Movers: Banks, DR Horton, Discover Financial, Home Depot, Lennar, NVR

Scott Peters
15 Aug, 2023
New York City

Home builders were in focus after Berkshire Hathaway acquired positions in NVR, Lennar and DR Horton, according to a regulatory filing.

DR Horton gained 2.2% to $125.97, Lennar jumped 0.6% to $124.61 and NVR gained 1.7% to $6,262.79 after the diversified conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway took stakes in home builders. 

According to a regulatory filing with the SEC, Berkshire acquired a $726 million stake in DR Horton, $70 million in NVR and $17.2 million in Lennar.  

Discover Financial Services dropped 7.7% to $94.66 after the company announced the resignation of chief executive Roger Hochschild.   

The company's board appointed John Owen as interim president and chief executive and Hochschild will remain as an advisor through the end of the year. 

Home Depot Inc jumped 2.2% to $126.0 after the do-it-yourself retailer reported sales declined 2% to $42.9 billion and comparable sales in the period across the company and in the U.S. declined 2%. 

Sales were under pressure after customers delayed bid-ticket purchases. 

Net income in the quarter declined 9.9% to $4.6 billion from $5.2 billion and diluted earnings per share fell to $4.65 from $5.05 a year ago. 

The retailer reaffirmed its 2023 sales and comparable sales to decline between 2% and 5% and diluted earnings per share to fall between 7% and 13% from a year earlier. 

Large and region banks were under pressure after Fitch is looking to downgrade the entire banking sector on the weakening earnings outlook and worsening outlook for loan portfolios. 

Fitch tracks about 70 banks and the rating agency is expected to downgrade some of the largest banks including Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase.

 “What we don’t know is, where does the Fed stop? Because that is going to be a very important input into what it means for the banking system,” Fitch Ratings analyst Chris Wolfe said in an interview with CNBC on Monday.