Tech, Media Giants Slash More Jobs
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Welcome to Seeking Alpha's Wall Street Breakfast, where we cover the top news for investors every morning. It's great to have you here on this Tuesday, June 3rd. I'm Julie Morgan. More job cuts at Microsoft. We're also talking about layoffs at Disney. And AI may strike a chord with record labels.

Microsoft has laid off hundreds more only weeks after announcing its largest layoff in years. Bloomberg News reported that more than 300 staff were informed that their positions had been eliminated on Monday, as per a Washington state notice reviewed by the news agency.

Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Seeking Alpha. A Microsoft spokesperson told the media outlet that the latest job cuts were in addition to the 6,000 headcount reduction announced last month. It is unclear which departments were affected. Last month, it was reported that Microsoft plans to reduce its global workforce by 3%.

More layoffs to tell you about, but this time at Disney. The media company is laying off employees, which will impact several hundred globally, according to a deadline report. The majority of layoffs are in the Disney Entertainment Unit, including marketing for both film and television, as well as television publicity, casting, and development. Also affected are Disney's corporate financial operations.

Sources told Deadline the size of the cuts on the film and TV side of Disney Entertainment is comparable. The majority of the Disney Entertainment television staffers are said to be based in L.A. Back in March, the company trimmed its total workforce by 6 percent, which impacted almost 200 positions at ABC and Disney Entertainment.

And is AI getting a record deal? Well, I'll let you be the judge. The top three record labels, Universal Music Group, Warner Music, and Sony Music are in talks to license their music with AI startups, Udio and Suno.

Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the discussions that the record labels are seeking license fees for their work and some equity in Suno and Udio, which use generative AI to help create music. The labels are reportedly pushing for greater control over their work.

while the AI firms want flexibility to experiment and are seeking deals at a reasonable price. A deal could potentially help settle the music company's copyright infringement lawsuits against the AI firms. In the lawsuits, the labels accused Suno and Udio of using their music without permission, seeking up to $150,000 per work infringed.

But Suno and Yudio have argued that using the label's work to train their AI models is quintessential fair use under copyright law. Their generative AI enables users to create music across genres through simple text prompts. Now let's take a look at three other articles that are trending on Seeking Alpha. The U.S. is reportedly pushing countries for their best trade offers by Wednesday as the tariff deadline approaches.

Toyota Industries receives a take-private offer from group companies. And Huawei sets June 11th as the launch date for its Pura 80 series smartphones. Now let's check in on our Catalyst Watch for the day. Zscaler will host an innovation briefing for investors during the company's Zenith Live 2025 event.

Zeris Biopharma will hold its first in-person and virtual Analyst Day and Investor Day in New York City. Management with Philip Morris International, Celsius Holdings, and Kenview will participate at the Deutsche Bank DB Access Global Consumer Conference.

And SEI Investments Company, Ryan Specialty Holdings, and CRISPR Therapeutics are some of the notable companies presenting at the William Blair 45th Annual Growth Stock Conference.

On Wall Street today, ahead of the opening bell, Dow, S&P and Nasdaq futures are in the red. Crude oil is up 0.5% at $62 a barrel. Bitcoin is down 0.7% at $105,000. Gold is down 0.6% at $3,359. The FTSE 100 is down 0.2% and the DAX is flat.

Credo Technology is on our list of the biggest movers of the day pre-market. CRDO is up 13% after fiscal Q4 revenue jumped 179% year-over-year, topping estimates.

On today's Economic Calendar, at 10 a.m., the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. At 12.45 p.m., the Fed's Austin Goolsbee participates in a moderated question-and-answer session before the 2025 Corridor Business Journal Mid-Year Economic Review. And at 1 p.m., the Fed's Lisa Cook speaks on the economic outlook before the Council on Foreign Relations' C. Peter McCullough Series on International Economics. ♪

That's it for today's Wall Street Breakfast. Thanks for listening. For a full offering of news, analysis, ratings, and data on stocks and ETFs, become a premium subscriber. Learn more at SeekingAlpha.com slash subscriptions. I'm your host, Julie Morgan. Go out and make it a great day.