular, owing to their middle-ground approach to design. They’re safe but visually interesting, soft but defined. They basically go with anything, thanks to their color wheel aesthetic.
Other Google-owned products have already embraced gradients. YouTube is now using a new red-to-magenta gradient in its user interface (UI), and Gemini, Google’s AI tool, also uses them. Now it’s bringing the design element to its flagship Google app.
The change to Google’s logo is so subtle that some users might not immediately notice the difference on their phones. And the effect hasn’t shown up in other applications like Gmail or Google Maps, where it will be more identifiable. Still, it’s not a small change for a behemoth of a company. We’ll never know how many meetings, iterations, and deliberations went into making that little blur effectbut we can safely guess it was many.
Billy Evans, the partner of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, is currently in the process of raising money for his own startup. Its a blood-testing company.
According to reports from NPR and The New York Times, both of which spoke with anonymous sources close to the venture, 33-year-old Evans has already raised several million dollars for a new stealth” startup focusing on diagnostics and health testing.
Prior to this news, Evans first came into the public eye back in 2018 when he began dating Holmes, who is currently serving out an 11-year federal prison sentence for committing fraud through her infamous blood-testing company Theranos.
Over the weekend, Evanss startup Haemanthus spoke out on X to reassure investors and potential future customers that its not Theranos 2.0. The company has no apparent contact information, and the direct messages on its X account are closed. Fast Company was unable to reach the company for further comment.
Heres everything we know about the company so far.
What is Haemanthus?
Based on information provided to NPR, Haemanthus is a diagnostics company thats planning to build a tool that can scan biological material like blood, sweat, and urine to identify potential diseases. The name Haemanthus itself appears to be an allusion to a flower of the same name, colloquially termed the blood lily.
To many readers, that whole premise might sound strikingly similar to the story behind Theranos, which promised to dole out accurate diagnoses using a single drop of blood, before it ultimately started falling apart. However, Haemanthus took to X this Sunday to clarify that its tech is not an extension of Theranos.
The post starts by acknowledging Evanss relationship with Holmes and adding that Skepticism is rational, before categorically denying any connection to Holmess failed blood-testing company.
This is not Theranos 2.0, the post reads. Theranos attempted to miniaturize existing tests. Our approach is fundamentally different. We use light to read the complete molecular story in biological fluids, seeing patterns current tests cant detect. Not an improvement. A different paradigm.
What kind of tech is the company developing?
Sources told NPR that Haemanthus is currently in the early stages of using light detection technology that can essentially guide AI sensors to conduct medical tests.
The company is specifically focusing on Raman spectroscopy, a form of chemical analysis thats been used to diagnose amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and some forms of cancer. Based on a notice published in late January, the company has already received a patent for its Raman spectroscopy system.
A photo provided to potential investors and obtained by The New York Times reportedly indicates that Haemanthus plans to build a small rectangular device to contain the tech, which will include a door and a digital display screen. Sources told the publication that Haemanthus plans to roll out its tech for veterinary purposes first, before ultimately developing a stamp-size, wearable device for humans.
This trajectory was confirmed in part in Haemanthuss X thread.
We’re starting with veterinary medicine. Not because it’s easier, but because it’s practical and meaningful. It validates our technology, helps animals who can’t describe symptoms, and builds the foundation for human applications, the post reads.
Who is working for the company?
Sources told both NPR and The New York Times that the startup currently has between 10 and 12 employees, most of whom worked with Evans previously at the lidar tech company Luminar Technologies. Haemanthus reportedly told investors that it had around two dozen advisers, including veterinarians and diagnosticians, though specific names were not provided.
How much money has been raised?
So far, The New York Times reported, the company has raised $3.5 million through family and friends and is currently seeking another $15 million from investors in the Austin and Say Francisco Bay areas. Materials reviewed by the publication reportedly suggest that the company has an ultimate goal of raising more than $50 million.
Is Elizabeth Holmes involved?
In February, Holmes told People magazine that she plans to return to her career in healthcare technology after her release, and that shes continuing to write patents for new inventions while serving her sentence.
And in its exclusive initial coverage of Haemanthus, NPR cited sources who claimed that Holmes has been providing advice to Evans on his new venture from behind bars. On X, however, Haemanthus strongly refuted that claim.
Setting the record straight, the company wrote. Elizabeth Holmes has zero involvement in Haemanthus. We’ve learned from her company’s mistakes, but she has no role, now or future. NYT and NPR implied otherwise. We’ve stayed quiet to build real tech, not conceal. Demonstrating, not promising.
Artificial intelligence might be the future of the workplace, but companies that are trying to get a head start on that future are running into all sorts of problems.
Klarna and Duloingo have been some of the poster children for the “AI-first” workplace. Two years ago, Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski announced he wanted his company to be the “favorite guinea pig” of OpenAI, instituting a hiring freeze and replacing as many workers as possible with AI systems. Last month, Duolingo announced an AI-first shift, saying it would stop using contractors to do work AI can handle and only increase headcount when teams have maximized all possible automation.
Klarna, while still investing in AI, seems to have renewed appreciation for the human touch. And Duolingo is finding itself under attack on social media for its decision.
Klarna CEO Siemiatkowski tells Bloomberg the fintech company is about to go on a hiring spree, in order to ensure customers will always have the option to speak to a live representative. The company did not say how many people it plans to add, but Siemiatkowski indicated Klarna would look at students and rural areas to boost its workforce.
Last year, Klarna, in an announcement, said AI was doing the work of 700 customer service agents. Now, it’s focusing on adding human connections.
As cost unfortunately seems to have been a too predominant evaluation factor when organizing this, what you end up having is lower quality, Siemiatkowski said. Really investing in the quality of the human support is the way of the future for us. But Klarna says it is still enthusiastic about AI.
Duolingo’s AI-first push is much newer, and there have been no policy reversals on its part as yet. But the company is facing a tsunami of pushback from the general public on social media after announcing the move, particularly on TikTok.
The top comments on virtually every recent post have nothing to do with the video or the company and everything to do with the company’s embrace of AI. For example, a Duolingo TikTok video jumping on board the “Mama may I have a cookie” trend saw replies like “mama may I have real people running the company ” (with 69,000 likes) and, “How about NO ai, keep your employees.” Another video that tied into the How to Train Your Dragon character Hiccup brought comments like “Was firing all your employees and replacing them with AI also a hiccup?”
Other comments are more serious: “Using AI is disgusting,” wrote one user. “Language learning should be pioneered by PEOPLE. By making this decision duolingo is actively harming the environment, their customers, and employees when it hurts the most.”
Another wrote, “What kind of audience do you think you’ve built that it’s okay to go ‘AI first’. we don’t want AI, we want real people doing good work. Goodbye Duo, if this is the way you’re going you wont be missed.”
Others claimed to have deleted the app: “Deleted Duolingo last week. A 650+ day streak never felt so meaningless once I saw the news.”
Duolingo says much of that feedback is coming from people who dont understand what AI-first means. A lot of the feedback weve seen comes from a place of passion for Duolingo, which we really appreciate, a representative told Fast Company. To clarify, AI isnt replacing our learning expertsits a tool they use to make Duolingo better. Everything we create with AI is guided by our team of learning design experts. . Were committed to using AI with human oversight, to help us deliver on our mission to make the best education in the world available to everyone.”
Companies, in general, remain excited about the potential cost savings of AI, sometimes for good reason. Duolingos stock is at an all time high and the company recently raised its sales forecast for 2025. A study by the World Economic Forum (WEF) found that 40% of employers expect to reduce their workforce and hand over automated tasks to the technology. As bullish as executives might be, however, that excitement has not made its way into the consumer space.
Almost half of the Generation Z job hunters told the WEF they believed AI has reduced the value of their college education. And researchers at Harvard University say the technology is still threatening to people.
“From early on in life humans strive to manage their surroundings to achieve their goals. So theyre naturally reluctant to adopt innovations that seem to reduce their control over a situation,” wrote Julian De Freitas, an assistant professor in the marketing unit at Harvard Business School. “The possibility that AI tools might completely take over tasks previously handled by humans, rather than just assist with them, stirs up deep concerns and worries.”Update, May 12, 2025: This article has been updated with comments from Klarna and Duolingo.
Despite a strong start to the year, traffic at U.S. quick service restaurants (QSR), which has been steadily declining month by month, was down 1.7% year-over-year compared to last April, signaling growing consumer caution or shifts in dining behaviors, according to Revenue Management Solutions (RMS), a company that analyzes data and provides insights about the restaurant industry.
At the same time, RMS found on average, fast food prices increased in April by +2.0% year-over-year, steady with inflation trends.
In case you’re not familiar with restaurant industry lingo, a quick service restaurant (QSR) describes establishments that prioritize speed and convenience, sometimes used interchangeably with the term “fast food”which brings to mind McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Burger King, but also includes a wider variety of restaurant chains such as Dunkin Donuts, Chipotle, Dominos, and Boston Market.
Many fast food and fast casual chains are seeing slower growth and declining sales fueled by high prices, inflation, and fears that President Trump’s tariffs will cause a recession, which have prompted fewer Americans to eat out. For example, for the first quarter of 2025, Chipotle not only missed revenue estimates but said same-store sales dropped for the first time since 2020.
And McDonalds, which reported earnings on May 1, said sales dropped in the beginning of the year, marking its second consecutive quarter of declines. The chain’s same-store sales dropped 3.6% in the U.S. the worst drop since 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to CNN.
RMS’s Q1 consumer survey also found 40% of American diners said theyre spending less of their disposable income on restaurants, with 1 in 4 U.S. consumers reporting instead that they’re shopping at grocery stores, citing better value.
As Fast Company previously reported, rising menu prices in 2024 at McDonalds, Taco Bell, Wendys, KFC, and other fast food chains caused a consumer backlash as price-conscious customers decided the food wasnt worth the cost. This lead to sales declines and the closure of some underperforming chain locations, including for Wendys and Shake Shack.
A closer look at RMS’s April numbers, which compare fast food performance trends YOY (April 2025 to April 2024), shows that while average prices increase 2.0% YOY, net sales also increased 0.5% YOY, with the average check price rising 2.1% YOY.
Broken down by meal time, the numbers show breakfast traffic decreased the most by some -9.1% YOY, and lunch was down 3.1% compared to April of 2024, but customers for dinner were up 1.2% YOY, highlighting that Americans were still going out for dinner.
Shares of many companies that source at least some of their goods from China are surging on Monday as U.S. and Chinese officials announced that they had reached a deal to roll back most of their recent tariffs and called a 90-day truce in their trade war to allow for more talks on resolving their trade disputes.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the U.S. agreed to drop its 145% tariff rate on Chinese goods by 115 percentage points to 30%, while China agreed to lower its rate on U.S. goods by the same amount to 10%.
There’s still big challenges remaining in the negotiations between China and the United States, but the mood nevertheless was ebullient across Wall Street on Monday, and gains were widespread.
Here’s a look at some of the sectors impacted by the U.S.-China tariff announcement.
Footwear and athletic gear
Many of these companies have some of their production in China and elsewhere in Asia. About 97% of the clothes and shoes purchased in the U.S. are imported, predominantly from Asia, the American Apparel & Footwear Association said last month, citing its most recent data.
Nike, up 6.7%
Foot Locker, up 10.1%
Dick’s Sporting Goods, up 11.4%
Under Armour, up 6.9%
Apparel companies
Similar to footwear companies, many clothing companies make at least some of their items in China and other parts of Asia. In March companies like Abercrombie & Fitch began to caution about their full-year sales potential as American shoppers began to pull back on their spending.
Lululemon Athletica, up 7.7%
Gap, up 7.7%
Ralph Lauren, up 5.2%
Abercrombie & Fitch, up 5.8%
Retail
Retailers that sell a variety of goods are feeling some market relief because the announced trade deal means these companies wont have to pass on high costs caused by tariffs to their own customers.
Before the agreement was announced, many consumers were fearful of the potential additional costs. Amazon even came out and said that it was not planning to display added tariff costs next to product prices on its site. And Target cautioned in March that there would be meaningful pressure on its profits to start the year because of tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China and other costs.
Best Buy, up 5.7%
Amazon, up 7.2%
Target, up 2.9%
Travel companies
Shares of travel companies are climbing on hopes that lower tariffs will encourage more customers to fly and feel comfortable enough to spend on trips. Prior to the U.S.-China tariff announcement, major U.S. airlines were reducing their flight schedules and revising or withdrawing their profit outlooks for the year due to less domestic travel demand as sentiment about the national and global economies soured.
Carnival, up 8.3%
Norwegian Cruise Line, up 6.6%
Royal Caribbean Cruises, up 3.4%
American Airlines Group, up 5.4%
Delta Air Lines, up 6%
Michelle Chapman, AP business writer
President Donald Trump on Monday signed a sweeping executive order setting a 30-day deadline for drugmakers to electively lower the cost of prescription drugs in the U.S. or face new limits down the road over what the government will pay.
The order calls on the Department of Health and Human Services, led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to broker new price tags for drugs over the next month. If deals are not reached, Kennedy will be tasked with developing a new rule that ties the price the U.S. pays for medications to lower prices paid by other countries.
We’re going to equalize, Trump said during a Monday morning press conference. We’re all going to pay the same. We’re going to pay what Europe pays.
It’s unclear whatif anyimpact the Republican president’s executive order will have on millions of Americans who have private health insurance. The federal government has the most power to shape the price it pays for drugs covered by Medicare and Medicaid.
Trump promised newbut uncertainsavings on drug prices, just hours after the Republican-led House released its new plan to trim $880 billion from Medicaid.
Taxpayers spend hundreds of billions of dollars on prescription drugs, injectables, transfusions, and other medications every year through Medicare, which covers nearly 70 million older Americans. Medicaid, which provides nearly-free health care for almost 80 million poor and disabled people in the U.S. also spends tens of billions of dollars each year for drugs.
Top U.S. drugmakers say Trump’s order is bad for patients
The nation’s pharmaceutical lobby, which represents the top U.S. drugmakers, immediately pushed back against Trump’s order, calling it a bad deal for American patients. Drugmakers have long argued that any threats to their profits could impact the research they do to develop new drugs.
Importing foreign prices from socialist countries would be a bad deal for American patients and workers,” Stephen J. Ubl, president and CEO of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), said in a statement. “It would mean less treatments and cures and would jeopardize the hundreds of billions our member companies are planning to invest in America.”
Trump’s so-called most favored nation approach to Medicare drug pricing has been controversial since he first tried to implement it during his first term. He signed a similar executive order in the final weeks of his presidency, which called for the U.S. to only pay a lower price that other countries pay for some drugssuch as injectables or cancer drugs given through infusionsadministered in a doctor’s office.
That narrow executive order faced hurdles, with a court order that blocked the rule from going into effect under President Joe Biden’s administration. The pharmaceutical industry argued that Trumps 2020 attempt would give foreign governments the upper hand in deciding the value of medicines in the U.S.
Trump says other countries are to blame
Trump repeatedly defended pharmaceutical companies, instead blaming other countries for the high price Americans pay for drugs, during a wide-ranging speech at the White House on Monday. The president was flanked by Kennedy, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, Food and Drug Administration commissioner Dr. Marty Makary, and National Institutes of Health director Jay Bhattacharya.
Trump did, however, threaten the companies with federal investigations into their practices and opening up the U.S. drug market to bring in more imported medications from other countries.
The pharmaceutical companies make most of their profits from America, Trump said. Thats not a good thing.
Trump played up the announcement over the weekend, boasting in one post that his plan could save TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS.”
But on Monday, the White House offered no specifics for how much money the administration anticipates it could save.
The health department’s top leaders will be meeting with drug company executives over the next 30 days to offer new prices on drugs that are based off what other countries pay, Oz said on Monday.
Americans are unlikely to see immediate savings
Americans are unlikely to see relief on rising drug costs quickly because of the order, said Rachel Sachs, a health law expert at Washington University.
It really does seem the plan is to ask manufacturers to voluntarily lower their prices to some point, which is not known, Sachs said. If they do not lower their prices to the desired point, HHS shall take other actions with a very long timeline, some of which could potentially, years in the future, lower drug prices.
The health department has the most authority to change the prices of drugs covered by Medicare and Medicaid because it can set regulations. Even still, the agency’s power to do so is limited. Congress just approved in 2022 a new law that allows Medicare to negotiate the price it pays for a handful of prescription drugs starting in 2026. Before the law, Medicare paid what the drug companies charged. Drug companies unsuccessfully sued over the implementation of the law.
The price that millions of Americans covered by private insurance pay for drugs is even harder for the agency to manipulate.
The U.S. routinely outspends other nations on drug prices, compared with other large and wealthy countries, a problem that has long drawn the ire of both major political parties. But a lasting fix has never cleared Congress.
Trump came into his first term accusing pharmaceutical companies of getting away with murder and complaining that other countries whose governments set drug prices were taking advantage of Americans.
Trump says he’ll do the right thing
Ahead of the announcement, Trump puffed up his rhetoric toward the industry again on social media, writing that the Pharmaceutical/Drug Companies would say, for years, that it was Research and Development Costs, and that all of these costs were, and would be, for no reason whatsoever, borne by the suckers of America, ALONE.
Referring to drug companies powerful lobbying efforts, he said that campaign contributions can do wonders, but not with me, and not with the Reublican Party.
We are going to do the right thing, he wrote.
Several pharmaceutical companies gained ground in the stock market on Monday morning. Merck, a company that made $64.2 billion last year with the help of its cancer treatment Keytruda, jumped 3.9%. Pharma giant Pfizer, which notched $63.6 billion in revenue in 2024, rose 2.5%, while Gilead Sciences rose 5.8%.
Amanda Seitz and Seung Min Kim, Associated Press
Associated Press writers Will Weissert in Washington and Damian Troise in New York contributed to this report.
