MORNING NEWS

For the first time since 2022, Walmart shoppers filled their tanks with an average of less than 10 gallons per trip at its gas stations. “That’s an indication of stress,” said Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey in an interview. “The headline consumer is reasonably healthy, but when you look underneath, the pressure is uneven.”

Chip giant Nvidia reported record sales and income Wednesday, driven by surging demand for data-center computing and the astronomical rise of artificial-intelligence agents. Sales for the April quarter reached $81.6 billion, up 85% from the year-earlier period and beating the $78.9 billion that analysts polled by FactSet had forecast by 3.4%. Net income was $58.3 billion for the quarter, more than three times the year-earlier result and 36.5% higher than the $42.9 billion analysts had predicted. “Demand has gone parabolic,” Chief Executive Jensen Huang said in a conference call with analysts. “The reason is simple: The era of agentic AI is here.” The record-high sales were driven by growth in Nvidia’s data-center segment, especially the sale of computing hardware, which includes the company’s graphics processing units, or GPUs, as well as other chips.

Home Depot reported lower fiscal first-quarter profit and Chief Financial Officer Richard McPhail said in an interview that homeowners are continuing to pull back on large home-improvement projects due to economic uncertainty. “When we talk to our customers, they do tell us that they have concerns over uncertainty and housing affordability. They point out that fuel costs are rising, mortgage rates have risen again after falling throughout 2025, and layoffs are increasing,” McPhail said. “And as a result, they tell us they’re continuing to hold off on larger projects.” McPhail said homeowners continue to show interest in improving their home, as evidenced by strong sales in outdoor categories and paint, but that hesitation in undertaking larger projects was leading to weakness in lumber, flooring, lighting and millwork.

NextEra Energy agreed to buy Dominion Energy in a roughly $67 billion deal that would create the largest U.S. electricity producer and represent one of the biggest tie-ups of the year. The companies said Monday that they plan to combine in a mostly stock deal. NextEra is offering the equivalent of around $76 a share to Dominion shareholders, based on Friday’s closing stock prices. In addition, they will receive a one-time cash payment of $360 million once the deal closes, the companies said. Dominion Energy shares surged 12% to $68.88 shortly after the opening bell, while NextEra dropped 4% to $89.51.

LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton agreed to sell the fashion brand Marc Jacobs to WHP Global and G-III Apparel Group in a $850 million deal. The two buyers agreed to pay $425 million each to buy the brand and split ownership 50/50, according to a Thursday filing. The deal would move designer Marc Jacobs’s brand away from the company behind Louis Vuitton, Dior and Fendi after nearly three decades at LVMH. G-III, which owns Karl Lagerfeld and dozens of licenses for several other fashion brands, would manage Marc Jacobs’s operating business, including direct-to-consumer and wholesale.

AI chip maker Cerebras priced its initial public offering far above expectations on Thursday, and the shares rose 68% from there on their first day of trading on the Nasdaq. Many investors clamoring to get a piece of the IPO received fewer shares than they wanted or nothing at all, forcing them to buy stock in the open market.

Zurich started 2026 on a growth path. The group saw particular expansion in property and casualty insurance. The company benefited from further rate increases, while initiatives to boost business in specialty insurance and with middle-market clients bore fruit. In the property and casualty segment, Zurich’s insurance revenue increased by 11 percent to $12.0 billion in the months of January through March, as the group announced on Wednesday. Meanwhile, gross premium volume jumped 17 percent to $15.6 billion. On a comparable basis, growth remained at 8 percent. In life insurance, gross premiums grew by 5 percent to $9.85 billion. On a comparable basis, however, there was a 5 percent decline.

The Italian regulatory authority AGCM has launched an investigation into the joint 5G rollout project between Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM) and Swisscom subsidiary Fastweb. The investigation aims to determine whether the collaboration impairs competition, according to the authority’s weekly bulletin released on Monday. TIM and Fastweb announced their collaboration on the 5G rollout earlier this year.

ABB announced today that it is investing around $200 million in its medium-voltage manufacturing capabilities across Europe over the next three years to expand production capacity, accelerate the transition to next-generation technologies for power distribution and strengthen supply for customers that are modernizing their power infrastructure. This includes utilities, industry, and rapidly growing data center markets. According to the International Energy Agency, electricity's share of final energy consumption is expected to rise from around 20 percent today to nearly 30 percent by 2030, highlighting the urgency and scale of grid expansion. This program builds on recent investments in ABB's UK and Hungary operations.

Airbnb raised its full-year outlook, as strong global travel demand helped offset an influx in cancellations around the Iran war. The short-term rental company said it now anticipates annual sales will increase by a low- to midteen percentage.