Walmart beats the Street

Walmart sales beat expectations as cash-strapped customers seek deals, mortgage rates jump to a 21-year high, and more [View this email in your browser]( [What makes a subscription to The Week so valuable now? Click the banner]( [The Week]( Daily business briefing 1. [Walmart sales beat expectations as shoppers seek bargains]( Walmart on Thursday reported second quarter sales and earnings that exceeded analysts' expectations, thanks to shoppers seeking bargains. Walmart posted quarterly sales of $161.6 billion, beating analysts' estimates of $160.2 billion, according to FactSet. Its earnings were $1.84 per share, topping consensus estimates of $1.71 a share. Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said the discount big-box retailer got a boost from shoppers trying to stretch their budgets as higher interest rates, rising gas prices and the resumption of student loan payments left them short of cash. Walmart also raised its full-year profit outlook by roughly 2%, sending its stock price up about 1% to a near-record $160. [[Forbes]( [Share to Facebook]( [Share to Twitter]( [Share via email](mailto:?Subject=Walmart sales beat expectations as shoppers seek bargains&body=Read the story here utm_campaign=business_briefing_newsletter_20230818&utm_source=business_briefing_newsletter) Advertisement from BetterHelp [Get 25% off your first month of therapy with BetterHelp]( 2. [Mortgage rates surge to a 21-year high]( Mortgage rates jumped above 7% to a 21-year high this week, the latest fallout from the Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes to fight inflation. The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage reached 7.09%, up from 6.96% last week, Freddie Mac said on Thursday. The rate on the 30-year mortgage — the most popular U.S. home loan — was 5.13% a year ago. Rising mortgage rates are putting homes out of reach for an increasing number of would-be buyers. Sales of existing homes fell nearly 19% in June compared to a year earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors. "The new reality has jolted the housing market," said Jeff Ostrowski, an analyst at the personal finance company Bankrate. [[The New York Times]( [Share to Facebook]( [Share to Twitter]( [Share via email](mailto:?Subject=Mortgage rates surge to a 21-year high&body=Read the story here utm_campaign=business_briefing_newsletter_20230818&utm_source=business_briefing_newsletter) 3. [China Evergrande files for bankruptcy protection in US]( Giant property developer China Evergrande filed for bankruptcy protection in New York on Thursday as it continues to struggle with massive debts. The Chinese company defaulted on its debt in 2021, triggering the defaults of multiple smaller developers. Country Garden, another big developer, has missed payments to lenders it owes $200 billion, and could face default, too. Evergrande's meltdown came after Beijing cracked down on speculation in the housing sector and excessive borrowing. The company's crash marked the start of the decline of China's real estate sector, which is weakening the world's No. 2 economy. As of last year, Evergrande, which has some assets in the United States, had $335 billion in liabilities. [[The Guardian]( [The New York Times]( [Share to Facebook]( [Share to Twitter]( [Share via email](mailto:?Subject=China Evergrande files for bankruptcy protection in US&body=Read the story here utm_campaign=business_briefing_newsletter_20230818&utm_source=business_briefing_newsletter) 4. [Stock futures slip after another losing day]( U.S. stock futures edged lower early Friday after the three main U.S. indexes fell for the third straight day. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were down 0.1% at 6:30 a.m. ET. Nasdaq futures were down 0.3%. The S&P 500 is on track to post its third consecutive losing week, its worst losing streak since February. The tech-heavy Nasdaq is headed for its first three-week losing streak since December. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield hit its highest level since October 2022 after July Federal Reserve meeting minutes suggested the central bank might raise interest rates again due to lingering inflation concerns. "If yields continue to move like they're moving, there's going to be some ramifications for global equity markets," Private Advisor Group's Guy Adami told CNBC's "Fast Money." [[CNBC]( [Share to Facebook]( [Share to Twitter]( [Share via email](mailto:?Subject=Stock futures slip after another losing day&body=Read the story here utm_campaign=business_briefing_newsletter_20230818&utm_source=business_briefing_newsletter) Advertisement from BetterHelp [Get 25% off your first month of therapy with BetterHelp]( 5. [Bitcoin falls, touching a 2-month low]( Bitcoin fell briefly to a two-month low on Friday after losing 7.2% on Thursday, its biggest one-day drop since cryptocurrency exchange FTX collapsed in November 2022. Ether, the world's second-biggest cryptocurrency, fell on Thursday but held steady early Friday. The declines came as global markets struggled due to concerns about China's economic troubles, and the possibility that the Federal Reserve could keep interest rates higher for longer than previously expected to fight inflation as the economy remained strong. Some analysts said cryptocurrency was falling due to a Wall Street Journal report that crypto-booster Elon Musk's SpaceX had sold its bitcoin holdings. Previously, Musk's tweets about digital currency have affected prices. [[Reuters]( [Share to Facebook]( [Share to Twitter]( [Share via email](mailto:?Subject=Bitcoin falls, touching a 2-month low&body=Read the story here utm_campaign=business_briefing_newsletter_20230818&utm_source=business_briefing_newsletter) [Read more business stories at theweek.com]( [Play The Week's daily puzzles]( Popular reads [Food prices are going up. Here's how you can save.]( [Will China's slowdown pull the US into recession?]( [Meet Ken Chesebro, architect of Trump's 'fake electors' plan]( [Read more on theweek.com]( [What makes a subscription to The Week so valuable now? Click the banner]( © Future US, Inc • [theweek.com]( [Unsubscribe from this newsletter]( [Privacy Policy]( The Week is published by Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY, 10036.