Key Takeaways

• A home improvement retailer faced pressure on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, as housing market headwinds weighed on earnings, while a medical device maker benefitted from strong demand.
  

• Home Depot reported lower-than-expected quarterly earnings and trimmed its full-year forecast, sending its shares lower.
  

• Medtronic shares advanced after the maker of medical devices surpassed quarterly estimates, highlighting strong demand across its end markets.
  

Shares of a major home improvement retailer lost ground after it missed quarterly profit forecasts, indicating homeowners are putting off remodeling projects amid economic uncertainty. Meanwhile, strong demand and procedure volumes helped drive a strong earnings report for a medical device company, and its shares advanced.

Major U.S. equities indexes dropped for the second straight day ahead of several high-profile earnings reports and the release of delayed jobs data due later this week. The S&P 500 dropped 0.8%, the Dow slid 1.1%, and the Nasdaq lost 1.2%.

Home Depot (HD) stock tumbled 6% to log the worst performance in the S&P 500 after the home improvement retailer missed forecasts with its third-quarter earnings, noting that a lack of storms during the period weighed on its performance. The company also lowered its full-year profit forecast, citing persistent headwinds in the housing market and suggested that homeowners are pushing back remodeling projects amid broader economic uncertainty.

Concerns about high valuations for companies in the artificial intelligence space weighed on the tech sector. Shares of Western Digital (WDC), the hard disk drive maker that has drawn attention from investors given its opportunity to help satiate AI's massive data storage needs, fell 5.9% Tuesday. Shares of memory chipmaker Micron Technology (MU) lost 5.6%.

Amazon (AMZN) and Microsoft (MSFT) shares slipped 4.4% and 2.7%, respectively, as regulators in the European Union announced that they were launching investigations into cloud computing services offered by the two tech giants.

The move lower for Microsoft stock also came as the software giant announced a partnership with AI startup Anthropic. Chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) announced a deal with Anthropic as well. Nvidia shares slid close to 3% Tuesday ahead of the chipmaker's highly anticipated earnings release Wednesday afternoon.

Medtronic (MDT) stock advanced about 5% after the medical device maker topped analysts' estimates with its fiscal second-quarter sales and adjusted profit. The manufacturer of pacemakers and other cardiovascular devices also lifted its full-year forecast for organic revenue growth, highlighting strong procedure volumes and a positive demand picture across its end markets.

Merck (MRK) announced positive results from a Phase 2 trial of a key heart treatment, and shares of the pharmaceutical company jumped nearly 4%. In the study, Merck's Winrevair met its primary endpoints in helping patients with certain heart conditions reduce pulmonary hypertension, or high blood pressure in the blood vessels that supply the lungs.

Merck (MRK) announced positive results from a Phase 2 trial of a key heart treatment, and shares of the pharmaceutical company jumped nearly 4%. In the study, Merck's Winrevair met its primary endpoints in helping patients with certain heart conditions reduce pulmonary hypertension, or high blood pressure in the blood vessels that supply the lungs.