>> announcer: this is "nightly business report," with tyler mathisen and sue herera. walmart's woes, red hot on line sales at the world's largest retailer are cooling off. as eommerceompetition heats up. odd couple. a supermarket chain is buying a drugstore chain, reminding investors just how quickly the retail and health care ndscapes are changing. corporate responsibility? can the private d sector more to regulate gun sales than the government? those stories and much more tonight on "nightly business report" for this tuesday, february the 20th. good evening, everybody. i'm bill griffith. tyle and sue are both off tonight. i'm here at the new york stock exchange with stocks started this welcome back with a sharp

decline. reason for that decline was walmart. shares of the world's largest retail had one o their worst days ever today. the company did report earnings that missedanalyst's estimates. and on top of that, its on line sales which had been aar big of its growth story lately, they slowed. that's not somethingre investor expecting, especially during the critical holiday toarter. so the was down, more than 10% in today's trade. urt me reagan has more on what happened at walmart. >> reporter: the world's largest retailer has been on a run for some time, growing sales and its stock price. butes irs aren't thrilled about the health care quarter results. the most recent quarter showed a continuation of strong total u.s. stale with 14 straight quartersro of gh and in store traffic. they fell short of expectations. and on line sales gw at the slowestace for at least five

quarters. the company says much of it was expected because of the an verary of the jet.com acquisition. the ceo explained on a atypical earnin>> call. think of electronics and toys and gifts like that came into our stock, and there was enough kyued that it hurt inventory. >> s walmart expectses to grow 40%. not all analysts are convinced after growing it just 20% in the fourth quarter. >> 20% e-commerce growth is such a meaningful slowdown versus 50q just arter ago. i think that it's very difficult for investors to really get a handled on just how walmart is going to very quickly reaccelerate that one line growth. >> and stores are still the

cornerstone for walmart. online sales are under o4% total sales. using stores and its website together is where walmart shines over >> 80% of the walmart shoppers also shop at amazon. there is really a threeway m boxich between amazon, walmart, and target. the amazon rivalry will be a big multiyear story, and walmart will use its 4800 stores as fulfillment points. >> at the end of the day, walmart had a little stumble here, maybe lost a battle. i still think they are the war. they have added 65 million skus on lineince june of '16 when we upgraded the stock. their prices are competitive, more competitive hand amazon, frankly. >> reporter: and wars are long and costly endeavors. foror "nightly business r" i'm courtney reagan. >> so, does walmart still have momentum in e mers? and where does its stock go from here. joining us, liz dunn, the ceo of

retail data company tproa. grea see you. >> you too. >> $126 billion in revenue, 23% growth in e mers. of course the stock will go down 10%.t you thinks overdone today? >> i do. the top line was great. theiss had noin the numbers. they definitely pulled some things fard forward to take advantage of the tax write-offs they will get this fiscal year going forward. overall the sales number was quitestrong. e-commerce was softer. >> that's the key component. their goal is to do 40% growth this ar. can the do it. >> i think they will daccelerate. i think this wainitely a weak quarter and they acknowledged they made some missteps. they had props getting their inventory in the right place and investing in the key categories that were performing in those peek percent. that's a fixable issue.

i think they need to focus on growth more so than profitable for that on line division. it's been a line they have had a little bit of trble walking. >> as courtney outlined on this online ballots of the retail giants you have got walmart, amazon, of course, and target. >> uh-huh. >> who do you like? >> i actually think they are all three -- >> there is room for all three to prosper j i think there is room for all three to grow double digits. and i think amazon willou row the other two. walmart can really benefit from their they need to look for more and more ways to use the stores. andoth walmart a target are looking for kind of same day delivery options and all the multichannel thing you can bring in and bring the power of that storeetwork to bear. i think the people that are going to get crushed, are those smaller companies that can't compete for find a comtitive mode. i think walmart can compete well

against amazon. certainly, this qu they didn't do so well. >> when you think about it, it's oneen a year since walmart bought jet.com, the online upstart. they have made great strides it the l year in their e-commerce category, haven't they? >> i have been impressed with their thinking and bringing mark gloria and the jet team on board has be a piece of that. one thing that we've heard a little bit of rblings between the on line and store divisions at all mart drks -- i don't think they need mo beaging their business that way. i think they need to be thinking about gaining share across all channels. so you know you look at a positive comp in this environment, that means that they are gaining share. i think that they need to do more toir enhance t opportunities with the on line business and not think so much about cost containment. because really, they need to invest to gain dominance. and i think that they are doing at. >> liz dunn with pro forma.

always good to see you. thank u for joining us tonight. >> good to see you, too. as we said the big decline walmart shares pulled the market lower today. it the dow fell for the first time in seven trading sessions and hit key levels today. a rise in treasury yields pressured stocks. the ten year remained at gh the two year hit close to a ten-year high today. dowones industrial average fell by 254 points at the clo to 24,964. the nasdaq, which spent much of the day higher, finished down points and the s&p 500 was down nearly 16. dow componentome depot reported quarterly earnings and ales that topped wall street expectations. the world's largest home improvement retailer gave an upbeat forecast for the year and raised its quarterly vidend. the company was helped by a strengthening economy and a solid housing market which led consumers to spend more as well.

they reached $100 billion in annual sales for the first time ever. the company's stock initially traded higher today but then ll along with the rest of the market into the afternoon session. qualcomm meanwle sweetened its bid to acare nxp semiconductor to $44 billion. this new offer is qualcomm'sov boldest yet to fend off that $121 billion hostile bid from broadcom. following use of qualcomm's sweetened offer for nxp, broadcom said it was evaluating its option. shares of nxp and broadcom rose in trading today while shares of qualcomm were lower. by the way, a shareholder advisory firm isnd recomg that qualcomm shareholders vote for all six of the boaes candid proposed by broadcom. glass lewis says that qualcomm's failure to achieve profitable growth and recent disputes with regulators throw doubt on their business strategy. so it is essentially siding witi

broadcom in case. investors were reminded of the massiveerhanges uy in the health care and consumer sectors whendrivately h supermarket chain albertson made a bid touy the rest of the drugstore chain rite aid that is not already being sold to wl greens. it would create a supermarket and drugstore giant and allow ialbertsons to go privaten the fuarre. it sent higher today. better that comes is in new york with more on this unlikely get together. >> reporter: it is the latest odd bed fellows merger. grocery chainate albertsons agreed to obtain re aid. executives say putting together grocery and pharmacy clinics could provide custome with a different kind of health care experience. >> i think ourpportunity to help people bring health care to work n terms of how w

with patients in our pharmacies andet in our superma could be differentiating for us. the ability for us to talk about dietut andtion as part of that interaction and have capabilities to bring to bearlpo hose patients i think is very powerful. >> reporter: it is a rapidly shifting retail and health care landscape. narm see giant cvs's $69 billion de to buy aetna aims to create a drugstore clinic health care system. rite aid is reportedly explori acquiring a drug distribution firm to cut costs. >> we know that consumers,re employers -- they are sisit satisfied the health care system and the inefficiency with eae health care system. there are many that we are seeing, like vcs and at in a, like amazon and berkshire

hathaway, jp morgan. they are looking for ways t enter grate and solve some of the health care issues. >> reporter: the mergersim i to tackle what consumers warrant and need. lower costs and on site help managing their costs. >> giving the t choice is key to creating the right kind of health care landscape. >> reporter: or the would be mergers, the task will be to convince regulators that in a changing landscape where amazon plays a bigger and bigger role these unconventional mergers may be the best way to preserve consumer choicetl for "y business report" i'm better that comes in new york. >> now to some of today's upgrades and down grades. snap you a its rating cut to a sell today from neutral at citi. citiha saying the negative ent ews of snap chat's r redesign could result in a decline in user activity which in turn cld hit snap's financial resu ps. thce target was lowered to $14. shares of snap fell by 7% to

$18.93. >> gap was downgraded from sector weigh to overweight at keybank,in c the departure of the head of the gap brand. they point to concerns about the brand's products, perception, and store fleet. the stock fell by5% to $31.61. and chip boatly mexican grillsa its shares its shares upgraded at stifel today. theay analyst there is now optimism over a potential pickup in traffic and moirns. shares roerz nearly 4% at chipotle today at 7.$317 still ahead, three big stocks gols on where from here. but there is virtually n agreement.

a setback for touchdown in its legal fight against the government. a federal judge denied at&t's request that it be allowed to see internal communications between the white house and government &tlawyers. believes that those communications would show that politics played a role in the government's decision to file a lauit against the company's $85 billion proposed merger with time warner. but the judge ruled that at&t

did not in fact show that it was singled out in the government's lawsuit. shares o both at&t and time warner fell in today's trading. after weeks of stock market volatility wall street is beaking up. a number of firms are now issuing new forecasts for equities. a and they don agree on what could happen next. dominic c breaks it down for us tonight. >> reporter: just when it looked like everything was being constructive and the stock market was going to recover from the recent selloff lows you a day like we had and the markets taken a turn for the wot. it puts t light again this idea and bull/bear debate whether or not there is still a reason to remain constructive and positive on the stock market. a number of strategists and experts on wreath havegh w in given the volatility and some of the more bullish calls have come out of shops like black rock, the biggest he can change out there. a lot of ooechlts.

fiscal stimulus is superar ng u.s. profit growth expectations and those positive effects are being ra unreciated by the markets overall. they are bullish on stocks, especially in the u.s. they have upgraded them. black rock is on the bullish side ofthing. goldman sachs and the analysts there think most corrections don't involve recession or bear market lik w whatve seen so far, the recent pullback. positive recessions occur in the months after that, three or six month. ldman sachs bullish on the overall picture for stocks as well. organ stanley. some analysts and strategists feel as thoug we may be due for more selling pressure. they f l thepullback we have seen is the appetizer not the main course meaning one if not several 10% pullbacks could happen in the market 2018. a bsel bear case arc lot of debate whether or not we could see the market direction shiftor the i don't have all stock picture. for "nightly business report," i'm dominic chu.

by the way, to read more about the different forecasts for stocks, you can head to our website at nbr.com. a rise in profits. that's where w begin tonight's market focus. the world's largest miner reported a 25% gain in first half earnings thanks to higher kmoddy prices. they plan on cutti debt and increasing shareholder returns. today it did just that. it rsed its dividend to 55 cents a share. but shares themselves fell by 4% to $46.55. theme park operator six flags reported better than expected earnings, even as poor weather during the period caused atte attendance to slip. the ceo said he is happy with six flags' pformance and optimistic with the stock's upward potential. eighthegistered our straight record year. and the fourth quarter was the biggest fourth quarter in our history, w uh revenue 7% and

ebitda up 16%. so while the stock is down, i have to tell you that today i have taken the opportunity to spend $9 million tore acq about 160,000 six flags shares via our stock option program. >> shares of six flags fell more than 4.5% to close at $66.18. newspaper publisher ganet rtreported a qly loss and a drop in sales. the companyne wit's t continuing to face print ad revenues and doesn't expect that to change any time soon. that's what's going on in newspapers. shares were down 11% to $9.97. despiti rep profits that topped expectations, domino's pizza served up disappointing sales growth in the latest quarter. same store sales at the pizza chain lagged expectations, fueling concerns of potential weakness in the future. and separately, this is infreeing, it was reported that burger king owner restaurant

brands was preparing a bid for domino's.to domino's' rose fractionally to $221.49. and technology company you big witty networks has ddisclo that the sec has requested documents relating to the company's accounting and international trade practices. they said they are working to respond to the sec requests. the firm was targeted by sit ron research which accused of tech company of fraud.to the lost a quarter of its value, dropping 25% today to $55.28. >> totre has been af talk recently about gun sales in this country. a column in today's "neolyork times" in a new idea that puts the private sector at the center of the stor ou andrew ross orkin looks at how banks could play a role in gun sales if washington wot. he writes that banks and credit card companies could rtrict sales of assault weapons by simply refusing to do business

wi retailers that tell those types of weapons. joining us to talk aut that and whether big business can indeed be a catalyst for change in this gun sales debate, brand expert deacrushfield is with us today. dean, good to see you. welcome tonight. >> great, thanks for inviting m on the sh >> you bet. what do you think of andrew's privaterall, that the sector could have a role in the whole gun sales debate right now? >> yeah. i think it's huge. they are clearly in a situation of deep regret. but it's not about the why anymore o'sdoing it. bout the moment and what you do in that moment. the government has basically been sitting there too lon to be any good. so really it's up to the private sector, up to brands to lead that way and support the public in making changes that are that's really a clear opportunity for brand to play. the act thatle a play and ioypal and square have come out

with dec saying they will not do business with those types of business is a b the beauty is that means they have opened the gates. we'll see what comes throug >> i wonder and worry about the possibility that this represente raint of trade. >> i agree with you. >> what role do they have inin ke people were being able to buy a gun, whether we agree with the whole idea of gun regulations or not. but what about t idea that it's restraint of trade. >> businesses make decisions about what they want to do and don't want to do. it's the same for guns. i don't think it is a restriction of trade depending how they go aboutit. it is a business decision. it's basically saying my business, my brand dsn't do that business. it is a simple decision to make. there will be legal debates but businesses make decisions eyry bout who they want to do business with. >> the whole point is that it is the free market that can come up with a solution that we face in this country, which weo

all knowhing needs to be done about it, where regulation in congress has failed to this point. >> we trust brands more than we trust institutions and the government. a lot. brands do som stupid things sometimes. but typically we trust them a lot. we want their involvement. we have seen so many movements, so many marches and demonstrations andltimately they have all become submerged. i think here's an opportunity right now in this moment for bit bran get on the street with the public to show you there are some things that need to change, ped they need to h now. if you look today at president trump, he threw some socks our way about bump stocks. that was las vegas. that was ages go. what about now? it seems that everything is dragging on. i think retailers, brand, paypals, thosec proli frontier brand coming in to help the cause will smash open the gat to make change a reality. dean n crutchfield of the crutchfield company. good the see you again.

thank you for joining us tonigh, cominhy the debate over hiking the gas tax is hitting a roadblock. general electric is said to be considering a sale of its gas engine business. th is according to reuters. the unit could be worth as much as $2 billion. such a sale would help streamline ge's power division, which saw its profi plunge by 45% last year.

earlier this year, as you may know, the ceo john flannery signalled he is open to a more far reaching breakup of that company. customer seisfaction in airline industry dipped even as a record number of peopl took flights. the annual air travelers in america survey found that 81% of those questioned were satisfied with their overall experience st year. but that's down from 85% in to 16. the survey of more than 5,000 travelers comes after a year when the airline industry was hit witheveral high-profile incidents where passengers f clashed wight crews. as we reported last week, there is talk in washing lately of hiking the federal god tax to help pay for needed infrastructure repairs. but a new report shows just much that would hit drivers in some states, and that's not going overery well. ylan mui has the u latest for tonight from washington. >> reporter: the drive to raise the federal gas tax

hitting a road block in washington. a new report out today projects increasing the gas tax by just a quarter would translate into hundreds of dollars in new costs foronsumers every year. $220 in rhode land. $300 in minnesota. up to $390 in mississippi. the data comes from freedom partners, the conservative group leading the charge against raising the gas tax, especially on the heels of republican's sweeping tax cuts. >> it is the wrong crse of action to give long needed tax relief to americans and then claw back nearly a quarter of that in the form of raising taxes at the gas pump. >> reporter: the federal gas tax is currently 18.4 cents a gallon. it goes into the nyional highrust fund and helps pay for repairs to roads and bridges. the gasax hasn't been raised since 1993, leaving the government in a cash. crun now president trump is reportedly willing to consider an increase to pay for his big

infrastructure plan. one key congressman, republican ll sustr chairman of the transportation committee says he is on board. >> it's efficient. it's understandable. and it is a fee, it is a tax we collect that goes 100% to itste ed purpose. and that's the highway system, the transit system in this country. >> reporter: also backing the id, the u.s. chamber of commerce. it's the one proposing thatnt 2 ce hike in the gas tax, and letting it rise with inflation after that. it says that's fundamentally good for business. >> american business relies on our national infrastructure to move their product to market, to move our employees tork and fro and provide a quality of life for all americans. >> reporter: no matter what happens here in waington, you could still wind up paying more when you fill up y rgank. seven states raised their gas tax last year. and several more arede conng it this year. so there is still plenty of fuel ssft in this fight. for "nightly busieport," i'm ylan mui, in washington.

as expected, "black panther" had a very strong showing at the box office over the week. the movie pulled in more than $240 million over the president's day weekend. one of the biggest openings ever. . before we go, here's another look at the stock slide on wall street today. when all was said and done the dow fell 254 points, closed at 24964. the nasdaq finished down after spending most of the day higher. and the s&p closed 16 points lower today. that's "nightly business report" for tonight. i'm bill griffith. have a greatyovening. see u tomorrow.

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