Walmart plunges 10%, dragging down all three major indexes

Published Aug 20, 05:04 PM UTC

Walmart's stock plunged about 10% on August 20, 2026, despite beating revenue and earnings estimates and raising full-year guidance. The decline dragged down the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and Nasdaq Composite. Analysts pointed to weaker-than-expected domestic comparable sales growth of 2.6% (the slowest since Q4 2020) and the fact that $2.9 billion of earnings came from tariff refunds rather than core operations. The report follows similar cautious signals from Home Depot and July retail sales data, indicating U.S. consumer spending is slowing amid high fuel costs and rising Treasury yields. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced larger buybacks of long-dated debt, acknowledging poor liquidity. Meanwhile, Deere rose 9.4% on its own beat-and-raise report, and memory chip stocks like Micron and SK Hynix gained, showing pockets of optimism in an otherwise anxious market.