Finances

Kohl’s Corporation (KSS) reported its second quarter earnings results on Wednesday, August 27. The department store chain reported higher-than-expected sales and earnings, which resulted in shares rising by 24% following the earnings release.

The company reported net sales of $3.35 billion for the quarter. This was down 5.1% from $3.53 billion this time last year but above analyst expectations of $3.32 billion.

“Kohl’s second quarter performance is a testament to the progress we are making against our 2025 initiatives,” said Kohl’s Interim CEO, Michael Bender. “In addition to our top line progress, we managed the business with great discipline in the quarter. We were able to expand our gross margins, reduce our inventory, and lower our expenses, leading to solid second quarter earnings. I continue to be impressed with our entire team at Kohl’s and am thankful for all their hard work.”

The company posted net income of $153 million or $1.35 per diluted share. This is up from net income of $66 million or $0.59 per share during the same quarter last year.

The Wisconsin-based company reported a decrease in its comparable sales of 4.2% year-over-year. Second-quarter gross margin increased by 28 basis points compared to the prior year, attributed to better penetration of proprietary brands, improved category mix and strong inventory management. The company reported inventory of $3.0 billion, a decrease of 5% from the prior year. Kohl’s board of directors announced a quarterly cash dividend for common stock of $0.125 per share, payable on September 24, 2025, to shareholders of record on September 10, 2025. For full-year fiscal 2025, Kohl’s raised its guidance and expects comparable sales to decrease 4% to 5% and diluted earnings per share in the range of $0.50 to $0.80.

Kohl’s Corporation (KSS) shares ended the week at $15.06, up 10% for the week.

Abercrombie & Fitch Announces Results

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF) announced its second quarter earnings report on Wednesday, August 27. The clothing company’s earnings exceeded analysts’ expectations, but weak sales in its namesake brand caused its shares to fall after the release.

Revenue for Abercrombie’s second quarter reached $1.21 billion. This is up 7% from $1.13 billion in revenue at this time last year and exceeded consensus estimates of $1.20 billion in revenue for the quarter.

“We delivered record second quarter net sales, exceeding our expectations, with 7% growth to last year,” said Abercrombie’s CEO, Fran Horowitz. “We are increasing our full year net sales outlook, reflecting our strong positioning and growth trajectory, building on record 2024 results. Our team remains focused on delivering for our customers while investing to capitalize on the significant, long-term opportunities for our global brands.”

Abercrombie reported net income of $141.4 million or $2.91 per diluted share. This is an increase from net income of $133.2 million or $2.50 per adjusted share in the same quarter last year.

The Ohio-based company, which operates Abercrombie and Hollister clothing stores, saw comparable sales growth of 3% year-over-year. Net sales for the company’s Abercrombie brand segment fell 5% to $551.9 million for the quarter while the Hollister brand segment reported a 19% increase to $656.7 million. Abercrombie’s operating income margin improved to 17.1% of net sales for the quarter, up from 15.5% the prior year. The company updated its full-year fiscal 2025 guidance and expects sales growth to increase 5% to 7% as compared to previous guidance of 3% to 6%.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF) shares ended the week at $93.53, down 5% for the week.

Nvidia Posts Earnings Report

Nvidia Corporation (NVDA) posted its second quarter results on Wednesday, August 27. Despite reporting strong revenue and earnings, the AI tech company’s stock decreased 3% following the release.

The company’s revenue for the second quarter totaled $46.74 billion. This was up 56% from revenue of $30.04 billion during the same quarter last year and above analysts’ estimates of $46.2 billion.

“Blackwell is the AI platform the world has been waiting for, delivering an exceptional generational leap — production of Blackwell Ultra is ramping at full speed, and demand is extraordinary,” said Nvidia CEO, Jensen Huang. “NVIDIA NVLink rack-scale computing is revolutionary, arriving just in time as reasoning AI models drive orders-of-magnitude increases in training and inference performance. The AI race is on, and Blackwell is the platform at its center.” 

Nvidia reported net income of $26.42 billion or $1.08 per diluted share for the quarter. This was up from net income during the same quarter last year of $16.60 billion or $0.67 per diluted share.

The Santa Clara, California-based company reported an increase in revenue across all segments. Data center division revenue, which includes sales from AI processors, increased 56% to $41.10 billion. The company’s gaming revenue grew 49% to $4.29 billion. Nvidia’s automotive and robotics segment increased 69% to $586 million, while the professional visualization segment was up 32%, reaching $601 million. Nvidia declared a quarterly dividend of $0.01 per share payable on October 2, 2025, to stockholders of record at the close of business on September 11, 2025. For the third quarter of the current fiscal year, the company expects revenue to be between $52.9 billion to $55.1 billion.

Nvidia Corporation (NVDA) shares ended the week at $174.18, down 2% for the week.

The Dow started the week of 8/25 at 45,605 and closed at 45,545 on 8/29. The S&P 500 started the week at 6,458 and closed at 6,460. The NASDAQ started the week at 21,466 and closed at 21,456.

U.S. Treasury yields fluctuated throughout the week as investors waited for new economic data reflecting the state of the U.S. economy. Yields continued to vary towards the end of the week as the latest jobless claims data reflected a stable labor market.  

On Thursday, the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) announced that the revised estimate for Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a monetary measure of the market value of all goods and services produced in a specific period, increased at a 3.3% annualized rate in the second quarter of 2025. This surpassed economists’ expectations of a 3.0% annualized gain and reversed the 0.5% decline reported in the first quarter of 2025.

“With the initial brunt of the tariff shock behind us and the economy losing momentum, we expect to see sub-1% GDP growth in the second half of the year,” noted financial market economist at Nationwide, Oren Klachkin. “A weakening labor market and modestly higher tariff-induced inflation will constrain activity through year-end.”

The benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield opened the week of August 25 at 4.26% and traded as low as 4.21% on Thursday. The 30-year Treasury bond opened the week at 4.89% and traded as low as 4.87% on Thursday.

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that initial claims for unemployment were 229,000 for the week ending August 23. This was down 5,000 from the prior week and below expectations of 230,000. Continuing unemployment claims decreased by 7,000 to 1.95 million.

"The unemployment rate has been relatively stable because layoffs are low," said Lead U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics, Nancy Vanden Houten. “Going forward, slower labor force growth will also hold down the unemployment rate, masking some of the potential fissures in the labor market.”

The 10-year Treasury note yield finished the week of 8/25 at 4.23%, while the 30-year Treasury note yield finished the week at 4.93%.

Freddie Mac released its latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey on Thursday, August 28. The survey indicated a slight decrease in the 30-year mortgage rate, resulting in the lowest rates in 10 months.

This week, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 6.56%, down from last week’s average of 6.58%. Last year at this time, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 6.35%.

The 15-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 5.69% this week, unchanged from last week’s average. During the same week last year, the 15-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 5.51%.

“Mortgage rates are at a 10-month low,” said chief economist at Freddie Mac, Sam Khater. “Purchase demand continues to rise on the back of lower rates and solid economic growth. Though many potential homebuyers still face affordability challenges, consistently lower rates may provide them with the impetus to enter the market.”

Based on published national averages, the savings rate was 0.39% as of 8/18. The one-year CD averaged 1.76%.

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