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Lowe's, Target shares jump double digits on Q2 EPS beats

TOP NEWS

* Lowe's Cos. Inc.'s shares jumped almost 12% in premarket trading as it reported that second-quarter adjusted diluted EPS rose 3.9% to $2.15 from $2.07 in the year-ago period, beating the S&P Global Market Intelligence consensus normalized EPS estimate of $2. Sales inched up 0.5% year over year to $20.99 billion, with comparable sales growth of 2.3%. The company continues to expect adjusted diluted EPS for the full year to range between $5.45 and $5.65 and net sales to increase by about 2%.

* Target Corp. stock rose 15% in premarket trading as the company raised its adjusted EPS outlook for fiscal 2019 to between $5.90 and $6.20, from the previous range of $5.75 to $6.05. The move came after the general merchandise stores operator posted second quarter earnings that surpassed analysts' expectations. For the quarter ended Aug. 3, adjusted EPS came in at $1.82, a 23.9% jump from $1.47 in the same quarter in 2018 and beating the S&P Global Market Intelligence consensus normalized EPS estimate of $1.62. Total revenue increased 3.6% year over year to $18.4 billion, while comparable sales rose 3.4%.

TEXTILES, APPAREL AND LUXURY GOODS

* Global Fashion Group SA's adjusted loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization for the second quarter came in at €3.2 million, versus a loss of €2.5 million in the year-ago period. Revenue rose 15% year over year, or 16.5% at constant currency, to €342.4 million as net merchandise value increased 22.7% on a constant currency basis to €449 million and active customers grew 14.6% to 12 million.

* The TJX Cos. Inc.'s diluted EPS of 62 cents for the second quarter of 2020 met the S&P Global Market Intelligence consensus normalized EPS estimate, while its net sales for the period of $9.78 billion missed the Market Intelligence estimate of $9.89 billion. The company continues to expect diluted EPS in the range of $2.56 to $2.61 for the fiscal year ending Feb. 1, 2020, a 5% to 7% increase over the prior year's $2.43.

* Urban Outfitters Inc. posted second quarter EPS of 61 cents, down from 84 cents in the year-ago period, while net sales slid 3% year over year to $962.3 million from $992.5 million, driven by declines in its retail and wholesale segments.

* Tod's SpA Chairman Diego Della Valle further raised his voting stake in the footwear company to 81.19%. The group posted a net loss of €5.7 million for the fiscal first half of 2019.

E-COMMERCE

* Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has postponed its late August listing in Hong Kong due to the ongoing political unrest and financial instability in the region, Reuters reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter. A company spokesperson told S&P Global Market Intelligence that the company doesn't comment on market rumors.

* Chinese e-commerce retailer JD.com Inc. upped its stake in flash sales site Vipshop Holdings Ltd. to 7.6% from a holding of 6.8%. JD.com has bought an aggregate amount of 5,916,178 American depositary shares in Vipshop for $9.4264 each since June 2018.

* S&P Global Ratings raised its long-term issuer credit rating on JD.com Inc. to BBB from BBB-, with a stable outlook. Ratings said the upgrade was based on its view that JD.com's profitability is improving due to its "growing economies of scale, increasing bargaining power with suppliers, and rising utilization of its logistics facilities."

* Deutsche Post AG-owned DHL International GmbH will stop its delivery service for Amazon.com Inc.'s Amazon Fresh program in Germany, Reuters reported, citing a company spokesperson. "The market for online ordered fresh food has been far behind expectations to date. Due to this reason and the complexity of the whole process, we have significantly reduced our activities in this area," a DHL spokesperson reportedly said. An Amazon spokesman declined to comment, apart from saying that the service received positive feedback in Germany, the report added.

* Pinduoduo Inc. posted adjusted diluted net loss per American depositary share of 36 Chinese fen, down from 1.40 Chinese yuan in the year-ago period but above the S&P Global Market Intelligence consensus normalized EPS estimate of 19 fen. Total revenue jumped 169% year over year to 7.29 billion yuan from 2.71 billion yuan, driven by revenue growth in online marketing services.

HOUSEHOLD AND PERSONAL PRODUCTS

* Henkel AG & Co. KGaA will partner with packaging company ALPLA Werke Alwin Lehner GmbH & Co KG to invest more than $130 million in infrastructure and equipment to enhance the laundry product operations of its factory in Bowling Green, Ky.

HYPERMARKETS AND SUPERCENTERS

* Walmart Inc. senior vice president and chief marketing officer Barbara Messing will leave the company, effective Aug. 30, according to an internal memo seen by S&P Global Market Intelligence. As a result, Walmart has formed a new retail marketing team, led by Michael Francis and includes David Echegoyen, Brittney Duke, Ciara Anfield, Karissa Price and Alvis Washington. The retailer said it is searching for a new chief marketing officer and senior vice president of retail marketing.

* Walmart Inc. is suing Tesla Inc. following repeated fire incidents of the electric-car maker's solar panels at some of the grocer's stores in the U.S. In a lawsuit filed at the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Walmart said that as of November 2018, seven of its stores with Tesla rooftop solar panels have caught fire. Walmart and Tesla did not immediately respond to S&P Global Market Intelligence's requests for comment.

HOUSEHOLD DURABLES AND SPECIALTY RETAIL

* Whirlpool Corp. declared a quarterly dividend of $1.20 per share, payable on Sept. 15 to shareholders of record on Aug. 30.

* Sports Direct International PLC has reached out to mid-tier firms about possibly becoming its auditor, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The development comes after the announcement that Grant Thornton will step down as the company's auditor on Sept. 11. Sports Direct reportedly did not respond to requests for comment.

* Brazilian jeweler Vivara Participações is seeking authorization from the country's securities and exchange commission to go public, Reuters reported, citing a securities filing. The authorization reportedly is the first step for an IPO in Brazil.

CASINOS AND GAMING

* Crown Resorts Ltd.'s normalized net profit after tax attributable to the parent declined 4.7% to A$368.6 million for the year ended June 30. Normalized revenue fell 5.4% to A$2.95 billion. The company declared a final dividend of 30 Australian cents per share, bringing its total full year dividend to 60 cents per share.

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The day ahead

Early morning futures indicators pointed to a higher opening for the U.S. market.

In Asia, Hang Seng rose 0.15% to 26,270.04, while the Nikkei 225 dropped 0.28% to 20,618.57.

In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 climbed 1.08% to 7,202.23, and the Euronext 100 rose 1.30% to 1,051.79.

On the macro front

The existing home sales consensus and EIA petroleum status report are due out today.

Click here to read about today's financial markets, setting out the factors driving stocks, bonds and currencies around the world ahead of the New York open.

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