Finances

Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (LOW) released its third quarter earnings report on Wednesday, November 19. The home improvement retailer reported increased sales for the quarter, causing shares to rise over 5% following the report’s release.

Lowe’s reported third quarter revenue of $20.81 billion, up 3% from $20.17 billion during the same quarter last year. Analysts expected revenue of $20.82 billion for the quarter.

“The company delivered another quarter of positive comp sales, and we are pleased to start November with positive comps as well, despite headwinds related to hurricane activity in the prior year,” said Lowe’s CEO, Marvin R. Ellison. “With the closing of the FBM acquisition last month, we look forward to enhancing our offering to Pro customers and creating more sustainable, long-term sales and profit expansion for the company.”

Lowe’s reported quarterly net earnings of $1.62 billion or $2.88 per adjusted share. This was a decrease from net earnings of $1.70 billion or $2.99 per adjusted share during the same quarter last year.

The North Carolina-based home improvement retailer reported that its comparable sales increased 0.4% during the third quarter, which was driven by an 11.4% increase in online sales and a double-digit increase in home services. At the end of the third quarter, the company had a total of 1,756 retail stores representing nearly 200 million square feet of retail selling space. Lowe’s announced a dividend of $1.20 per share, payable on February 4, 2026, to shareholders of record as of January 21, 2026.

Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (LOW) shares ended the week at $234.29, up 3% for the week.

Target Misses Revenue Mark

Target Corporation (TGT) announced its third quarter earnings report on Wednesday, November 19. The retailer reported earnings for the quarter, but had lower-than-expected revenue, which resulted in the company’s shares falling by nearly 3% following the earnings release.

Target reported quarterly revenue of $25.27 billion. This was down from revenue of $25.67 billion in the same quarter last year and missed analysts’ expectations of $25.32 billion.

“Thanks to the incredible work and dedication of the Target team, our third quarter performance was in line with our expectations, despite multiple challenges continuing to face our business,” said incoming Target CEO, Michael Fiddelke. “As we head into the all-important holiday season, our team is well-prepared and ready to serve our guests with the great products, value, and inspiration they expect from Target.”

The company reported net income of $689 million for the quarter or $1.51 per adjusted share. This was a 19% decrease from net income of $854 million or $1.85 per adjusted share reported in the same quarter last year.

Target’s total comparable sales decreased 2.7% in the quarter, resulting from a decline in comparable store sales of 3.8%, partially offset by comparable digital sales growth of 2.4%. Target’s gross margin rate slightly declined to 28.2% compared to 28.3% in the third quarter of last year. The decline was attributed to merchandising pressure from increased markdowns. Target updated its full-year sales outlook and expects to earn between $7.70 to $8.70 per adjusted share in fiscal year 2025.

Target Corporation (TGT) shares ended the week at $87.62, down 2% for the week.

TJX Posts Earnings

TJX Companies, Inc. (TJX) released its third quarter earnings report on Wednesday, November 19. The multinational off-price apparel and home accessories retailer delivered strong revenue, causing shares to rise by nearly 3% following the release.

The company reported third quarter net sales of $15.12 billion, up 7% from $14.06 billion reported during the same quarter last year. This exceeded analysts’ expectations of $14.84 billion.

“I am extremely pleased with our third quarter performance and the excellent execution of our off-price business model by our teams across the Company,” said TJX Companies CEO, Ernie Herrman. “With our outperformance in the third quarter, we are raising our sales, pretax profit margin, and earnings per share guidance for the full year. The fourth quarter is off to a strong start, the availability of merchandise continues to be outstanding, and we are excited about the deals we are seeing in the marketplace.”

For the third quarter, TJX reported net income of $1.44 billion or $1.28 per diluted share. This was up from $1.30 billion or $1.14 per diluted share reported in the same quarter last year.

The Massachusetts-based parent company of T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods reported an increase in comparable sales across all store segments, including an increase of 6% at Marmaxx and 5% at HomeGoods. During the third quarter, TJX opened 57 new stores for a total of 5,191. The company returned $1.1 billion to shareholders through share repurchases during the quarter. TJX expects diluted earnings per share to be between $1.33 to $1.36 for the fourth quarter and between $4.63 to $4.66 for the full fiscal year 2026.

TJX Companies, Inc. (TJX) shares ended the week at $151.43, up 4% for the week.

The Dow started the week of 11/17 at 47,068 and closed at 46,245 on 11/21. The S&P 500 started the week at 6.714 and closed at 6,603. The NASDAQ started the week at 22,788 and closed at 22,273.

Treasury yields varied throughout the week as investors anticipated economic data following the longest government shutdown in U.S. history and reviewed the Fed minutes which revealed a split on the rate outlook. Yields declined later in the week as markets reacted to the delayed September jobs report, which showed an uptick in the unemployment rate.

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve released minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) latest meeting, where the Fed approved a quarter-point interest rate cut to between 3.75% to 4.0%. At the meeting, policy makers were skeptical about another interest rate cut in December, noting that further reductions are likely ahead, but are not needed next month.

“Several participants assessed that a further lowering of the target range for the federal funds rate could well be appropriate in December if the economy evolved about as they expected over the coming intermeeting period,” the minutes noted. “Many participants suggested that, under their economic outlooks, it would likely be appropriate to keep the target range unchanged for the rest of the year.”

The benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield opened the week of November 17 at 4.15% and traded as low as 4.09% on Thursday. The 30-year Treasury bond opened the week at 4.75% and traded as low as 4.71% on Thursday.

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor resumed weekly publishing and reported that initial claims for unemployment dropped by 8,000 to 220,000 for the week ending November 15. This was below economists’ estimates of 230,000. Continuing claims increased by 28,000 to 1.97 million. On Thursday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its delayed September jobs report which showed the unemployment rate increased to a four-year high of 4.4% in September, an increase from 4.3% in August. The report also noted an increase of 119,000 non-farm jobs in September, well above economists’ forecasts of 50,000 and up from a revised 4,000 decline in August.

“September’s jobs report shows the labor market still had resilience before the shutdown, beating payroll expectations, but the picture remains muddy with August jobs revised to a job loss and the unemployment rate increasing,” wrote chief economist at Glassdoor, Daniel Zhao. “These numbers are a snapshot from two months ago and they do not reflect where we stand now in November.”

The 10-year Treasury note yield finished the week of 11/17 at 4.07%, while the 30-year Treasury note yield finished the week at 4.71%.

Freddie Mac released its latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey on Thursday, November 20. The survey showed mortgage rates have inched up but remained relatively steady over the last few weeks.

This week, the 30-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 6.26%, up from last week’s average of 6.24%. Last year at this time, the 30-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 6.84%.

The 15-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 5.54% this week, up from last week’s 5.49%. During the same week last year, the 15-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 6.02%.

“Mortgage rates have been shifting within a narrow ten-basis point range over the last month,” said Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist, Sam Khater. “This rate stability is a positive sign for both buyers and sellers, as it helps provide greater certainty in the housing market.”

Based on published national averages, the savings rate was 0.40% as of 11/17. The one-year CD averaged 1.64%.