Second quarter earnings season is coming to a close, and with nearly all of the reports in, the results have been mostly positive.
As of Aug. 29, 98% of S&P 500 index companies have reported results, according to FactSet data, and analysts now expect S&P 500 companies to report an 11.9% jump in earnings per share during the second quarter.
Companies had lower expectations to clear coming into the quarter — analysts expected S&P 500 earnings to rise 5% in Q2, the slowest pace of earnings growth since Q4 2023 — amid President Trump’s tariffs, stocks’ lofty valuations, and uncertainty about the health of the US economy.
In the wings next week will be updates from Zscaler (ZS), Nebius Group (NBIS), NIO (NIO), Salesforce (CRM), Figma (FIG), Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (HPE), Dollar Tree (DLTR), The Campbell’s Company (CPB), Macy’s (M), C3.ai (AI), American Eagle Outfitters (AEO), Broadcom (AVGO), Copart (CPRT), lululemon (LULU), DocuSign (DOCU), and ABM Industries (ABM).
Meanwhile, investors will continue to mull over recent reports, in particular Nvidia’s (NVDA) earnings, which highlighted the week. The $4 trillion company’s stock fell 2% for the week after investors weighed a miss in data center revenue with what CEO Jensen Huang said was “extraordinary” demand for Blackwell chips.
Other companies reported too, including PDD Holdings (PDD), Alibaba (BABA), Okta (OKTA), Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF), CrowdStrike (CRWD), Five Below (FIVE), HP (HP), Kohl’s (KSS), Snowflake (SNOW), J.M. Smucker (SJM), Urban Outfitters (URBN), Affirm (AFRM), Best Buy (BBY), Bath & Body Works (BBWI), Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS), Dell (DELL), Dollar General (DG), Gap (GAP), Petco (WOOF), Wolfspeed (WOLF), Bank of Montreal (BMO), MongoDB (MDB), and Ulta (ULTA).
Here are the latest updates from corporate America.
LIVE 311 updates
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Reuters reports:
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We’re entering the final stretch of the second quarter earnings season.
According to FactSet, 98% of S&P 500 companies have reported results so far. Of those companies, 81% have reported a positive earnings surprise, and the same amount reported a positive revenue surprise.
Analysts now expect an 11.9% earnings growth rate for the quarter, compared to the roughly 5% earnings growth rate predicted in June.
There are still some big names to watch in the week ahead. Here’s your earnings calendar for the first week of September:
Monday: US markets closed for Labor Day. No notable releases.
Tuesday: Zscaler (ZS), Nebius Group (NBIS), NIO (NIO)
Wednesday: Salesforce (CRM), Figma (FIG), Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (HPE), Dollar Tree (DLTR), The Campbell’s Company (CPB), Macy’s (M), C3.ai (AI), American Eagle Outfitters (AEO)
Thursday: Broadcom (AVGO), Copart (CPRT), Lululemon (LULU), DocuSign (DOCU)
Friday: ABM Industries (ABM)
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Ulta Beauty (ULTA) gained 3% in premarket trading after the beauty retailer raised its annual sales and profit forecast on Thursday. Ulta saw steady demand in all categories, highlighting makeup and skincare’s resilience even as consumers pull back on other discretionary purchases.
Reuters reports:
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Reuters reports:
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Affirm (AFRM) achieved operating income profitability in its fiscal fourth quarter, the company reported, and it beat earnings and revenue estimates by a wide margin.
Affirm stock jumped nearly 10% in after-hours trading Thursday.
Revenue grew 33% year over year, coming in at $876 million, above estimates for $837 million, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Earnings per share of $0.20 beat estimates for $0.11 per share and swung to a profit from a $0.14 loss per share during the same quarter last year.
The company said its credit card saw momentum, with active cardholders increasing 97% to 2.3 million.
Affirm CEO Max Levchin devoted a portion of his letter to shareholders discussing artificial intelligence, saying that the company is still early in its AI journey.
“We think of AI in three distinct but interconnected ways: AI products we use at Affirm, AI products we build and sell, and AI as catalyst for opportunity,” Levchin wrote.
Listen to Affirm’s earnings call here.
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Yahoo Finance’s Brian Sozzi reports:
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Dell (DELL) revenue and adjusted earnings beat estimates, the company reported Thursday. While it raised its full-year forecast, its third quarter profit guidance disappointed, sending shares 4% lower after hours.
Revenue for the second quarter came in at $29.78 billion, beating estimates of $29.17 billion. Excluding items, Dell slightly beat profit estimates with adjusted earnings per share of $2.32.
Reuters reports:
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Shares of semiconductor company Marvell Technology (MRVL) dropped 8% after hours on Thursday after the company’s third quarter guidance came in a bit light.
Reuters reports:
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Best Buy (BBY) beat all of Wall Street’s key metrics, including revenue, earnings, and same-store sales growth, but maintained its full-year outlook, which slightly disappointed investors. The stock fell 4% in early trading on Thursday.
For the year, same-store sales are expected to be in a range of down 1% to up 1%. Revenue is forecast to be in the range of $41.1 billion to $41.9 billion, while adjusted earnings per share are guided to be between $6.15 and $6.30.
“The low end of the range would certainly say we’re giving lots of room for a consumer to potentially be more impacted by tariffs,” CEO Corie Barry said on a call with media, “but the reason we’re pointing to the high end is we don’t see evidence that that is going to happen.”
Wall Street expects revenue of $41.36 billion and adjusted earnings of $6.14 for the full fiscal year, per Bloomberg consensus estimates.
Barry said the company plans to lean into promotions this holiday season to ensure it’s driving demand for consumers, who have been seeking value for the last year and a half.
Read more here.
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Build-A-Bear Workshop (BBW) stock moved higher Thursday after the experiential retailer beat Wall Street’s expectations with record revenue and raised its full-year guidance.
In the second quarter, revenue grew 11.1% to a record $124.2 million, higher than the street’s expected $116 million, per Bloomberg consensus data. It delivered adjusted earnings of $0.94, more than the forecasted $0.69.
“This unprecedented start to the year is largely a result of a long-term focus on monetizing Build-A-Bear’s unique position in the marketplace, multi-generational appeal and exceptional brand recognition to scale the business with innovative initiatives across three strategic pillars,” CEO and President Sharon Price John told investors on its earnings call.
The company also raised its 2025 fiscal-year guidance.
“When considering these results were achieved in a wide variety of economic challenges and geopolitical shifts, they serve as a valuable source of confidence in our team, our brand, our plans and the company’s future,” Price John told investors, “With that in mind, while we understand a meaningful portion of the year remains and acknowledge the potential for some economic uncertainty ahead, we also believe it is appropriate to increase our 2025 guidance at this juncture.”
It now expects revenue to grow on a mid-to-high single-digit basis, up from the previously expected mid-single-digit increase.
It also plans to open more locations, now in the range of at least 50 to 60.
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Reuters reports:
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Burlington Stores expects the next several months to be “challenging” as it battles higher tariff costs.
Still, the off-price retailer raised its financial targets for the year and now sees earnings per share in a range of $9.19 to $9.59 instead of the previously forecast $8.70 to $9.30.
“The environment has become more uncertain since March, especially with regard to tariffs,” the company’s CEO, Michael O’Sullivan, said in a statement. “We anticipate that tariffs will put significant pressure on our merchandise margin, but we are confident that, as long as tariffs do not increase from current levels, we can offset this pressure elsewhere in the P&L. These offsets, together with our Q1 earnings favorability, provide a path to achieving our original guidance.”
Burlington’s Q2 results were better than expected. The retailer reported earnings per share of $1.47 on $2.7 billion in revenue. Wall Street expected earnings of $1.25 per share on revenue of $2.6 billion, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
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Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS) stock rose modestly ahead of the opening bell after the retailer beat earnings estimates and reported an upbeat outlook for the year.
Earnings per share of $4.71 beat expectations of $4.28 per share. Revenue of $3.64 billion also beat estimates for $3.60 billion.
More from Bloomberg:
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Reuters reports:
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Beijing-based automaker Li Auto (LI) missed earnings and revenue expectations in the second quarter and said it expected sales to decline in 2025, sending shares 3% lower in premarket trading.
Competitive pressure is rising in China from other electric vehicle makers, including SUV-focused ones such as AITO and Nio’s (NIO) new brand, Onvo. Chinese automakers are also contending with a broader slowdown.
Second quarter revenue declined 4.5% year over year to 30.2 billion yuan ($4.2 billion), while Wall Street expected 31.8 billion yuan ($4.4 billion).
The automaker delivered 111,074 vehicles, below its prior guidance of 123,000 to 128,000 vehicles.
For the full year, Li Auto said it expects to deliver between 90,000 and 95,000 vehicles, representing an annual decrease of 41.1% to 37.8%. Revenue is anticipated to be between RMB24.8 billion ($3.5 billion) and RMB26.2 billion ($3.7 billion), representing a year-over-year decrease of 42.1% to 38.8%.
Li Auto said it expects to deliver between 90,000 and 95,000 vehicles for the third quarter, with revenue projected at 24.8 billion yuan to 26.2 billion yuan, down 39%-42% from a year earlier.
Li Auto stock fell 3% in premarket trading.
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Dollar General (DG) raised its financial outlook for 2025 on Thursday as it benefited from consumers becoming more cost-conscious.
The dollar store chain now sees full-year profits of $5.80 to $6.30 per share, compared to its previous expectation of approximately $5.20 to $5.80 per share. It expects same-store sales to increase 2.1% to 2.6%, compared to its previous expectation of approximately 1.5% to 2.5%.
In the second quarter, Dollar General stores saw an increase in traffic as its value proposition drew wealthier customers. The company reported earnings of $1.86 per share on $10.7 billion in net sales. Both measures were well ahead of Wall Street estimates.
“Our improved execution, along with our progress advancing key initiatives, is resonating with both existing and new customers as we further enhance our value and convenience proposition,” CEO Todd Vasos said in a statement.
Dollar General stock popped 6% premarket. You can listen to its 9 a.m. ET earnings call here.
Read more here.
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One other highlight from the Nvidia earnings call on China: CEO Jensen Huang says the market could represent a $50 billion opportunity for Nvidia this year.
From the call (h/t The Transcript on Twitter):
All China-related geopolitical and regulatory caveats apply, of course!
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From the earnings call, Yahoo Finance’s Allie Canal notes some guidance upside for Nvidia — provided that there’s some certainty around regulation.
Here’s Kress from the call:
Kress later added that “there is interest” for the H20s and that “a select number of our China based customers have received licenses over the past few weeks.”
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Nvidia’s earnings call has begun. You can listen to it live here.
For more context on Nvidia’s quarter and what it means for the company, Yahoo Finance’s Daniel Howley breaks down the numbers:
Read more here
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