Wall Street’s most eye-catching moments today

The morning sun found Wall Street in no mood to pause—the day was not just about tumbling tech. While the headlines spoke of Nasdaq’s struggles, pockets of the market told richer stories. Let’s walk through a few surprising ups and downs from today’s action.

Beyond tech: Retailer twists, CEO swaps and Hertz’s Amazon gamble

Imagine a company that built its image on famous red bullseyes, today, Target left investors gobsmacked. Shares sank 8% after yet another quarter of declining sales. The real twist? Target’s long-serving CEO, Brian Cornell, announced he’ll step down this coming February. The new chief, Michael Fiddelke, has spent two decades rising through the ranks but some investors felt a fresh outsider was needed to shake things up. As one analyst at Barron’s quipped, “This feels more like rearranging deck chairs than steering the ship into new waters.” Target’s slips came even after beating earnings expectations, underscoring just how skittish markets have become.

Hertz delivered a totally different kind of shock. Its shares jumped 9.5% this morning, all thanks to a new deal with Amazon. You can now browse, buy, and pick up a used Hertz car as easily as ordering a new laptop online. “This is about meeting customers where they shop already,” Hertz CEO Stephen Scherr said in a quick CNBC call. Wall Street cheered, with many touting this as a test case for car sales in the digital age.

Elsewhere, Lowe’s, long known for DIY and haggling over power tools, delighted analysts by beating profit forecasts and announcing a major $8.8 billion acquisition of Foundation Building Materials. Shares rose 4%. CEO Marvin Ellison simply stated, “We want to serve every professional contractor, not just weekend warriors.”

Wild cards: Beauty’s stumble, bitcoin’s retreat and crypto’s bruises

But the day’s biggest after-hours gasp came from a most unexpected corner. Coty, the beauty giant, saw its shares nosedive more than 15% after warning of a tough few months ahead. That news cast a shadow over consumer resilience, and prompted more than one analyst to warn that “affordable luxury” may not be immune if shoppers tighten belts further.

Meanwhile, bitcoin, fresh off a recent peak, dipped again to $114,281 as the Treasury Secretary confirmed the US won’t add to its government-held crypto assets for now. That hit not only bitcoin but hammered crypto stocks like Coinbase and MicroStrategy, both down over 5%. As Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi from UBS put it, “Cryptocurrencies move to their own rhythm, but have grown sensitive to official signals as they enter the mainstream.”

On the macro front, long-term Treasury yields dipped but clawed back some ground later, reflecting ongoing market debate over inflation and Fed policy. Oil prices, on the other hand, quietly climbed 1.4%, signalling that energy investors may see value below the radar.

From CEO swaps to Hertz’s car-lot shakeup, and Coty’s stumble to crypto’s fresh bruising, today shows that Wall Street is always more than one story at a time. Behind every headline, the real drama is how fast fortunes change, and where bold bets get tested next.

Disclaimer: The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or brokerage companies, and not of Winvesta. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.

Ready to own a piece of the world’s biggest brands?

• Invest in 4,000+ US stocks & ETFs
• Fractional investing
• Zero account opening fees
• Secure and seamless

Start with just $1

Start investing in just 2 minutes!

P.S. No hidden fees or spam, just a smarter way to invest globally!

Build your global portfolio.

Invest in companies you love, like Apple and Tesla.

Track, manage, and grow your investments.