Why Stocks Are Slipping Midday: Walmart’s Cautious Outlook Offsets Deere’s Strong Earnings

U.S. equities edged lower Thursday morning as investors weighed stronger-than-expected results from Deere & Company against a more cautious outlook from Walmart.

Just before 11 am ET, he Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 110.93 points, or 0.22%, to 49,551.7. The S&P 500 declined 10.30 points, or 0.15%, to 6,871.01, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 27.08 points, or 0.12%, to 22,726.6. The Russell 2000 eased 0.31 point, or 0.12%, to 263.68.

Deere posted fiscal first-quarter net income of $656 million, or $2.42 a share, exceeding estimates that ranged between $1.92 and $2.10. Revenue climbed 13% year over year to $9.61 billion. The company raised its fiscal 2026 net income outlook to between $4.5 billion and $5.0 billion, up from prior guidance of $4.0 billion to $4.75 billion.

Strength in its Construction & Forestry segment, where sales rose 34% to $2.67 billion, helped offset ongoing pressure in large agriculture equipment. The company has indicated tariff costs could run about $300 million per quarter in fiscal 2026.

Walmart also topped quarterly expectations, reporting adjusted earnings of 74 cents a share on revenue of $190.66 billion. U.S. comparable sales rose 4.6%. However, the retailer guided next-quarter adjusted earnings to 63 to 65 cents a share, below the 68 cents analysts had anticipated. For the full year, it projected adjusted earnings of $2.75 to $2.85 per share, under consensus estimates near $2.96 to $2.97. Walmart authorized a new $30 billion share repurchase program and raised its annual dividend to 99 cents per share.

The mixed corporate signals left broader indexes drifting, as investors balanced evidence of stabilization in some cyclical industries against signs of margin and cost caution in consumer-focused businesses.