NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Ericsson (ERIC) - Get Report are higher by 6.39% to $7.74 in late-afternoon trading on Wednesday, after newspaper Svenska Dagbladet reported that the Swedish telecommunications operator plans to eliminate up to 25,000 employees, or roughly 20% of its workforce, according to Bloomberg.

The planned job cuts come amid heightened competition and declining sales.

Ericsson its focusing more on improving its profitability and boosting software sales, Hans Vestberg told Bloomberg in April. He mentioned that the company had begun to lay off employees but didn't disclose numbers. 

Shares have tumbled 43% since hitting a more than seven-year high in April 2015. 

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates the stock as a "hold" with a ratings score of C+.

Ericsson's strengths such as its revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and impressive record of earnings per share growth are countered by the fact that the stock has had a generally disappointing performance in the past year.

You can view the full analysis from the report here: ERIC

TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this article's author.

Image placeholder title