Stock Market Today: Indexes Decline After Selloff as Treasury Yields Remain Elevated; Tech Stocks Weigh; Trump-Xi Summit on Tap

Starbucks Says It’s Closing 250 Stores Across North America This Week

FROM 1 hr 40 min ago

Some Americans might soon have to drive a bit further to get their favorite coffee, as Starbucks is closing hundreds of stores.

Starbucks (SBUX) COO Mike Grams wrote in a message to employees Thursday that the company is closing 250 stores across North America later this week, just over 1% of its network of over 18,000 stores across the continent.

“We have carefully reviewed our North America coffeehouse portfolio and identified locations where we do not believe we can consistently deliver the experience we want for customers and partners or where we don’t see a path to acceptable financial performance,” Grams wrote.

The message said Starbucks is progressing in its plans to update some 1,500 locations as part of CEO Brian Niccol’s multi-year turnaround effort. Grams said the implementation of its Back to Starbucks plan has “given us a clearer view of the performance of every coffeehouse,” with some locations improving while others “continue to underperform.”

In a regulatory filing, the coffee giant said it expects to incur about $300 million in restructuring charges related to the closures. Starbucks now forecasts net new store openings of around 440 locations in its current fiscal year, which ends this month, down from 600 to 650 previously. Around this time last year, the company announced plans to close over 400 stores across the country and cut hundreds of corporate jobs.

The company did not detail how many of the 250 closures will be in the U.S., or provide specific information about which locations will be impacted. Long term, the company still plans to expand its footprint in North America, Grams said.

Starbucks shares were up less than 1% in premarket trading. They’ve climbed about 12% this year so far.

–Aaron McDade

Homebuilders Warn Affordability Headwinds Are Hitting the Housing Market. Berkshire Is Doubling Down on the Sector

FROM 1 hr 40 min ago

Some of America’s largest homebuilders are warning about headwinds to the U.S. housing market. That’s not stopping Berkshire Hathaway from boosting its bets on the sector.

The investment conglomerate has been expanding its exposure to the housing market, recently upping its stake in Lennar (LEN), which sent shares of the homebuilder surging this week. Berkshire (BRK.A, BRK.B) also announced a deal to buy Taylor Morrison earlier this year, in its first major deal under new CEO Greg Abel.

Shares of companies in the sector may be looking like a bargain after a big pullback in recent months. Even after this week’s Berkshire-fueled rally, Lennar shares have dropped a third from their highs in January. Two of the biggest exchange-traded funds focused on the sector, the iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF (ITB) and the SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB), have fallen roughly 20% from their February highs, amid worries about sluggish demand and rising costs as the war in Iran drags on.

KB Home (KBH) executive chair Jeffrey Mezger said during last night’s earnings call that rising borrowing costs and stubborn inflation are making Americans “more cautious about buying a home,” according to a transcript provided by AlphaSense. The company warned affordability concerns would weigh on its current-quarter outlook.

Read the full article here.

–Aaron McDade

Three Things to Expect From the Trump-Xi Summit

FROM 2 hr 34 min ago

Leaders of the world’s two largest economies are meeting this week in Washington, and experts expect some agreements to come of the two-day summit that begins Thursday.

Back in May, President Donald Trump met with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in Beijing. Now, the Chinese leader is returning the favor, visiting the U.S. capital for a round of negotiations on thorny issues such as trade, tariffs, Taiwan, the war against Iran, and the development of AI technology. Experts expect some agreements, but see no signs of major breakthroughs. 

The meeting is the latest opportunity for the two leaders to change the course of a trade war that has roiled the global economy. In 2025, President Donald Trump ratcheted up tariffs against China and restricted the export of U.S. technology. China retaliated by restricting the supply of crucial minerals it controls, which are needed for high-tech manufacturing. The two sides agreed to a trade truce last May, which has prevented further rounds of tit-for-tat measures, at least until it expires in November. (Late Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the U.S. and China will extend a tariff truce by two months, until Jan. 10.)

Read the full article here.

–Diccon Hyatt

Stitch Fix Stock Dives on Soft Outlook

FROM 3 hr 1 min ago

Stitch Fix shares look like they’ll need some fixing once markets open today.

Shares of Stitch Fix (SFIX) are sinking 20% in premarket trading Thursday, a day after the online personal styling service company issued weaker-than-expected guidance for the current quarter and new fiscal year.

Stitch Fix sees fiscal 2027 first-quarter revenue of $323 million to $328 million and full-year revenue of $1.31 billion to $1.36 billion. Analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha expected $352.2 million and $1.40 billion, respectively. The company said its full-year guidance “reflects a more challenging consumer environment and a lower active client starting point, which we expect will temper revenue growth.”

In addition, the San Francisco-based firm expects adjusted EBITDA of $3 million to $6 million in the current quarter and $27 million to $42 million for the full year. Visible Alpha consensus called for $13.8 million and $54.6 million, respectively.

For its fiscal 2026 fourth quarter, Stitch Fix reported a loss of 2 cents per share on revenue of $324.4 million. Analysts expected a loss of 6 cents per share on revenue of $324.7 million.

Entering Thursday’s session, Stitch Fix shares were down 46% this year.

Stock Futures Fall as Treasury Yields Continue to Climb

FROM 4 hr 4 min ago

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.4%.

S&P 500 futures pointed 0.7% lower.

Nasdaq 100 futures sank 1.1%.