CNBC Business News Update - Market Midday: Stocks Lower, Consumer Confidence Slips, Joanne Closing All Stores 2/25/25

Episode Date: February 25, 2025

From Wall Street to Main Street, the latest on the markets and what it means for your money. Updated regularly on weekdays, featuring CNBC expert analysis and sound from top business newsmakers. Anchored by CNBC's Jessica Ettinger.

I'm Jessica Edinger CNBC. The Dow has been struggling to stay in the green. It is lower this afternoon on a disappointing consumer confidence report. The Dow now down 50 points being led lower by shares of Goldman Sachs down more than 2%. The S&P 500 index down 40 points. That's more than a half percent. And the NASDAQ is down 247 points, one and a quarter percent in video shares, down almost two percent this afternoon. Companies whose shares have hit fresh all-time highs today include KFC and Taco Bell parent Yum Brands, vape maker Philip Morris, Berkshire Hathaway Class B, Progressive ADP, Paychex and Waste Management.

February consumer confidence came in worse than expected. It is the latest sign of a slowing U.S. economy. Yeah, markets are pretty smart. They stock market going down, headline confidence coming in at 98.3. We're expecting a number over 102. That's February from the conference board, sequentially significantly lower than 105.3 in the rear view mirror, and it is the lightest level going back to June of last year. CNBC's Rick Santelli.

Home Depot earnings beat Wall Street estimates, and it had its best sales comp in months. But investors are still cautious as the real estate market remains slow. Okay, so you had a nice, you know, a solid, if you will, earning speed. Sales did top expectations. This is the first time we've seen a positive compound, home depot in a long while. Where my concern, one of the key reasons I'm not recommending home depot now, despite how much frankly I love this company, so I think it's

extraordinarily well-recovered, but my concern is housing. We have this stagnant U.S. housing market. I don't see that unstagnated until we get interest rates significantly lower. Oppenheimer's Brian Nagel on CNBC. Electric vehicle owners are more satisfied with their cars. The satisfaction that EV owners have in their vehicles actually increased. There was an improvement. Look at this 94% plan to buy another EV when it comes time for their next vehicle, and just 12% would consider going back to buying an internal combustion engine vehicle. This is not a surprise.

Once you plug in, you have no desire to go back to pumping gas. You're done going to the gas station. CNBC's Phil LeBeau. Apple shareholders expected to reject an attempt to pressure the company to scrap diversity programs. The proposal was drafted by the National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank. Apple's shareholder meeting is today. Costco also continues to stand by diversity while companies like McDonald's and Walmart have gotten rid of their programs. 80-year-old craft retailer Joanne,

closing all of its stores according to the New York Times. Joanne has been in bankruptcy twice and has 500 stores in the US. Meantime bankrupt retailer Party City says all of its stores will be closed by this Friday. Jessica Edinger, CNBC.