Markets & Finance

Walmart posted Q2 FY2027 revenue of $187.9 billion and beat EPS estimates, but U.S. comparable sales growth of 2.6% fell short of analyst expectations ranging from 3.5% to 3.8%, and shares closed down approximately 9.2% on August 20, 2026. Operating income growth was materially supported by nearly $2.9 billion in IEEPA tariff refunds, which contributed roughly 750 basis points and which the company plans to redirect into price investments. The article details what the reported figures were, where they diverged from expectations, and what the Q3 and full-year guidance now shows.

South Korea's KOSPI recovered nearly all of the prior day's 5.80% loss on August 20, closing at 6,852.58 after SK hynix announced a confirmed three-month, KRW 40 trillion share-repurchase program targeting cancellation of all acquired shares. SK hynix rose 12.7% and Samsung Electronics rose 9.5%, with market reporting attributing the moves to shareholder-return expectations, though Samsung's own investor-relations page does not yet confirm a reported new program exceeding KRW 100 trillion. Foreign investors were net buyers of KRW 1.7228 trillion on the day, and the electric-and-electronics sector led sectoral gains at 9.19%.

Banco Santander completed its acquisition of Webster Financial on August 20, 2026, with Webster Bank merging into Santander Bank, N.A. after receiving approvals from the OCC, ECB, and Federal Reserve. The combined entity holds approximately $327 billion in assets, $185 billion in loans, and $172 billion in deposits based on December 31, 2025 balances, positioning it as a top-ten U.S. bank by assets. The deal valued Webster shares at an implied $75.00 each at announcement, with each share exchanged for 2.0548 Santander American Depositary Shares plus $48.75 in cash.

Columbus Acquisition Corp. has filed a definitive proxy with the SEC and set a September 10, 2026 shareholder vote to approve a business combination that would list WISeKey's satellite subsidiary WISeSat.Space on Nasdaq at a $250 million equity valuation. Under the deal structure, WISeKey would retain approximately 75% of shares and at least 49.99% of voting power in the new British Virgin Islands holding company, with CAC's trust account holding roughly $27.38 million as of August 17. A $10 million PIPE investment from affiliate SEALSQ, priced at the redemption rate rather than a fixed figure, provides the minimum transaction financing required to trigger the full 26 million share consideration.