Raphael Stevens

Hertz will start selling pre-owned cars on Amazon Autos, a move meant to bolster the car rental company’s retail operations as it looks to bring in more profits.
Customers who live within 75 miles of four major cities — Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles and Seattle — can start browsing for Hertz cars on Amazon as soon as Wednesday.
Hertz said it sells hundreds of thousands of vehicles per year, in addition to running its signature car rental business.

Hertz sells hundreds of thousands of vehicles per year, in addition to running its signature car rental business.
Courtesy of Hertz

Hertz on Wednesday announced it will start selling pre-owned vehicles on Amazon Autos, a move meant to bolster the car rental company’s retail operations as it looks to bring in more profits.
Shares of Hertz soared in premarket trading Wednesday.

Under the partnership, customers can browse from thousands of used Hertz vehicles on Amazon Autos, e-sign the paperwork, complete their purchase online and pick up their vehicle at Hertz locations.
Customers who live within 75 miles of the four initial cities — Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles and Seattle — can start browsing on Amazon as soon as Wednesday, and Hertz eventually plans to expand the arrangement to 45 locations nationwide.
The partnership gives Hertz, known for its car rentals, more visibility and a potential profit boost for its car sales business.
It also marks an expansion for Amazon’s nascent autos business, which it launched in December through a partnership with Hyundai. Before that, shoppers could browse digital showrooms and compare prices on Amazon, but not purchase cars directly through the e-commerce giant.
Amazon Autos added used and certified pre-owned vehicles to its selection of offerings earlier this month starting in Los Angeles, after previously selling exclusively new vehicles. Hertz Car Sales is Amazon Autos’ first fleet dealer and will offer used vehicles from brands including Ford, Toyota, Chevrolet and Nissan.

Hertz said it sells hundreds of thousands of vehicles per year, in addition to running its signature car rental business.
“Our goal is to reimagine the car-buying experience and meet customers where they are — whether online or in person — with convenience, confidence and scale,” said Jeff Adams, executive vice president of Hertz Car Sales. “Amazon Autos is the ideal partner to help us deliver on this as customers can shop our expansive inventory of high-quality used cars on the same trusted marketplace where millions shop every day.”
The partnership with Amazon Autos is aimed at expanding Hertz’s digital retail presence and making its used vehicle inventory more accessible to customers. It’s part of a larger strategy that Hertz set out earlier this year, led by CEO Gil West, to boost its retail business by increasing its retail footprint, raising awareness of the Hertz Car Sales brand and building strategic partnerships.
After entering bankruptcy during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and dealing with a failed EV strategy shortly after that, Hertz last year introduced its “Back-to-Basics Roadmap” turnaround plan. The focus is on fleet management, revenue optimization and cost efficiency.
Hertz said the first quarter of this year marked its strongest-ever quarter for retail vehicle sales.
During the company’s Aug. 7 earnings call, West said Hertz has seen strong momentum in its Rent2Buy program, which allows customers to take a used car home for a three-day rental period before committing to buying it. Hertz announced last week that the program is set to reach over 100 cities.
— CNBC’s Annie Palmer contributed to this report. More

The Food and Drug Administration approved the first-ever glucose monitoring system specifically for weight loss from the startup Signos, a new option for Americans to manage their weight. 
Any patient can now purchase a Signos membership to access its system, which uses an AI platform and an off-the-shelf continuous glucose monitor, or CGM, from Dexcom to offer personalized, real-time data and lifestyle recommendations for healthy weight management. 
The system can be used in combination with or after other existing weight loss treatments such as GLP-1s or bariatric surgery.

Woman with Signos wearable and app
Source: Signos

The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved the first-ever glucose monitoring system specifically for weight loss from the startup Signos, establishing a new option for Americans to manage their weight. 
Current treatment options for losing weight – popular drugs like GLP-1s and surgical interventions – are typically limited to patients with obesity or a certain BMI. Obesity drugs such as Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound can also be difficult to access due to their high costs, limited U.S. insurance coverage and constrained supply.

But now, any patient can purchase a Signos membership to access its system. It uses an AI platform and an off-the-shelf continuous glucose monitor, or CGM, from Dexcom to offer personalized, real-time data and lifestyle recommendations for weight management. 
“There is now a solution that everybody can use to help on the weight loss journey, and you don’t have to be a certain number of pounds to use it. It’s available for the average American who needs it,” said Sharam Fouladgar-Mercer, Signos’ co-founder and CEO, in an interview on Tuesday ahead of the approval. “The average person might have five pounds to lose, or others might have 100 pounds to lose. We are here to help them at any point in that journey.”
The obesity epidemic costs the U.S. health-care system more than $170 billion a year, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. Almost 74% of Americans are overweight or obese, government data says. Signos hopes it can make a “real big dent in that curve for the betterment of many of us,” Fouladgar-Mercer said. 
Customers who sign up for Signos can choose a three-month or six-month plan, which currently costs $139 and $129, respectively. The company will ship out all of the CGMs a patient needs for the number of months in the plan they choose.  
Insurers currently don’t cover the system for weight management, but the plans are a fraction of the roughly $1,000 monthly price of GLP-1s in the U.S. Signos is working with health insurance companies and employers to get coverage for the system, the company said in a statement to CNBC. Signos said it expects “this to evolve quickly as interest for tackling weight continued to expand.”

The Signos system can be used in combination with GLP-1s or bariatric surgery, said Fouladgar-Mercer. He said patients can also use the system after getting off a GLP-1 to maintain their weight loss. 
CGMs are small sensors worn on the upper arm that track glucose levels, mainly for people with diabetes. That data is wirelessly sent to Signos’ app, which also allows patients to log their food intake and exercise levels, among other information that the AI platform uses to make recommendations. 
Apart from helping people lose pounds, the system aims to help users understand how their bodies respond to specific foods and exercise patterns and make the right behavioral changes to manage and maintain their weight in the long term. 
Signos did not share how many patients are currently using its glucose monitoring system, but Fouladgar-Mercer said tens of thousands of people have already tried it over time. He said Signos has scaled up its CGM inventory and software capacity to “handle a pretty massive scale” following the approval. More

Restaurant and coffee chains like McDonald’s, Dunkin’, Dutch Bros and Starbucks are leaning into beverage innovation in a crowded market for consumers.
The companies are adding new drinks to their menus as they look for a sales boost.
Gen Z customers, in particular, are looking for newer and buzzier beverages.

If it feels like there are a lot of new drinks on restaurant menus, it’s because there are.
Driven by younger consumers who crave customized, cold beverages, chains from Dunkin’ to Dutch Bros, Starbucks and McDonald’s are answering the call.

The number of beverages offered by the top 500 chains has increased by more than 9% in the last year, according to Technomic’s 2025 Away-From-Home Beverage Navigator Report. Companies have leaned even more into cold drinks. Offerings like specialty coffees and energy drinks have seen the most growth on menus over the past two years, as hot coffee and tea beverages on menus decline, the market researcher reported in July.
What’s more, consumers are increasingly heading to a chain simply to get an iced coffee or soda. Last year, the primary driver for beverage sales was “getting a pick-me-up,” as 22% said that was their most common reason for going, up from 20% in 2023, the data found. Meanwhile, 20% said they bought a beverage to “wash down food.” The two occasions for a purchase switched places from the previous year.
“This shift suggests that consumers may be moving toward more beverage-specific occasions, where beverages are the main driver of the foodservice purchase rather than an add-on to go alongside food. This aligns with the influx of beverage-forward concepts in recent years,” the report said.

An employee delivers a drink to a customer outside a Dutch Bros. Coffee location in Beaverton, Oregon, U.S.
Maranie Staab | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Higher drink sales are key for major players as they seek to reverse slumps in a tough consumer environment. McDonald’s U.S. restaurants saw same-store sales growth of 2.5% in its second fiscal quarter, reversing two straight quarters of domestic declines as it leaned into buzzy partnerships and value offerings. But executives cautioned low-income consumers remain challenged. While Starbucks also saw better than expected U.S. sales, they still fell 2% from the prior-year period.
Trying to capitalize on the desire for buzzy new drinks will bring its own challenges. Technomic forecasts beverage volume will grow 1% through 2029, but the group said it will likely revise that outlook lower. Customers are also more price sensitive, with 61% of consumers who said they noticed price hikes saying they order beverages less often.

What Gen Z wants

The success of many new beverage lines will hinge on Gen Z consumers, who have flocked to customized and sugary drinks.
Dunkin’ saw its colorful and sweet Refreshers platform hit new record highs in the most recent quarter, with unit sales up more than 30% year-on-year. It will release its fall menu later this week and lean further into what Gen Z consumers are seeking.
The rollout will feature an expansion of pop star Sabrina Carpenter’s Daydream Refresher lineup into Mango and Mixed Berry, along with a Cereal N’ Milk Latte, featuring a blend of espresso and real cereal milk that delivers a “nostalgic marshmallow cereal flavor.”
The curation of drinks is key for customers — and Gen Z consumers in particular, Dunkin’ Chief Marketing Officer Jill Nelson told CNBC. It has to feel unique and special in this environment.
“On the product side, it’s overwhelmingly about cold beverages, customization and bold flavor,” Nelson said.
“And then on the promotion side … when we think about Gen Z, this is a generation that grew up on sneaker drops and stories that disappear in 24 hours. So it’s all about how do you create new news and interesting flavor combinations that you can’t really recreate easily at home and feel like you’re in the know when you go to the drive through and order them,” she said, adding that the company prioritizes speed and accuracy as customers ask for more customization.
The competition will heat up next month as McDonald’s enters the beverage category in a more meaningful way. On Sept. 2, McDonald’s will launch an expanded market test in 500 restaurants across Wisconsin and Colorado of new drinks that include a “Creamy Vanilla Cold Brew” and “Toasted Vanilla Frappe.”

A worker hands a drink to a customer at a McDonald’s restaurant in Martinez, California, US, on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

In addition, the fast food giant will roll out “dirty sodas” and Strawberry Watermelon Refreshers, aimed at Gen Z consumers. McDonald’s created the lineup with learnings from its now-shuttered CosMc’s concept, which leaned heavily into customized drinks.
“We’re seeing real momentum in beverages, with more people – especially our Gen Z fans – turning to cold, flavorful drinks as a go-to treat,” said McDonald’s USA Chief Customer Experience and Marketing Officer Alyssa Buetikofer in a release.
On McDonald’s most recent earnings call, CEO Chris Kempczinski said beverages present a “big opportunity” for the brand.
“It’s growing and it’s more profitable than food. So, there’s a lot of things to like, which is why us as well as, I think, a few of our competitors are also excited about this,” Kempczinski told analysts. He added that while there are value offerings in the beverage space, you can get a lot of “full margin products” that franchisees would not have to discount.  

The protein play

The new beverage options go beyond the sweet and bold. Chains also aim to win consumers by tapping into health trends.

An iced vanilla protein latte from Starbucks.
Courtesy: Starbucks

As Starbucks continues its “Back to Starbucks” turnaround plans under CEO Brian Niccol, it is making more changes to the menu, including a late fourth-quarter launch of protein cold foam. On the company’s recent earnings call with analysts, Niccol said the item “taps into what has become one of our most popular modifiers, cold foam, which grew 23% year over year.”
“Protein Cold Foam with no added sugar is an easy way to add 15 grams of protein to virtually any cold beverage. And customers can also add the flavor of their choice,” he said.
The coffee giant said it’s seeing increases in satisfaction among younger consumers. Niccol told analysts customer value perceptions were near two-year highs in its most recent quarter, driven by gains among Gen Z and millennials, who make up over half of its customer base.
It’s betting that innovation, coupled with better customer service under its new “Green Apron Service” strategy, will help to boost business.
Coffee chain Dutch Bros has leaned into some of those beverage trends to drive strong growth. The chain has been a standout stock performer — up over 22% year-to-date — and saw its same-store sales increase more than 6% in the most recent quarter.
CEO Christine Barone said protein milk that launched in 2024 has boosted business. But more broadly, unique and surprising toppings and offerings are a way to engage in a tough competitive landscape, she added.
“I think the key with innovation is to really understand when something might be ready to pop, or something might be of high interest, and then be able to move really fast to execute on it well,” Barone told CNBC.

— CNBC’s Drew Troast contributed to this report More

More than 4 million boomers will hit 80 in the next five years, and occupancy at both active adult and assisted living communities is already rising fast.
Ventas, a senior living real estate investment trust with a $31 billion market cap, is betting big on what CEO Deb Cafaro calls the longevity economy. 
There will be just about 4,000 new senior living units developed this year and next year, but demand growth would necessitate 100,000 new beds each year through 2040, according to data from the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing and Care.

A version of this article first appeared in the CNBC Property Play newsletter with Diana Olick. Property Play covers new and evolving opportunities for the real estate investor, from individuals to venture capitalists, private equity funds, family offices, institutional investors and large public companies. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
Senior living has long been a somewhat under-the-radar real estate play, with a somewhat unappealing reputation. But it’s on the edge of a boom — a baby boom, to be exact. 

More than 4 million boomers will hit 80 in the next five years, and occupancy at both active adult and assisted living communities is already rising fast. This comes as annual inventory growth in senior housing just dropped below 1%, the first time that’s happened since the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing and Care began tracking the metric in 2006. 
Ventas, a senior living real estate investment trust with a $31 billion market cap, is betting big on what CEO Deb Cafaro calls the longevity economy. 
“We’re buying billions of dollars a year in senior living, and we’re seeing returns in the sevens going in, with low to mid-teens, unlevered IRRs [internal rates of return], so there’s significant growth in assets, and we’re buying below replacement costs,” said Cafaro, who has been at the helm of the company for over 25 years. “I’ve never seen that combination of investment characteristics in my long career in real estate, and so we’re fully taking advantage of all of that.”

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Cafaro said growth in the senior living demand pool is expected to be 28% over the next five years. She called the demand tailwinds “incredibly strong and durable.”
“Think about 2000 in the real estate investment trust business — office was over 20% of the overall REIT pie, and health care was 2%. Now when you look at the pie, office is 5%, and what is it now? It’s health care, senior living. It’s data centers. It’s cell towers. Why? Because that’s where the demand is,” she said.

Cafaro said Ventas, which purchases properties but doesn’t develop them, benefits from the deep lack of supply in the senior living sector, from active adult to assisted living to memory care facilities. 

The Sunrise of Lincoln Park senior living community, owned by Ventas, in Chicago, Illinois.
Courtesy of Ventas

“As an owner with one of the largest footprints of senior housing, of existing stock in the U.S., we’re benefited by the higher cost of development, because we have an installed base and we’re acquiring assets actually at below replacement cost, and, right now, that’s part of our strategy,” Cafaro said. “We feel really good about our base of 850 senior living communities, where occupancies are increasing. And we also feel good about the multibillions of dollars we’re investing every year in existing assets.”

Why no supply?

Aegis Living is a developer and operator of senior living facilities in Washington, California and Nevada. The massive supply-demand imbalance weighs heavily on its founder and CEO, Dwayne Clark.
“There’s a problem brewing, and the only metaphor I can think of, it’s like putting a party balloon on the end of a fire hose and watching it increase with great velocity. Velocity without being able to do anything until it pops,” Clark said.
According to NIC data, there will be just about 4,000 new senior living units developed this year and next year, but demand growth would necessitate 100,000 new beds each year through 2040.
“It’s the lowest amount of units we’ve seen since 2009, the lowest. And, again, I’ve done this for 40 years. I’ve never seen such a lack of construction starts,” Clark said.
Average rents at Aegis are around $12,000 a month, but that includes utilities, transportation, food, activities and differing levels of care. Clark said most residents are covering costs in part by using the proceeds from the sale of their homes, which have appreciated dramatically in the past five years.
Higher interest rates, he said, are the primary roadblock to new development. 
“We have six buildings waiting to get refinanced. We never, in our 28-year history, have had more than two. We’ve got six, and soon to be seven, and it’s all on floating debt. So that is a catastrophic problem for the industry. And again, we’re not catching up with the demand,” he said. 

Investor interest 

Harrison Street is an alternative real estate investment management firm with $55 billion in assets under management. Its U.S. Core Senior Housing strategy posted a more than 30% increase in same-location net operating income last year, according to a company spokesperson. Harris Street has maintained that with new supply constrained and demand durable, this could be the strongest entry point for alternative real estate investment in its 20-year history. 
“Frankly, over the course of the past 20 years, I can’t identify another period where we were more excited about the current setup within the sector,” said Mike Gordon, global CIO of Harrison Street, which invests in the independent and assisted living segments, as well as memory care. 
Gordon said severe uncertainty in the first years of the pandemic — when there were horror stories of infections and fatalities in senior living facilities — has largely been resolved. He said now more seniors are living in these communities than there were pre-Covid. 
Harrison Street acquired about 20 senior communities during 2020-2021, at the start of the pandemic, when there was virtually no liquidity in the sector. Over the past few years, growing demand and tight supply have resulted in annual average rent increase of nearly 5% across the sector and high single digits in certain markets, according to Harrison Street. 
Despite high interest rates overall, Gordon said private investors have new interest in the sector, thanks to that strong rent growth.
“What we’re seeing right now is a real quick return of liquidity into the sector,” Gordon said. More

The Duffer Brothers signed an exclusive four-year agreement with Paramount Skydance for feature films, television and streaming projects.
The creative team of Matt and Ross Duffer is best known for creating Netflix’s “Stranger Things.”
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer attend “Stranger Things” and Award Presentation To The Duffer Brothers (Variety Showrunner Award) during Day 1 of the 13th SCAD TVfest on February 05, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Paras Griffin | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images

The masterminds behind the hit Netflix series “Stranger Things” have inked a new deal.
The Duffer Brothers, the creative team of Matt and Ross Duffer, signed an exclusive four-year agreement with Paramount, newly merged with Skydance, for feature films, television and streaming projects.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The Duffer Brothers’ contract with Netflix ends in April 2026. Upon that closure, Upside Down Pictures, led by the brothers and producing partner Hilary Leavitt, will begin developing projects for Paramount Pictures, Paramount Television and Paramount direct-to-consumer.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled to be joining the Paramount family,” Matt and Ross Duffer said in a joint statement Tuesday, adding that “bringing bold, original films to the big screen … is not just exciting – it’s the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.”
The Duffer Brothers are best known for “Stranger Things,” a sci-fi horror series which is set to stream its fifth and final season on Netflix later this fall. The pair also wrote and directed the 2015 psychological thriller film “Hidden” and were involved in the production of “Wayward Pines,” which ran on Fox for two seasons starting in 2015.
The pair has two projects in the works for Netflix — “Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen” and “The Boroughs” — and plans to build out the “Stranger Things” franchise. The brothers said they will remain involved with Netflix for those projects.
The deal with the Duffer Brothers comes shortly after Paramount officially merged with Skydance. Chairman and CEO David Ellison said in an open letter earlier this month that the company would invest in “high-quality storytelling and cutting-edge technology” to help “define the next era of entertainment.” More

Sports Media

Robinhood announced Tuesday that the online broker is launching prediction markets for professional and college football.
The prediction markets will be available to customers “in the coming days,” the company said.
The move comes as Robinhood is aggressively expanding its prediction markets, which have seen more than two billion contracts traded since its launch.

The logo of Robinhood Markets is seen at a pop-up event on Wall Street after the company’s initial public offering in New York City on July 29, 2021.
Andrew Kelly | Reuters

Robinhood announced Tuesday that the online broker is launching new prediction markets for professional and college-level football.
Customers will now be able to trade on the outcomes of “the most popular” NFL and college football games on the Robinhood app. Robinhood said those games would include regular-season pro matchups and all college Power Four schools games.

The prediction markets are currently rolling out, according to Robinhood, and will be available to customers “in the coming days,” with plans to launch the first two weeks of the regular football seasons and eventually add weekly matchups.
“Adding pro and college football to our prediction markets hub is a no-brainer for us as we aim to make Robinhood a one-stop shop for all your investing and trading needs,” Robinhood Vice President of Futures and International JB Mackenzie said in a statement.

Jayden Daniels, #5 of the Washington Commanders, celebrates after rushing for a touchdown in the first quarter against the Cincinnati Bengals during the NFL preseason game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Washington Commanders at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland, on Aug. 18, 2025.
Greg Fiume | Getty Images

The new move comes as Robinhood is aggressively expanding its prediction markets and wades deeper into the sports wagering arena. On its second-quarter earnings call last month, Chief Financial Officer Jason Warnick said the company is seeing its strongest engagement in sports wagers, with CEO Vlad Tenev adding that the company sees “a big opportunity” in sports betting.
The broker added that the football prediction markets will differ from sports betting, allowing buyers and sellers to engage with one another to set the price. Robinhood said it expects the football prediction markets to be tradeable everyday between 8 a.m. ET and 3 a.m. ET.
Since first unveiling its prediction markets at the end of last year, Robinhood said it has seen more than two billion contracts traded.
The stock is up more than 400% during the one-year period.

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Shares of Viking Therapeutics fell 40% on Tuesday after the company released midstage trial data on its obesity pill that disappointed investors. 
While the weight loss caused by Viking’s pill was roughly comparable to that of other oral drugs, the side effects and discontinuation rates appeared to rattle Wall Street.
The results could reinforce the dominance of Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk in the space, especially as they develop pills for weight loss that could enter the market years ahead of the tablet formulation of Viking’s drug, VK2735.

Cheng Xin | Getty Images

Shares of Viking Therapeutics plunged Tuesday after the company released midstage trial data on its obesity pill that disappointed investors. 
The biotech company’s stock price dropped to about $23.80 as of Tuesday morning, from $42.09 at Monday’s close, a roughly 43% plunge. Viking’s market cap now sits at about $2.69 billion, down from more than $4 billion on Monday.

The results could be a blow to Viking, which was once seen as a hot M&A target as pharmaceutical companies scramble to join the booming market for obesity and diabetes drugs. It could reinforce the dominance of Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk in the space, especially as they develop pills for weight loss that could enter the market years ahead of the tablet formulation of Viking’s drug, VK2735. 
Jared Holz, Mizuho health care equity strategist, said in an email Tuesday that the data “probably shutters hope for [Viking] to be a bigtime player in the oral obesity market over the near to medium term.”
The race to develop a more convenient obesity pill has been fraught, as companies such as Pfizer have had to scrap previous contenders and bring forward new ones. 
Viking’s once-daily pill helped patients lose up to 12.2% of their weight at around three months. The company also said that weight loss didn’t plateau, which means patients could lose even more in a longer-term study.
It’s difficult to directly compare the pill’s phase two trial data with the results of oral drugs further along in development, including treatments developed by Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk.

Holz added that the results on Viking’s pill “look inferior” to those of Eli Lilly’s oral drug “on almost all metrics.” The highest dose of Eli Lilly’s daily pill helped patients lose 12.4% of their body weight, or 11.2% regardless of discontinuations, at 72 weeks in a phase three trial.
Holz pointed to the high rate of patients who discontinued Viking’s drug for any reason over 13 weeks, which was around 28%. Meanwhile, around a quarter of people discontinued Eli Lilly’s pill, orforglipron, for any reason over 72 weeks.
That’s “a much longer trial and therefore [Lilly] looks far better head-to-head,” Holz said. 
Viking said the most common reasons for patients to discontinue treatment were gastrointestinal side effects, the majority of which were mild to moderate in severity and observed earlier in treatment.  But around 58% of patients reported experiencing nausea and 26% experienced vomiting, compared with 48% and 10%, respectively, among those who took a placebo.
Those side effect rates over a shorter trial period appear to be worse than those seen in trials on Eli Lilly’s pill and the oral version of Novo Nordisk’s weight loss drug Wegovy. 
Viking’s treatment works by imitating two naturally produced gut hormones called GLP-1 and GIP.
GLP-1 helps reduce food intake and appetite. GIP, which also suppresses appetite, may also improve how the body breaks down sugar and fat.
Eli Lilly’s pill and the oral version of Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy both target GLP-1, but the latter has dietary restrictions. More

Home Depot stuck by its full-year outlook, even as the company came in slightly shy of Wall Street’s expectations for quarterly earnings and revenue. 
The report is Home Depot’s first since May 2014 to fall short on both earnings and revenue expectations.  
In an interview with CNBC, Chief Financial Officer Richard McPhail said the company continues to see the effects of a “deferral mindset” from homeowners, which began in roughly mid-2023.

General view of a Home Depot store in Midtown Manhattan on February 26, 2025 in New York City. 
Eduardo Munoz Alvarez | Corbis News | Getty Images

Home Depot stuck by its full-year outlook on Tuesday, even as the company came in slightly shy of Wall Street’s expectations for quarterly earnings and revenue. 
The home improvement retailer reiterated that it expects full-year total sales to grow by 2.8% and comparable sales, which take out the impact of one-time factors like store openings and calendar differences, to rise about 1%. 

However, it missed Wall Street’s earnings expectations for the second straight quarter. 
Shares of Home Depot rose about 2% in premarket trading.
Here’s what Home Depot reported for the fiscal second quarter compared with Wall Street’s estimates, according to a survey of analysts by LSEG:

Earnings per share: $4.68 adjusted vs. $4.71 expected 
Revenue: $45.28 billion vs. $45.36 billion expected

In the three-month period that ended Aug. 3, Home Depot’s net income was $4.55 billion, or $4.58 per share, down slightly from $4.56 billion, or $4.60 per share, in the year-ago period. Revenue rose almost 5% from $43.18 billion in the year-ago period.
The report is Home Depot’s first since May 2014 to fall short on both earnings and revenue expectations.  

Home Depot’s results reflect that the company is still waiting for a greater pick-up in home improvement activity, whether spurred on by higher housing turnover, lower mortgage rates or consumers’ own shift in mentality. 
In an interview with CNBC, Chief Financial Officer Richard McPhail said the company continues to see the effects of a “deferral mindset” from homeowners, which began in roughly mid-2023.
Still, McPhail said, there are encouraging signs in the retailer’s business: Big-ticket transactions, which the company defines as over $1,000, rose 2.6% compared to the year-ago quarter. Twelve of its 16 merchandising departments posted year-over-year sales gains. And year-over-year sales trends improved in each month of the quarter, with comparable sales up 0.3% in May, 0.5% in June and 3.3% in July, he said.
“We absolutely saw momentum continue to build in our core categories throughout the quarter,” he said.
McPhail said Home Depot’s fiscal 2025 outlook does not factor in potential rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, which could spur borrowing for homebuying and bigger projects. 
“We don’t embed any point of view on the rate environment changing, nor on the demand for large projects changing,” he said. 

Betting on the pros

As the real estate market remains sluggish and borrowing costs remain high, Home Depot has looked beyond the homeowners who come to its stores to buy kitchen appliances, cans of paint or other supplies for do-it-yourself projects. Home Depot acquired SRS Distribution, a company that sells supplies to roofing, landscaping and pool professionals, for $18.25 billion last year. It announced in June that it was buying GMS, a specialty building products distributor, for about $4.3 billion. The GMS deal is expected to close by the end of Home Depot’s fiscal year in late January, according to Home Depot.
McPhail said about 55% of Home Depot’s sales come from pros and about 45% comes from do-it-yourself customers, when including SRS. 
Comparable sales increased 1% across the business and 1.4% in the U.S. during the fiscal second quarter. Home Depot said foreign exchange rates negatively impacted the company’s comparable sales by about 40 basis points.
That comparable sales growth marks only the second quarter out of the last 11 that Home Depot has reported year-over-year improvement.
For the fiscal second quarter, McPhail said year-over-year sales on both the pro side and DIY side of the business grew. He declined to share percentage increases, but said those increases were “relatively in line with one another.”
Tariffs have added uncertainty to the outlook for retailers, though. McPhail told CNBC in May that Home Depot did not plan to hike prices across its store, even as other retailers, including Walmart, warned that tariff-related costs would be too much to absorb.
Since May, however, U.S. tariff policies have changed. Higher tariffs began in early August on dozens of U.S. trading partners. Other major agreements remain in flux. President Donald Trump last week delayed higher U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods for another 90 days as negotiations continue.
McPhail told CNBC Home Depot hasn’t changed its pricing approach. And, he said, most of its imported products sold in the quarter landed ahead of tariffs. 
Home Depot’s customer base tends to be on stronger financial footing than U.S. consumers overall, which could help the company weather sustained higher costs. About 90% of its do-it-yourself customers own their own homes and the home pros that shop with Home Depot tend to get hired by homeowners. 
Customer transactions across Home Depot’s website and stores fell in the quarter to 446.8 million compared to the 451 million in the year-ago period. Yet shoppers spent slightly more during those transactions, with the average ticket rising to $90.01 from an average ticket of $88.90 in the year-ago period. Those metrics exclude results from acquisitions SRS and HD Supply, the company said. 
Home Depot’s shares closed on Monday at $394.70. As of Monday’s close, the company’s shares are up roughly 1.5% so far this year. That trails the nearly 10% gain of the S&P 500 during the same period.
– CNBC’s Robert Hum contributed to this report.  More