Consumer and retail markets saw sharp corporate declines alongside selective tech and hardware growth. Lululemon sank 17.4 percent on revenue misses and a guidance cut, while Nike was removed from the S&P 100 Index following a prolonged stock drop. Meanwhile, Samsung recorded strong foldable phone sales, and LIV Golf filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
01Earnings
Lululemon Stock Plunges 15% on Weak Earnings and Forecast
Relying on one-off tariff refunds to protect margins masks underlying demand erosion in premium apparel when social commentary shifts consumer preference away from core franchises.
Lululemon shares plummeted 17.4% to close at $100.61 on September 4 after the athleisure retailer slashed its full-year for the second time in three months and reported a second-quarter sales miss. Net for the quarter ending August 2, 2026, fell 4% year-on-year to $2.42 billion, missing the $2.46 billion consensus estimate as comparable sales dropped 9%. Management lowered its fiscal 2026 revenue forecast to a range of $10.35 billion to $10.50 billion, down from a prior outlook of $11.00 billion to $11.15 billion. Diluted were reported at $2.92, though that figure was bolstered by a $134.5 million refund. Stripping out the one-off benefit reveals weaker underlying profitability as traffic slowed across key markets and core categories like leggings suffered double-digit sales declines. The slowdown compressed operating margins and triggered an 11% expansion in store square footage that left fixed costs climbing against shrinking revenues. Incoming chief executive Heidi O'Neill inherits a business whose Americas division extended a ten-quarter run of flat or negative comparable sales while newer was captured by rivals Alo and Vuori.
Tesla Highlights European Self-Driving Safety Data Ahead of EU Vote
Tesla securing European Union approval for full self-driving would unlock high-margin recurring software revenue across a market where regulatory scrutiny of proprietary safety claims remains the primary hurdle.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an audit query into Tesla to examine the self-certification of its Cybercab robotaxi following its commercial deployment in Austin, Texas. The vehicle lacks conventional controls including a steering wheel, brake pedals, and mirrors, prompting regulators to question whether it complies with existing Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. Tesla relied on a self-certification process rather than seeking a federal exemption, bypassing the formal review path taken by rival autonomous vehicle developers such as Amazon unit Zoox. The audit query designated AQ26002 will review the technical data and compliance framework Tesla used to approve the vehicles for public roads. Tesla stock fell nearly 6 percent to $354.08 following the announcement, reversing gains from the launch event.
Huawei Launches New Foldable Smartphone to Compete With Apple and Xiaomi
Deploying complex chip architectures to bypass US export controls allows Huawei to protect its domestic premium pricing power against Apple despite external supply chain limits.
Huawei launched the Mate XT2 on Monday, rolling out a new flagship trifold smartphone to defend its dominant position in China's premium handset market. Prices for the device start at 19,999 yuan, or roughly $2,980, and scale up to 24,999 yuan, or about $3,725, with sales scheduled to begin on September 12. The phone folds out twice into a tablet-sized screen and runs on Huawei's new Kirin 9050 Pro chip, which utilizes a LogicFolding design architecture to improve efficiency around US technology restrictions. Huawei commanded 68 percent of China's folding phone shipments and 22.6 percent of the country's total smartphone market in the second quarter, leading rivals Apple and Xiaomi. Xiaomi shares sank 3 percent in afternoon trade following the launch, while Xiaomi and Apple prepared their own competing hardware releases.
Mandated index rebalancing forces passive capital out of declining consumer discretionary brands, accelerating the equity market's structural reallocation toward enterprise hardware and cybersecurity infrastructure.
Nike is exiting the 100 on September 21 after a multi-year stock decline erased roughly $230 billion in from its peak. The athletic apparel giant will lose its spot in the alongside Simon Property Group, Honeywell Aerospace, and Colgate-Palmolive as four technology companies take their places. While Nike retains its membership in the broader S&P 500, its removal from the blue-chip subset underscores a punishing turnaround period marked by a 76% five-year stock slide and fiscal 2026 of approximately $46.4 billion. Passive funds tracking the S&P 100 must now sell the departed stocks to buy incoming tech names like Dell Technologies, Palo Alto Networks, Arista Networks, and SanDisk. The rebalance reflects a stark market shift toward infrastructure and cybersecurity as investors rotate away from lagging consumer brands.
Samsung's ability to drive hardware-led growth in foldables demonstrates how premium form-factor innovation can protect margins against rising component costs before Apple disrupts the category.
Fortune reports that Samsung foldable phone sales are up 30 percent by volume year-over-year following the July launch of the Z Fold 8 and Z Flip 8 families. The Korean electronics company maintained 40 percent global in 2025 as the top seller in the category, ahead of Huawei at 30 percent. Samsung executives attribute the growth to tangible hardware iterations that make yearly upgrades more obvious than traditional bar-type smartphones. The new devices start at $1,200 and reach $2,100 for high-end models, pushed higher by memory costs. Competitor Apple is expected to enter the market with its own foldable priced at least $2,100. Foldable devices currently comprise less than 2 percent of the global smartphone market by unit sales according to Counterpoint Research data. Meanwhile, 40 percent of Samsung foldable sales go to the new passport-style Galaxy Z Fold 8, and another 40 percent go to the Z Fold Ultra 8.
Samsung Foldable Sales Breakdown (%)
The new passport-style Z Fold 8 and Z Fold Ultra 8 each capture 40 percent of sales.
Preserving disc-replication infrastructure for legacy re-orders protects high-margin software catalog monetization as digital distribution absorbs the initial release volume of console gaming.
Sony is backing away from a steeper wind-down of its physical game production. The Verge reports that the company's disc-making division in Thalgau will experience a 10 percent volume decline in 2028 rather than the previously reported 90 percent drop. A Sony DADC spokesperson clarified that an earlier statement was misinterpreted as a reduction down to 10 percent of previous output instead of a 10 percent overall contraction. The plant will continue fulfilling publisher re-orders for existing PlayStation disc games even after brand-new game disc production ends in January 2028. Meanwhile, the facility is reportedly retraining its 300 employees to manufacture microlenses.
LIV Golf Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection
Saudi sovereign wealth backing cannot insulate a sports league from bankruptcy when player equity shifts the primary burden of operational solvency onto the talent itself.
cnbc.com reports that LIV Golf has filed for Chapter 11 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey. The upstart golf league entered into a restructuring support agreement with BC Partner Advisors LP after Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund prepared to pull its funding. PIF agreed to provide $49.6 million in debtor-in-possession financing to keep operations afloat during the proceedings. Under the proposed restructuring, the venture will seek court approval to become majority owned by its players. LIV previously launched an investor roadshow earlier this year to raise up to $350 million. Following its exit from bankruptcy, BC Partners Credit and other minority stakeholders are expected to provide additional financing.
Mixed hardware demand and corporate restructuring reveal a split consumer market. Investors must watch whether aggressive premium product launches in Asia can offset broader retail slowdowns and emerging regulatory audits in autonomous tech.
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