Wayfair shares surged nearly 30% Tuesday, trading at $115.97 as of 11:54 a.m. Eastern time, after the online home goods retailer posted second-quarter results that topped Wall Street expectations, a rally that analysts say was significantly amplified by a wave of short sellers being forced to cover their bets.

The stock’s dramatic move came after Wayfair reported earnings before the market opened Tuesday, delivering its strongest quarterly performance in years and prompting a sharp reassessment of the company’s growth trajectory among investors who had spent much of 2026 skeptical of the retailer’s prospects.

A quarter that beat on every major metric

Wayfair reported adjusted second-quarter earnings of 95 cents per share, comfortably topping the analyst consensus estimate of roughly 89 to 90 cents. Revenue rose 7.5% year-over-year to $3.52 billion, ahead of the Street’s expectation of $3.47 billion, according to estimates compiled by LSEG.

On a GAAP basis, the company reported a net loss of $1 million, or 1 cent per share, compared with a profit of $15 million, or 11 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier. After adjusting for nonrecurring charges such as equity-based compensation, however, the company’s earnings picture looked considerably stronger, reflected in the 95-cent adjusted per-share figure that beat estimates.

Perhaps most notably, Wayfair reported its strongest post-pandemic U.S. revenue growth, with domestic sales rising nearly 9% year-over-year, a performance the company attributed to continued market share gains and growing momentum across its specialty and premium home goods brands.

Cash flow reaches its best level since 2020

Wayfair’s improved sales performance translated directly into stronger cash generation, with free cash flow reaching $301 million during the quarter, the company’s strongest cash flow performance since 2020. That figure marked a significant milestone for a company that has struggled with profitability and cash burn for much of its history as a public company.

Looking ahead, Wayfair told analysts on its earnings call that it expects sales momentum to continue into the current quarter, guiding toward “high single-digit” percentage revenue growth, well above the roughly 5% growth rate analysts had been modeling, according to LSEG. The company also guided toward a gross margin between 29.5% and 30.5% for the coming quarter.

Executives credit market share gains

Speaking with CNBC following the results, Wayfair’s chief financial officer, Kate Gulliver, attributed much of the company’s growth to taking market share primarily from traditional brick-and-mortar furniture and home goods retailers, even as the broader U.S. housing market has remained largely stalled. That dynamic, Gulliver suggested, has allowed Wayfair to continue expanding its customer base despite a challenging environment for big-ticket home purchases tied to a sluggish housing market.

In a separate statement accompanying the results, Wayfair CEO Niraj Shah pointed to the company’s continued success attracting higher-spending shoppers through Perigold, its luxury-focused home goods brand, as another contributor to the quarter’s strength.

A short squeeze adds fuel to the rally

While Wayfair’s underlying results were strong on their own, analysts noted that Tuesday’s outsized stock move was likely magnified by elevated short interest heading into the report. According to data cited by Benzinga, roughly 18.38% of Wayfair’s publicly traded float, or approximately 14.75 million shares, had been sold short ahead of the earnings release, an exceptionally high level of bearish positioning for a stock of Wayfair’s size. When the earnings beat sent shares sharply higher, many of those short sellers appeared to rush to cover their positions, buying back shares to limit losses and pushing the stock’s gains even further in what traders commonly describe as a short squeeze.

A stock already showing signs of momentum

Tuesday’s surge builds on a stretch of improving performance for Wayfair shares heading into the report. Despite being down roughly 6% for 2026 prior to Tuesday’s rally, the stock had already climbed about 70% since hitting a 52-week low on May 19, and was up roughly 45% over the trailing 12 months even before Tuesday’s move. Technical analysts had also pointed to the stock’s 30-day moving average recently crossing above its 200-day moving average, a signal some traders interpret as a sign of shifting momentum, for only the second time in roughly two years.

Ahead of the report, Piper Sandler had maintained an Overweight rating on Wayfair with a $115 price target, citing the company’s physical store expansion strategy as a key driver behind what the firm projected could be roughly 20% annual sales growth, a target that appeared broadly consistent with Tuesday’s results.

A company still working toward sustained profitability

Despite Tuesday’s strong quarter, Wayfair’s longer-term financial history underscores the scale of the turnaround still underway at the company. Since going public in 2014, Wayfair has posted an annual GAAP profit only once, in 2020, when it earned $1.86 per share on $14.15 billion in revenue during a pandemic-driven surge in home goods spending. The company is not expected to return to that level of annual revenue until 2028. Its operating margin, which stood at 2.5% during that 2020 peak, had fallen to just 0.14% by 2025, illustrating how far the company’s profitability has drifted from its best-ever year even as revenue has grown in absolute terms.

With Tuesday’s earnings beat and raised near-term guidance now in hand, investors will be watching closely in the coming quarters to see whether Wayfair can sustain its recent market share gains and translate them into more consistent profitability, particularly given the company’s continued exposure to a housing market that remains far from fully recovered. The scale of Tuesday’s short squeeze also raises questions about how much of the stock’s gain reflects genuine confidence in Wayfair’s turnaround versus temporary technical pressure from short sellers unwinding their positions, a distinction that is likely to become clearer as trading settles in the days ahead.

India’s markets regulator on Tuesday proposed allowing depository receipts to be issued against units of real estate investment trusts (REITs) and infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs), in a ‌move aimed ⁠at ⁠attracting more foreign capital to these sectors.

Here ​are more details:

The Securities and Exchange ​Board of India proposed aligning the rules for depository receipts issued against ​REITs and InvITs ⁠with those ‌applicable to equity depository ​receipts.

​Depository receipts are foreign-currency-denominated instruments ⁠issued by a foreign institution against ​securities held with a domestic ​custodian, allowing investors to trade those securities in an overseas market.

REITs and InvITs listed in India already accept foreign investment, ‌subject to government and central bank rules.

The proposed rules would give overseas ⁠investors an additional route to invest and trade REITs and InvITs units in foreign currency through depository receipts, SEBI said.
SEBI has sought public comments on the proposals by August 25.

Available for over a year

How amid the tents and the rubble Gaza is developing once again as an unlikely tech hub.

Even before the 7 October 2023 attack and the subsequent war between Israel and Hamas, NGOs, with the backing of Google, had sought to develop tech start-ups in the Gaza strip. The digital economy was one of the few areas in which young Gazans in particular could seek to earn money for their families.

During the two years of war they struggled for food and water. Forced to move from place to place, most of them lost their homes, their work, sometimes their laptops and plenty lost family members. Now 80% of Gazans are unemployed and have no income. Many of them live amid the rubble in tents. Stable electricity and internet are difficult to come by. And yet co-working hubs have begun to pop up, giving well educated graduates a chance to work remotely for foreign companies as coders, software engineers and app developers. With Israel controlling what comes in and out of Gaza, they still face significant obstacles, not least finding decent internet, electricity and spare parts for their laptops. And with near-daily bombings continuing, Gaza’s wider recovery remains uncertain. Yolande Knell reports on how its tech workers give a glimpse of a brighter, possible future, open to the world beyond Gaza’s borders.

(Photo: A man sits on a chair outside and is typing on the keyboard of a laptop on his lap. Behind him is a small tree and shrubs and rubble from destroyed apartments bathed in sunlight. He has short brown hair and wears a maroon long-sleeved shirt and jeans)

Producer: John Murphy
Studio engineer: Gareth Jones
Programme co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor: Penny Murphy

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India’s oldest exchange BSE Ltd reported a 62% year-on-year (YoY) rise in consolidated net profit attributable to shareholders for the June quarter, helped by strong growth in revenue from operations and higher investment income. The exchange posted profit attributable to shareholders of the holding company at Rs 874 crore for the quarter ended June 2026, compared with Rs 539 crore in the same quarter last year.

Revenue from operations rose 63% to Rs 1,566 crore from Rs 958 crore a year earlier. Investment income also rose sharply to Rs 135 crore from Rs 79 crore, while other income stood at Rs 5 crore against Rs 7 crore in the year-ago period.

BSE’s profit before tax rose 66% to Rs 1,164 crore from Rs 701 crore in Q1FY26. Profit before contribution to the core settlement guarantee fund stood at Rs 1,177 crore, up 72% from Rs 685 crore a year earlier.

The company made a Rs 26 crore contribution to the core settlement guarantee fund during the quarter. Profit before tax and share of profit of associates stood at Rs 1,144 crore. Tax expense for the quarter stood at Rs 291 crore, compared with Rs 175 crore a year earlier.

Total expenses rose 49% to Rs 537 crore from Rs 359 crore in the same quarter last year. Employee benefit expenses increased to Rs 87 crore from Rs 70 crore. Technology expense rose to Rs 61 crore from Rs 50 crore.

Clearing and settlement expenses increased to Rs 90 crore from Rs 55 crore. Regulatory contribution rose to Rs 193 crore from Rs 116 crore. Other expenses stood at Rs 63 crore, compared with Rs 41 crore a year earlier. Depreciation expense increased to Rs 43 crore from Rs 27 crore.

Oil prices fell to a three-week low on Tuesday as senior US officials raised hopes of a deal with Iran to reopen the key Strait of Hormuz waterway.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent both announced talks had progressed to allow shipments to potentially resume as soon as this week.

The cost of a barrel of brent crude, the global benchmark for oil prices, fell by almost 5% to under $80 on the news of supply disruptions potentially being eased.

But the failure of previous negotiations in recent months to de-escalate the conflict between the US and Iran have led to a volatile oil market, with drivers ultimately being hit by higher fuel prices at the pumps.

On Tuesday, along with the drop in Brent crude, US West Texas Intermediate prices were down more than 5%, to $76 a barrel. Both contracts dropped to their lowest levels since 13 July.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there had been progress made in discussions on getting more ships through the Strait with Iran and Oman.

“There’s been progress made in those talks, but not finality yet. We’re hoping that will happen very shortly,” he told reporters at the State Department.

Bessent said a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could be agreed as soon as Tuesday or Wednesday.

There was a “chance we may have a deal today or tomorrow to open the strait and move towards a more normalized position in this conflict,” he told CNBC.

“It would be freedom of movement,” he added, when asked whether Iran would be allowed to charge for ships passing through.

While senior figures in the US government have announced talks have been progressing, no details of what a potential deal may look like have been released.

The Strait of Hormuz has been a central point in negotiations between the US and Iran. Before the conflict began in late February, the waterway handled about one-fifth of global daily oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.

National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day arrives Tuesday, giving fans of the classic baked treat a fresh excuse to indulge, with dozens of restaurant chains, bakeries and hotels offering free cookies and discounted deals to mark the occasion.

The holiday, celebrated annually on Aug. 4, honors one of America’s most beloved desserts. According to estimates from Mrs. Fields, Americans eat roughly 7 billion chocolate chip cookies every single year, cementing the treat’s status as a staple of the American dessert landscape.

Where the chocolate chip cookie came from

The most widely told origin story credits Ruth Wakefield, a chef who ran the Toll House Inn with her husband in Whitman, Massachusetts, with inventing the chocolate chip cookie in 1937. According to the popular account, Wakefield cut up a semi-sweet chocolate bar and added the bits to her Butter Drop Do cookie recipe, expecting the chocolate to melt smoothly into the dough. Instead, the chocolate held its shape, creating the now-iconic cookie studded with distinct chocolate chunks. Wakefield published her recipe in 1938, and Nestlé soon began promoting it on its chocolate packaging and in the company’s advertising, helping cement the cookie’s popularity nationwide.

But the full history may be more complicated than the popular Toll House legend suggests. Pastry chef and author Stella Parks, in her 2017 book “BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts,” uncovered evidence that chocolate chip cookies were advertised in supermarket circulars as early as the 1930s, and that recipes for similar treats called “Chocolate Jumbles,” made with grated chocolate, were published as far back as 1877, decades before Wakefield’s famous recipe.

Even so, Parks has credited Wakefield with playing a pivotal role in the cookie’s lasting popularity. Wakefield having “popularized and developed a recipe that is still in use 100 years later” is an impressive feat, Parks said during an April 2022 appearance on the Gastropod podcast, hosted by the food news site Eater.

Deals at cookie shops and bakeries

Several cookie-focused chains are offering direct deals tied to the holiday. Insomnia Cookies is running a buy-one-get-one-free promotion on its Chocolate Chunk cookies through Tuesday, covering flavors including Chocolate Chunk, Double Chocolate Chunk, Vegan Chocolate Chunk, Vegan Double Chocolate Chunk and Gluten-Free Chocolate Chunk. The deal is valid both in-store and online.

Crumbl, while not running a promotion specifically tied to National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day, is offering customers a free 12-ounce drink through its app when they order, valid August 3 through August 8, though the offer is limited to select locations and flavors.

4th Street Cookie Company is offering 12 free mini chocolate chip cookies to customers who spend $50, limited to one box per order, while Cookies & Dreams, a woman-owned bakery based in Iowa, is hosting a giveaway offering two winners a free dozen of its signature chocolate chip cookies, along with free mini cookies for the first 15 in-store purchases at its two Iowa locations.

Hotel chains and restaurants join in

DoubleTree by Hilton, long known for greeting hotel guests with a warm chocolate chip cookie at check-in, is extending that tradition to the general public for the day. The hotel chain is offering a free DoubleTree chocolate chip cookie to guests and non-guests alike, with no reservation required.

BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse is offering its signature “Pizookie” chocolate chip cookie dessert for $5, though the promotion is technically a standing weekly special that happens to coincide with this year’s holiday. Burger King is also joining the celebration, offering Royal Perks members two free cookies in exchange for 150 crowns redeemed through the chain’s app.

Delivery apps and grocery chains get involved

Delivery platform Gopuff is running two cookie-related promotions Tuesday, offering customers the chance to buy two packs of Basically Cookie Thins for $8, along with a 20% discount when purchasing two packs of Crave Shoppe Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.

Nothing Bundt Cakes is offering Bundtastic Rewards members 100 bonus points when they purchase any size of the chain’s Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookie cake, while Tate’s Bake Shop is treating the first 1,000 customers at its Lexington Avenue and Madison Avenue locations in New York City to a frozen yogurt cup topped with one of the brand’s signature crisp chocolate chip cookies.

Where to find more deals

Beyond the major national chains, smaller local bakeries and regional coffee shops frequently run their own promotions tied to food holidays like this one, and shoppers are encouraged to check social media accounts of their favorite local spots to see whether they’re participating. National retailers with loyalty apps, including grocery chains like Publix and BJ’s Wholesale, have also historically featured limited-time offers tied to the holiday, making it worth checking individual retailer apps and websites for exclusions, participating locations and exact terms before heading out.

A holiday born from two others

National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day is technically a combination of two related but separate food holidays: National Chocolate Chip Day, observed each year on May 15, and National Cookie Day, observed on Dec. 4. The Aug. 4 date specifically celebrates the intersection of the two, chocolate and cookies together, giving fans of the classic treat a dedicated day each summer to seek out deals and freebies from their favorite bakeries and restaurant chains.

What to keep in mind

As with most retail promotions tied to unofficial food holidays, availability can vary significantly by location, and some deals require app downloads, loyalty program membership or minimum purchase amounts to redeem. Shoppers planning to take advantage of Tuesday’s offers are encouraged to double-check participating locations and any fine print before visiting, since not every chain location may honor national promotions uniformly, and several of Tuesday’s deals, including offers from Crumbl and BJ’s, are either ongoing weekly specials or promotions that extend beyond the holiday itself.