Alina Selyuk

Doug McMillan is credited with turning Walmart from a stagnant giant to a growing one, setting a plan for higher hourly wages, refreshing stores, and stepping up competition against Amazon with a more focus on online sales and fast delivery.

McMillan is 59 years old.

He's run Walmart for over 10 years and been with the company for decades.

So his departure has been rumored for quite some time, but the news now did surprise a lot of investors and analysts.

The new CEO will be John Ferner, who's currently the head of Walmart U.S.

Like McMillan, he had joined Walmart as an hourly worker, and this was more than 30 years ago.

He'll take the reins in February.

Alina Selou, NPR News.

McDonald's says its U.S.

sales grew 2.4 percent in the latest quarter, not because people came in more often, but because they spent more when they did.

The chain points to a return of its snack wraps and extra value meals.

McDonald's executives repeated that this is a tough period for restaurants, as low-income families especially are feeling the budget squeeze.

McDonald's executives called out pricier rents and groceries, expensive child care and inflation, erasing the value of a paycheck.

At the same time, more high-income shoppers continue to trade down to fast food.

Their visits increased by double digits in the quarter.

McDonald's is forecasting inflation to stay above average well into 2026, especially higher beef prices.

Alina Seljuk, NPR News.

Target says it's laying off 1,000 corporate employees, particularly managers, and it will not hire for another 800 open positions.

That's one of the biggest job cuts in Target's history, about 8% of the global team.

And it's coming from Target's incoming CEO, Michael Fidelke.