Stock Market Today: Dow Flirts With 40K on Walmart Earnings

closeup of Walmart sign on shopping cart in parking lot — (Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Stocks were choppy Thursday coming off Wednesday's record-setting session. A steady stream of headlines gave investors plenty to consider – including the Dow Jones Industrial Average's first-ever foray atop the psychologically significant 40,000 mark. The 30-stock index didn't stay there for long, but it certainly sparked excitement across Wall Street.

A positive earnings reaction for blue chip retail giant Walmart (WMT, +7.0) helped to boost the Dow above 40k in mid-morning trading. Not only did the company beat on the top and bottom lines thanks to a 22% year-over-year surge in e-commerce sales, but it also said it expects full-year results to be at the high end or slightly above its previous guidance.

"We've got customers that are coming to us more frequently than they have before and newer customers that we haven't traditionally had, and they're coming into a Walmart whether it's a virtual store online, or whether it's one of our physical stores," John David Rainey, chief financial officer of Walmart, said in an interview with CNBC.

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Deutsche Bank analyst Krisztina Katai (Buy) was upbeat heading into Walmart's Q1 print even amid "a volatile consumer spending backdrop" and "increased concerns on the health of the low-end consumer."

Katai thinks Walmart's recent share gains are sustainable given its "very strong pricing position" and "incremental rollback activity." The analyst also believes WMT's "premium private label push will help drive volume and retain higher income households."

Cisco slumps after earnings

At the other end of the roster was Cisco Systems (CSCO), which slumped 2.7% – making it the worst Dow Jones stock today.

While the networking equipment specialist's fiscal third-quarter results beat estimates and it raised its full-year revenue forecast, CSCO narrowed its earnings per share guidance for fiscal 2025.

The cut to the top end of its full-year earnings guidance is "frustrating," says UBS Global Research analyst David Vogt (Neutral, the equivalent of Hold). However, the analyst feels "green shoots in data center switching" and revenue brought in by potential artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives could "limit downside in the shares" going forward.

Chubb booms after Berkshire builds a stake

Chubb (CB) was a notable gainer on news Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B, +0.1%) has built a stake in the property and casualty insurance firm.

The holding company initiated a stake back in Q3 2023, but requested confidential treatment from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to keep investors from buying the financial stock and bidding up its share price. Indeed, CB climbed 4.7% today after being revealed as Buffett's "mystery stock."

On the sell side of Berkshire's ledger, Buffett & Co. reduced its stakes in Apple (AAPL, +0.1%), as we previously reported, and Chevron (CVX, -0.2%) and completely exited HP (HPQ, -X%). Here, we feature the full list of stocks Buffett bought and sold in Q1.

As for the main indexes, the Dow ended the day with a down 0.1% at 39,869, the S&P 500 shed 0.2% to 5,297, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.3% to 16,698.

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With over a decade of experience writing about the stock market, Karee Venema is the senior investing editor at Kiplinger.com. She joined the publication in April 2021 after 10 years of working as an investing writer and columnist at a local investment research firm. In her previous role, Karee focused primarily on options trading, as well as technical, fundamental and sentiment analysis.