Dow Falls Nearly 350 Points as Walmart's Weak Sales Growth Overshadows Earnings Beat Amid Rising Yields

NEW YORK — The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 349.23 points, or 0.65%, to 53,113.82 as of 10:02 a.m. EDT Thursday, as disappointing sales guidance from retail giant Walmart, a rebound in Treasury yields and rising oil prices tied to escalating tensions with Iran combined to pressure markets in early trading.

Walmart shares tumbled nearly 6% in premarket trading despite the retailer beating Wall Street's second-quarter earnings estimates, as investors focused instead on comparable sales growth that fell short of expectations. According to data compiled by LSEG and cited by TheStreet, Walmart's quarterly U.S. same-store sales rose 2.6%, well below the 3.8% increase analysts had projected. Average ticket, or spending per transaction, grew just 1.1%, a sharp deceleration from the 3.1% increase recorded a year earlier. CNBC reported a similar shortfall relative to FactSet's consensus estimate of 3.5% comparable sales growth. Earnings per share guidance for both the fiscal third quarter and the full year also came in below expectations, according to CNBC's coverage.

Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management, offered a pointed characterization of what Walmart's soft guidance might signal about the broader health of American consumer spending. "For the consumer economy, this is like Nvidia posting a slowdown," Jacobsen told Reuters. "Walmart has been winning the trade-down trade, but that tailwind may be fading."

Thursday's declines extended a choppy stretch for U.S. equities that has been dominated by a tug-of-war in the bond market over the past several sessions. Treasury yields advanced Thursday, reversing the decline seen a day earlier after the Treasury Department announced plans to at least double its repurchases of 10-year, 20-year and 30-year government debt over the coming months, a move aimed at easing pressure on longer-dated bonds following a spike in the 30-year Treasury yield to its highest level in nearly two decades earlier in the week. Wednesday's rally, driven by that buyback announcement alongside a dramatic surge in Moderna shares following positive cancer vaccine trial results, had briefly snapped a three-day losing streak across the major indexes, with the Dow and S&P 500 each closing up roughly 0.2% that session.

Rising oil prices added further pressure to Thursday's trading, fueled by escalating tensions between the United States and Iran following the expiration of a 60-day negotiating window earlier in the week. Continued attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and broader uncertainty over the conflict's trajectory have kept crude prices elevated, a dynamic that has weighed on broader market sentiment throughout the week even as individual stock-specific catalysts have periodically driven sharp counter-moves in either direction.

SpaceX shares fell 1.61% to $137.40 ahead of Thursday's opening bell as the aerospace and artificial intelligence company's second major post-IPO insider share unlock took effect, with up to 319 million restricted shares becoming eligible for sale, according to TheStreet.

Alibaba's U.S.-listed shares fell nearly 3% Thursday after the Chinese technology giant reported a 75% drop in profits for its June quarter, a decline the company attributed to a sharp jump in spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure, according to CNBC.

Not every sector faced pressure Thursday. Cryptocurrency-related stocks moved higher, extending a rally in Bitcoin and ether tied to President Donald Trump's continued push for Congress to pass crypto-friendly legislation. Coinbase and Mara Holdings each rose 6%, Strategy jumped roughly 10%, Circle Internet gained 5%, and American Bitcoin climbed nearly 7%, according to CNBC's tracking of premarket movers.

Looking ahead to the coming week, investors are turning their attention to Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh's upcoming speech at the Jackson Hole economic symposium. According to commentary from market strategist Hathorn cited by TheStreet, that speech represents "the next major test" for markets, with investors looking for clues on "whether the hawkish discussion revealed in the minutes translates into his own policy message, and whether he offers greater detail on his broader plans for the Fed." The Fed's meeting minutes, released Wednesday afternoon, showed several Federal Open Market Committee members had favored raising interest rates at the central bank's most recent policy meeting, with some officials suggesting further rate increases could become necessary if inflation fails to moderate, according to Yahoo Finance's coverage of the minutes.

Thursday's economic calendar also includes the Conference Board's Leading Economic Indicators reading for July, alongside earnings from a broad slate of companies including Walmart, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, agricultural equipment maker Deere, Chinese internet company NetEase and off-price retailer Ross Stores, according to Charles Schwab's investor calendar.

The broader retail earnings picture heading into Thursday had shown some more encouraging signs a day earlier, with Target posting solid results and President Trump delaying planned tariffs against Canada, developments that had helped lift major indexes during Wednesday's session even amid the ongoing bond market volatility, according to Schwab's market commentary.

Full-year 2026 earnings growth estimates for the S&P 500 now exceed 30%, according to FXEmpire's market analysis, with upward revisions broad-based across technology, commodity-related and economically sensitive sectors, and all sectors expected to post positive earnings growth for the year. That broader earnings optimism has provided a degree of underlying support for markets even as individual sessions, including Thursday's, have shown significant volatility tied to specific company results and macroeconomic developments.

With Walmart's disappointing guidance adding to a mixed picture painted by this week's retail earnings season, alongside continued uncertainty in both the bond market and the geopolitical situation surrounding Iran, investors are likely to remain focused in the coming days on how the combination of consumer spending trends, Federal Reserve commentary and oil price volatility shapes market direction heading into next week's Jackson Hole symposium, an event that has historically served as a significant venue for signaling shifts in U.S. monetary policy.