Merida, Mexico, Centro, Walmart discount department store, customer checkout cashier scanning produce

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Walmart dips as investors brace for price hikes, even as it vows to stay the low-cost leader

The retailer says it’ll keep an eye on how much sticker stock shoppers can handle.

5/15/25 10:34AM

Walmart shares slipped as much as 3% Thursday after an early morning pop, as investors digested the company’s solid Q1 earnings beat and a warning that price hikes are on the way.

Walmart CFO John David Rainey told CNBC that shoppers will start to see prices rise by late May and for sure in June. On the earnings call, he added that the retailer is also trimming some orders as it watches how sensitive customers are to higher prices.

It’s a turbulent time to test shoppers’ budgets as consumers start to pull back. Before the 90-day US-China tariff truce was announced, Walmart was already pressing Chinese suppliers to cut prices by as much as 10% per round of tariffs. That move sparked tension with China’s officials, especially given Walmart’s deep exposure: an estimated 60% of its shipments came from their country in 2023.

Still, analysts say Walmart is well positioned to keep its pricing power.

“While they will need to raise some of their prices, they will be very mindful that their prices still remain below their peers’ prices for the same items,” Sheraz Mian, director of research at Zacks Investment Research, said. He added that Walmart’s scale gives it an unmatched ability to secure the lowest possible cost, and now that its e-commerce business is profitable, it has more flexibility to absorb those cost increases in-house.

Meanwhile, retailers including Walmart and rival Costco have been rushing to lock in China-made inventory ahead of peak summer demand. Last month, CEO Doug McMillon reportedly warned President Trump that the latest round of tariffs had started to strain Walmart’s supply chain and would amplify if left unchecked. Despite the dip, Walmart shares are still up about 5% year to date.

Nia Warfield18m

Ulta soars as Q3 beat sparks flood of price target hikes

Ulta’s latest makeover is happening on Wall Street. Shares leapt Friday morning as analysts hiked their price targets after the beauty retailer topped Q3 estimates and raised its full-year outlook after the bell Thursday.

Earnings came in at $5.14 per share, handily beating analyst expectations of $4.64. Revenue also topped estimates at $2.86 billion, compared with the $2.72 billion expected. Ulta has benefited from resilient beauty spending, even as consumers pull back elsewhere and hunt more aggressively for discounts.

Ulta now expects full-year net sales of about $12.3 billion, up from a prior forecast of $12.0 billion to $12.1 billion. The retailer also lifted its earnings outlook to $25.20 to $25.50 per share, up from $23.85 to $24.30 previously. This marks Ulta’s second straight quarter of hiking its sales and profit forecast. Analysts are taking note:

Goldman Sachs maintained its “buy” rating and raised its price target to $642 from $584.
DA Davidson maintained its “buy” rating and raised its price target to $650 from $625.
JPMorgan maintained its “outperform” rating and raised its price target to $647 from $606.
Baird maintained its “outperform” rating and hiked its price target to $670 from $600.
Telsey Advisory maintained its “outperform” rating and raised its price target to $640 from $610.
Piper Sandler maintained its “outperform” rating and raised its price target to $615 from $590.
Canaccord Genuity maintained its “neutral” rating and raised its price target to $674 from $654.

Max Knoblauch1h

Southwest cuts its earnings outlook on lost revenue due to government shutdown

Another big four airline has put a price tag on the 43-day government shutdown.

Southwest Airlines on Friday said lower revenue due to a temporary decline in demand during the shutdown, together with higher fuel costs, will ding its annual earnings before interest and taxes by between $100 million and $300 million. The carrier lowered its full-year EBIT outlook to $500 million, down from a prior range of $600 million to $800 million.

According to Southwest’s filing, bookings have returned to previous expectations following the end of the shutdown. Its shares dipped down about 1% in premarket trading.

The carrier joins Delta Air Lines in assigning a cost to the government closure. Earlier this week, Delta said the shutdown would cost it $200 million in the fourth quarter.

Luke Kawa2h

Netflix is acquiring Warner Bros. and HBO assets for less than it’s spent to add content since the pandemic started

What would you, as a viewer, rather watch:

Every new piece of content that’s appeared on Netflix since the pandemic started, or all the original series ever produced by HBO as well as the 100-year-plus portfolio of Warner Bros. films?

That’s one lens through which to view the streaming giant’s agreement to buy Warner Bros. studio and streaming assets for an equity value of $72 billion or an enterprise value of $82.7 billion (which factors in the debt Netflix is assuming from the acquired entity).

Since the end of 2019, Netflix has sent over $87 billion in cash out the door to add content assets to its vast library.

The good news is that presumably, you won’t have to make that choice. Presumably, in the event that this merger is approved and any existing distribution deals lapse, this library will be rolled up under one roof. That’ll probably entail higher subscription costs for Netflix subscribers; what the net cost for those who subscribe to both services ends up being is one of many things that are very much up in the air.

“By adding the deep film and TV libraries and HBO and HBO Max programming, Netflix members will have even more high-quality titles from which to choose,” per the press release. “This also allows Netflix to optimize its plans for consumers, enhancing viewing options and expanding access to content.”

Luke Kawa3h

Oklo slides after launching $1.5 billion at-the-market equity offering program

Oklo has no revenues and an extremely high valuation.

Put the two together and this happens:

After the close on Thursday, a filing showed that the nuclear energy company entered into a pact with various financial institutions to sell up to $1.5 billion worth of its stock in an at-the-market equity offering program.

Shares are down about 5.5% as of 7:20 a.m. ET.

This is Oklo’s third equity offering of the year, per Bloomberg data.

The stock had been on a tear recently ahead of this announcement, rising nearly 30% over the prior three sessions amid elevated options market activity.

Hyunsoo Rim4h

SoFi Technologies slides on $1.5 billion share sale announcement at $27.50 a share

SoFi Technologies is down more than 7% in early trading on Friday after the company revealed plans to raise $1.5 billion through a public stock offering, with shares to be priced at $27.50 each — a discount of roughly 7% from Thursday’s closing price of $29.60.

The offering includes a 30-day option for the underwriters to purchase up to 8,181,818 more shares, equivalent to an additional 15% of the nominal offering, which is expected to close December 8.

Proceeds from the offering will go toward “general corporate purposes,” SoFi said, including “enhancing capital position, increasing optionality and enabling further efficiency of capital management, and funding incremental growth and business opportunities.”

The sale comes as SoFi’s stock has been on a tear this year — nearly doubling (up 97%) in 2025 before this morning’s slump. The company also posted better-than-expected Q3 sales and profits back in October, driven by growth outside its original lending business, including trading, wealth management, mortgages, and credit cards.

CEO Anthony Noto has repeatedly emphasized SoFi’s push beyond lending. In November, the company launched a priority waitlist for SoFi Crypto, enabling users to trade dozens of cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, ethereum, and solana.

The stock is hovering around the offering price of $27.50 on Friday.