Walmart gets upper-income households to buy more

Walmart’s quarterly earnings report beat Wall Street estimates on Tuesday, setting the stage for a string of retail earnings reports this week.

The nation’s largest retailer reported $168 billion of revenue for its quarter that ended on October 25, marking a 5.4% increase from the same period last year. The sales growth comes as the number of transactions is slowing but the amount customers are spending on each visit is growing.

Walmart noted that its gains are primarily coming from upper-income households.

The company also reported a 28% increase in revenue from its advertising business and a 27% increase from its e-commerce division.

Walmart’s earnings beat sent its stock up about 2.7% on Tuesday morning. Investors are awaiting earnings from other large retailers this week: Target andTJ Maxx report on Wednesday, and BJ reports on Thursday.

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Netflix and Disney+ probably only added ad-tier subscribers this year, says Morgan Stanley

As streaming prices climb, ad-free subscribers are becoming a rarity.

Max Knoblauch12/18/25

BLOOD

MONEY

J. Edward Moreno12/17/25

Discount stores are having a moment in America, drawing high- and low-income consumers alike

Everyone loves a deal in 2025 — and Aldi, Walmart, and Dollar Tree are all cashing in.

Millie Giles12/17/25

Max Knoblauch12/16/25

Report: OpenAI won’t pay a dime in cash for its 3-year licensing deal for Disney IP

More financial details behind the landmark deal that will grant OpenAI three years of access to Disney intellectual property are coming out, and they’re pretty surprising.

The deal will reportedly see OpenAI pay zero dollars in licensing fees, instead compensating Disney in stock warrants. It was previously reported that Disney would invest $1 billion into OpenAI as part of the agreement.

It’s very abnormal for Disney to grant anyone access to its massive IP library without a cash payment, and the entertainment juggernaut has been known to strike down even crocheted Etsy Yodas for infringing on its turf. In its fiscal year 2025, Disney booked more than $10 billion in revenue from licensing fees across merchandising, television, and theatrical distribution.

OpenAI Deal to License Disney Characters Is Entirely in Stock

Max Knoblauch12/15/25

Ford says it will take $19.5 billion in charges in a massive EV write-down

The EV business has marked a long stretch of losing for Ford, and today the automaker announced it will take $19.5 billion in charges tied, for the most part, to its EV division.

Ford said it’s launching a battery energy storage business, leveraging battery plants in Kentucky and Michigan to “provide solutions for energy infrastructure and growing data center demand.”

According to Ford, the changes will drive Ford’s electrified division to profitability by 2029. The company will stop making its electric F-150, the Lightning, and instead shift to an “extended-range electric vehicle” that includes a gas-powered generator.

The Detroit automaker also raised its adjusted earnings before interest and taxes outlook to “about $7 billion” from a range of $6 billion to $6.5 billion.

Ford’s write-down is one of the largest taken by a company as legacy automakers scale back on EVs, giving EV-only automakers a market share boost.

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