Hello and welcome to Morning Brief Market Sunrise. I'm Ramzan Carmali live from Yahoo Finance Studios in London. It's Thursday, 21st August. Coming up on the show, there are signs that the tech selloff is easing after days of big losses for some of the nation's biggest stocks. Investor focus now shifts to Jackson Hole. They'll be looking for any clues of what the interest rate path will look like. And in the last few moments, Walmart has just released its latest earnings report. I'll bring you the details. ...

Let's get to some retail earnings this morning. Walmart did hike its sales and earnings outlook even as it said that its tariff costs are rising and will continue to do so. Our Courtney Reagan has more on the quarter. Busy morning court. Yeah, hi Carl. So Walmart earnings disappointing slightly though on stronger than expected revenues also increasing its fullear sales and earnings guidance. Now there's nuance in the operating income this quarter. Looks funny when you think about what normal normal cadence ...

Economic Indicators - Initial Jobless Claims rose to 235K, exceeding expectations by 10K and increasing by 11K from the previous week, marking the highest level since June [2] - Continuing Claims approached 2 million, reported at 1.972 million, the highest since November 2021 [2] - The Philly Fed Manufacturing survey showed a negative reading of -0.3, significantly lower than the expected 7.0 and the previous month's 15.9, indicating a decline in manufacturing output [3] - New Orders fell to -1.9, a decrease of 20 points month over month, while Shipments remained positive at 4.5 [3] Company Earnings - Walmart reported Q2 earnings of 68 cents per share, slightly below the Zacks consensus by 5 cents and only a penny above the previous year's earnings, with revenues of $177.4 billion, surpassing estimates by 1% [4] - Walmart revised its revenue guidance higher for the full fiscal year despite the mixed results [4] Market Expectations - Flash S&P Services and Manufacturing PMI for August are anticipated to cool down, with Services expected at 55.0 and Manufacturing at 49.5 [5] - Existing Home Sales for July are projected to decrease to 3.91 million annualized units from 3.93 million the prior month [6] - U.S. Leading Economic Indicators (LEI) are expected to improve to -0.1% for July from -0.3% in June [6] Upcoming Earnings Reports - Earnings season continues with companies like Zoom Communications, Workday, Ross Stores, and Intuit expected to report quarterly earnings, with Intuit projected to achieve a year-over-year earnings growth of 33% [7]

Core Viewpoint - Walmart's Q2 revenue increased by 4.8% year-over-year to $177.4 billion, exceeding market expectations, but the non-GAAP EPS of $0.68 fell short due to increased insurance claims costs [1][1][1] Financial Performance - Q2 revenue reached $177.4 billion, up 4.8% year-over-year, outperforming market expectations [1][1] - Non-GAAP EPS was $0.68, which did not meet market expectations due to rising insurance claims costs [1][1] - Operating profit declined by 8.2%, attributed to special legal and restructuring costs [1][1] Future Outlook - Despite the profit miss, Walmart raised its full-year sales forecast, now expecting net sales growth of 3.75% to 4.75%, up from the previous guidance of 3% to 4% [1][1] - Adjusted EPS guidance was increased to a range of $2.52 to $2.62, compared to the prior guidance of $2.50 to $2.60, aligning with market expectations of $2.62 [1][1]

Economic Indicators - Initial Jobless Claims rose to 235K, exceeding expectations by 10K and increasing by 11K from the previous week, marking the highest level since June [2] - Continuing Claims approached 2 million, reported at 1.972 million, the highest since November 2021 [2] - The Philly Fed Manufacturing survey showed a negative reading of -0.3, significantly lower than the expected 7.0 and the previous month's 15.9, indicating a decline in manufacturing output [3] - New Orders fell to -1.9, a decrease of 20 points month over month, while Shipments remained positive at 4.5 [3] Company Earnings - Walmart reported mixed Q2 results with earnings of 68 cents per share, slightly below consensus estimates and only a penny above the previous year's figure, while revenues reached $177.4 billion, surpassing estimates by 1% [4] - Walmart revised its revenue guidance higher for the full fiscal year, despite a 2% drop in shares ahead of the market open [4] Market Expectations - Flash S&P Services and Manufacturing PMI for August are anticipated to cool slightly, with Services expected at 55.0 and Manufacturing at 49.5, just below the growth threshold [5] - Existing Home Sales for July are projected to decrease to 3.91 million annualized units from 3.93 million the prior month [6] - U.S. Leading Economic Indicators (LEI) are expected to improve to -0.1% for July from -0.3% in June, indicating a potential recovery from the lowest levels in over 10 years [6] Upcoming Earnings Reports - Earnings season continues with companies like Zoom Communications, Workday, Ross Stores, and Intuit expected to report quarterly earnings, with Intuit projected to achieve a year-over-year earnings growth of 33% [7]

Core Insights - Walmart reported its Q2 results for the fiscal year 2026, showing total revenue of $177.4 billion, a year-over-year increase of 4.8% (5.6% growth when excluding currency fluctuations) [1] - Adjusted operating income for the second quarter was $8 billion, reflecting a 0.4% year-over-year growth [1] Revenue Performance - Walmart China achieved net sales of $5.8 billion in Q2, marking a significant year-over-year growth of 30.1% [1] - Comparable sales in Walmart China increased by 21.5%, while e-commerce net sales grew by 39%, with e-commerce sales accounting for over 50% of total sales [1] Membership and Store Expansion - Sam's Club continued to show strong growth, with double-digit growth in transaction volume [1] - Over the past 12 months, Sam's Club added 8 new stores, including 2 new stores in the current quarter [1] Profitability and Efficiency - The gross margin decreased due to changes in business mix, but strong sales growth, changes in business mix, and improved operational efficiency led to a decrease in operating expense ratio and an increase in operating profit [1]

Core Insights - Walmart Inc. reported strong sales of $177.4 billion for the latest quarter, reflecting an increase of nearly 5% despite a $1.5 billion impact from weaker currencies [1] Financial Performance - The company's sales growth indicates resilience in the U.S. consumer market, serving as a reliable indicator of consumer spending trends [1] Currency Impact - The reported sales figure includes a significant negative impact of $1.5 billion due to currency fluctuations, highlighting the challenges posed by global currency dynamics [1]

Core Insights - Walmart Inc reported a profit of 68 cents per share, missing earnings estimates for the first time since 2022, while revenue reached $177.4 billion, exceeding expectations [1] - Despite tariff pressures, price concerns, and one-time expenses, strong U.S. and e-commerce sales led Walmart to raise its full-year sales and profit outlook [1] Stock Performance - The stock is down 4.3% to $98.15, breaking a three-day winning streak and falling below the $100 resistance level [2] - Year-to-date, Walmart's equity is still up 8.6% [2] Analyst Sentiment - A majority of analysts remain optimistic, with 36 out of 37 firms rating Walmart a "buy" or better [3] - The stock's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 1.98 indicates strong long-term sentiment, ranking higher than 87% of readings from the past year [3] Options Activity - Bearish activity has increased in the options market, with 114,000 puts exchanged, significantly above the intraday average [4] - The most popular contracts are the August 97-, 98-, and 92-strike puts, with positions opening at all three levels [4]

Group 1 - Proactive provides fast, accessible, informative, and actionable business and finance news content to a global investment audience [2] - The news team covers medium and small-cap markets, as well as blue-chip companies, commodities, and broader investment stories [3] - Proactive has bureaus and studios in key finance and investing hubs including London, New York, Toronto, Vancouver, Sydney, and Perth [2] Group 2 - The company is focused on sectors such as biotech and pharma, mining and natural resources, battery metals, oil and gas, crypto, and emerging digital and EV technologies [3] - Proactive adopts technology to enhance workflows and improve content production [4] - Automation and software tools, including generative AI, are used, but all content is edited and authored by humans [5]

Core Insights - Walmart reported $177.4 billion in revenue for the quarter ended July 2025, marking a year-over-year increase of 4.8% and a surprise of +1.08% over the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $175.51 billion [1] - The EPS for the same period was $0.68, compared to $0.67 a year ago, but fell short of the consensus EPS estimate of $0.73, resulting in an EPS surprise of -6.85% [1] Financial Performance Metrics - Walmart International reported sales growth of 5.5%, exceeding the six-analyst average estimate of 1.8% [4] - U.S. comparable store sales for Sam's Club (without fuel impact) increased by 5.9%, surpassing the six-analyst average estimate of 4.9% [4] - U.S. comparable store sales for Walmart U.S. (without fuel impact) grew by 4.6%, compared to the six-analyst average estimate of 4% [4] - Total U.S. comparable store sales (without fuel impact) rose by 4.8%, exceeding the five-analyst average estimate of 4.2% [4] Store and Revenue Metrics - The number of Sam's Club stores was reported at 600, slightly below the four-analyst average estimate of 602 [4] - Total net square footage was 1,052.36 million square feet, compared to the four-analyst average estimate of 1,060.90 million square feet [4] - Membership and other income revenues were $1.65 billion, slightly below the eight-analyst average estimate of $1.7 billion, representing a year-over-year change of +5.4% [4] - Net sales for Walmart U.S. were $120.91 billion, exceeding the eight-analyst average estimate of $119.96 billion, with a year-over-year change of +4.8% [4] - Total net sales were reported at $175.75 billion, surpassing the eight-analyst average estimate of $173.88 billion, also reflecting a year-over-year change of +4.8% [4] - Net sales for Walmart International reached $31.2 billion, exceeding the eight-analyst average estimate of $30.13 billion, with a year-over-year increase of +5.5% [4] - Net sales for Sam's Club were $23.64 billion, slightly below the eight-analyst average estimate of $23.93 billion, representing a year-over-year change of +3.4% [4] Stock Performance - Walmart shares have returned +7.2% over the past month, outperforming the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +1.7% change [3] - The stock currently holds a Zacks Rank 2 (Buy), indicating potential for outperformance in the near term [3]