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The stock dropped in after-hours trading as investors remained anxious about the potential of AI disrupting traditional enterprise software companies. View More

Salesforce on Wednesday evening delivered better-than-expected 2026 fourth-quarter results as its Agentforce artificial intelligence platform became increasingly embedded across the business. However, the stock dropped in after-hours trading as investors remained anxious about the potential of AI disrupting traditional enterprise software companies. Revenue in the quarter ended Jan. 31 rose 12% year over year to $11.2 billion, topping expectations of $11.18 billion, according to LSEG. Adjusted earnings per shar e totaled $3.81, beating the consensus estimate by 77 cents, LSEG data showed. On a year-over-year basis, adjusted EPS increased 37%. CRM YTD mountain Salesforce YTD Shares of Salesforce fell roughly 4.5% in the after-hours session to about $183 and not far from their 52-week closing low of $178.16. Bottom line Salesforce delivered a better than expected quarter, with revenue growth to double-digit territory, driven by strong Agentforce Sales and Agentforce 360 Platform, Slack, and Other sales. Meanwhile, the other three subscription and support revenue line items missed analyst forecasts. As for its important new product Agentforce, the AI-powered platform has closed more than 29,000 deals since its launch and is now an $800 million annual recurring revenue business. On the call, CEO Marc Benioff listed Amazon, Ford, AT & T, Moderna, General Motors, and Pfizer as global brands that have chosen Salesforce to lead their agentic transformation. We also appreciated commentary from the CEOs of SharkNinja and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts on the earnings call about how Agentforce is enhancing their operations. One of management's gripes is that the market doesn't understand and fully appreciate Agentforce, so it was refreshing to hear from real CEOs about the positive impact the product has had on their business. SharkNinja spoke about how Agentforce improved its customer service experience, while Wyndham said Agentforce is reducing labor costs and driving millions of dollars of increased revenue. Investing Club reporter Natasha Abellard spoke with SharkNinja's chief information officer about Agentforce in September 2025 and heard a similar story. The remaining performance obligation (RPO) and current remaining performance obligation (cRPO) were better than expected, but there's some nuance. The cRPO, which measures contracted revenue expected to be realized in the next 12 months, increased 13% year over year in constant currency, including 4 percentage points from the recently closed Informatica acquistion. That means the organic Salesforce growth was only 9%, which was disappointing to investors who wanted to see double digits. A bigger number would have quieted the bear case that Salesforce can't grow Agentforce and its core legacy business at the same time. The margin performance was mixed, with GAAP results compressing year over year and missing the Street, while non-GAAP expanded more than anticipated, leading to that healthy adjusted earnings per share beat. Non-GAAP, or adjusted figures, allow companies to exclude certain items deemed as non-recurring. While some may be quick to celebrate the non-GAAP results, heightened scrutiny across the software group could push investors to focus more closely on GAAP, which stands of generally accepted accounting principles. Clearly, the company is sick and tired of seeing its share price fall. It's one of the worst performers in the S & P 500 down 27% year to date, not including any after-hours move. The drop comes after an awful 2025, too. It's turned into a nightmare position. We should have moved on from this tiny position long ago, but all we can do now is look forward and monitor for signals that show the business will continue to grow and the stock has gotten too cheap. To that end, we liked how Salesforce repurchased $4 billion of stock in its Q4 and announced Wednesday evening a new program worth up to $50 billion. With a market cap of $180 billion, this figure represents about 27% of the company. Still, the company needed to beat expectations on every single line to push back against the "AI eating software" narrative, and the warts around GAAP margins and organic cRPO growth are not helping the case. Also, revenue and GAAP operating margin guidance for the new fiscal year were a little light. One would think that with the stock down this much from its highs and trading at about 14.5 times the midpoint of its fiscal year 2027 non-GAAP earnings guide would leave some wiggle room. But as we explained earlier Wednesday, the challenge for software companies isn't so much near-term performance, but rather how investors are willing to value their long-term terminal value. Club analyst Zev Fima and Club report Paulina Likos did a video explaining that dynamic. That's why we aren't seeing a "not as bad as feared" reaction. Workday, which is in the enterprise software peer group, managed to reverse Tuesday's post-earnings, after-hours selloff and finish the regular session on Wall Street higher on Wednesday. However, we're not ready to call this a new pattern for software just yet and buy this decline in Salesforce. We are maintaining our 2 rating on Salesforce, but lowering our price target to $250 per share from $300 to reflect the price-to-earnings multiple compression happening throughout software. Guidance In Salesforce's fiscal 2027 first quarter, management expects the following: Revenue in the range of $11.03 billion to $11.08 billion. This midpoint of $11.06 billion was a beat versus the consensus estimate of $11.01 billion. Adjusted EPS in the range of $3.11 to $3.13 a share, which is ahead of the Street's $3.01 estimate. cRPO growth of 13% in constant currency with Informative contributing 4 percentage points of growth. The FactSet consensus called for about 12.8% cRPO growth. For the full year fiscal 2027, Salesforce expects: Revenue of $45.8 billion to $46.2 billion, which brackets the consensus estimate of $46.1 billion. The revenue guide represents year over year growth of 10% to 11% in constant currency. GAAP and non-GAAP margins are expected to be 20.9% and 34.3%, respectively. Both were below the consensus estimate of 22.0% and 34.9%, respectively. Adjusted EPS is expected to be in the range of $13.11 to $13.19, which brackets the Street's $13.15 estimate. GAAP EPS was guided $7.85 to $7.93. That's well below the FactSet consensus estimate of $8.24 Free cash flow is expected to increase 9% to 10% year over year, with capital expenditures representing 1.5% of revenue. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long CRM. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.

Narendra Modi becomes the first world leader to surpass 100 million Instagram followers, more than doubling Donald Trump’s count and exceeding the combined total of the next five global political leaders. View More

Nvidia has been the best performer on Wall Street this year among tech's megacap companies. View More

In this articleNVDAFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang speaks during the 2026 CES event in Las Vegas, Jan. 6, 2026.Bridget Bennett | Bloomberg | Getty Images Nvidia reported better-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter results on Wednesday, driven by 75% revenue growth in its core data center business. The stock rose initially rose in extended trading before paring most of its gains. Here's how the company did, compared with estimates from analysts polled by LSEG:Earnings per share: $1.62 adjusted vs. $1.53 estimatedRevenue: $68.13 billion vs. $66.21 billion estimatedNvidia's total revenue for the quarter climbed 73% from $39.3 billion a year earlier. The company now gets over 91% of sales from its data center unit, which houses its market leading artificial intelligence chips. Data center revenue came in at $62.3 billion for the quarter, ahead of expectations for $60.69 billion, according to StreetAccount.Net income almost doubled to $43 billion, or $1.76 a share, from $22.1 billion, or 89 cents per share, in the same quarter a year ago, the company said in a press release.Guidance was also better than expected. Nvidia said revenue for the fiscal first quarter will be $78 billion, plus or minus 2%. Analysts were expecting $72.6 billion. Nvidia said it's not assuming data center revenue from China in its forecast. Nvidia's stock is outperforming all of its megacap peers so far this year, as the company continues to be the leading beneficiary of the AI boom. As of Wednesday's close, the shares are up 5% in 2026, while the Nasdaq is down 0.4%. The only other company in the trillion-dollar club to show gains this year is Apple, which is up less than 1%.Wall Street got a good preview of what to expect from Nvidia when the four major hyperscalers — Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft — reported quarterly results a few weeks ago. Based on their forecasts for capital expenditures along with analyst estimates, combined capex for the year could approach $700 billion as the tech giants build out their AI infrastructure. watch nowVIDEO3:5203:52Debate around capex spending in Big Tech a good thing, says Deepwater's Gene MunsterClosing Bell: Overtime In its CFO commentary, Nvidia said hyperscalers "remained our largest customer category," accounting for just over 50% of data center revenue.Within the data center business, Nvidia reported $10.98 billion in sales for the company's networking parts, which are used to connect hundreds of graphics processing units. Those sales were up 263% year over year, reflecting strong adoption of the company's NVLink networking technology, as well as its Spectrum-X Ethernet switches with new deals from giants like Meta.Nvidia's gaming unit, which used to be its biggest, recorded revenue growth of 47% from a year ago to $3.7 billion, but fell 13% from the previous quarter. Analysts have speculated that Nvidia may skip the launch of a new gaming GPU this year, as memory constraints force chipmakers to prioritize AI processors. For Nvidia, that means AI accelerators largely sold in rack-scale systems like the 72-GPU Grace Blackwell.Memory has been an area of potential concern for investors because of a global shortage. The company expects supply constraints to be a headwind to Nvidia's Gaming business "in the first quarter of fiscal 2027 and beyond," finance chief Colette Kress wrote in her commentary.Excitement has been building for the upcoming release of Nvidia's next-generation Vera Rubin rack-scale systems, the successor to Grace Blackwell, later this year. Kress said on Wednesday's call that the company "shipped our first Vera Rubin samples to customers earlier this week, and we remain on track to commence production shipments in the second half of the year."Vera Rubin is expected to deliver 10 times more performance per watt, providing energy efficiency at a time when data centers face major power constraints. The company said it's expanding its supply chain beyond Asia, where it is concentrated, and into the U.S. and Latin America. Nvidia is now making Blackwell GPUs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s new chip fabrication plants in Arizona, and some of its rack-scale systems are assembled at a large new Foxconn plant in Mexico. Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang speaks about the Vera Rubin AI platform at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Jan. 6, 2026.Patrick T. Fallon | Afp | Getty Images "These moves are expected to strengthen our supply chain, add resiliency and redundancy, and meet the growing demand for AI infrastructure," Nvidia said in its financial filing. "Our ability to increase manufacturing capabilities will depend on the local region's manufacturing ecosystem's capacity to ramp production supply to the required volume and on a timely basis."In automotive, which includes chips for cars and robots, Nvidia reported sales of $604 million for the quarter, up 6% from a year earlier and below analysts' expectations of $654.8 million, according to StreetAccount.For its professional visualization business, Nvidia reported revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, up 159% year over year and ahead of expectations for $755.4 million, according to StreetAccount.Nvidia has been pouring money into large AI labs and other companies in the industry, including taking a large stake in chipmaker Intel. The company said in its annual filing that it invested $17.5 billion in private companies and infrastructure funds during the year, "primarily to support early‑stage startups." Those investments "may not become profitable in the near term, or at all, and there can be no assurance that we will realize a return on our investments," Nvidia said. CEO Jensen Huang told analysts on Wednesday that Nvidia continues "to work with OpenAI toward a partnership agreement and believe we are close." The two companies announced a $100 billion deal in September, but that agreement has yet to finalize. In its annual filing Wednesday, Nvidia reiterated that there is no assurance "that a transaction will be completed."— CNBC's Salvador Rodriguez contributed to this report.WATCH: First look at Nvidia's next AI system, Vera Rubin watch nowVIDEO13:5913:59First look at Vera Rubin, Nvidia’s next AI system that’s 10 times more efficientTech

Salesforce posted accelerating growth and pushed up its long-range revenue target thanks to a recent acquisition. View More

In this articleCRMFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 20, 2026.Krisztian Bocsi | Bloomberg | Getty Images Salesforce shares tumbled 5% in extended trading on Wednesday after the customer service software maker reported healthy results, although its fiscal 2027 revenue view trailed Wall Street projections.Here's how the company did in comparison with LSEG consensus:Earnings per share: $3.81 adjusted vs. $3.04 expectedRevenue: $11.20 billion vs. $11.18 billion expectedSalesforce's revenue grew 12% year over year in its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended on Jan. 31, according to a statement. It's the company's fastest growth rate in two years.The company has allocated $50 billion for new share buybacks, "because these are some low prices," CEO Marc Benioff said on a conference call with analysts. As of Thursday's close, Salesforce shares had fallen about 28% so far in 2026, while the S&P 500 index had gained 1%.Net income of $1.94 billion, or $2.07 per share, increased from $1.71 billion, or $1.75 per share. Adjusted earnings per share excludes stock-based compensation expense, amortization of purchased intangible assets and restructuring costs.Current remaining performance obligation, a sum of contracted but unrecognized revenue and unbilled amounts that will be recognized as revenue over the next year, came in at $35.1 billion. The figure was higher than StreetAccount's $34.53 billion consensus.Guidance for the fiscal first quarter included $3.11 to $3.13 in adjusted earnings per share on $11.03 billion to $11.08 billion in revenue. Analysts surveyed by LSEG were looking for $3.00 per share and $10.99 billion in revenue.For the 2027 fiscal year, Salesforce called for $13.11 to $13.19 in adjusted earnings per share on $45.8 billion to $46.2 billion in revenue, which implies 10% to 11% growth. The LSEG consensus had $13.12 per share on $46.06 billion in revenue. Read more CNBC tech newsFirst look at Nvidia's new AI system Vera Rubin is 10 times more efficient than its predecessorSamsung's S26 gives an advance look at what the Google-powered Apple Siri could doThrive Capital invested about $1 billion in OpenAI at a $285 billion valuation, source saysHead of Amazon's AGI lab is leaving the company In recent weeks, investors have become increasingly worried that generative artificial intelligence models might dampen major software companies' growth opportunities. On Monday, IBM stock dropped 13% in its worst daily performance since 2000 after Anthropic published a blog post saying its Claude Code AI tool for developers can assist with modernizing code written in the Cobol programming language.During the quarter, Salesforce released an AI-enabled Slackbot assistant in its Slack team communication app for paying clients. The company also completed its $8 billion Informatica acquisition and announced plans to buy marketing company Qualified. Informatica, a data management software company, contributed $399 million in revenue during the quarter.The company now sees $63 billion in fiscal 2030 revenue, up from a target of over $60 billion it presented in October. Analysts polled by LSEG had been looking for $59.07 billion. The new number includes a contribution from Informatica.Five customers of ServiceNow moved to Salesforce's competing product for information technology service management during the quarter, Benioff said on the TBPN podcast on Wednesday.Salesforce has been working to expand adoption of its Agentforce AI technology for automating customer service and other corporate functions. The company said annualized Agentforce revenue exceeded $800 million in the quarter. Morgan Stanley analysts, with the equivalent of a buy rating on Salesforce stock, said in a Monday note to clients that conversations with partners "continue to indicate we are in the early innings."Meanwhile, Salesforce is seeing a benefit from its stake in Anthropic, generating an $811 million gain on strategic investments in the quarter. That's up from $96 million in the year-ago quarter."I think we just put another $100 million into the new round," Benioff said. We're [at] about $330 million into Anthropic invested. It's almost about 1% of Anthropic. And believe me, I wish we had invested a lot more."Benioff said the company isn't doing all that it can with debt."We're just very under-leveraged on our balance sheet," he said.WATCH: Investors are paying less and less for software earnings these days, says Jim Cramer watch nowVIDEO9:1709:17Investors are paying less and less for software earnings these days, says Jim CramerMad Money with Jim Cramer

House Democrats hammered home economic concerns ahead of 2026 elections at their annual policy conference, the day after President Trump's State of the Union. View More

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., holds a press conference as Congress faces a midnight Friday deadline for a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security, in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Feb. 13, 2026.Annabelle Gordon | Reuters As they gathered in northern Virginia on Wednesday for their annual policy retreat, House Democrats rallied like they were on the brink of victory."House Democrats are on the verge of a takeover. The break's over for these MAGA extremists," Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said at the leadership press conference kicking off the retreat. "It's over because people know that Donald Trump and House Republicans have failed the American people."Jeffries and his Democratic colleagues have toiled this Congress as House Republicans hold a razor-thin majority. They see a path back to power by focusing on affordability and the economy in this year's midterm elections, pointing to topics they say Trump has largely neglected. Read more CNBC politics coverageState of the Union 2026 recap: Trump touted economic gainsEpstein files: Trump sexual abuse claims withheld by DOJSenators tell CFTC prediction market contracts need clear guidanceDemocrats seek to force refunds after Supreme Court blocks Trump tariffsTrump demands Netflix fire Susan Rice as DOJ probes Warner deal Much of the three-day policy retreat is focused on cost-of-living issues. Guests include labor union leaders, representatives from the Black Economic Alliance and the National Low Income Housing Coalition, and Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, a former member of the House who delivered the Democratic rebuttal to Trump's Tuesday night State of the Union.Democrats will use the time together away from the Capitol to hone their messages to voters and to coalesce around what they think are the themes that will resonate with ordinary Americans."Is the president working for you?" Spanberger asked in her speech, which made the case that Trump's policies were hurting average Americans."This is the defining contrast of the midterms. While Republicans broke their promise to lower costs, Democrats are focused on lowering costs for hardworking families just trying to get by," said Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the person responsible for leading her party to taking control of the House.But victory is far from assured. Trump and Republicans are making their own aggressive pitch on affordability. They also have a cash advantage this cycle. And they have rolled out a series of election proposals — like voter-identification requirements and changes to mail voting — that Democrats say could disenfranchise millions. Coupled with the Supreme Court's pending decision on a challenge to a section of the Voting Rights Act that, if upheld, could eliminate some Democratic-held districts, Republicans are not out of contention come November.Still, there is cause for Democratic optimism. Recent polling shows many Americans are souring on Trump — a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll found 60% disapprove of the president. And Democrats have maintained a healthy lead in the generic ballot. Also, they need to net just three seats to flip the House."President Trump wants to take over elections. He's going to continue to tweet out and put out executive orders. He and republican governors could do other untoward things to affect our elections," House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., said. "What we can control is communicating a message that will resonate to people. And that's what we're focused on," Aguilar said. 

The reported visit is scheduled just days after President Donald Trump demanded that Netflix immediately fire one of its board members, Susan Rice. View More

In this articleWBDPSKYNFLXFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos speaks during comedian Ricky Gervais's star unveiling ceremony on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, U.S., May 30, 2025.Mario Anzuoni | Reuters Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos will head to the White House on Thursday for meetings on his company's efforts to acquire part of Warner Bros. Discovery as Paramount ratchets up its rival bid, Politico reported Wednesday.The reported visit is set to occur five days after President Donald Trump demanded that Netflix immediately fire former Obama administration official Susan Rice from its board, or else "pay the consequences."It was not immediately clear if Sarandos would be meeting with Trump during the visit, a person familiar with the discussions told Politico.Netflix declined CNBC's request for comment on the report. The White House, asked by CNBC to confirm the visit, said, "We do not discuss private meetings that may or may not be happening."The acquisition fight over WBD, like numerous other business deals in over the past year, has been entangled with presidential politics.Trump had weeks earlier said he would stay out of the multibillion-dollar bidding war between Netflix, which wants to buy WBD's studio and streaming brands, and Paramount, which seeks to acquire WBD's whole business.But Trump appeared to change course when, in a Truth Social post on Saturday afternoon, he demanded that Netflix fire Rice from its board, calling her "racist" and a "political hack."Trump on Truth Social linked to an X post from Laura Loomer, a far-right media figure in Trump's orbit, slamming Rice and urging the president to "kill the Netflix-Warner Bros. merger now."Loomer's post highlighted a recent podcast appearance in which Rice, who has served in the Obama, Clinton and Biden administrations, predicted that corporations and other institutions that appeased Trump will be held "accountable" when his political opposition regains power. Read more CNBC politics coverageState of the Union 2026 recap: Trump touted economic gainsEpstein files: Trump sexual abuse claims withheld by DOJSenators tell CFTC prediction market contracts need clear guidanceDemocrats seek to force refunds after Supreme Court blocks Trump tariffsTrump demands Netflix fire Susan Rice as DOJ probes Warner deal The WBD deal proposals have raised antitrust concerns. The Department of Justice is investigating whether Netflix's proposed deal could hurt competition.Other dynamics have fueled speculation that politics are part of the acquisition fight. Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison is the son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison, one of the world's richest men and a Republican megadonor.David Ellison was a guest of Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a Trump loyalist, at the president's State of the Union address on Tuesday night.Paramount most recently raised its bid for Warner Bros. to an all-cash $31 per share, which could "reasonably be expected" to top Netflix's offer, WBD said Tuesday.This is developing news. Please check back for updates.

Lowe's posted more than 10% sales growth in the fourth quarter at a time when housing turnover and home improvement demand are slow. View More

In this articleLOWFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT A Lowe's store in Concord, California, US, on Monday, Nov. 17, 2025. David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images Lowe's topped Wall Street's quarterly revenue and earnings expectations and posted more than 10% sales growth year over year on Wednesday even as the home improvement market's struggles showed few signs of ending.In an interview with CNBC, CEO Marvin Ellison said the home improvement retailer is "still dealing with a housing market that does not have a lot of tailwind." A mix of higher inflation, economic uncertainty and elevated mortgage rates have created a "lock-in effect" for U.S. consumers who are staying put instead of buying and selling homes, he said. "For us, the greatest fuel for the home improvement industry is when you decide to put your house on the market," he said. "Because the first thing you do when you put it on the market is you fix up your yard, you repair your fence, you paint your walls, you do simple beautification modifications in your home."As the waiting game for stronger home improvement demand continues, he said Lowe's strategy is resonating with do-it-yourself customers and home professionals. He credited some company-specific changes, such as better digital experiences, flexible delivery options and more installation services.He said Lowe's anticipates roughly flat demand for the home improvement industry this year. Its own full-year sales forecast is based on expectations that it will outperform the market, he said.Lowe's said it expects total sales for the full current fiscal year to range between $92 billion and $94 billion, which would be a roughly 7% to 9% increase over the prior year. It said it projects adjusted earnings per share to be between $12.25 and $12.75 for the full year. Lowe's said it expects comparable sales, a metric that takes out one-time factors, to be approximately flat to up 2%.Shares of Lowe's were down more than 4% in midday trading on Wednesday as the company's earnings per share projections for the year came in short of analysts' consensus expectations of $12.95, according to LSEG.Ellison told CNBC the company's outlook is "appropriately conservative" because of the "very fluid and very unpredictable environment" it faces due to slower home sales and changing tariff rates.Here's what Lowe's reported for the fiscal fourth quarter compared with Wall Street's estimates, according to a survey of analysts by LSEG:Earnings per share: $1.98 adjusted vs. $1.94 expectedRevenue: $20.58 billion vs. $20.34 billion expectedLowe's net income for the three-month period that ended Jan. 30 dropped to $999 million, or $1.78 per share, from $1.13 billion, or $1.99 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Excluding one-time factors, including expenses associated with recent acquisitions, Lowe's reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.98.Revenue rose from $18.55 billion in the year-ago period.Comparable sales for the quarter climbed 1.3%, higher than the 0.2% that analysts were expecting, according to StreetAccount. The company said in a news release that growth was driven by its gains with home professionals, online sales and home services, along with a strong holiday season.Lowe's posted growth in nine of its 14 merchandising categories, said Bill Boltz, executive vice president of merchandising, on the company's earnings call. Some of the categories and items that sold well are more closely tied to pros, such as sales of plumbing supplies like water heaters and millwork for windows and doors, Boltz said. Yet the company also saw strength with paint sales, as customers bought interior and exterior paint, primer and stains, he said. Pinched by a tough housing backdrop watch nowVIDEO2:5102:51Why Lowe's is betting on younger shoppersDigital Original Lowe's results reinforce the housing market's struggles a day after rival Home Depot said it is still seeing similar reluctance to take on big housing projects.Home Depot on Tuesday beat Wall Street's earnings and revenue expectations, but stuck by conservative full-year guidance. Its quarterly results reflected that home improvement demand remains tepid, as U.S. consumers continue to put off big projects because of high borrowing costs and housing prices as well as economic concerns.Like Home Depot, Lowe's has felt pinched by a tougher backdrop for the industry. Earlier this month, Lowe's cut about 600 corporate and support roles, a move it said would free up resources to support stores. Home Depot in late January laid off 800 workers and said employees would have to work from the office five days a week.Both have also looked to pros to drive growth by acquiring companies that cater to contractors, roofers, electricians and others who tend to be a steadier source of business. Last year, Lowe's acquired Foundation Building Materials, a distributor of drywall, insulation and other interior building products for large residential and commercial professionals, for about $8.8 billion. It also bought Artisan Design Group, which provides design services and installation of flooring, cabinets and countertops for homebuilders and property managers, for about $1.33 billion.Lowe's has also made its own moves to reach customers who are delaying home purchases, such as launching a third-party marketplace to expand its mix of merchandise, tapping influencers to raise its visibility on social media and reaching out to young families by relaunching its kids' program.Yet Lowe's and Home Depot are still waiting for signs that U.S. consumers are ready to jump back in to buying, selling and fixing up their homes at a more typical rate. Ellison said on the company's earnings call that the company is closely watching if there's a shift toward more pricier discretionary purchases. "When we start to see a sustained number of discretionary big-ticket purchases from the DIY [do-it-yourself shopper], that's going to give us an indication that the consumer is getting healthier and they're more confident in making those purchases," he said.He told CNBC that two changes could meaningfully move the needle for the industry: A pick-up in home sales or an increase in the use of home equity lines of credit. Homeowners may stick with their low fixed-mortgage rate, but tap the increased value of their home to redo their kitchen, finish a basement or build a deck."We think that as people stay locked in and they come to the realization that 'I'm not going to give up this two and a half percent mortgage rate,' they're going to start investing in their home at some point," he said.Tariff policies, too, have injected fresh uncertainty for retailers after the Supreme Court on Friday ruled that some country-specific tariffs were illegal. Since then, President Donald Trump has announced a global duty of 10%, which he has suggested he could increase.About 40% of Lowe's goods are imported, Ellison told CNBC, which is lower than it used to be. He said Lowe's can lean on its existing tariff playbook, which has gotten sharper in recent years, even as it calculates how its costs may shift.As of Tuesday's close, Lowe's shares are up nearly 16% year to date, surpassing the S&P 500's roughly 1% gains during the same period. Its stock has risen about 15% over the past year, almost matching the S&P 500's approximately 16% gains over that time.

Democrats are nipping at the heels of the incumbent Republicans for control of Congress in the 2026 midterms. View More

watch nowVIDEO4:2004:20The economic levers Trump is pulling to win the next electionPolitics President Donald Trump delivered a nearly two-hour State of the Union address on Tuesday, focusing largely on the economy that he declared was set to boom. The president delivered the signature annual address as he sees his poll numbers on the economy plummet ahead of the 2026 midterms, which loom less than nine months away. Those elections threaten to shift control of Congress from Republicans and Trump's control of Washington along with it. Here are five takeaways from Trump's State of the Union:  1. 401(k)s for everybody Trump called for the creation of a government-backed 401(k)-like plan for U.S. workers who don't receive a retirement match from their employer. "My administration will give these oft-forgotten American workers, great people, the people that built our country, access to the same type of retirement plan offered to every federal worker," Trump said. "We will match your contribution with up to $1,000 each year."Trump said the plan would "ensure that all Americans can profit from a rising stock market."Trump and his administration have often caught flak for touting stock market gains as evidence of a booming economy, while millions of Americans are not invested in the market.A White House official given anonymity to discuss the plan said it would grant eligible workers access to savings vehicles similar to the Thrift Savings Plan available to federal workers, which they said "provides for an efficient savings program that includes a government match and offers diversified, index‑based, investment options and portfolio choices."  The plan would tap an existing program known as the "Savers Match" tax credit that was enacted under the 2022 Secure 2.0 law to provide an annual match of up to $1,000 to low-income workers beginning in 2027. Read more CNBC politics coverageState of the Union 2026 recap: Trump touted economic gainsEpstein files: Trump sexual abuse claims withheld by DOJSenators tell CFTC prediction market contracts need clear guidanceDemocrats seek to force refunds after Supreme Court blocks Trump tariffsTrump demands Netflix fire Susan Rice as DOJ probes Warner deal 2. Trump reiterates his call to bar private equity from gobbling up homes The president reiterated his call on Congress to pass legislation barring large institutional investors from buying up single-family homes, asking Congress to codify an executive order he signed to do so. "I'm asking Congress to make that ban permanent, because homes for people, really that's what we want," Trump said. "We want homes for people, not corporations; corporations are doing just fine." Trump's call to bar institutional investors from gobbling up homes echoes populist proposals from the progressive left, who are hammering the president on affordability. Democrats released another plan earlier Tuesday to limit the ability of larger investors to buy up homes, just before the State of the Union address.  3. The economy is doing great, Trump says Trump said the economy is "roaring like never before," as polls continue to show voters are souring on his performance on the economy and as Democrats slam him and Republicans on affordability. The president also took credit for what he said was the defeat of inflation, the bane of his predecessor and political nemesis, former President Joe Biden. "Inflation is plummeting," Trump said. "In 12 months, my administration has driven core inflation to the lowest level in more than five years."The consumer price index, a key measure of inflation, rose 2.4% in January from a year earlier, according to the latest numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That was down from 2.7% in December and lower than expected. Excluding food and energy, which are volatile, the core CPI was up 2.5%, the lowest level since April 2021. 4. Democrats offer some, but not explosive, resistance in the chamber Democrats aired their frustrations with the president at certain points in the speech, but largely avoided outright interference with Trump's remarks. Trump goaded Democrats for not standing after he asked lawmakers to "stand up and show your support" if they agreed that the first duty of the U.S. government is "to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens."That prompted a brief back-and-forth between Trump and Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. Omar is from Minnesota, where two U.S. citizens were shot dead by federal immigration officers this year while carrying out the president's deportation agenda. Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, was ejected from the chamber for a second year in a row during a speech by Trump after he held a sign that read "Black People Aren't Apes." Trump's personal social media account recently shared a blatantly racist video that depicted the Obamas as apes.  5. Trump (mostly) keeps the speech domestic Trump mostly focused his speech on domestic policy and political issues and avoided getting bogged down in his efforts abroad. The president did, however, speak briefly about Iran, where he has directed a massive military buildup and where he's been hinting he might want to strike. "We are in negotiations with them. They want to make a deal, but we haven't heard those secret words: 'We will never have a nuclear weapon,'" Trump said of Iran. "My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy. But one thing is certain, I will never allow the world's No. 1 sponsor of terror, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon."Trump's focus on domestic issues is likely a reflection of the political reality. Democrats have taken an early lead in polling ahead of the midterms and largely swept 2025 off-year elections by focusing on affordability and kitchen-table issues. Republicans seemed to appreciate the life raft. "What I was hoping he'd do would be to talk about the things moms and dads worry about when they lie down at night to sleep and can't. And he did," said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., after the speech. watch nowVIDEO10:3310:33State of the Union 2026 rapid recap: Trump's biggest economic remarksRapid Recap — CNBC's Justin Papp and Eamon Javers contributed to this report.

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Only five of Skydance's features to date — three of them starring Tom Cruise — have generated more than $200 million domestically. View More

In this articleWBDPSKYFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT Chairman & CEO Paramount David Ellison attends the UFC 324 event at T-Mobile Arena on January 24, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Jeff Bottari | Ufc | Getty Images If there's one thing that Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison knows well, it's an impossible mission.Ellison, producer of five of the "Mission: Impossible" films, has been trying to buy Warner Bros. Discovery for nearly six months. In September, he sent an initial, unsolicited offer to WBD, prompting the rival media company to explore a sale process that resulted in an agreement with Netflix to sell the famed Warner Bros. film studio and WBD's prestige streaming assets. Ellison launched a hostile tender offer and, separately, was welcomed back to the negotiating table with WBD under a seven-day waiver from Netflix. This week, Paramount upped its offer for the entirety of WBD. The Warner Bros. movie studio is a big part of why Ellison has been so committed to winning over WBD's board and its shareholders.Last year, Warner Bros. was the second-highest grossing studio at the domestic box office. Paramount was fourth. window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}); A longtime Hollywood executive, Ellison has produced some massive hits at the box office, but his track record has been far from consistent. Where Netflix has a fraught relationship with theatrical releases — disrupting the traditional business and opting for years to prioritize streaming films for its subscribers — Ellison's production company, Skydance, has followed the tried-and-true theatrical playbook. Taking ownership of Warner Bros. would be a game changer for either company."If a merger were to be approved, the entity that then grabs up Warner Bros. would add tremendous horsepower both in terms of brand identity and revenue generating potential to their portfolio," said Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends at Comscore. "So, it is understandable why the competition is fierce among the potential suitors vying for their chance to acquire the studio." A history of Skydance at the box office Skydance released its first theatrical feature in 2006, a World War I drama featuring James Franco as a U.S. fighter pilot. Over the last two decades, the studio has launched nearly 30 films, the majority of which were in partnership with Paramount, according to data from Comscore. Paramount and Skydance completed their merger, engineered by Ellison, in August. Skydance's biggest successes have come from one source in particular — Tom Cruise. The studio's six highest-grossing films globally all star Cruise, including five "Mission: Impossible" films and the breakout 2022 hit "Top Gun: Maverick." Highest-grossing Skydance films globally"Top Gun: Maverick" (2022) — $1.4 billion"Mission: Impossible — Fallout" (2018) — $791 million"Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol" (2011) — $694 million"Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation" (2015) — $682 million"Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning" (2025) — $599 million"Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning: Part One" (2023) — $571 million"World War Z" (2013) — $540 million"Star Trek Into Darkness" (2013) — $467 million"Transformers: Rise of the Beasts" (2023) — $441 million"Terminator Genisys" (2015) — $440 millionSource: Comscore Having a billion-dollar film under your belt is no small feat, especially in the wake of the pandemic. The theatrical business has been in flux in recent years as consumer habits have shifted, studios grapple with how long movies should play in cinemas before hitting the home market, and streaming siphons away potential releases.For comparison, Disney has released six billion-dollar films since 2021: "Avatar: The Way of Water," "Inside Out 2," "Deadpool & Wolverine," "Moana 2," "Zootopia 2" and "Avatar: Fire and Ash." Warner Bros. had 2023's "Barbie," Universal had "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" that same year, and Sony had "Spider-Man: No Way Home" in 2021, according to Comscore data. Tom Cruise in "Top Gun: Maverick"Source: Paramount However, "Top Gun: Maverick" is a bit of an outlier for Skydance. In addition to being the studio's only billion-dollar film, it's also the only film in its library to exceed $230 million domestically. In fact, only five of Skydance's features to date have generated more than $200 million in the U.S. and Canada. Skydance's highest-grossing domestic films"Top Gun: Maverick" (2022) — $718 million"Star Trek Into Darkness" (2013) — $228 million"Mission: Impossible — Fallout" (2018) — $220 million"Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol" (2011) — $209 million"World War Z" (2013) — $209 millionSource: Comscore Globally, the production company has seen seven of its films generate more than $500 million in ticket sales, which would be a bigger feat — if budgets for many of these films weren't so high."The challenge for Ellison and Skydance, as it is for every studio, production company, and distributor, is to keep budgets in line particularly for latter installments of major franchises as these tend to have diminishing returns as compared the earlier releases to justify the continued investment in these movie franchises," said Dergarabedian.Of course, Skydance split production costs with its studio partners, so it's unclear exactly how much the company put toward each film it produced. Still, many of its franchise films saw budgets balloon with each new installment. Look at the most recent Mission: Impossible film. "Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning" generated $599 million at the global box office, the fourth-best showing for a film in the franchise. However, the film had a reported budget of $400 million. That's before marketing costs, which usually run at about half of the production budget. General views of the TCL Chinese Theatre promoting the new Tom Cruise film 'Mission: Impossible The Final Reckoning' in IMAX on May 23, 2025 in Hollywood, California.Aaronp/bauer-griffin | Gc Images | Getty Images So, Skydance in conjunction with Paramount would have spent an estimated $600 million ahead of the "The Final Reckoning's" release in theaters. And that $599 million brought in from ticket sales gets split. Studios share box-office proceeds with theater operators, typically in a 50-50 split by the end of a film's run in theaters.The result is often a movie that performed well at the box office, but ultimately was not profitable for the studios that produced it. And unlike some franchises — think Marvel, Star Wars or Harry Potter — Mission: Impossible doesn't have a robust merchandising arm or as much demand from fans for things like toys, apparel or collectibles. A mountain of content In merging with Paramount, Ellison's Skydance now has more properties that fall under the production company's designation. That includes the lucrative Sonic the Hedgehog franchise and upcoming films like "Scream 7," "Paw Patrol 3," "Street Fighter," "Scary Movie 6" and "Focker-in-Law," the latest installment in the Robert De Niro-led Meet the Parents franchise. However, Paramount's slate of franchises still aren't quite the heavy hitters that WBD carries on its roster. Still from Paramount's "Sonic the Hedgehog 2."Paramount "Warner Bros. is one of the crown jewels of the theatrical distribution," said Dergarabedian. "Their slate of films, filmmaker relationships, brand recognition, and reputation as one of the premier and iconic movie studios makes them a coveted asset by any player in the entertainment space."WBD has in its library DC's superheroes, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Looney Tunes and Scooby-Doo. It is also the distributor of Legendary's Dune and Godzilla and King Kong franchises."In Paramount's specific case, the studio's box office market share has often been challenged to keep pace with competitors and its own peak performance in the years leading up to 2015," said Shawn Robbins, director of analytics at Fandango and founder of Box Office Theory. "While occasional hits such as the Sonic, A Quiet Place, and Scream franchises have provided bright spots, plus 'Top Gun: Maverick' catching lightning in a bottle four years ago, some of the studio's most bankable IP has seen diminishing returns among modern moviegoers."Paramount Skydance needs consistency at the box office and well-known and beloved franchises are one way to do that. Of course, just having a big name doesn't guarantee box-office success, but it lowers the barrier to entry. "Paramount is looking to mine every opportunity it can following the recent conclusion of Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible series, the regression of Transformers from its biggest blockbuster dollar days, and the cinematic dormancy of Star Trek as that brand has been re-focused toward multiple streaming series targeted at its predominately older audience," Robbins said.Disclosure: Versant is the parent company of CNBC and Fandango. watch nowVIDEO2:3102:31Paramount Skydance sweetens offer for Warner Bros. Discovery: ReportsSquawk Box