Summary4 min read

WSJ What’s News in Markets: Home Depot Rallies, Target Misses, Meta Pauses

Date: August 23, 2025
Host: Francesca Fontana (The Wall Street Journal)

Episode Overview

This Saturday wrap-up covers the week’s most significant stock market moves, focusing on key business developments and their impact. Highlights include Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s pivotal Jackson Hole speech, mixed earnings from major retailers Home Depot and Target, and significant hiring pauses at Meta and Novo Nordisk that reflect larger labor market trends.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Summer Stock Rally and the Fed’s Jackson Hole Speech

[00:32–02:00]

Stock Market Momentum: The summer rally slowed at the start of the week, largely overshadowed by anticipation of Jerome Powell’s speech at the annual Jackson Hole Summit.
Market Expectations: Investors braced for a “hawkish” stance, anticipating the Fed might prioritize inflation control through high interest rates.
Powell’s Surprising Tone:

“Powell struck a different, more dovish tone, opening the door for the central bank to cut rates next next month. And that sparked big rallies in the stock market.”
— Francesca Fontana [01:10]
Market Impact:
- All major indexes closed higher on Friday.
- Dow Jones achieved its first record close of 2025.
- Weekly gains: Dow +1.5%, S&P +0.3%, Nasdaq -0.6%.

2. Home Depot: Navigating Market Challenges

[02:01–03:00]

Quarterly Earnings: Home Depot’s earnings missed expectations; adjusted earnings were down, highlighting continued strain in the home improvement sector.
Customer Behavior:

“Home Depot said it was seeing consumers delay larger renovations due to economic uncertainty and high interest rates.”
— Francesca Fontana [02:23]
Resilience and Strategy:
- Maintained its annual outlook and posted a rise in same-store sales.
- Announced modest price increases despite previously pledging to keep prices steady.
Stock Response:
- Shares rallied 3.2% Tuesday, up 3.4% on the week.

3. Target: Leadership Change Amid Continued Sales Slump

[03:01–04:00]

Persistent Struggles: Reported its 11th straight quarter of flat or declining sales.
Leadership Shift:

“The retail giant... announced that lifelong employee Michael Fidelke would steer a turnaround effort starting in February. The company said that Brian Cornell... will become executive chairman of the board.”
— Francesca Fontana [03:22]
Competitive and Operational Challenges: Target continued to lose ground to Walmart and Amazon amid customer complaints regarding high prices and poor in-store experience.
Market Reaction:
- Stock fell 6.3% Wednesday, down about 3.7% for the week.

4. Meta and Novo Nordisk: Hiring Freezes Point to Broader Corporate Caution

[04:01–05:14]

Meta’s Move in AI:

“Meta has frozen hiring in its artificial intelligence division after the tech giant has spent months scooping up AI researchers and engineers.”
— Francesca Fontana [04:10]
- Hiring freeze began the previous week and is part of a wider restructuring.
- Prohibits internal transfers within the AI group.
Industry Trend: Novo Nordisk, known for Ozempic and Wegovy, paused non-critical hiring to battle competition, echoing similar caution across the market.
Labor Market Outlook:

“A conference board survey indicates that one in five US Employers plans to slow hiring in the second half of 2025.”
— Francesca Fontana [04:49]
Stock Reactions:
- Meta shares fell 1.2% Thursday; weekly loss of 3.9%.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

“Wall street was ready to be disappointed… with many expecting hawkishness… However, Powell struck a different, more dovish tone, opening the door for the central bank to cut rates next next month.”
— Francesca Fontana [01:06]
“Home Depot said it was seeing consumers delay larger renovations due to economic uncertainty and high interest rates.”
— Francesca Fontana [02:23]
“Target's been losing out to rivals such as Walmart and Amazon, and shoppers have been complaining of Target's high prices and its messy, understocked stores.”
— Francesca Fontana [03:40]
“Meta has frozen hiring in its artificial intelligence division after the tech giant has spent months scooping up AI researchers and engineers… part of a broader restructuring of the group.”
— Francesca Fontana [04:10]
“A conference board survey indicates that one in five US Employers plans to slow hiring in the second half of 2025.”
— Francesca Fontana [04:49]

Key Timestamps

[00:32] — Weekly stock market recap intro
[01:10] — Details on Powell’s speech and market rally
[02:20] — Home Depot’s earnings and consumer trends
[03:22] — Target’s leadership announcement
[04:10] — Meta’s AI hiring freeze
[04:49] — Broader corporate hiring slowdown statistics

Summary

Francesca Fontana delivers a concise yet detailed wrap-up of the week’s market movers, underlining the surprising optimism from the Fed, the resilience and struggles of legacy retailers, a leadership shakeup at Target, and cautious labor market decisions at technology and pharmaceutical giants. Together, these events capture the evolving strategies and concerns shaping today’s business landscape.

Loading summary

Transcript2 lines

[00:01]
A
This episode is brought to you by LifeLock. Between two factor authentication, strong passwords and a VPN, you try to be in control of how your info is protected. But many other places also have it, and they might not be as careful. That's why Lifelock monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second for threats. If your identity is stolen, they'll fix it, guaranteed or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year. Visit lifelock.com podcast for 40% off terms apply.
[00:33]
B
Hey listeners, it's Saturday, August 23rd. I'm Francesca Fontana for the Wall Street Journal, and this is what's news in markets, our look at the biggest stock moves of the week and the news that drove them. Let's get to it. The summer stock rally was starting to lose some momentum early in the week, which was filled with earnings updates from big name companies as well as jitters ahead of a key Federal Reserve speech on Friday. We'll go through some of the key earnings in a bit, but let's focus on Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech at the annual Jackson Hole Summit in Wyoming. Now. Wall street was ready to be disappointed going into Friday's speech, with many expecting hawkishness, AKA focus on controlling inflation via high interest rates. However, Powell struck a different, more dovish tone, opening the door for the central bank to cut rates next next month. And that sparked big rallies in the stock market. And as a result, we saw the three major indexes all close higher on Friday and the Dow notched its first record close of the year. On a weekly basis, The Dow gained 1.5%, the S&P edged about 0.3% higher, while the Nasdaq fell 0.6%. First up, home Depot shares built up a solid gain on Tuesday in spite of spite of a mixed bag of a quarterly report. The Home Improvement chain posted results that missed expectations, including adjusted earnings, and this is a tough time for retailers across the board, but we got a peek at the specific troubles in the home improvement market. Home Depot said it was seeing consumers delay larger renovations due to economic uncertainty and high interest rates. On the other hand, the company backed its annual outlook and it posted a rise in same store comparable sales. Now Home Depot is also rolling back its previous plan to keep prices steady in the face of tariffs and economic turmoil. The company said it planned some modest price increases after saying in May it would keep prices steady at the end of the day. Home Depot shares rallied 3.2% Tuesday and finished the week with a gain of roughly 3.4. Next up, will a new CEO be able to stop Target's sales slump? We'll see. On Wednesday, the retail giant posted its 11th quarter of flat or falling sales and announced that lifelong employee Michael Fidelke would steer a turnaround effort starting in February. The company said that Brian Cornell, who has held the top job for 11 years, will become executive chairman of the board. This is just the latest of Target's struggles. As we've seen, Target's been losing out to rivals such as Walmart and Amazon, and shoppers have been complaining of Target's high prices and its messy, understocked stores. So on Wednesday, Target shares tumbled 6.3% and the stock notched a weekly decline of about 3.7%. Foreign last but not least, let's talk about Facebook parent Meta platforms. The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Meta has frozen hiring in its artificial intelligence division after the tech giant has spent months scooping up AI researchers and engineers. This hiring freeze went into effect the previous week, and it coincides with a broader restructuring of the group. And it also prohibits current workers from moving across teams inside the AI division. And Meta's not the only one doing this. Meanwhile, weight loss drug maker Novo Nordisk said Wednesday that it would pause hiring in non critical areas. Novo is the company behind the blockbuster drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, and it's been working to fend off competition from knockoff versions of its medicines. And this appears to be a trend that isn't stopping anytime soon. A conference board survey indicates that one in five US Employers plans to slow hiring in the second half of 2025. So how'd investors react to the news about Meta? Well, meta shares fell 1.2% on Thursday, and on the week the stock lost 3.9%. And now you know what's news in markets this week. You can read about more stocks that moved on the week's news in the Score, my column, and the Wall Street Journal's Exchange section. Today's show was produced by Zoe Kulkin and Pierre Bienname, with supervising producer Michael Kosmides. I'm Francesca Fontana. Have a great weekend.