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

0902 ET - Walmart's customers are feeling pressured, and they continue to prioritize value and convenience, CEO John Furner says on a call with analysts. The retailer continues to work to lower prices, a move Furner says is building trust with shoppers by helping them save money at a time when many households are carefully managing their budgets. Walmart's U.S. team delivered more than 11,000 price rollbacks during the latest quarter, up from about 7,200 a quarter earlier. "We're investing heavily in price because customers need us to, and because we believe it drives market share gains over time," Furner says. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

0851 ET - Carlsberg is delivering on its top and bottom line growth agenda and strengthening its position in both growth categories and markets, despite a tough external environment, Jefferies analyst Edward Mundy writes. Whilst growth is being held back by weakness in China, a country that makes up 20% of group profits, the bank views this as transitory given extreme weather and flooding. China will be soft for the remainder of the year, but growth should resume versus easy comparatives in 2027, he says. This will help to boost investor confidence in the medium term. The bank rates Carlsberg stock at buy with a 1,100 Danish kroner price target. Shares fall 2.1% to 870.40 kroner. (dominic.chopping@wsj.com)

0842 ET - Carlsberg delivered mixed first-half results, with the second quarter showing a clear loss of momentum, AlphaValue analyst Theodore Duval-Segard writes. China deteriorated sharply and Western European volumes remained soft, while the Central & Eastern Europe and India region and soft drinks supported growth, he says. The multi-beverage shift is working, but the current mix weighs on the gross margin and return on invested capital, he adds. "Guidance was narrowed by raising the lower end only, improving visibility rather than the underlying demand outlook." China remains the main risk in the second half, Duval-Segard says. Shares fall 1.8%. (dominic.chopping@wsj.com)

0824 ET - Moderna shares surging 176% on Wednesday may have been an overreaction from Wall Street to the strong results from Moderna and Merck's mRNA-based vaccine for melanoma patients, UBS analysts say. Moderna's valuation jumped to $70 billion; ascribing a modest valuation to the company's Covid-19 revenue, that would imply a $60 billion valuation to the vaccine alone, which would have to translate to $20 billion in annual sales, the analysts say. That could be unrealistically high, they say. The analysts maintain a $150 price target for Moderna after it closed at $174 on Wednesday. Shares slide 10% to $156.30 premarket. (dean.seal@wsj.com)

0809 ET - Hays' current sequential improvement in fee trends is fragile given the current geopolitical backdrop, RBC Capital Markets analysts Karl Green and Andrew Brooke write. The recruitment company said group net fees eased to 8% in fiscal 2026, marking its 11th consecutive quarter of consultant net fee productivity growth. "We believe cyclical pressures are being conflated with structural forces across the industry and are more sceptical than average around the pace of impact of AI on employment markets," they say. RBC has an outperform rating on the stock and 60.00 pence target price. Shares are down 5.2% at 67.75 pence but up 20% over the year to date. (ian.walker@wsj.com)

0740 ET - U.K. domestic inflationary pressures look less threatening than the headline inflation indicates, Morgan Stanley economists say in a note. The latest data shows U.K. annual services inflation slowed to 3.4% in July, from 3.6% in June, although headline inflation rose to 2.9% in July from 2.6% in June. U.K. private-sector wage growth is subdued, underlying services inflation continues to ease, "while competitive retail conditions are limiting food-price pass-through", the economists say. A sustained energy shock could raise indirect and second-round inflation risks, they say. Nonetheless, weaker wage growth and subdued services inflation could absorb much of the first-round pressure, the economists say.(miriam.mukuru@wsj.com)

0727 ET - Novonesis results show the group is pulling away from its peers, JPMorgan analysts write. The Danish producer of biological products like enzymes and probiotics notched organic sales growth of 9% on-year in the second quarter, topping analysts' expectations. The group also raised its outlook for 2026 sales growth. The results demonstrate "broad-based strength across" Novonesis, and the group's increasing competitive advantage, JPMorgan analysts write in a note to clients. "This beat-and-raise reaffirms Novonesis' unique and differentiated growth franchise." As a result, the company's faltering share price over the last year--down 1.9% for the last 12 months--looks hard to justify, they say. Shares jump close to 11%. (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)

0720 ET - Walmart's U.S. sales totaled $125.2 billion during the recent quarter, up 3.5% from last year. Comparable sales--those from store and digital channels operating for the last 12 months--rose 2.6% stripping out volatile fuel sales, consisting of a 1.5% increase in transactions and a 1.1% increase in average ticket. The retailer says its sales reflect strong momentum in e-commerce and broad-based share gains, which were partially offset by pharmacy deflation. Membership fee revenue grew double-digits, as Walmart+ net adds reflected a record second-quarter high, the company adds. Shares are off 6.4% premarket as its FY outlook underwhelms. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

0714 ET - Walmart lifts its outlook for the year as it posts higher sales in its fiscal second quarter, ended July 31. The retailer now expects net sales to increase 4% to 5% for the year, compared with a prior forecast of up 3.5% to 4.5%. The company also boosts its adjusted per-share earnings outlook to $2.80 to $2.87 a share, from $2.75 to $2.85 a share. Despite the raises, the guidance is slightly behind Wall Street estimates. Analysts polled by FactSet are looking for adjusted earnings of $2.90 a share on sales of $752.06 billion, equivalent to a 5.5% increase from last year. Capital expenditures are now expected to total approximately 4% of net sales, up from a prior forecast of roughly 3.5% of net sales. Shares fall 5.6% premarket. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

0704 ET - Daimler Truck's investment case increasingly hinges on investors' belief that management can improve the Mercedes-Benz margin and achieve its 2030 targets of an 8%-12% margin, Bernstein analysts write. The Mercedes-Benz business has been losing share across key European markets, which Bernstein views as symptomatic of weaker product competitiveness and brand perception. The Mercedes-Benz trucks segment faces increased competition in 2027, while structural factors weigh on profitability, including greater exposure to lower-margin Western European markets. German headcount reduction targets don't appear to be materializing, while a production shift to low-cost countries is unlikely to accelerate until 2030. The bank lifts its stock-price target to 39 euros from 37 euros and keeps its underperform rating. Shares rise 0.6% to 45.49 euros. (dominic.chopping@wsj.com)

0700 ET - Munich Re is paying a generous price for U.S.-based cyber insurance company At-Bay and investors have mixed feelings about the deal, Jefferies' Philip Kett and Derald Goh write. The German reinsurance company said Wednesday that it was buying At-Bay for $575 million. The company diversifying makes sense, Jefferies says, but notes contrary feedback from investors. "Some investors are of the view that management ought to return more capital via the buyback to help achieve the [earnings per share] target, instead of over-paying for M&A," Jefferies writes. The At-Bay business is loss-making and isn't expected to break-even until 2029-30, the analysts note. The company is also operating in a weakening cyber insurance market, meaning the valuation could appear more generous, the analysts add. Shares are down 1.0%, and are 9.4% lower over the year-to-date. (michael.hennessey@wsj.com)

0655 ET - Middle East crude exports fell sharply last week, with flows averaging 6 million barrels a day through Aug. 16, down 2.2 million barrels a day from the previous week, according to Morgan Stanley. Tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has weakened further. Outbound energy-vessel transits are averaging just four a day this week, down from six last week, while inbound traffic has held at six. Both remain far below preconflict levels of 25 to 30 vessels a day in each direction. Alternative routes are offering limited relief. Saudi Arabia's Yanbu port crude loadings remain around 2 million barrels a day, with most cargoes moving north through the Sumed pipeline. Flows through Bab el-Mandeb strait are below 1 million barrels a day, though Morgan Stanley says those figures could be revised in the coming days due to so-called "dark transits."