Walmart reports mixed Q2, Thoma Bravo to acquire Dayforce: Morning Buzz

The major averages were broadly lower near noon as investors await cues from the Jackson Hole symposium for signals on a potential September rate cut. Simultaneously, momentum has cooled in tech stocks following a sharp recent selloff.

Looking to commodities, gold prices edged lower, while oil was also fractionally lower.

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1. STOCK NEWS:

• Walmart (WMT) reported mixed Q2 results but raised its FY26 earnings and revenue outlook
• Dayforce (DAY) agreed to be acquired by Thoma Bravo for $70 per share in cash
• Boeing (BA) has discussed selling as many as 500 planes to China, Bloomberg reports
• Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) will invest $2B in a new facility in North Carolina
• Apple (AAPL) is raising prices for Apple TV+ in the U.S. and select international markets

2. WALL STREET CALLS:

• Instacart (CART) downgraded to Underperform at Wedbush on competition concerns
• H.C. Wainwright, Arete upgrade CoreWeave (CRWV) following recent selloff
• HP Enterprise (HPE) upgraded at Morgan Stanley, here’s why
• Upland Software (UPLD) upgraded at Needham to Buy
• Wells Fargo downgraded Truist (TFC) to Equal Weight, calls branch plans “too little too late”

3. AROUND THE WEB:

• CVS Health (CVS) won’t add Gilead’s (GILD) new HIV prevention drug to its commercial plans for now, despite the medication’s proven effectiveness, Reuters says
• Tesla (TSLA) on Monday evacuated part of its plant in Germany after a fire broke out in a building processing battery packs, Reuters reports
• KKR (KKR) is currently the lead candidate to purchase Nissan’s (NSANY) Yokohama headquarters and has offered approximately $609.80M for it, Reuters reports
• Meta (META) has frozen its hiring spree for its AI division after hiring over 50 AI researchers and engineers, WSJ says
• In a federal lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Masimo (MASI) claimed the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, CBP, unlawfully allowed Apple (AAPL) to reactivate a blood-oxygen tracking feature on its Apple Watches, Bloomberg says

4. MOVERS:

• Miniso (MNSO) gains in New York after reporting Q2 results and announcing an interim cash dividend of 28.96c per ADS
• Kanzhun (BZ) higher in New York after UBS upgraded its rating on the stock to Buy
• Ondas (ONDS) increases after securing a $2.7M order for its Iron Drone Raider System
• Sarepta (SRPT) lower after refinancing $700M of convertible notes
• Two Harbors (TWO) falls after entering a settlement to resolve claims in PRCM litigation and estimating book value per share of $12.73 as of August 15, 2025

5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:

• ScanSource (SCSC) reported Q4 results and provided guidance for FY26
• Full Truck Alliance (YMM) reported Q2 results, with EPS and revenue higher year-over-year
• Canadian Solar (CSIQ) reported Q2 results, with CEO Shawn Qu commenting, “We delivered a second quarter largely in line with expectations”
• Nordson (NDSN) reported Q3 results, with EPS and revenue beating consensus
• Coty (COTY) reported Q4 results and provided guidance for 1H of 2026

INDEXES:

Near midday, the Dow was down 0.47%, or 209.86, to 44,728.45, the Nasdaq was down 0.44%, or 93.76, to 21,079.10, and the S&P 500 was down 0.44%, or 27.89, to 6,367.89.