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

1207 ET - A new survey shows that 87% of houseware companies have been significantly impacted by the Trump Administration's tariff policies. Ninety percent of companies surveyed by the International Housewares Association have delayed or canceled product shipments, 72% have absorbed cost increases and 27% have already reduced their workforce. More companies anticipated workforce reductions in the future. The IHA, an industry group, represents companies selling everything from coffee makers to serving utensils to storage solutions. "Our members are telling us the current landscape is extremely challenging and making it very difficult for their businesses to succeed," IHA Chief Executive Derek Miller said. The survey was based on 123 members. (roshan.fernandez@wsj.com)

1159 ET - With Google likely to integrate full AI search capabilities over the next six months, Reddit's recent user disruptions could become a more permanent obstacle, Wells Fargo Securities analysts said in a research note. More AI search offerings will likely dent Reddit's search referrals, hurting its logged-out user activity, the analysts said. Such users are critical to logged-in user acquisition and extending the scale of advertiser reach, they said. With the long-term growth potential of Reddit's ad business now in danger, the analysts downgraded the stock to equal weight and cut their price target to $115 from $168. Shares fall 1.9% to $105.97. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

1122 ET - Home Depot is seeing normal business patterns even as tariffs factor into its customers' calculus. "In terms of pull forward, we didn't see a lot of that. We may have seen a little bit of that in appliances," Billy Bastek, executive vice president of merchandising, said on an earnings call. "But across our broader business, we really didn't see any pull forward at all." The home improvement retailer noted it's working with suppliers to keep prices steady despite tariffs. (denny.jacob@wsj.com; @pennedbyden)

1119 ET - Home Depot's results will soon reflect contributions from its SRS Distribution. The home improvement retailer completed its acquisition for SRS, which sells goods for professional roofing and other building projects, in June. CFO Richard McPhail on an earnings call Tuesday said once SRS enters the company's comp base, it will report them as a part of total company comp, but they will not be reported as part of the U.S. comp. (denny.jacob@wsj.com; @pennedbyden)

1117 ET - Home Depot is waiting for consumers' confidence to improve. The home improvement retailer has seen customers continue to engage with smaller projects like painting or yard work, but the bigger ticket jobs are still on hold for now. "While there are literally trillions of dollars of equity available to be tapped in the homes, I think there's still enough macro uncertainty," said Chief Executive Ted Decker on an earnings call. (denny.jacob@wsj.com; @pennedbyden)

1104 ET - The beauty and cosmetics industry is facing concerns about a slowdown in mass-market demand, as high-end products appear to be beating the middle market, Jefferies analysts led by Ashley Helgans say. Price-sensitive consumers are showing more value-seeking tendencies, sparking worries of a decline across food, drug and mass-market demand, the analysts say. It's still unclear whether the decline in beauty is coming from overall demand softness or a consumer shift to e-commerce and away from brick and mortar. Stores have also started locking up many products, reducing impulse purchases among consumers and pressuring mass-market makeup sales, they say. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)

1055 ET - Viking Holdings has a resilient base of cruise-taking customers, but questions have sprung up about its ability to keep boosting revenue with higher prices heading into 2026, Melius Research analysts Conor Cunningham and Patrick Coleman say in a research note. Pricing normally starts high and moves lower as high-yielding cabins book out first and lower-yielding cabins fill in later, they say. In 2025, pricing started up 12% and came down to 7% year-over-year growth, but Viking is guiding for pricing to start at just 4% in 2026, creating concerns about whether the company can maintain pricing growth as bookings progress through the year, the analysts say. Shares fall 4.6% to $44.91. (dean.seal@wsj.com)

1039 ET - Diageo's third-quarter results sent a positive signal to the market after several challenging quarters, AlphaValue analyst Filippo Ercole Piva writes in a research note. Like other competitors, the U.K. distiller has been grappling with a slowdown in alcohol consumption, as well as a potential hit from U.S. tariffs. For its fiscal third quarter through March the group reported sales of $4.38 billion, up both in reported and organic terms. The company exceeded expectations, as consensus estimates had guided for an organic sales decline, the analyst says. Shares are up 0.5%. (andrea.figueras@wsj.com)

1037 ET - Diageo should be able to manage the potential impact from U.S. tariffs, although the situation is fluid, Berenberg analysts Javier Gonzalez Lastra and Craig Sinclair write in a research note. The U.K. spirits maker said it expects a $150 million annual hit on its profit from U.S. tariffs and confirmed its outlook for fiscal 2025 ending June. This should help alleviate some concerns on this front, and Diageo's U.S. portfolio looks well-positioned, the analysts say. While the third-quarter beat might help restore investor confidence, it could take a few more quarters of consistent performance to justify a valuation re-rating, Berenberg adds. Shares are up 0.3%. (andrea.figueras@wsj.com)

1021 ET - Ulta Beauty looks set to beat the competition during the second half of this year, Oppenheimer says in a research note. The beauty retailer, which reports earnings at the end of May, could see comp tailwinds related to price increases later in FY25 and in FY26 as beauty suppliers mitigate tariff headwinds, the analysts say. Ulta has limited tariff exposure with about 1% of receipts representing direct imports, they say, potentially resulting in a profit inflection in 2026. Meanwhile, struggles at Kohl's, including planned store closures, could be a positive for Ulta, Oppenheimer says. Ulta is up 2%. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)

0931 ET - Bird Construction had some delays which affected revenue growth in 1Q, but the pipeline looks strong. In a TD Cowen report, Michael Tupholme says revenue growth came in at 4.3% year-over-year versus consensus expectations at 7.9%. This "was soft partly due to certain industrial work deferrals (customer caution given macro)," the analyst says. The trend might overflow into 2Q, Tupholme says, with revenue similarly affected yet again. Still, he says that Bird is optimistic about the work it has locked in, and this "record combined backlog provides good visibility into meeting its 2025 targets." (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

0913 ET - BRP is still struggling from macro trends and TD Cowen's Brian Morrison says in a report that he's watching closely for an earnings inflection point. The analyst says it's been two years since TD Cowen downgraded BRP on concerns of weakening consumer demand, bloated dealer inventories and deferred restock, among other things. He says the thesis appears to have played out, with BRP nearing trough earnings. "That said, we still require evidence upon a recovery in consumer demand/dealer sentiment, that we view as the next likely share price catalyst," Morrison says. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 20, 2025 12:07 ET (16:07 GMT)

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