On August 21 local time, the three major U.S. stock indices collectively declined, with the S&P 500 falling for the fifth consecutive day and the Nasdaq dropping for three straight days. At the close, the Dow fell by 152.81 points, or 0.34%, to 44,785.50; the Nasdaq declined by 72.55 points, or 0.34%, to 21,100.31; and the S&P 500 dropped by 25.61 points, or 0.40%, to 6,370.17.
Nine of the 11 sectors in the S&P 500 closed lower, with the consumer staples sector leading the decline, down 1.18%. The healthcare sector fell 0.37%, real estate dropped 0.39%, financials declined 0.31%, while the energy sector rose 0.71%.
Most major tech stocks fell: Micron Technology, Tesla, and Meta dropped over 1%, while Apple, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Netflix, Amazon, AMD, and Intel saw slight declines. Google edged higher.
Walmart, the world's largest retailer, released its second-quarter earnings report. Revenue exceeded expectations, with e-commerce continuing strong growth momentum. The company also raised its full-year sales and profit forecasts. However, due to tariff impacts and rising costs, its profit fell short of expectations for the first time in three years.
The report showed Walmart's Q2 revenue reached $177.4 billion, surpassing analysts' expectations of $176.16 billion. However, adjusted earnings per share were $0.68, missing the expected $0.74, marking the first shortfall in three years.
Walmart expects full-year sales to grow by 3.75% to 4.75%, higher than the previous forecast of 3% to 4%. Adjusted earnings per share are projected to be between $2.52 and $2.62, slightly up from the previous range of $2.50 to $2.60.
Most popular Chinese stocks rose, with the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index closing up 1.35%. XPeng Motors surged nearly 12%, Tuniu gained over 10%, NIO rose over 9%, Miniso advanced more than 6%, while iQiyi and Niu Technologies increased over 2%. Canadian Solar fell over 18%, Hesai Group dropped 11%, Bilibili declined over 6%, Dingdong Maicai fell more than 4%, and Xiaomi Group (ADR) and Alibaba dropped over 1%.
On August 21, XPeng Motors announced that its co-founder, executive director, chairman, CEO, and controlling shareholder He Xiaopeng, through wholly-owned Galaxy Dynasty Limited, purchased 3.1 million Class A ordinary shares in the open market from August 20 to August 21, 2025, at an average price of HK$80.49 per share. After this acquisition, He Xiaopeng and his affiliates collectively hold approximately 18.9% of the company's shares.
On the evening of August 19, XPeng Motors released its Q2 2025 financial report. Data showed that total revenue for Q2 2025 reached RMB 18.27 billion, a 125.3% increase compared to the same period in 2024. The significant revenue growth was primarily driven by a notable increase in vehicle deliveries. XPeng's quarterly vehicle deliveries reached 103,200 units, surging 241.6% year-over-year, setting a new historical record.
