In briefs from Wall Street 🤓

Enjoy our platter of digestible Wall Street morsels in bite-sized bits.

Double take. Grand Theft Auto owner Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) released official GTA 6 teasers before last week’s earnings call in which they beat earnings estimates. During the call, CEO Strauss Zelnick atypically shared video games maker’s three-year forecasts, which include the release of 36 game titles. Following the announcements, Take-Two’s shares surged to their highest in a year, peaking at US$141.47, since settling at US$137.43, up nearly 10%. 🚘

Home alone. It hasn’t been a sizzling summer for Home Depot (HD), which missed Q1 earnings estimates - net earnings falling 8.5% year-over-year to US$3.9 billion compared to last year’s US$4.2 billion. CEO Ted Decker said that following the home improvements company’s previous ‘unprecedented growth’ - with stock peaking at US$400.61 in September 2021 - they’re feeling the pinch as DIY falls out of favour. Still, their five-year performance is up 55% and Home Depot’s paid annual dividends of nearly 3%, increasing every year for more than a decade. 🔨

Swiftonomics. Could The Taylor Swift Effect be a saviour for the US economy? Some think so. It’s not just Live Nation’s Ticketmaster (LYV) making money from Taylor Swift’s 52-night, 20-city tour - which raked in as much as US$16.5 million, according to Forbes. Retailers, hoteliers, restaurateurs and even Las Vegas are post-Covid cashing in on pandemic-savings-rich Swifties who, after a five-year wait, are splurging on extreme viewing, bling outfits and… ponchos? 🌧️ Also read: Ticketmaster’s ticketing swift

Shopping small. Is Walmart (WMT) nipping at Amazon’s e-commerce heels? (AMZN). The big box retailer’s online sales are up 27% taking Walmart’s earnings with it - their overall sales up nearly 8%, with the company projecting they’ll increase a further 3.5% in the next quarter. While Walmart is surprised by consumer ‘resilience’, Target (TGT) however is feeling, erm, targeted by thieves, who are likely to cost the business US$500 million this year. Yet despite Target’s frugal shoppers sending net earnings down 5.8% to US$950 million in the first quarter, teens are snapping up beauty products, and pets were pampered. 🐶

China’s tech roller coaster. Last week’s lift in earnings announced by Alibaba (BABA - ADR), Baidu (BIDU - ADR) and WeChat owner Tencent (TME - ADR) has been called by some the start of a possible ‘bumpy recovery’ for China, which has lagged behind the world due to their zero-Covid restrictions. But while Baidu - China’s Google - and Tencent reported revenue increases of 10% and 11% respectively, and Alibaba’s revenue climbed 2%, the e-commerce giant missed analyst expectations. Perhaps investors will be bolstered by Alibaba’s cloud division spin-off? Also read: Is Temu a legitimate site?