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

1826 ET - Steelcase and MillerKnoll are seeing green shoots in the U.S. office market after years of pandemic-era stagnation. Steelcase logged 9% higher revenue in the Americas last quarter, led by large corporate customers who are buying more office furniture to redo their workspaces, the company said. MillerKnoll saw sales in its North America contract segment up 13%, partially helped by a pull-forward in demand amid tariff-related price increases. The company expects to continue to return to growth in contract as the office market starts to recover with more companies working in-office and upgrading spaces to attract employees, CEO Andi Owen says on a call with analysts. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

1751 ET - MillerKnoll still plans to open another 10 to 15 new stores in the U.S. over the fiscal year, in cities like Las Vegas, Philadelphia and Sarasota, Fla., CEO Andi Owen says during a call with analysts. The move is part of the office furniture company's aim to double its Design Within Reach and Herman Miller store footprint, drawing in new customers that could boost its online sales, too, Owen suggests. "Each time we open a new store, we see a compelling halo effect of e-commerce growth and increased brand awareness in these new geographies," she says. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

1723 ET - MillerKnoll warns current tariff rates pose incremental costs of $9 million to $11 million before tax in its current fiscal 1Q. Such a hit seems expected by analysts, though, with the midpoint of the company's adjusted earnings forecast coming in line with analyst estimates of 35 cents a share. The company's guidance is net of mitigation strategies, which include price increases across its assortment that took effect earlier this month. The stock rises 10% in after-hours trading.(kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

1617 ET - Flagstar Financial's stock price decline seems overdone despite concerns about New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, says D.A. Davidson's Peter Winter in a research note. Mamdani, who won the Democratic primary, campaigned in part on freezing rents on rent regulated apartments. "No guarantee he becomes NYC's next mayor," says Winter. "If he does win, this is a negative for Flagstar and the biggest risk is Flagstar might have to increase reserves." But the analyst notes that the regional lender is much better positioned with a far stronger balance sheet to handle the increase to reserves if Mamdani is the next mayor and freezes rents. Shares fell 3.9% to $10.69. (denny.jacob@wsj.com; @pennedbyden)

1604 ET - U.S. stocks close basically flat as geopolitical tensions cool. Trade partners race to secure deals with the U.S. before looming tariff hikes. BP shares rise 1.6% following a report from WSJ that rival Shell is holding talks to acquire the company. General Mills falls 5.1% to its lowest close since 2020, as it expects organic sales to remain stagnant. Nvidia rallies 4.3% and is the largest company by market cap for the first time in two weeks, surpassing Microsoft. The DJIA falls 106 points, 0.3%, to 42982 and the S&P 500 is flat at 6092, while Nasdaq gains 0.3% to 19974. (paulo.trevisani@wsj.com; @ptrevisani)

1553 ET - Accounting firms Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young were fined a combined $8.5 million for widespread cheating on training exams in the Netherlands, according to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. The firms' Dutch units failed to adequately prevent or detect answer sharing on mandatory tests for training from 2018 to 2022. Hundreds of firm professionals, including partners, participated, with the misconduct extending up to the level of senior leaders at the PwC and Deloitte units. The exams covered topics such as audit requirements, integrity and independence. The PCAOB and the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets conducted parallel investigations. EY and PwC's Dutch units said they have taken extensive actions to address the issues identified by the regulators. Deloitte didn't respond to a request for comment. (mark.maurer@wsj.com; @markgmaurer)

1551 ET - Accounting firms Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young were fined a combined $8.5 million for widespread cheating on training exams in the Netherlands, according to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. The firms' Dutch units failed to adequately prevent or detect answer sharing on mandatory tests for training from 2018 to 2022. Hundreds of firm professionals, including partners, participated, with the misconduct extending up to the level of senior leaders at the PwC and Deloitte units. The exams covered topics such as audit requirements, integrity and independence. The PCAOB and the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets conducted parallel investigations. EY and PwC's Dutch units said they have taken extensive actions to address the issues identified by the regulators. Deloitte didn't respond to a request for comment. (mark.maurer@wsj.com; @markgmaurer)

1442 ET - The new-vehicle sales pace in June is expected to finish near 15.3 million, up from the 15 million pace in June 2024, but below May's 15.6 million pace, Cox Automotive says. The seasonally adjusted annual rate, or SAAR, is expected to fall from April's 17.5 million average sales pace, Cox says. Second-quarter auto sales saw healthy results early in the quarter, Cox says, adding the full-year sales forecast of 15.7 million represents a slight decline from last year. That figure is also below Cox's initial 2025 forecast of 16.3 million. Charlie Chesbrough, senior economist at Cox Automotive, says "much of the pull-ahead demand that fired up sales in April and May has now been satiated, so consumer demand is expected to be weaker in the coming months." (stephen.nakrosis@wsj.com)

1434 ET - The 10 U.S. privately held oil-and-gas companies that recorded the largest output among such businesses last year represented five different regions of the country, including Rockies, Gulf Coast and Mid-Continent, according to Enverus. That illustrates how the sector's increased consolidation by large, publicly traded energy companies-particularly in the prolific Permian Basin-is pushing their private peers to other areas, Enverus says. The energy-focused data analytics company released a list of the top 100 U.S. private oil-and-gas producers. "This year's Top 100 list reflects a private operator landscape that's been shaped by the drastic consolidation of operators over the last two years," Shawn Stuart, a principal analyst at Enverus, says. "The remaining privates are more geographically diverse than ever before." (luis.garcia@wsj.com; @lhvgarcia)

1421 ET - Bumble's plan to lay off 30% of its workforce isn't much of a surprise, given that other online-dating companies have already realized they need far fewer employees to operate. The workforce reduction also builds on Bumble's previously disclosed plan to cut operating expenses by about $15 million in the second half of the year, J.P. Morgan analysts say in a research note. "The upwardly revised revenue outlook was the bigger surprise given weak intra-quarter download trends," they write, attributing the raise to less-than-expected revenue impact from Bumble's $20 million cut to performance and brand-marketing spend in 2Q. "We'd be cautious extrapolating Bumble's 2Q revenue update as a sign that online dating trends are improving," they add. Bumble shares rise 23%. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

1411 ET - BlackBerry is in a good position to buy back shares in a meaningful way. In May, the company got authorization to repurchase up to roughly 4.7% of the outstanding public float of its shares over a one-year period. "We're delighted that we're in a position now to be able to do a buyback," CEO John Giamatteo says on an analyst call. "It shows the strength of our balance sheet and the plan going forward, so we're great and feeling good about that," he adds. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

1402 ET - A few retailers have started to raise prices, and shoe companies are leading the way, Deutsche Bank analyst Krisztina Katai says. Skechers, Nike and Lululemon are the only brands among 11 apparel companies that have raised prices in the U.S. since mid-April, when new tariffs were announced, but Katai expects other retailers will ramp up prices in late summer and fall. Skechers has raised prices the most frequently, doing so in four separate weeks, and by the greatest amount, with a 9% increase in blended average selling price since the end of March, Katai says. Footwear companies started raising prices earlier: Skechers started around April 7 while Lululemon waited until mid-June. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 25, 2025 18:26 ET (22:26 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.