WSJ What’s News - What’s News in Markets: Intel Rallies, Amazon Delivers, Tapestry Plummets

Episode Date: August 16, 2025

What caused Intel’s share price to bounce back? And how did Amazon’s new same-day grocery delivery rollout affect its shares? Plus, how did a $160 million tariff hit cause turmoil for Tapestry? Host Liz Young discusses the biggest stock moves of the week and the news that drove them. Sign up for the WSJ's free Markets A.M. newsletter.  Sign up for the WSJ's free Markets A.M. newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey listeners. It's Saturday, August 16th. I'm Liz Young for the Wall Street Journal, and this is What's News and Markets, our look at the biggest stock moves of the week and the news that drove them. Let's get to it. Investors this week have been digging into all kinds of economic data. The producer price index showed prices rose 0.9% in July. That was the largest monthly increase in more than three years.

Consumer prices were up 2.7% in July from a year earlier. unchanged from June's gain. The Commerce Department said this week that retail sales climbed 0.5% in July, in line with economists' expectations. But, according to the University of Michigan survey, consumer sentiment fell for the first time in four months while inflation expectations picked up.

The Dow Industrial set a new intraday record on Friday fueled by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway taking a stake in United Health. But by mid-morning, the Dow had pulled back. In the end, the Dow closed the week up 0.1% and just shy of a record close. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ composite both declined. Intel shares rallied this week on reports that the U.S. could become a shareholder of the chipmaker. As we reported, President Trump discussed the idea on Monday during a meeting with Intel's CEO, Lip Bhutan.

It's important to note that the talks are in early stages and could fall apart. Intel's share price has fallen by more than half since the start of life. last year, as the company has struggled to compete with rivals on the advanced chips powering the AI boom. In the end, Intel shares ended up 20% for the week on Friday. Amazon this week announced a big expansion of its grocery delivery service. The e-commerce giant launched same-day grocery delivery in a thousand cities, including Phoenix, Arizona, Orlando, Florida, and Kansas City, Missouri, and plans to more than double that to 2,300 U.S. locations by the end of this year.

Amazon is offering the service free to its prime members as it seeks to grow orders and increase its market share in the competitive U.S. grocery market. Amazon shares ended up 4% for the week. Shares of grocery companies fell on news of Amazon's expansion. Shares of Instacart owner Maple Bear were down 14% on the week. While DoorDash was down 4%. Kroger down 6%, and Walmart down nearly 4%. Tariffs are weighing on the outlook of luxury retailer tapestry.

The owner of brands such as Coach and Kate Spade on an earnings called this week said it expects to take $160 million hit on tariff-related costs this fiscal year. The company also forecast a difficult year ahead for Kate Spade as the brand's sales fell 13% in its fiscal fourth quarter. Tapestry executives said they planned to take strategic and financial steps to return Kate's paid to growth. A bright spot in the company's earnings report was the successful turnaround of sister brand coach, where sales rose 14% in the latest period. Tapestry's stock fell 16% in pre-market trading on Thursday and ended the week down about 8%. And now you know what's news in markets this week. Today's show was produced by Zoe Colkin and Pierre Bianame, with supervising producers.

Michael Cosmetis. I'm Liz Young. Have a great weekend.