Brew Markets Daily — Episode Summary February 19, 2026

Episode Theme:
A sharp, engaging overview of major stock market stories: Accenture's “Adapt or Exit” AI-driven transformation, and the intensifying battle for last-mile delivery dominance between Walmart and DoorDash. Host Ann Berry—with investor and board experience—delves into the implications for investors, workers, and the broader consumer landscape.

Accenture's AI Reckoning: Work, Promotions & Stock Pressures

Segment Starts: 00:31

Key Points

• Accenture’s New AI Bar: Accenture ($130B market cap) openly monitors individual employee AI-tool usage, specifically tracking senior staff logins and tying promotion opportunities to AI engagement and skill development.
  • “Accenture is now monitoring how its staff uses AI tools, literally collecting data on individual weekly logins for some senior employees … directing promotions towards those who are more AI inclined.” (Ann Berry, 00:31)
• Scale of Change: Over 550K of Accenture’s 700K+ employees have received gen AI training.
• Industry Anxiety: Even with expansive AI training, both internal and external stakeholders remain uneasy. LLMs threaten to replicate core consulting research, benchmarking, and threaten traditional billing models.
  • “The only thing that corporations will pay up for is highly expert humans … who use AI to scale their knowledge. Which is why Accenture’s promotion policy … actually does make sense to me.” (Ann Berry, 01:46)
• Humanity in Communication: Ann compares Accenture’s direct, "people-centric" communication style to the more clinical, detached approach by Big Tech regarding AI-driven layoffs.
  • Quote: “When people-centric businesses like Accenture come out and say essentially, we will try to give our employees new skills and lifeboats, but if they don’t take them, then the career bargain is off. This feels like a new chapter...” (Ann Berry, 02:19)
• Ripple Effect: Predicts other people-driven businesses (Omnicom in marketing, Compass in real estate) may soon adopt similar policies.
• Market Reaction: Accenture hit a 52-week low (down 5% today, 40% over 12 months), joining sector peers Booz Allen Hamilton (down 30%) and Capgemini (down 34%). Ann speculates further drops may follow.

Last-Mile Wars: DoorDash vs. Walmart

Segment Starts: 05:59

DoorDash Earnings & Innovations

• Strong Growth, Mixed Results: DoorDash (Ticker: DASH, $77B market cap)
  • Q4 revenue: $4B (+38% YoY, missed estimates)
  • Adjusted EPS: $0.48 (missed by $0.10)
  • Gross Order Value (GOV): nearly $30B (+39% YoY), outlook beat estimates, driving shares up 1.5–2% today.
• Rising R&D Spend: Research & development costs surged 41% in 2025, fueling major investments in autonomous delivery robots and drones.
  • Ann shares a viral anecdote: “Americans are angry and they’re taking it on delivery robots. Apparently there have been attacks on delivery robots … [not for] stealing the food inside it, they just want to express fury and they’re taking it out in the robot.” (Ann Berry, 08:08)
• Global Platform Integration: Absorbing acquired brands (Finnish Walt, UK’s Deliveroo—$4B deal) under one system, but cautions on integration costs and distractions.
  • “Integrating different businesses … is a distraction often for your core business … can create real issues when it comes to execution.” (Ann Berry, 09:52)
• Agentic AI Commerce: CEO Tony Xu champions a future where AIs (bots/agents) make purchases, raising questions about which platforms win when bots—not humans—choose.
  • “At some point all these company stories turn into … pattern spotting … there could be a bot where we go to maybe some LLM … and say this is my vision for dinner. Go order the food. Who does it go to?” (Ann Berry, 12:01)
• Ghost Kitchens & Squeezed Parties: DoorDash is deepening ghost kitchen involvement, possibly as a response to criticism over high restaurant commission fees (15–30%) and gig worker pay.
  • “There's been a movement that's asked, can people make livings off this platform… restaurants themselves who are feeling squeezed.” (Ann Berry, 13:16)
  • Company response: generated $75B in sales for local merchants and $20B in Dasher earnings in 2025.
• Affordability Paradox: Despite inflation, high fees, and a “consumer affordability crisis,” DoorDash continues robust growth, raising questions of sustainability.
  • “I couldn’t stomach paying … You could easily get to 20 bucks in fees. I’m like, how lazy am I … not going to walk a couple of blocks to pick up food.” (Ann Berry, 13:59)

Walmart Earnings & Strategic Moves

Segment Starts: 15:01

• Earnings Recap: Walmart (Ticker: WMT, $1T market cap)
  • Q4 revenue: $191B (+5.5% YoY, beat estimates)
  • Adjusted EPS: $0.74 (beat by $0.01)
  • Cautious full-year guidance: expects slower net sales growth, soft consumer spending.
• Consumer Sentiment Tug-of-War: Walmart’s caution contrasts with DoorDash’s bullish narrative. Points to dual trends—higher-income consumers flocking to Walmart for value, while DoorDash customers still absorb hefty delivery fees, defying expectations.
  • “Walmart … saying caution on consumer spending. So I try to square that … with DoorDash which is saying, ‘we’re going to grow’ and the market’s buying it…” (Ann Berry, 16:10)
• Guidance Under New CEO: First earnings call under John Furner, potentially motivating a conservative outlook to “underpromise and overdeliver.”
  • “He did note … ‘while spending remains resilient in the United States, consumers are choiceful’ … Market share gains continue to come from households making more than $100,000.” (Ann Berry, 16:36)
• Tax Credits and Consumer Cash: Interesting aside—tax credits for seniors may inject extra consumer spending power in the coming quarter. (John, 17:46)
• AI in Action—Sparky the Chatbot: Over 50% of Walmart app users have tried “Sparky” the AI chatbot; average order value rises 35% after usage.
  • “The fact that companies are now starting to be willing to share … tangible data I find sort of promising.” (Ann Berry, 18:32)
• E-commerce Growth and Delivery Speed: Walmart e-commerce sales up 24% YoY; now delivers one-third of orders in under three hours. 95% of Americans eligible for sub–three hour delivery—a dramatic logistics leap.
• Amazon Overtakes Walmart: In 2025, Amazon surpassed Walmart in global revenue ($717B vs $713B), but Walmart still leads in retail-only sales.
• Dividend Streak Continues: Walmart raises its annual dividend for the 53rd consecutive year.
  • “I hold Walmart stock, so I’m always happy to hear that.” (Ann Berry, 20:38)
• Market Reaction: Walmart shares close down 1.5% on cautious guidance, but still up 13% YTD.

Quick Hits: Market Movers

Segment Starts: 22:14

• Avis Budget Group: Shares down 25% after weak revenue and a $856M loss, mostly due to a write-down on its electric vehicle rental fleet.
• Carvana: Shares fell 10% after mixed results, lower per-vehicle gross profit due to higher reconditioning costs, and ongoing internal management changes.
  • CEO Ernest Garcia III: “We were hiring new managers … sometimes that leads to a little backsliding.” (John, 23:26)
• Private Credit Wobbles: Blue Owl (private credit giant) restricts redemptions in popular retail fund; sector stocks (Ares, Apollo, Blackstone, KKR, TPG) dip amid liquidity fears.
  • Mohamed El Erian: “Is this a canary in the coal mine moment for private credit?” (John, 24:50; cited by Ann for gravitas, 25:09)
  • Ann: “A conscious decision for him to ask — that is a voice people listen to.”
• Looking Ahead: Tomorrow’s show will feature Oscar Health’s CFO Scott Blackley on health insurance sector shifts.

Notable Quotes

• “There is just no way that corporate clients … will pay anything like the same prices they were paying before. Not when we all know that the consultant's cost of doing the basics has dropped exponentially thanks to AI.”
  — Ann Berry (01:05)

• “When people-centric businesses like Accenture come out and say essentially we will try to give our employees new skills and lifeboats, but if they don’t take them, then the career bargain is off. This feels like a new chapter...”
  — Ann Berry (02:19)

• “The only thing that corporations will pay up for is highly expert humans who ... use AI to scale their knowledge.”
  — Ann Berry (01:46)

• “[DoorDash] posted … nearly $30 billion last quarter, up 39% year over year … so even with those misses on revenue and earnings, shares were up nearly one and a half to 2% today.”
  — John (06:36)

• “Americans are angry and they’re taking it on delivery robots. Apparently there have been attacks on delivery robots … They just want to express fury and they’re taking it out in the robot.”
  — Ann Berry (08:08)

• “For the longest time I didn’t use DoorDash because … with delivery fees, tax, tip … you could easily get to 20 bucks in fees. I’m like, how lazy am I … not going to walk a couple of blocks to go pick up some food.”
  — Ann Berry (13:59)

• “Half of [Walmart's] Walmart app users now have used Sparky … the average order is 35% higher after using Sparky.”
  — Ann Berry (18:32)

• “Amazon dethroned Walmart as the largest global company when it comes to revenue … but, in retail alone, Walmart is still in the lead.”
  — Ann Berry (19:58)

• “Walmart announced its annual dividend will be increased for the 53rd consecutive year.”
  — John (20:30)

• “Mohamed El Erian … asked, is this a canary in the coal mine moment for private credit?”
  — John (24:50), expanded by Ann (25:09)

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Section | Start Time | |--------------------------------------------|------------| | Accenture’s AI Disruption | 00:31 | | DoorDash Q4 Results & Strategy | 05:59 | | DoorDash Integration & Agentic AI | 09:10 | | Ghost Kitchens & Affordability | 11:47 | | Walmart Q4 Review & Guidance | 15:01 | | Walmart’s Use of AI | 18:32 | | Amazon vs. Walmart Revenue Race | 19:58 | | Dividend Increase | 20:30 | | Avis, Carvana, Private Credit Headlines | 22:14 |

Summary Takeaway
This episode probes the sharp pivot to AI at Accenture and its reverberations across consulting and people-centric industries. It also spotlights the tech-driven shakeup between DoorDash and Walmart as retail and delivery morph into efficiency-obsessed, AI-powered battlegrounds. Engaging, direct, and full of real-world data and workplace resonance—Brew Markets delivers a must-hear market snapshot.