The latest Market Talks covering Equities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.
After Lululemon Athletica trimmed its guidance for the year, Deutsche Bank analysts say the key question now is whether the company lowered the bar enough ahead of any potential product or strategy changes that incoming CEO Heidi O'Neill will make when she takes the reins in September. Additionally, while the company appears to be factoring in a slight improvement in underlying trends into the second half of the year, and cited a potential boost from initiatives already in place, the analysts say they are having trouble getting comfortable with compounding quarters of markdowns ahead of plans for an influx of new product. "The lack of visibility into LULU's go-forward earnings power keeps us cautious and on the sidelines," they say, cutting their price target on the stock to $127 from $171. Shares fall 9%. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)
1139 ET - EBay's structural shift toward focus categories, which alone now represent around 35% of gross merchandise value and are growing double digits, creates a compelling broad-based growth story for the online marketplace, Deutsche Bank analysts write in a note. Rather than being a generic horizontal marketplace, eBay is now "prioritizing categories where it has a clear right to win, large TAMs, differentiated supply, and identifiable friction points" that it can address through tailored experiences on important verticals, they write. "EBay is increasingly able to deliver verticalized category experiences without sacrificing the scale advantages of a horizontal marketplace," they add. Many focus categories are still underpenetrated, and the playbook should scale internationally, they write. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
1126 ET - Gold prices plunge below the $4,400-a-troy-ounce mark after the U.S. posted another month of strong job gains in May, raising concerns over potential interest-rate hikes later this year. New York gold futures fall 2.8% to $4,377.10 a troy ounce. "Providing the labour market does not suffer a dramatic summer jobs scare again, then it looks increasingly likely that the FOMC will enact a couple of insurance hikes later this year," says Stephen Brown from Capital Economics. Meanwhile, stalled U.S.-Iran talks and fresh hostilities in the Middle East continue to keep oil prices elevated and inflation concerns alive, reinforcing expectations that central banks may keep interest rates higher for longer. (giulia.petroni@wsj.com)
1123 ET - The streak of negative trading for bitcoin looks to continue for the foreseeable future, thanks to a stronger jobs report that all but eliminates the possibility of an interest-rate cut in the near term. This morning, May payrolls were reported at 172,000 against an 85,000 consensus, with the prior months revised up 93,000. "Strong jobs data kills the rate-cut narrative," says Nicolai Sondergaard of Nansen in a note. "Bitcoin, already down 15% and sitting on uncleared leveraged longs, has no macro catalyst to recover into, and Middle East tensions are keeping risk appetite soft across markets." Bitcoin is down 4.4% to $60,824. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1116 ET - The crash in Zcash today is linked to an apparent exploit found in the coding of the token that allows for hackers to reproduce unlimited counterfeit tokens. Shielded Labs, an organization within the Zcash system, posted on its X account late Thursday that it found the bug using a detailed review of code via Claude. The firm says that the bug has been fixed and there's no evidence of the exploit being used, but steep selling has gripped the privacy coin. "This was a serious vulnerability, and we believe it's important to be transparent about what it means for Zcash users," says Shielded Labs in a press release regarding the exploit. Zcash is down 27% to $334.57 today. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1048 ET--Saputo is approaching a volatile dairy market with a focus on low-cost production and tighter operational discipline. "We're feeling really good about the business continuing to optimize and through our continuous improvement programs," says CFO Maxime Therrien in an earnings call, adding that he expects to further gains in overall operating costs. He says the company remains "very disciplined" on inventory management and the overall supply and demand planning process, aiming to keep "working capital as low as possible, yet not sacrificing our service levels." He says protecting margins is a priority in the current geopolitical climate, while still "remaining competitive ... and focused on growth." Shares are up 0.6% to C$42.94, rebounding from a low of C$39.26 earlier in the morning. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)
1031 ET--Canadian dairy products company Saputo faces a more-complicated road into fiscal 2027, despite 4Q landing largely in line, Desjardins analyst Chris Li says. He notes that adjusted Ebitda matched consensus, though higher stock-based compensation and higher advertising spend weighed on the quarter, while the pending sale of the Argentina division, classified as discontinued operations, continues to shape results. While demand remains broadly strong, Li says that the sector still remains strained. "Dairy market factors will likely remain volatile due to timing differences between input costs and pricing, inventory realization cycles, and market supply-demand conditions," he says. He points to higher SG&A costs, as well as capex, which will be partially offset by cost-reduction initiatives. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)
1029 ET - Host Hotels & Resorts is likely to get a boost from transient demand during the World Cup, Stifel analysts say. Short-term demand from individuals and small groups will be the real driver of performance during the tournament, the analysts say. That demand should accelerate in the final weeks before the games, they add. There have been reports that World Cup demand could end up being disappointing for lodging companies, especially as FIFA has canceled some hotel blocks originally booked for the company. The analysts say the real barometer for success will be if rooms actually end up getting sold during the games. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)
1008 ET -- Public Service Enterprise Group says it is planning to lower residential gas heating bills by 5% starting in October, despite climbing gas prices. The energy company says it monitors energy markets and forecasts demand to secure natural gas ahead of peak heating seasons. The long-term planning approach to procuring natural gas helps reduce the company's exposure to market volatility, PSE&G says. PSE&G says it buys much of its supply months or even years in advance. The announcement comes as the war in Iran continues to drive up gas and oil prices. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)
1007 ET - Chipotle Mexican Grill CEO Scott Boatwright and CFO Adam Rymer acknowledged the chain's past mistakes and laid out its future opportunity, JPMorgan analysts say in a research note, citing a recent in-person meeting at the company's headquarters. Chipotle's stock has taken a beating, having lost nearly a quarter of its value since the beginning of the year and more than 40% of its value over the past 52 weeks. However, the decline provides a unique opportunity. "We believe a rare valuation opportunity has emerged at Chipotle, as the stock's multiple has now fully rerated to reflect a more moderate--yet still well above average--growth profile," the analysts write, comparing the opportunity to that of Starbucks, Cava Group and Dutch Bros. JPM upgrades Chipotle to overweight from neutral, while lowering its price target to $35 from $38. (connor.hart@wsj.com)
1006 ET - Lululemon Athletica slides 8% after cutting its outlook for the year. "The edge that Lululemon once had in releasing collections that were interesting, innovative, and on trend has disappeared," writes Neil Saunders, managing director of research firm GlobalData in a note to clients. "Too much of the range is now repetitive and uninspired and, as a result, a certain generic staleness has crept into the shopping experience." (Suzanne.Kapner@wsj.com)
0938 ET - Lululemon's earnings power remains in question following a sharp cut to its full-year outlook, Stifel analysts say in a research note. "The domestic core worsened in April and May and the 2Q26 guidance for -LDD% North America declines is a meaningful shortfall to our expectations," they say. The company's domestic challenges have no obvious near-term fix, with larger structural competitive dynamics and brand perception potentially taking quarters-to-years to fix, the analysts say. The company's international growth engine remains intact but isn't powerful enough to offset the domestic headwinds, they say. As a result, comps are likely to remain negative through at least the first half of 2027, rather than inflecting later this year, the analysts say. Lululemon tumbles 9% in early trading. (connor.hart@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 05, 2026 11:40 ET (15:40 GMT)
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