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Tom Jones

Walmart rises after announcing new AI partnership with Google’s Gemini, as it’s set to join the Nasdaq 100 Index

Walmart is a rare winner in a sea of red this morning, up about 3.5% in premarket trading as of 5:50 a.m. ET, after the retailer yesterday announced a new partnership with Google that will allow customers to browse and buy Walmart and Sam’s Club products directly through the chatbot.

In the statement, Walmart said that shoppers will be able to access the features through Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) — a “new open standard for agentic commerce and AI tools” that the tech giant codeveloped with a range of retailers and launched on Sunday.

The partnership news follows another welcome event for Walmart shareholders, after Nasdaq revealed that the retailer would be joining the Nasdaq 100 Index prior to market open on January 20.

Ask me anything

When the ever-growing cohort of Gemini users ask the chatbot for shopping advice, they’ll now automatically be served product recommendations from the world’s largest retailer. Per the statement, users who choose to link their Walmart and Gemini accounts will also be able to use any membership benefits they may have and also get served recommendations based on previous purchases.

The new Gemini partnership builds on the deal that Walmart announced with OpenAI back in October, which has allowed ChatGPT users to browse and purchase the company’s products on the web and app platform.

In an interview around the announcement, David Guggina, Walmart’s chief e-commerce officer, said that the world is “moving past the era of the search bar.” Guggina added that the retailer is no longer just meeting people where they shop, but “anticipating how they live” — increasingly, that appears to mean via AI chatbots.

Walmart and Google Turn AI Discovery Into Effortless Shopping Experiences

Walmart and Google Turn AI Discovery Into Effortless Shopping Experiences

In the statement, Walmart said that shoppers will be able to access the features through Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) — a “new open standard for agentic commerce and AI tools” that the tech giant codeveloped with a range of retailers and launched on Sunday.

The partnership news follows another welcome event for Walmart shareholders, after Nasdaq revealed that the retailer would be joining the Nasdaq 100 Index prior to market open on January 20.

Ask me anything

When the ever-growing cohort of Gemini users ask the chatbot for shopping advice, they’ll now automatically be served product recommendations from the world’s largest retailer. Per the statement, users who choose to link their Walmart and Gemini accounts will also be able to use any membership benefits they may have and also get served recommendations based on previous purchases.

The new Gemini partnership builds on the deal that Walmart announced with OpenAI back in October, which has allowed ChatGPT users to browse and purchase the company’s products on the web and app platform.

In an interview around the announcement, David Guggina, Walmart’s chief e-commerce officer, said that the world is “moving past the era of the search bar.” Guggina added that the retailer is no longer just meeting people where they shop, but “anticipating how they live” — increasingly, that appears to mean via AI chatbots.

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Max Knoblauch

Lucid climbs after announcements of new CEO and expanded robotaxi partnership with Uber

Shares of luxury EV maker Lucid climbed more than 12% in premarket trading on Tuesday following two announcements, before a news of a new stock offering erased most of the gains.

First, the company announced it has found a permanent CEO in Silvio Napoli. Napoli was formerly CEO of the Schindler Group, one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of elevators and escalators.

Lucid has been led by interim CEO Marc Winterhoff for more than a year, who will now step into the role of chief operating officer.

Lucid also announced an expansion of its robotaxi partnership with Uber from 20,000 planned vehicles to 35,000. Uber will increase its investment in Lucid by $200 million, bringing the total to $500 million. The PIF, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, also committed a new investment of $550 million into the company.

The company still plans a commercial launch of its robotaxi service with Uber later this year in the Bay Area.

Following those updates, Lucid announced it would raise an additional $300 million through a public stock offering. Its premarket gain decreased to about 5%.

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Max Knoblauch

CarMax sinks following Q4 earnings report

Used car retailer CarMax reported its fourth-quarter earnings before the bell on Tuesday. It’s shares fell about 7% in premarket trading.

The company reported:

  • Adjusted earnings of $0.34 per share, compared to Wall Street estimates of $0.23 per share compiled by FactSet.

  • Sales of $5.9 billion, above expectations of $5.7 billion.

  • Retail gross profit per unit of $2,115, slightly below estimates and down $207 from the year prior.

  • 181,188 used vehicles sold to retail customers, down about 1% from the year prior.

For fiscal 2027, CarMax said it expects to open four new stores. The company expects retail GPU (gross profit per unit) to “decline at a rate broadly in line with our Q4 FY 2026 year-over-year trend.”

CarMax has seen elevated interest in EVs and hybrids in recent weeks, as gas prices continue to climb amid the war in Iran. Last month, the company told Sherwood News that page views for EV and hybrids had risen more than 9% compared to the month prior.

Activist investor Starboard recently took a $350 million stake in CarMax, urging the company to cut costs and adopt more dynamic pricing. Last week, it was announced that CarMax would add two board members after talks with Starboard.

Luke Kawa
1h
JPMorgan drops after cutting full-year net interest income outlook

The bank had just upped its guidance for net interest income in late February.

Jamie Dimon Visits "Mornings With Maria"
$286🛢️
Luke Kawa

HSBC Group's CEO, Georges Elhedery, just broke down why end-buyers of oil are facing prices way above what traders see on their screens.

During a fireside chat with Bloomberg TV’s David Ingles at HSBC’s Global Investment Summit, Elhedery explained why his “biggest worry about the global economy is the disruption that’s coming from the Strait of Hormuz closure, or quasi closure.”

While the ceasefire between the US and Iran was intended to improve the flow of oil through this key chokepoint, the subsequent announcement of a US blockade of the waterway threatens to do precisely the opposite.

And that’s potentially prolonging, or exacerbating, the pain for crude importers, as Elhedery unpacked:

“What worries me is not the headlines, I mean oil headline is above $100, $110. Realistically, if you are now trying to get oil from the Middle East, you may be paying $140, $150.

Realistically, if you try to get oil from the Red Sea, you are paying more than $30, $40 for shipping. Insurance costs, which used to be 25 basis points, is more like 5%, and war insurance has been scrapped, you’re paying 5% without even the war insurance component.

So the barrel of oil door to door or the barrel of refined oil door to door is way above the headline price of oil. The highest I’ve seen, and I’m hoping we don’t see more of that, but the highest I’ve seen is $286 dollars for a barrel of oil that reached Sri Lanka. This is not a country and an economy that can easily afford these kind of prices sustainably.”

In separate interview with Bloomberg News, Elhedery warned that the continuation of these shipping disruptions would be felt not just in the price of energy, but also its availability.

Separately, the International Energy Agency updated its oil market outlook, with the Paris-based organization now forecasting a contraction in both supply and demand for oil, predicting an "80,000 bpd drop in demand growth this year, from a 640,000 bpd rise in its ​March report" according to Reuters.

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Hyunsoo Rim

American Airlines jumps on potential merger talks with United

American Airlines was trading up more than 5% in premarket on Tuesday after Bloomberg and Reuters reported that United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby had floated the idea of a possible merger with American Airlines.

According to Reuters, Kirby raised the idea during a February White House meeting with President Trump, though it remains unclear whether United has made any formal approach to American or whether any deal process is underway.

Read more

United CEO Has Pitched Possible Combination With Rival American

United CEO Has Pitched Possible Combination With Rival American

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