Walmart, Target, Home Depot and Lowe’s earnings reveal how tariffs are raising costs, reshaping pricing and pressuring profits in 2025.

Walmart is reporting higher profits and sales as it pulls in shoppers seeking low prices for groceries and other essentials.

The two retail giants are capitalizing on sustained investment in their technology foundations even as they face economic headwinds.

It didn’t have to be this way. At the start of his tenure, Cornell, who the company announced yesterday will step down as CEO on February 1, was an outsider unafraid to move fast and break things. He had been CEO of a big PepsiCo unit, Michaels Stores, and Sam’s Club before that.

Target's stock is down, and Walmart's stock is up. Do you buy the stock performance winner or the loser of this matchup?

Walmart's results WMT.N on Thursday show U.S. consumers across the spectrum are still flocking to the retailer's stores despite economic headwinds, but shares dipped as the company's margins ebbed and inventory costs rose.

BofA analysts downgrade Target, saying the retailer is “underperforming peers on sales, digital growth, and investments.”

Walmart continues to gain momentum — and market share — as back-to-school shopping winds down, leaving competitors like Target struggling to keep up. Executives at both companies said they remain cautious about the all-important holiday shopping season,

Target needs a hard reset on strategy, Wall Street believes. And new CEO Michael Fiddelke may not be the person to do it.