The latest Market Talks covering Equities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.

1122 ET - The U.S. videogame industry fall 7% in August compared with the same period a year ago, driven by a 36% decline in consumer spending on hardware, according to projections form Circana. The hardware dropoff may reflect Microsoft and Sony Group's plans to release new variations of their current generation consoles for the holiday season. However, Nintendo said in May it won't be announcing a successor to its seven-year-old Switch console until the end of March 2025. (sarah.needleman@wsj.com)

1111 ET - The rise of grocery delivery from providers including DoorDash, Instacart and Uber Eats has unlocked extra sales, known as incremental purchases, for merchants, JMP analysts say in a research note after attending a grocery industry conference in Las Vegas. For example, many consumers won't buy cough medicine because they don't want to travel to the store to get it, but delivery is opening up those kinds of incremental sales, the analysts say. DoorDash has found that it is driving 70% to 90% incrementality for its new vertical merchants, and merchants are separately highlighting incrementality when they consider adding a third-party delivery network, the analysts say. (dean.seal@wsj.com)

1030 ET - Tesla's We, Robot event left analysts at Oppenheimer wondering whether the company can leverage its data collection and manufacturing cost advantages into a dominant position in self-driving vehicles/service. The electric-vehicle manufacturer on Thursday revealed plans for a Cybercab and Robovan. "We continue to see a window of opportunity for the company and believe the platform has significant capability, but found the event underwhelming as it did not address our underlying concerns on inefficiencies in learning cycles due to single sensor focus and potential performance limitations," say the analysts. Shares tumble 7.8% to $220.07, the worst performer in the S&P 500. (denny.jacob@wsj.com; @pennedbyden)

1014 ET - Nippon Steel says it will sell its stake in an Alabama steel mill to partner ArcelorMittal, removing a potential market concentration concern for U.S. regulators reviewing Nippon Steel's pending purchase of U.S. Steel. The transfer of Nippon Steel's 50% share of the Calvert, Ala., mill is contingent on the completion of its $14.1 billion purchase of U.S. Steel. "The share transfer is the most assured path to receiving timely regulatory approval" of the U.S. Steel acquisition, says Nippon Steel. The company this summer also exited a steel rolling and galvanizing joint venture with China's Baosteel. (robert.tita@wsj.com)

1012 ET - A tour of a remodeled Walmart supercenter has analysts at Bank of America feeling more bullish about the retail giant. BofA, which already had a buy rating on Walmart shares, boosts its price objective on the stock to $95 from $85. In a research note, analysts Robert Ohmes and Kendall Toscano say Walmart's focus on value, convenience and assortment enhancements continue to support share gains across incomes and product categories. BofA also cites an outlook for positive U.S. comps (with positive traffic), omni-channel momentum, increasing contributions from high-margin ancillary businesses like digital advertising, improving long-term profitability and healthy free cash generation. Walmart up 0.1% to $79.67. (colin.kellaher@wsj.com)

1000 ET - Tesla's Cybercab and Robovan ambitions will take time but could be a major financial contributor, say analysts at Wedbush in a research note. The electric-vehicle manufacturer revealed plans for the automobiles on Thursday, part of a larger bet on the company's future with a pivot to robotics and AI while broader consumer interest in EVs has cooled. The analysts believe Cybercab and Robovan can represent up to 20% of overall profits/margin boost by the end of the decade. Investors reacted negatively. The analysts agree that CEO Elon Musk should've provided more details but disagree that the event was a disappointment. Shares decline 8.8% to $217.41. (denny.jacob@wsj.com; @pennedbyden)

0937 ET - Dollarama's entry into Mexico through Dollarcity will be a methodical one, but the profits should secure the dollar-store chain's path to long-term growth. Irene Nattel says in an RBC report that, consistent with its international expansion strategy, initial entry will begin with the launch of pilot stores early in 2026 to assess appeal and consumer demand. After which, she thinks that Dollarcity's free-cash-flow inflection should result in incremental return of capital over time thereafter. Since it owns 60.1% of Dollarcity, which the right to bring that up to 70%, Nattel says this strategic expansion of partnership to include Mexico offers a compelling opportunity for further long-term growth. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

0906 ET - JPMorgan Chase says customers are spending more on their credit cards and carrying higher balances. The biggest bank in the U.S. recorded a 6% jump in debit and credit card sales volume for 3Q. Its net interest income meanwhile rose 1% in part from higher revolving balances in its cards business. JPMorgan has increased its net reserve build to $882 million from $113 million a year ago, citing the higher balances coming amid "changes in certain macroeconomic variables." The bank's net charge-offs, a metric for likely unrecoverable debt, were up 39% in 3Q, primarily driven by the cards division. (dean.seal@wsj.com)

0811 ET - Major banks are seeing their net charge-offs, or debt that they're owed but no longer expect to recover, increase year-over-year but decrease from the prior quarter, a sign that some macro pressures may be easing. Wells Fargo reports that net loan charge-offs are up 29% year-over-year at $1.11 billion in 3Q, but that's down from $1.3 billion in 2Q. JPMorgan Chase reports net charge-offs of $2.1 billion, up $590 million year-over-year but down sequentially from $2.2 billion. Wells Fargo shares advance 3.2% and JPMorgan Chase gain 1.2% premarket. (dean.seal@wsj.com)

0744 ET - MTY Food Group's store opening momentum was blocked up due to regulatory overhangs, but management thinks this should even out in the next few months. During the 3Q, MTY opened 67 locations, and closed 108 others in its network compared with last year's 3Q when it opened 87 locations a year ago and closed 92 locations. At quarter's end MTY's network had 7,066 locations in operation. "We have opened fewer than anticipated locations in the third quarter, with multiple projects being impacted by significant delays in permitting, construction and pre-opening regulatory inspections," CEO Eric Lefebvre says. Despite this, he says there's a strong pipeline and he expects to "back to better opening results in the coming quarters." (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

0730 ET - Wells Fargo reports that investment advisory fees and brokerage commissions jumped 11% in 3Q as brokerage transactions increased and higher market valuations translated to higher asset-based fees. The bank's deposit and lending-related fees were up 8%, with support from higher treasury management fees. Net gains from Wells Fargo's trading activity climbed 14%, mostly from fixed income asset classes that offset lower revenue from equities. The investment banking division meanwhile boosted fees by 37% from stronger debt underwriting, which offset lower advisory fee income. Overall, the bank's noninterest income was up 12% year-over-year. Shares rise 3.2% to $59.63 premarket. (dean.seal@wsj.com)

0727 ET - France's proposed corporate tax increase could have an around 3% impact on the CAC 40's corporate earnings for 2024, Morgan Stanley says in a note after the Prime Minister outlined a draft budget pointing to a temporary surcharge for companies making more than 1 billion euros. The measure was already reported in the press but the new piece of information is that the initial year's tax surcharge would be based on 2024's earnings, analysts write. "Stock-level impacts range from immaterial to >10% of 2024 estimated earnings, with the highest French sector impacts to [aerospace and defense], food retail, luxury, transport, and construction," they calculate. The blue chip index's free-float market-cap-weighted revenue exposure to domestic France is only 14.2%, they add. (elena.vardon@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 11, 2024 11:23 ET (15:23 GMT)

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