The latest Market Talks covering Equities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.
1224 ET [Dow Jones]--Target's turnaround is picking up steam, according to Placer.ai. The retailer gathered momentum throughout the spring, with visits improving each month before jumping 7.3% in July, its strongest performance of the year. The rise in July is particularly notable given that Target's Circle Deal Days event moved to June this year to coincide with Amazon's Prime Day, the location-analytics firm says. The improving trends come on the heels of Target's positive comparable-sales result last quarter. "Fresh summer designer collaborations and a strong back-to-school push appear to have resonated strongly with shoppers," the report reads. Target is scheduled to report 2Q earnings on Wednesday. (connor.hart@wsj.com)
1221 ET--Traffic to both Home Depot and Lowe's was relatively stable in the second quarter, indicating that underlying demand for home-improvement projects is resilient despite the macroeconomic backdrop, according to a recent report from Placer.ai. The location-analytics firm says both chains could see visits accelerate in the back half of the year. "Growth in the second half of 2026 may come from the accumulation of deferred maintenance, or from an easing in prices and rates that finally makes bigger projects feel affordable again," the report reads. "Either could turn this plateau into a climb." Both Home Depot and Lowe's are scheduled to report earnings next week. (connor.hart@wsj.com)
1215 ET [Dow Jones]--Traffic at both The Home Depot and Lowe's held steady in the second quarter, according to a recent report from Placer.ai, suggesting the recovery of early 2026 has stalled. Monthly visits data show that ongoing consumer headwinds are likely hurting recovery efforts. Year-over-year visit growth at both Home Depot and Lowe's slowed sharply in March, coinciding with a rise in gas prices that squeezed household budgets and seemingly prompted shoppers to delay larger home-improvement purchases, the location-analytics firm says. "But despite the increased pressure on consumers, traffic still remained relatively close to 2025 levels throughout the analyzed period," the report reads. Both Home Depot and Lowe's are scheduled to report earnings next week. (connor.hart@wsj.com)
1210 ET--Air Canada's sale of a minority stake in its Aeroplan loyalty program finally puts a market value on an asset that has so long been embedded into the airline's consolidate financials. CIBC's Krista Friesen says the 25% stake sale gives Aeroplan a C$10 billion valuation, and "highlights the significant premium investors are willing to pay for loyalty businesses relative to airline operations." She notes that "loyalty programs tend to benefit from recurring partner revenue, attractive margins, lower capital intensity and reduced earnings seasonality." In this case, Air Canada is monetizing a minority stake, she says, but retails full control of the program and "effectively crystallizing value" while preserving all the strategic and financial benefits. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)
1152 ET - Nvidia may report "another significant stair-step in backlog" in their second-quarter earnings call, driven by continued compute demand, UBS analysts write in a note. "Looking at compute through the lens of supply and demand, because the vast majority of hyperscaler capex increase this year is due mostly to memory price inflation, compute supply growth is even further from keeping pace with demand - this is ultimately bullish for NVDA," they write. Because broader debates about AI spending and credit risk are out of Nvidia's hands, investors are going to focus on the numbers--and likely come away with greater confidence about earnings growth through 2028. Nvidia trades down 0.2% at $224.81. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
1135 ET - Applied Materials' move to double systems-manufacturing capacity by 2028 was the key takeaway from the company's 3Q report and earnings call, UBS analysts write in a note. While the target isn't necessarily revenue guidance, they write, "we are hard-pressed to believe that AMAT would have excess supply in C2028 when it is getting 8-10Q visibility from major customers." The target, they write, is consistent with their model for around $14 billion in quarterly systems revenue exiting 2028, which would push earnings per share close to $30 with room for further upside. Still, the investments in capacity may be a headwind to gross margins, contributing to a guide that "left a bit to be desired," they write. Shares fall 4.6%. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
The disconnect between oil market fundamentals and prices is reducing oil's appeal as an investment asset class, says David Russell, global head of market strategy at TradeStation. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz came when the market was oversupplied, "so in some ways you had one of the most bearish and one of the most bullish things happening at the same time," he says. Before oil was understood as one market, now traders have to consider the different moving parts, such as where tankers are going, which refineries are offline. "These are conversations we never had even a year ago." Unexpected and aggressive government interventions destroy the speculative desire to go long oil or even short oil, Russell adds. "And why get speculative bullish about oil when you can get speculative bullish about AI stuff?" (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1028 ET - Sandisk is improving margins and demand cyclicality thanks to the AI trade, JPMorgan analysts say, moving the stock to overweight from not rated. The memory provider is positioned to capitalize on AI as the total addressable market for NAND memory products is inflecting from around $70 billion in 2025 to more than $300 billion this calendar year. The analysts expect it to reach $500 billion next year. Data centers are driving that growth with demand from AI hyperscalers and cloud customers, the analysts say. Sandisk is also adjusting its business model to reduce demand cyclicality and bring its margin profile higher, they say. Shares are up 6%. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)
1026 ET - Live cattle futures are lower following Thursday's announcement from Tyson Foods of a closure of a beef plant, as well as selling another. Tyson pulling back from the beef business amid a stubbornly-small cattle herd appears to be injecting more pessimism into the outlook for cattle prices. "The bears have the clear edge and the market appears to be on track to retest last month's lows on technical weakness and lower cash trade," says the Hightower Report in a note. Most-active live cattle on the CME is down 0.8%, while lean hog futures are off 0.6%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1013 ET - Sandisk is using a new operating model that is reducing volatility in demand, Chief Executive David Goeckeler tells CNBC. The company makes decisions about producing supply for memory customers 10 to 15 years in advance, Goeckeler says. But historically, it has negotiated pricing with customers on a quarterly basis, creating volatility across the year, as cycles in demand would ebb and flow. Now, Sandisk is asking customers for more visibility on a longer-term basis which Goeckeler says will reduce volatility. The new strategy comes as Sandisk is getting an influx of demand from AI developers. Shares are up 6%. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)
0924 ET - Target has just executed a major refresh of its product assortment, which Jefferies analysts believe will propel the retailer's turnaround. Since the start of the year, Target has expanded its wellness category, added 3,000 beauty products, reset 75% of home decor accessories and introduced a back-to-school line where 50% of the products are new, the analysts say. "In our view, this represents one of the broadest assortment refreshes in years and is beginning to translate into improved traffic trends," the analysts say. They believe investors are underestimating the traffic benefits Target will get from this refresh. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)
0856 ET - Walmart is expected to post largely in-line 2Q results next week, but that's not what investors are most focused on. Jefferies analysts say in a research note that shareholder debate remains centered around the retailer's implied back-half guidance, as well as how management frames the business's earnings power beyond the quarterly readout. Walmart management remains constructive on market share gains, e-commerce profitability and private label momentum, the analysts say. "We believe investors underappreciate how tariff-funded price investments, alongside growing advertising and e-commerce profits, can support future comp growth and extend Walmart's competitive advantage," they say.
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