Economy

Shoppers are still flocking to Walmart. The company raised its full-year earnings and sales outlook Thursday, heading into the crucial holiday shopping season. Walmart also offered fresh signs that it is shedding its original identity as a strictly down-market brick-and-mortar operation by growing its e-commerce business and increasing its market share of higher-income shoppers. Walmart’s

The United States added 119,000 jobs in September, a stronger-than-expected figure and a sign that the economy was adding jobs at a healthy clip before government shutdown. But the details of the report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics paint a more mixed picture, that of a labor market that has recently begun to look

U.S. stock markets were poised for lift off Thursday, after a strong earnings report from computer chip giant Nvidia signaled that there is still plenty of room to run in the artificial intelligence boom that has powered markets higher for much of the year. Prior to the opening bell, bets on the S&P 500 were

Walmart announced Friday that longtime CEO Doug McMillon will retire at the end of January — which came as a surprise to some given the company’s success in a rapidly evolving retail landscape. John Furner, Walmart’s U.S. CEO, will assume the role of overall CEO on Feb. 1, the company said. McMillon will continue to

More than 1,000 unionized Starbucks workers went on strike at 65 U.S. stores Thursday to protest a lack of progress in labor negotiations with the company. The strike was intended to disrupt Starbucks’ Red Cup Day, which is typically one of the company’s busiest days of the year. Since 2018, Starbucks has given out free,

U.S.-based companies announced more than 153,000 job cuts in October, the research firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported Thursday. “This is the highest total for October in over 20 years, and the highest total for a single month in the fourth quarter since 2008,’ the firm said in a news release. From January through the

Yum Brands said on Tuesday it was exploring strategic options for its Pizza Hut chain as the unit struggles to keep pace in a highly competitive fast-food industry vying for sales from a stressed consumer. “Pizza Hut‘s performance indicates the need to take additional action to help the brand realize its full value, which may

Kimberly-Clark said on Monday it will buy Tylenol maker Kenvue KVUE.N in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $48.7 billion, to create one of the biggest consumer health goods companies in the United States. Shares of Kenvue were up 18% in premarket trading, while Kimberly-Clark‘s shares were down 12.5%. Kenvue has been under a strategic

President Donald Trump’s tariffs are hitting toy giants Mattel and Hasbro as the critical holiday season nears. Still, both companies see a successful year end ahead. “This quarter, our U.S. business was again challenged by industry-wide shifts in retailer ordering patterns,” CEO Ynon Kreiz said on Mattel’s recent earnings call. “That said, consumer demand for

Target said Thursday that it is eliminating about 1,800 corporate positions in an effort to streamline decision-making and accelerate initiatives to rebuild the flagging discount retailer’s customer base. About 1,000 employees are expected to receive layoff notices next week, and the company also plans to eliminate about 800 vacant jobs, a company spokesperson said. The