Good Afternoon. On this day in 1977, NASA launched Voyager 2—more than two weeks before Voyager 1. The numbering still made sense because Voyager 1 had the faster route and would reach Jupiter and Saturn first. Thursday’s economy had the same lesson: order matters less than understanding the path.

Walmart’s sales growth slowed even as its full-year outlook improved, Deere called a bottom before farmers fully felt one, and regional factories looked ahead with unusual confidence. Markets didn’t reward every encouraging destination because they were still weighing how much time, money, and consumer stamina the trip will require.

—Rosie, Wyatt, Evan & Conor

🔥 What’s Hot: 🔥

🥶 What’s Not: 🥶

🔢 Big number: 2.6% — that’s Walmart’s U.S. comparable-sales growth excluding fuel, its slowest pace in more than six years and a reminder that a larger revenue total can still hide a more selective shopper.

Walmart sold more in the quarter, but its core U.S. growth slowed enough to challenge the idea that value retail always wins at the same pace. Customers haven’t stopped shopping; they’re making sharper choices, and the company’s broad sales base can’t fully hide that change.

The news: It’s a mixed result inside a larger business. U.S. comparable sales excluding fuel grew 2.6%, below analysts’ expectation of roughly 3.5% and the weakest showing in more than six years. Total quarterly revenue still increased 5.9% to $187.9 billion, and Walmart raised its full-year net-sales growth outlook to 4% to 5% from 3.5% to 4.5%. Drug-price declines tied partly to Medicare rules weighed on U.S. sales, while management’s decision to reinvest tariff refunds in lower prices limited hopes for a faster margin lift.

Bottom line: Walmart’s raised outlook says the year isn’t off course, but the comparable-sales miss shows households are sorting needs from wants more carefully. Suppliers can’t assume broad traffic will rescue every category, and retailers may have to keep sharing cost relief through price. Watch whether food and essentials keep carrying the basket while discretionary purchases become smaller or less frequent.

Source: Axios

Deere thinks the agricultural-equipment downturn has reached its low point, even though its largest farming segment is still shrinking. That’s an important distinction: a bottom doesn’t mean demand has recovered, only that the next comparison may be less punishing if orders and used inventory keep improving.

The news: It’s stronger execution against an uneven market. Quarterly net income rose to $1.379 billion, or $5.10 a share, from $1.289 billion, while worldwide sales and revenue increased 5% to $12.608 billion. Deere lifted its fiscal-year net-income forecast to $4.75 billion to $5.00 billion and pointed to early-order trends, better used-equipment inventories, and technology adoption as evidence that 2026 marks the cycle’s bottom. Yet production and precision-agriculture sales still fell 6%, and tariff recoveries contributed $110 million during the quarter.

Big picture: Deere’s confidence matters because equipment orders can signal farm spending before a full recovery appears in revenue. Dealers should keep clearing used machines instead of treating a cycle call as permission to rebuild inventory too fast, while farmers may gain negotiating room before demand strengthens. The real confirmation will be a broader order book that doesn’t rely on recoveries or one stronger product category.

Source: Deere

New unemployment claims fell again, keeping the labor market’s layoff signal reassuringly low. The weekly number can jump around, though, and a rise in people already receiving benefits says finding the next job hasn’t become equally easy for everyone.

The news: It’s a steady hiring environment with a small warning underneath. Initial claims declined by 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 206,000 for the week ended August 15, while the four-week average increased to 204,000. Continuing claims rose by 18,000 to 1.799 million, and the insured unemployment rate held at 1.2%. Compared with the same week last year, initial claims were lower by 27,000, so employers still aren’t cutting positions at a pace associated with a broad downturn.

What’s next: One week can’t settle the labor debate, but low initial claims give households and the Federal Reserve room to focus on wage growth and inflation rather than a sudden layoff wave. Job seekers should still plan for longer searches because continuing claims are moving differently from new filings. Watch the four-week averages together; that’ll show whether the split is noise or a slower path back into work.

Source: U.S. Department of Labor

Manufacturers in the Philadelphia Fed’s region reported their strongest current activity reading in five years, then offered an even bolder view of the next six months. The optimism isn’t the same as a national forecast, but it shows that firms see enough orders and investment need to plan beyond today’s cost pressure.

The news: It’s broad expansion with prices still elevated. The current general-activity index rose from 41.4 to 47.4, its highest level since April 2021, while the employment index climbed to 27.9, its strongest since April 2022. New orders and shipments eased but remained above their long-run nonrecession averages. The future-activity index surged to 73.6, its highest since August 1983, and the future capital-spending index reached 48.2, a 53-year high. Meanwhile, 37.5% of firms said customers had become more price sensitive since the prior quarter.

Bottom line: Strong plans aren’t useful unless customers keep accepting orders and prices, so the price-sensitivity response may be the most practical detail in the survey. Manufacturers can prepare capacity and staffing without assuming every projected sale will arrive on schedule. The next few reports need to show that orders, hiring, and capital plans are converging instead of optimism running ahead of demand.

Source: Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia

ScanSource delivered a strong hardware quarter and paired it with a deal meant to move the business further into services. The combination isn’t just about getting bigger; it’s an attempt to add cloud, cybersecurity, data-center, and AI work that can earn more than distributing equipment alone.

The news: It’s 17.3% fourth-quarter sales growth to $953.1 million, with operating income up 18.5% to $31.7 million. Gross margin slipped to 12.6% from 12.9%, which helps explain the strategic turn. ScanSource agreed to buy MicroAge for $220.5 million in cash, adding roughly 2,400 clients and more than 200 employees. Management expects the deal to add higher-margin capabilities, though its fiscal-2027 guidance excludes the acquisition and related accounting effects.

Big picture: Buying services expertise can deepen customer relationships, but it isn’t free of integration risk when hardware demand is already doing well. Partners should watch whether ScanSource keeps vendor and client momentum while combining teams, and shareholders should separate organic margin progress from acquired revenue. The deal works if recurring, advisory, and managed-service income becomes a larger share without weakening cash generation.

Source: ScanSource

Alibaba’s AI business grew quickly, but the infrastructure needed to support it took a much larger bite from profit. The company isn’t lacking demand for computing; it’s testing whether that demand can become durable earnings before the investment bill keeps outrunning the revenue.

The news: It’s a quarter where growth and cost moved in opposite directions. Revenue increased 9% to nearly 269 billion yuan, while AI cloud and computing revenue climbed 45% to 48.4 billion yuan. Profit fell 75% to 10.5 billion yuan from 43.1 billion yuan, and capital spending jumped 75% to 67.7 billion yuan, or about $10 billion. Those outlays are building capacity for customer demand, but they’re also making near-term profitability a less useful measure of how fast the AI business is expanding.

What’s next: Alibaba can’t earn full credit for AI growth until customers, utilization, and pricing cover a larger share of the infrastructure bill. Businesses using its cloud should watch service quality and contract economics as capacity expands, while investors need evidence that each new yuan of spending supports repeatable revenue. The next milestone isn’t another growth percentage; it’s operating leverage that survives heavy investment.

Source: Associated Press

NetEase’s established and newer games lifted revenue while gross profit grew faster than operating expenses. That balance matters in an industry where a successful launch can fade quickly: the quarter suggests the company isn’t buying growth with an equal rise in overhead.

The news: It’s 30.1 billion yuan of quarterly revenue, up 7.9%, with games and related services contributing 25.0 billion yuan, up 9.7%. Gross profit increased 17.5% to 21.2 billion yuan, while operating expenses rose just 1.5% to 9.1 billion yuan. Lower revenue-sharing costs helped game margins, but shareholder profit fell to 7.0 billion yuan from 8.6 billion yuan and research spending increased as NetEase supported live titles and its development pipeline.

Bottom line: A games publisher can’t depend on one launch, so the gap between revenue growth and expense growth is more encouraging than a single title’s popularity. Players should expect continued investment in updates and new releases, while the company needs its global pipeline to diversify results without inflating development costs. Watch whether older games hold engagement as new titles absorb marketing and research dollars.

Source: NetEase

Canada and the United States moved closer to preventing a new tariff shock, but the emerging agreement still lacked enough public detail for businesses to plan around it. A handshake can pause a deadline; it can’t tell an importer what rate, rule, or product list will apply next week.

The news: It’s an unfinished agreement aimed at avoiding 50% U.S. tariffs on roughly $20 billion of Canadian exports. The duties were postponed until 12:01 a.m. Saturday, buying negotiators time to finish the documents. Ottawa says the framework would preserve core dairy protections and jobs, while Washington has pushed for better access for U.S. alcohol, vehicles, and cheese. Canadian provinces are considering whether to return American alcohol to government-run store shelves, yet Quebec remained cautious while it assessed the potential impact.

Big picture: The pause reduces immediate disruption, but companies can’t change sourcing, inventory, or pricing from political summaries alone. Exporters should map exposure under both outcomes until tariff schedules and effective dates are public. The lasting test isn’t whether leaders call the deal fair; it’s whether the final language gives North American businesses enough stability to make contracts and investments without another weekend deadline.

Source: Associated Press

Q: Why’d the shopping cart try to get more credit?

A: It’d kept getting pushed past its limit.

the number of months of essential expenses a household could cover with readily available savings.

In a sentence: Walmart’s slower comparable sales don’t prove household buffers are gone, but they’re a reason to check whether your emergency fund ratio still fits today’s bills.

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