U.S. stocks fell Tuesday after Walmart cut its earnings forecast, sending other retail shares lower and adding to concern that consumer spending might not be strong enough to keep the U.S. out of a recession.
The Dow Jones Industrials demurred 228.5 points to end Tuesday at 31,761.54.
The S&P 500 gave back 45.79 points to 3,921.05
The NASDAQ tumbled 220.09 points, or 1.9%, to 11,574.73.
Walmart cut its quarterly and full-year profit estimates because of rising food inflation. This alarmed investors who deliberated the implications for other retail stocks. The big-box retailer said higher prices are spurring consumers to pull back on general merchandise spending, particularly in apparel.
Walmart plunged 8% Tuesday and dragged other retailers with it. Kohl's sank 7% and Target dropped 5%. Apparel companies were hit hard, with Macy's down almost 6% and Nordstrom, Ross and TJX Companies lower by about 4% each.
The retail turmoil bled into e-commerce stocks. Shopify tumbled 15% after the payments provider announced it's laying off about 10% of its global workforce, citing a pullback in online spending and saying it misjudged how long the pandemic-fueled e-commerce boom would last.
The company will report its earnings Wednesday.
Shopify rival Amazon was also down by more than 5%. Square parent Block and PayPal, both of which operate major merchant services businesses, fell 7% and 6%, respectively.
Inflation has also changed the cost of production for companies like General Motors. Its shares fell 2.8% after the company missed earnings estimates, blaming supply chain disruptions that forced factory shutdowns and led it to ship fewer vehicles than expected. Its competitor Ford is scheduled to report results after the bell.
UPS shares slid 4.3% after the shipping giant reported declines in its international and supply chain businesses.
On the flip side, Coca-Cola shares rose 2.2% after the beverage giant topped earnings and revenue expectations, citing a sales volume recovery from the pandemic and higher pricing.
Shares of McDonald's added 3% following mixed second-quarter results, in which net sales were hurt in part by the closure of locations in Russia and Ukraine, but international growth elsewhere fueled a rise same-store sales.
Industrial stocks were earnings winners too. Shares of 3M rose 6% after beating earnings and revenue estimates and announcing plans to spin its health care business into a separate publicly traded company. General Electric posted better-than-expected results citing recovery in the aviation industry that boosted its jet engine business. Its shares gained almost 7%.
Treasury prices gained ground, lowering yields to 2.80%, from Monday's 2.81%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slipped $1.73 to $94.97 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $3.40 to $1,715.70 U.S. an ounce.