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• Best Buy has invited Ikea to set up shop in 10 of its locations and is testing small-store formats as it eyes excess retail space.
• The electronics retailer reported third-quarter results that beat expectations and raised its outlook for the full-year.

Are you overwhelmed by Ikea's mazy showrooms? Help is on the way—from a home-electronics chain.

Best Buy (BBY) added 1,000-square-foot Ikea showrooms in 10 of its stores earlier this month, according to CEO Corie Barry. Ikea workers help staff the areas, which display Ikea kitchen and laundry room merchandise, as well as Best Buy appliances. The pilot program, which the companies said marked the first time another U.S. retailer has offered Ikea products, is one way Best Buy is trying to make use of its excess retail space, Barry said on a conference call Tuesday.

The pact creates "innovative ways for both of us to meet customer needs in a changing environment," said Barry, according to a transcript made available by AlphaSense. "A multitude of partners" might be interested in a similar arrangement, Barry said.

As consumers gravitate to online shopping, some retailers are rethinking the big-box stores they've built. Companies such as Target and Walmart, have used retail space for fulfilling delivery orders. Best Buy has another idea: bringing in a well-known furniture seller.

The stores—which the home furnishings and meatballs company called a "cross-brand retail experience"—are planned for 10 Texas and Florida markets, Ikea said earlier this month.

The home-electronics and appliance retailer has been working on a range of ideas for building its business, including smaller store formats. "We like what we're seeing in those small format stores," Barry said, according to the transcript. "I would expect us to lean into those a bit as we head into next year."

Computers, cell phones, headphones and gaming products like Nintendo Switch 2 sold well in the third quarter, but home theater, appliances and drones did not, Barry said. Consumers remain selective with their dollars, and the company expects fourth-quarter profits to dip compared to last year due to promotional spending. Still, Best Buy raised its full-year forecast.

"Customers remain resilient, but deal focused and attracted to more predictable sales moments including our back-to-school sales events and our Techtober sales," Barry said, according to the transcript.

Sales grew 2.4% year-over-year to nearly $9.67 billion in the third quarter of Best Buy's fiscal year. Analysts were anticipating about $9.58 billion in sales, according to consensus analyst estimates compiled by Visible Alpha.

That translated to $1.40 in earnings adjusted for restructuring and losses from Best Buy's health business. Analysts were looking for $1.30 in adjusted earnings per share, per Visible Alpha.

Shares of Best Buy were recently up nearly 6%, but remain down about 7% so far this year.

• President Donald Trump is still pushing his plan to issue $2,000 tariff rebate checks to Americans who meet the income requirements, officials have said.
• However, more members of Congress are pushing back on the idea, arguing that tariff revenues should go toward the nation’s $38 trillion debt.

President Donald Trump is still working on a plan to deliver tariff-funded stimulus checks to Americans, even as questions intensified over whether Congress would support the plan.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in a Fox News interview on Monday that Trump’s proposal for a $2,000 rebate check is still in the works. However, speculation around the proposal has intensified after several Republican members of Congress expressed doubts about the checks.

“The president's got that on his desk. I know that’s something he wants to achieve. His legislative team will figure out the best way to do it,” Lutnick said.

While President Donald Trump has proposed a $2,000 tariff rebate check for many Americans, there are still many political hurdles that need to be cleared before the administration is able to send out those checks.

Trump administration officials have said that the proposal would need approval from Congress, which could take the form of a so-called "reconciliation bill" similar to the "One Big, Beautiful Bill" Act passed earlier this year.

Earlier this month, Trump proposed the tariff “dividend” payments in a social media post. Trump and top administration officials have said these payments would be released in 2026 and restricted to low- and middle-income earners, possibly at income levels of $100,000 or less.

Some members of Congress argue that tariff revenues should instead be used to pay down the country’s debt.

House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, a Texas Republican, said the tariff revenue should go toward paying down the nation’s $38 trillion national debt, according to a Bloomberg News article.

Several Republican members of the Senate also expressed reservations about the plan, including Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, who said that the country’s nearly $2 trillion annual deficit made it unlikely he could support the $2,000 check. 

“If we’re bringing in revenue through the tariffs, that ought to be applied to reduce the deficit, not just to making cash payments to Americans,” Johnson told Fox News. “We can’t afford it. I wish we were in a position to return the American public their money, but we’re not.”

Meanwhile, Trump continued to tout the benefits of his tariff policies, arguing on his Truth Social platform that more businesses will now be paying tariffs as inventory levels begin to run short, potentially creating even more revenue for the government. 

“Soon Tariffs will be paid on everything they apply to, without avoidance, and the amounts payable to the USA will SKYROCKET, over and above the already historic levels of dollars received. These payments will be RECORD SETTING, and put our Nation on a new and unprecedented course,” Trump wrote.

• The leading cryptocurrency recently changed hands at around $88,000, recovering from recent lows near 82,000.
• The price of bitcoin has rebounded as investors have broadly been willing to take on more risk in recent sessions.
• Deutsche Bank analysts on Monday acknowledged the effect that concerns about hawkish Fed policy and risk-off sentiment have likely had on bitcoin's price.

Bitcoin isn't back—but it's bouncing a bit.

The leading cryptocurrency recently changed hands at around $88,000, recovering from recent lows near $82,000 but a touch below 24-hour highs near $90,000. That recovery is welcome to backers of the coin, though it still marks a steep decline from October's record highs above $124,000.

The price of bitcoin has recovered as investors have broadly been willing to take on more risk in recent sessions. Stocks climbed Monday as some high-flying shares associated with the AI trade powered higher following a downbeat post-Nvidia-earnings week. The rally extended into Tuesday, with major indexes rising amid increasing investor optimism, as measured by futures markets, that the Fed will cut rates at its December meeting.

Bitcoin has lately been treated by investors as a volatile risk asset, with its price dropping from record highs. More recently, it's bounced a bit, recovering some ground alongside AI stocks, which rose Monday. Analysts expect the volatility to persist.

The latest measure of buoyancy has reinvigorated some bitcoin backers. "I Won’t ₿ack Down," Strategy (MSTR) Chairman Michael Saylor wrote Sunday on X, where he has lately shared portraits of himself in a variety of heroic and dramatic settings. (Today's depiction had him as a fighter pilot, with the caption "Turn and ₿urn.")

Still, Deutsche Bank analysts on Monday acknowledged the effect that concerns about hawkish Fed policy and risk-off sentiment have likely had on bitcoin's price—but also wondered whether other factors, including profit taking, outflows from institutional investors, and concerns about stalled regulatory progress have been headwinds.

"While volatility remains inherent, these conditions indicate Bitcoin’s portfolio integration is being tested, and raises questions of whether this is a temporary correction or a more prolonged adjustment," they wrote.

CoinMarketCap's "Crypto Fear & Greed" index, meanwhile, remains decidedly downbeat.

More recently, some bullish signals have emerged. Some leading bitcoin ETFs are seeing inflows recover after posting declines earlier in the month, according to Farside Investors data. On Polymarket, there's some optimism that bitcoin's price could return to six-digit levels this year, though not much backing the notion that it can touch records again in 2025.

Bitcoin has fallen more than 20% nearly 20 times since 2012, Calamos Investments CEO John Koudounis said Monday on CNBC. “It’s volatile. Its going to continue to be volatile," he said. "Having said that, it’s here to stay."

• Nvidia shares have fallen since the company reported quarterly earnings last week that easily beat estimates. The stock has been hit by concerns that tech giants are overspending on artificial intelligence infrastructure.
• Reports that Meta is in talks to use Google's custom AI chips added to concerns that Nvidia's dominance in the market could be challenged.

Nvidia blew past high expectations when it reported quarterly results last week. Its stock is getting hit anyway. 

Shares of the chip giant are down more than 8% since it reported record quarterly revenue and earnings and offered up an outlook that easily exceeded Wall Street’s expectations. As of Tuesday, the stock is trading about 17% below its record high from late October, when optimism about the AI boom helped make Nvidia the world's first $5 trillion company last month.

Since then, it's been among the stocks hit hardest by concerns about an AI bubble.

For the better part of three years, Nvidia's earnings have been treated as a barometer for AI demand. The stock's recent underperformance despite last week's solid results reflect Wall Street's shifting sentiment regarding the AI boom.

Some investors are worried that hyperscalers like Microsoft (MSFT) and Oracle (ORCL) will be left with a glut of data center capacity—and, potentially, piles of debt—if AI demand falls short of expectations. Others argue that, even if demand is as strong as Silicon Valley expects, the tech giants are still likely spending money inefficiently in their haste.

Nvidia has added to bubble fears by investing in several customers, including ChatGPT maker OpenAI and cloud provider CoreWeave (CRWV). Those deals have drawn comparisons to the vendor financing that helped to inflate the Dotcom Bubble of the late 1990s.

"If you define a 'bubble' as what we saw in 2008, leverage, speculation, and no underlying demand, that’s not what’s happening today," said Carmen Li, founder and CEO of GPU market intelligence firm Silicon Data, in written comments. "But if you define it as pockets of overbuild or mispriced expectations about residual value, then yes, there are areas where investors should be cautious," she added.

Nvidia stock has also been hit by concerns about its dominance in the AI chip market. Shares were down 6% in recent trading after The Information on Monday evening reported Meta Platforms (META) was in talks to spend billions on Alphabet’s (GOOG) AI chips for its data centers starting in 2027. Meta is also reportedly considering renting Alphabet chips as early as next year.

Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta have been working on custom chips for years in a bid to lower costs and lessen their reliance on Nvidia. Google’s talks with Meta, and the success of the former’s latest model, Gemini 3, have boosted hopes on Wall Street that those investments are paying off.

"We’re delighted by Google’s success," Nvidia wrote on X Tuesday. "They’ve made great advances in AI and we continue to supply to Google. Nvidia is a generation ahead of the industry — it’s the only platform that runs every AI model and does it everywhere computing is done."

Citi analysts in a note on Tuesday said they expected custom chips to account for 45% of the AI accelerator market by 2028, up from an estimated 35% today.

• Dick's Sporting Goods missed sales estimates in the third quarter and said it plans to close an unspecified number of Foot Locker stores.
• Dick's deal to acquire Foot Locker closed in September.

Foot Locker's new owner is doing some straightening up in the sneaker aisle.

Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS) announced plans to buy Foot Locker in May, and the deal closed in September. Analysts said that Foot Locker would likely benefit from being owned by a "highly capable and efficient operator" like Dick's, singling out brands that collaborate heavily with Dick's and Foot Locker already—like Nike (NKE),—as potential winners in the deal.

Dick's Executive Chairman Ed Stack on Tuesday said the company is working with new Foot Locker management to take "decisive actions to 'clean out the garage' by clearing unproductive inventory, closing underperforming stores and laying the foundation for a fresh start in 2026."

Dick's acquisition of Foot Locker earlier closed in September. Now that it's under the company's umbrella, management is looking to clean things up, closing underperforming stores among other things.

The sporting-goods-and-apparel retailer also reported third-quarter revenue that fell short of estimates. Dick's said it had $4.17 billion in revenue in the third quarter, up 36% year-over-year, but nearly half a billion dollars below the analyst consensus compiled by Visible Alpha.

Adjusted earnings per share for just the Dick's business were $2.78, roughly in line with estimates, but including the impact of expenses related to the Foot Locker acquisition dragged standard EPS down to $2.07. Comparable store sales for Dick's grew 5.7% from the same time last year, better than analysts had expected.

Shares of Dick's were down nearly 3% in recent trading. They have lost about 12% of their value since the start of the year.

For the Dick's segment of its business, the retailer lifted its full-year sales and EPS outlook to ranges of $13.95 billion to $14.0 billion and $14.25 to $14.55, respectively, up from previous ranges of $13.75 billion to $13.95 billion and $13.90 to $14.50.

Dick's also lifted its comparable sales growth outlook, and said it will add Foot Locker stores to its comparable sales calculations in the fourth quarter of 2026, when the closing of the transaction is over a year old.

• U.S. retail sales slowed in September and were worse than economists had expected, indicating that consumer momentum may be waning.
• Meanwhile, wholesale inflation rose as expected in the September data released on Tuesday, following a delay due to the government shutdown.
• Economists said the data could strengthen the case for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates next month.

Consumers lost some of their heat as summertime faded, which could help pave the way for another interest rate cut.

Federal Reserve officials likely gained a clearer view of the economy in September after the release of data on Tuesday that had been delayed by the government shutdown. Retail sales came in slower than expected, and inflation at the wholesale level remained tame. Economists suggested the data put the Fed on track to cut interest rates again when it next meets in a few weeks.

Cooling consumer spending could signal a broader economic slowdown, influencing the Federal Reserve’s next interest rate decision and shaping growth prospects into year-end.

“Softer retail sales and producer price figures could nudge the Fed toward another rate cut in December,” wrote Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO Economics.

The data comes as Federal Reserve officials have indicated a divergence in opinions over whether the central bank should cut rates when it issues its next decision on Dec. 10. Persistently high inflation has some officials believing the Fed should hold rates where they are, while a softening job market has others thinking that more cuts are needed to boost the economy.

Healthcare spending, furniture store sales, and spending at restaurants and bars helped push retail sales higher over the month.  Sales fell at sporting goods stores, clothing retailers, electronic stores and online retailers when compared with August data. Auto sales declined despite September seeing the expiration of the government’s electric vehicle credit, which some economists expected would drive sales higher.

“Many consumers, especially middle- and lower-income households, face widespread financial pressures that force them to be more value-based shoppers,” wrote Nationwide Chief Economist Kathy Bostjancic.

The weaker sales report could indicate a drag on the economy. Retail sales categories that feed into the gross domestic product calculation moved lower, potentially setting up for weaker third-quarter results, economists said.

“The economy can’t afford to lose the consumer, particularly ahead of the all-important holiday season,” wrote  Bret Kenwell, U.S. investment and options analyst at eToro US. “Given that personal consumption accounts for roughly two-thirds of U.S. GDP, a weakening consumer would not read well for the overall economy.”

Major U.S. equities indexes gained Tuesday afternoon, extending Monday's rally to start a holiday-shortened trading week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up over 1%, while the S&P 500 climbed 0.5%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq ticked 0.1% higher.

Kohl's (KSS) saw its shares surge 35% after the department store chain reported a surprise third-quarter profit. The results came a day after the retailer said it would remove the "interim" tag from CEO Michael Bender's title to take over the top job permanently after its prior CEO lasted just months before being ousted over allegations of improper dealings with a vendor.

Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) was another retailer that soared Tuesday, with shares up 30% after the company topped third-quarter earnings estimates. Sales growth has slowed among its namesake brand, but picked up for Hollister, which executives said is expected to carry the company's sales for the holiday season.

Videoconference software maker Zoom Communications (ZM) also posted quarterly results that topped analysts' estimates, sending shares 12% higher. The company said it is seeing meaningful adoption of its AI offerings.

Nvidia (NVDA) shares sank close to 4%, making the stock one of the biggest decliners in the S&P 500 Tuesday following a report that Meta Platforms (META) is considering using chips from Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL). Shares of Nvidia rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and other chipmakers also slid.

Coinbase (COIN) stock was one of several connected to the cryptocurrency sector, along with Robinhood (HOOD), Mara Holdings (MARA), and Strategy (MSTR), that extended their recent declines as the price of Bitcoin lost ground, trading around $87,200.

The price of gold rose, and crude oil futures slid. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note edged lower to 4.00%. The U.S. dollar lost ground against the pound, yen, and euro.

• Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate run by Warren Buffett, took a sizable stake in tech giant Alphabet during the third quarter.
• Alphabet stock is up 70% since the start of the year, making it an unusual addition to Berkshire's value-oriented stock portfolio.
• The majority of Wall Street analysts are optimistic about Alphabet's stock, with many raising their price targets after its better-than-expected earnings report last month.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has placed a big bet on one of the tech’s hottest stocks.

Berkshire (BRK.A)(BRK.B) purchased 17.8 million shares of Alphabet’s Class A stock (GOOGL) in the third quarter, according to a regulatory filing made public earlier this month. A stake of that size in the Google parent would be worth nearly $5.7 billion as of Monday's close.

Alphabet is an unusual purchase for Berkshire, which tends to buy unloved stocks with the intention of holding them long term. 

Alphabet, meanwhile, is far from unloved. The stock soared more than 6% Monday after Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff praised its Gemini 3 AI model, saying he was “never going back” to using rival OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Later Monday, news reports—first published by The Information—indicated that it might sell AI chips to Meta Platforms (META), further strengthening investors' sense of the company's position. Alphabet shares added nearly 2% on Tuesday.

Berkshire Hathaway is known for investing in companies with slow-and-steady businesses and, in the firm's opinion, undervalued stocks, making its Alphabet purchase a relatively unusual one.

Not only is Alphabet a member of the Magnificent Seven—the high-flying set of tech stocks whose valuations have spooked investors of late—it’s also the best-performing member of the group by a long shot this year. Shares are up about 70%, more than double Nvidia's (NVDA) year-to-date return as of Tuesday's close.

Alphabet isn’t the only Mag 7 stock in Berkshire’s portfolio. Apple (AAPL) is the conglomerate’s largest stock holding, worth about $65.7 billion. But it first bought Apple stock in 2016 and has been trimming that position for the past two years. Berkshire sold about 15% of its stake in the iPhone maker last quarter. 

Analysts are generally bullish on Alphabet stock. 

JPMorgan analysts raised their price target by 13% after the company reported better-than-expected third-quarter results late last month. The analysts called the report “strong across the board,” and noted Alphabet was showing “signs that AI search is more opportunity than threat,” contrary to Wall Street’s expectations. Analysts at Wedbush also raised their price target, and argued the quarter "validates Alphabet's position as a leading AI beneficiary.”

Alphabet also raised its full-year capital expenditures guidance last month. It expects to invest more than $90 billion in capital equipment this year, with much of that going toward building data centers and filling them with chips to train and run AI models. Investors have recently grown wary of tech's AI spending, with some wondering when they'll see a return on their investments, if at all.

Regardless, 12 of the 15 analysts with current ratings tracked by Visible Alpha rate shares a “buy,” and the remainder recommend holding the stock. Their average price target of $324 is right about where the stock closed on Tuesday.

UPDATE: This article has been updated to include the latest stock price information.

• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said President Donald Trump will likely name a new Fed chair by Christmas.
  
• Trump is nominating a replacement for Jerome Powell, whose four-year term leading the central bank expires in May.
  
• Trump has frequently clashed with Powell and criticized him for keeping interest rates too high.
  

It won't be long before we know who is on deck to replace Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

There is a "very good chance" President Donald Trump will name Powell's replacement before Christmas, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday on CNBC. Powell's four-year term as Fed chair expires in May.

Trump is getting closer to naming a new leader for the Federal Reserve, and has said he will name someone to the post who is willing to lower the fed funds rate.

Trump is considering five candidates to be the next top banker: Fed Governors Michelle Bowman and Christoper Waller, former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, and BlackRock director Rick Rieder, Bessent told reporters last month.

Trump has frequently criticized Powell for keeping interest rates too high and has threatened to fire him on multiple occasions. Earlier this month, Trump threatened to fire Bessent as well if he could not get Powell to cut rates. Trump was joking in those comments, Bessent said on CNBC.

Trump has said the next Fed chair will be someone willing to lower interest rates. The Fed's 12-member Federal Open Market Committee votes on rates, but the chair sets the agenda and has a significant influence on the group's monetary policy decisions.

The federal funds rate determines the interest rates at which banks lend money to one another, and influences borrowing costs on all kinds of loans. The Fed is charged with a "dual mandate" to keep inflation low and employment high, and keeps interest rates higher when it needs to push down inflation.

• Sandisk will join the S&P 500 index on Friday, replacing Interpublic Group, which is set to be acquired by Omnicom Group.
• Shares of Sandisk have gained 500% since the company was spun off in February from Western Digital.

Another deal has created space for a shake-up in the S&P 500, which is now set to welcome one of the year's hottest stocks.

S&P Dow Jones Indices late Monday announced that data storage company Sandisk (SNDK) would join the benchmark index before the start of trading Friday.

The company, which was spun off from Western Digital (WDC) in February, is set to take the space vacated by Interpublic Group (IPG), which is due to be acquired by Omnicom Group (OMC). That deal, the two marketing firms said Monday, is expected to be completed by the close of business Wednesday.

Inclusion in an index, especially a major one like the S&P 500, often provides a boost to stocks as it can introduce the company to a new audience of investors.

Sandisk stock has been a huge gainer this year, climbing as its business has benefited from demand for memory driven by the AI buildout; its stock, up more than 500% in 2025, has substantially outperformed the best-performing stocks in the S&P 500. Shares were down about 3% in early trading Tuesday, tracking a broader downturn in tech stocks this morning, after soaring 13% yesterday.

The company had a market capitalization above $33 billion as of Monday's close, according to Visible Alpha data. It's moving up from the S&P 600 index of small-cap companies, to be replaced by PTC Therapeutics (PTCT). The run higher for Sandisk stock this year already has it valued higher than several dozen S&P 500 components.

The last two companies to join the S&P 500—Solstice Advance Materials (SOLS) and Qnity (Q)—were also created by deals: Both were the result of spinoffs.