Latest news with #German-Jewish
Miami Herald
4 days ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
Levi Strauss analyst resets price target, assesses tariff impact before Q2 report
Get ready for the Swoosh. Back in 1853, a German-Jewish immigrant by the name of Levi Strauss moved from Bavaria, Germany, to San Francisco to open a West Coast branch of his brothers' New York dry goods business. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter That company grew to be one of the largest apparel companies and the largest pants maker in the world. Times have certainly changed since those early days in the City by the Bay, and now Levi Strauss & Co. (LEVI) is gearing up for its latest collaboration: with athletic apparel and footwear giant Nike (NKE) . Related: Analysts reboot Nike stock price targets ahead of earnings Levi's x Nike Air Max 95, a trio of denim sneakers with the famous Nike Swoosh logo, as well as jeans and a denim jacket, are scheduled to debut in July, according to Women's Wear Daily. The first two editions maintain a monochrome arrangement, while the third makes use of light and dark washes, WWD said. Bloomberg/Getty Images The people at Levi Strauss pride themselves on the company's staying power. Back in April, when President Donald Trump unveiled his sweeping tariff agenda, Michelle Gass, Levi's president and CEO, noted that the plan posed a significant challenge but maintained that "our business and our brands have endured for 170 years, proving our resilience." "Today, the Levi's brand is stronger than ever with diversified global revenue, solid margin structure, agile sourcing base with deep vendor relationships and a strong balance sheet," she told analysts during the company's first-quarter earnings call. "We are well positioned to manage through this uncertain time." The first-quarter results beat Wall Street's expectations, and Gass said "we're starting the year with momentum." Related: Netflix analysts turn heads with stock price target updates "Our new products are resonating and driving market share gains," she said. "We have a robust product pipeline that will fuel growth in our denim and nondenim business for the rest of '25 and beyond." The company is encouraged by the performance of its global wholesale channel, which was up 5%, driven by strong growth in the U.S., she said. "U.S. wholesale exceeded our expectations in the quarter, up 9%, in part driven by door expansion and more space with our broadened lifestyle assortment," she said. In May, Levi Strauss said it had agreed to sell the casual brand Dockers to Authentic Brands Group for $311 million. Citi raised its price target on Levi Strauss to $19 from $14 and affirmed a neutral rating on the shares, after the Dockers announcement, according to The Fly. The investment firm noted that beyond the selling price, Levi could receive as much as an additional $80 million depending on how the business performs under ABG. The sale of Dockers was "expected but a positive," Citi said, adding that the sale price "seems reasonable." Barclays raised its price target on Levi Strauss to $20 from $18 and maintained an overweight rating after the Dockers sale was unveiled. Related: Analysts adjust Kroger stock price targets after mixed earnings report Through regular trading on June 24 Levi Strauss shares are up 7.6% this year and down 19% from a year ago. The company is scheduled to report second-quarter earnings on July 10. On June 24 Bank of America Global Research analyst Christopher Nardone raised his price target to $21 from $20 and reiterated a buy rating on the shares. The analyst, who says the brand is gaining market share and wholesale is becoming less of a drag, forecast Q2 earnings per share of 14 cents, a penny higher than consensus, due to its stronger revenue forecast. Nardone and fellow analyst Lorraine Hutchinson noted that Levi Strauss last reported results on April 7, just after the initial tariff rates were released, and tariffs were not included in the company's guidance. B of A's analysis found that a 10% global tariff and 55% on China imports would equate to a 3.6% increase in LEVI's cost of goods sold, which are the direct costs associated with producing goods or services for sale; and a 1.4-percentage-point hit to gross margins. The analysts called Levi Strauss well-positioned to navigate the tariffs due to its high international exposure, which makes up 57% of sales. The company also has minimal China-to-US sourcing, as well as a diversified supply chain and strong brand equity, which should benefit LEVI, B of A said. Related: Fund-management veteran skips emotion in investment strategy The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
DW
18-06-2025
- General
- DW
Resisting oblivion: 70 years of the Leo Baeck Institute – DW – 06/18/2025
The Nazis wanted to destroy Jewish life in Germany. Jewish intellectuals founded the Leo Baeck Institute ten years after the Holocaust to save the nation's diverse German-Jewish heritage. When the German rabbi Leo Baeck was liberated from the Theresienstadt concentration camp on May 8, 1945, the day the war ended, he no longer believed in a future for Jewish people in Germany. Who wanted to live in the country that had planned to exterminate German Jewry and murdered millions? "The era of the Jews in Germany," Baeck said at the time, "is over once and for all." This assessment was shared by most survivors at the time. But what would become of centuries of German Jewish culture? Who would remember the music of Mendelssohn Bartholdy and Arnold Schönberg, the literature of Joseph Roth, Franz Kafka, Alfred Döblin or Else Lasker-Schüler? Even during the years of persecution, preserving German-Jewish cultural heritage was part of the resistance, says the Israeli-Austrian historian, Doron Rabinovici. After 1945, when the full extent of the Holocaustbecame visible, this task seemed all the more urgent. "Remembrance was also resistance against forgetting, against erasure," he told DW of the attempted destruction of Jewish culture during 12 years of Nazi rule. The Leo Baeck Institute in New York is one of three set up in major emigration points for German Jewry, including London and Jerusalem Image: Max Stein/Imago Showing what the Nazis destroyed In 1955, ten years after World War II ended, a group of German-speaking Jewish intellectuals including philosopher Hannah Arendt and historian Gershom Scholem founded the Leo Baeck Institute (LBI) "to show what the Nazis had destroyed," explained Michael Brenner, professor of Jewish history and culture at Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich. The institute would celebrate "cultural achievements, but also the everyday life of German Jews," said Brenner, who has also been the president of the Institute since 2013. The LBI was named after Rabbi Leo Baeck, the "great religious and spiritual shining light of liberal German Jewry,' the historian added. Baeck became the first president, but died in 1956, one year after the institute was founded. New York, London and Jerusalem were the most important destinations for Jewish emigrants after the war, and these were also the three locations of the LBI. The myth of Germany's post-Nazi 'zero hour' explained To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Research institute promoting German Jewish heritage What made the LBI special from the very beginning was its collection of historical objects come mostly from Jewish refugees or their descendants: Books, letters, photos, and also works of art. Today, the LBI is the most important research institute for the heritage of German Jewry. The majority of the LBI collections have been digitized and made accessible online, with scholars and descendants of Jewish survivors globally using the service comprising more than 3.5 million pages. An annual yearbook is also published, events are organized, and young people in science are supported. The LBI also produced the four-volume standard work, "German-Jewish History in the Modern Era." Work is currently underway on a history of the German-Jewish diaspora. Some might be surprised to know that the LBI has existed so long, but few might have expected a branch to open in Berlin. As contemporary witnesses die out and descendants lose touch with their origins, the LBI is trying to keep interest in German-Jewish cultural heritage alive with new projects. These include the podcast "Exile,' narrated by German actress Iris Berben, which is based on letters, diaries and interviews from the LBI archive. Aimed at a younger audience, the podcast tells stories of people whose lives have been shaped by exile, flight or persecution. Commemorating the victims of World War II and Nazi Germany To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Attacks on academic life also threaten the LBI While the renowned research institute is celebrating its 70th birthday in 2025, this should not obscure the fact that its members, especially in the US, feel that their academic work is under threat. 'The situation in the USA, has not been made any easier by the attacks on academic life," said Michael Brenner of government policies to cut funding across universities. Historian and author Doron Rabinovici also sees a further threat from the global rise of right-wing parties. Leo Baeck's assessment in 1945 that Jewish life in Germany was over has not come true. But what will the next few years bring? A "resurgent Jewish existence" is only possible in an open society in which antisemitism is combated, warns Rabinovici. And combating antisemitismis not possible with right-wing extremists. In Germany, the 70th anniversary of the Leo Baeck Institute will be celebrated with a ceremony under the patronage of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Speakers at this event will be the President of the LBI, Michael Brenner, and the Austrian historian and writer Doron Rabinovici. Holocaust survivor Margot Friedländer dies To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Canberra Times
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Canberra Times
Filmmaker who forced France to face its WWII past dies
Born in Frankfurt on November 1, 1927, Marcel Ophuls was the son of legendary German-Jewish filmmaker Max Ophuls and when Hitler came to power in 1933, the family fled Germany for France. In 1940, as Nazi troops approached Paris, they fled again — across the rugged Pyrenees into Spain, and on to the United States.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Marcel Ophuls, Oscar-winning director of 'The Sorrow and the Pity', dies aged 97
Marcel Ophuls, the acclaimed French-German documentary filmmaker whose probing explorations of history and memory helped shaped the genre for decades, has died at the age of 97. His grandson, Andreas-Benjamin Seyfert, confirmed that he "died peacefully" on Saturday. Ophuls' life and career focus was shaped enormously by his own experience of war and exile. Born in Frankfurt in 1927 to German-Jewish parents - actor Hilde Wall and celebrated director Max Ophuls - he was just six years old when the family were forced to flee due to the rise of the Nazi regime in 1933. They found temporary refuge in France, only to be forced away again in 1940 as German forces advanced across Europe. They escaped across the Pyrenees into Spain, and eventually reached the United States in December 1941. After finishing college in Los Angeles, Ophuls served in a U.S. Army theatrical unit in occupied Japan in 1946. In 1950, he returned to France and began his film career as an assistant to renowned directors Julien Duvivier and Anatole Litvak. After early forays into fiction, including the 1964 comedy-thriller hit Banana Peel starring Jeanne Moreau and Jean-Paul Belmondo, Ophuls turned to documentaries. Ophuls' most renowned work, The Sorrow and the Pity (1969), was a groundbreaking documentary that questioned France's postwar narrative of noble resistance. Across four hours, the film focuses on the town of Clermont-Ferrand and pulls together a collection of interviews with Resistance fighters, collaborators, Nazi officers, and seemingly ordinary citizens to expose an uneasy truth: that complicity with the occupiers had permeated every level of French society, from local hairdressers to aristocrats. The blow to national self-image was so profound that French television banned the documentary for more than a decade, refusing to air it until 1981. While making pioneering waves in historical documentary circles, the film also left its mark on pop culture. In Annie Hall, Woody Allen famously uses the film as an unlikely first-date movie. Ophuls continued to tackle the shadows of the 20th century. In 1988, he won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for Hotel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie, a chilling investigation into the Nazi war criminal known as the "Butcher of Lyon." In later years, he remained outspoken on political issues, turning his attention to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In 2014, he began crowdfunding Unpleasant Truths, a documentary co-directed with Israeli filmmaker Eyal Sivan that sought to explore the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and the rise of antisemitism and Islamophobia in Europe. Initially conceived as a collaboration with French New Wave pioneer Jean-Luc Godard - who later withdrew but appears briefly in the film - the project was ultimately stalled by financial and legal complications and remains unfinished.
LeMonde
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- LeMonde
Marcel Ophuls, director of 'The Sorrow and the Pity' and a reluctant master of documentary, has died
A whole world has come to an end with the death of Marcel Ophuls, the creator of the legendary Le Chagrin et la Pitié (The Sorrow and the Pity) – a documentary that, when it was released in 1969, blew the lid off the French cauldron of collaboration and antisemitism. This was a brilliant, cosmopolitan world, sparkling with culture and wit, whose roots lay in the Mitteleuropa of the 1930s, passed through the United States during World War II and ultimately ended in France – rich in days and in triumphs, yet haunted by suffering and struggle. Few can claim such a journey. The director died on Saturday, May 24, at his home in southwestern France at the age of 97, his grandson Andréas-Benjamin Seyfert announced. Ophuls was born on November 1, 1927, in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. He was the son of Max Ophuls, a prominent German-Jewish filmmaker, and actress Hilde Wall. Five years later, with Adolf Hitler's rise to power in January 1933, the family packed their bags and moved to France. Their stay there was short-lived, as the Nazis continued to pursue the Ophuls family even into France. In 1941, they fled again, this time across southwestern France, where, much later in life and estranged from nearly everyone, Marcel would buy a house in Lucq with a solitary view – a constant reminder of his childhood flight. Some events mark a man indelibly. The desperate flight of an intellectual family, suddenly outcasts, across Nazi-occupied Europe, was one such event for Ophuls.
