By Joe Woelfel and Elsa Ohlen

Stock futures traded mixed Wednesday as a number of big-name retailers reported quarterly earnings and Wall Street awaited the release of minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting.

These stocks were poised to make moves Wednesday:

Target posted stronger-than-expected second-quarter earnings but the stock declined 11% after the retailer announced that longtime veteran and current Chief Operating Officer Michael Fiddelke will succeed CEO Brian Cornell on Feb. 1, disappointing investors who were hoping for an external hire to bring in a fresh perspective.

Lowe's rose 3.4% after the home-improvement retailer reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings, raised fiscal-year sales guidance, and said it was purchasing Foundation Building Materials for about $8.8 billion.

Palantir Technologies fell 2.7%. The company, which sells artificial-intelligence software to manage and analyze large amounts of data, closed down 9.35% on Tuesday, its fifth consecutive trading day of declines. It was the stock's worst percentage decrease since June 27, when it dropped 9.37%. Palantir, which trades at more than 200 times projected earnings, has closed lower for six of the past seven trading days as investors have unloaded hot -- and expensive -- AI stocks. Coming into Wednesday, Palantir has risen 109% so far this year.

Intel was down 1.1% after the chip maker rose nearly 7% on Tuesday to $25.31, its highest close since March 18. Driving the stock higher was a $2 billion investment from Japan's SoftBank. Intel stock has risen seven of the past eight trading sessions and has gained almost 28% in August, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

Estee Lauder's fiscal fourth-quarter earnings matched analysts' expectations but the stock was sinking 6.1% after the cosmetics company issued a fiscal-year sales forecast that missed estimates.

Analog Devices was up 3.6% after the semiconductor company posted fiscal third-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street expectations and offered an upbeat outlook for its current current quarter.

Dayforce was rising 3.2% to $67.55 after the company confirmed reports that it was in talks to be acquired by private-equity firm Thoma Bravo. The company, which sells human resources software, said the pair were engaged in advanced discussions over a buyout at $70 a share.

Home builder Toll Brothers reported fiscal third-quarter adjusted earnings of $3.73 a share on home sales revenue of $2.88 billion, topping Wall Street estimates on both metrics, according to FactSet. The company said it delivered 2,959 homes in the period. It expects to deliver 11,200 units in the fiscal year ending Oct. 31, which at the lower end of its previously issued guidance. The stock fell 1.2%.

Alcon shares fell 10%. The eye-care company's second-quarter revenue of $2.58 billion missed consensus expectations and it trimmed its fiscal-year revenue guidance, saying it anticipates revenue of $10.3 billion to $10.4 billion, lower than previous guidance of $10.4 billion to $10.5 billion.

Hertz Global jumped 9.6% after the car-rental company said it would start selling pre-owned vehicles on Amazon Autos. Hertz said the collaboration initially will begin in Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, and Seattle, with plans to expand to 45 locations nationwide.

La-Z-Boy stock tumbled 21% after its fiscal first-quarter adjusted earnings missed analysts' forecasts and the furniture maker said it expects second-quarter revenue of $510 million to $530 million. Analysts had been forecasting revenue for the second quarter of about $532 million.

Write to Joe Woelfel at joseph.woelfel@barrons.com

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August 20, 2025 09:06 ET (13:06 GMT)

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