Walmart, Target and Home Depot Earnings, Retail Sales and Fed Minutes Headline Wall Street's Week Ahead

Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Lowe's and TJX Companies report quarterly results in the coming days, putting the health of the U.S. consumer alongside the artificial intelligence trade at the center of Wall Street's calendar for Nov. 16-20. The retail earnings arrive the same week as the government's October retail sales report and minutes from the Federal Reserve's October policy meeting.

The retailers report against a strong overall earnings season. Through Nov. 13, 454 companies in the S&P 500, or 90.8% of the index, had posted third-quarter results, with total earnings up 24.9% from a year earlier on revenue growth of 13.7%, Zacks Investment Research said. Of those companies, 82.4% beat earnings estimates and 75.1% topped revenue forecasts.

Home Depot and Lowe's open the retail run

Home Depot reports before the opening bell on Tuesday, Nov. 17. Analysts expect revenue of $42.79 billion and earnings of $3.84 a share, according to LSEG estimates cited by the CNBC Investing Club. The stock has rebounded since early October, a move that coincided with the 10-year Treasury yield peaking above 5.3%, and investors are also awaiting an update on Chief Executive Ted Decker, who took a leave of absence in August, CNBC said. Lowe's, Target and TJX report before the market opens on Wednesday, Nov. 18. For TJX, analysts expect revenue of $15.84 billion and earnings of $1.34 a share.

Target's comparable sales are expected to grow 3.16%, following a 3.8% gain in the previous quarter, according to Zacks. Walmart, which reports on Thursday, Nov. 19, at about 7 a.m. ET, is expected to earn 64 cents a share on revenue of $186.5 billion, up 3.2% and 3.9% from a year earlier, respectively, with U.S. comparable sales excluding fuel forecast to rise 2.89%, Zacks said. Walmart beat consensus earnings estimates in each of the last four quarters. Zacks noted the stock trades at 40.1 times forward 12-month earnings estimates, near its 10-year high multiple of 45.4 reached in February 2026.

Retail sales and Fed minutes

The Commerce Department's October retail sales report is due Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists expect a 0.2% increase after a 0.8% gain in September, with the control group, which feeds into gross domestic product calculations, seen rising 0.4%, according to Newsquawk. The CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor already showed total retail spending rose 0.2% in October to $561.7 billion, its slowest monthly pace since November 2025, while Bank of America card data showed spending per household up 5.8% from a year earlier.

On Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET, the Fed publishes minutes of its Oct. 27-28 meeting, when policymakers held the federal funds rate at 3.75% to 4% in a 10-2 vote. Governor Lisa Cook and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack dissented in favor of a quarter-point hike, Cedar Global Markets noted. The minutes predate the hotter-than-expected October consumer price report. CME FedWatch data showed an 89.4% probability of a quarter-point increase at the Dec. 8-9 meeting, Al Jazeera reported on Nov. 13. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC on Friday that the Fed should recognize an energy supply shock and not "hike too much" into it. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh gives opening remarks at a Fed conference on Monday, and several other officials speak during the week.

AI tests bracket the week

Nvidia reports after the close on Tuesday, its first report since Jensen Huang's resignation as chief executive, with interim CEO Colette Kress leading the call. Anthropic is expected to price its initial public offering on Wednesday and begin trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker "ANT" on Thursday. Its latest filing offers 825 million shares at $70 to $78 each, according to Cedar, and the company is seeking to raise up to $64.4 billion, according to CNBC.

Other scheduled reports include Baidu and Tyson Foods on Monday, Walt Disney on Tuesday, Palo Alto Networks on Wednesday and Intuit, Ross Stores and Gap on Thursday, CNBC's calendar shows. Weekly jobless claims and the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index follow Thursday, and the University of Michigan's final November consumer sentiment reading closes the week on Friday.