There’s nothing better than a good matchup. George Foreman versus Muhammad Ali, milk versus cookies, Star Wars versus the other one that can’t be named.

And that’s exactly what appeared to be happening in the latest batch of earnings reports, which looked like a battle royale for big box retailers, with key players facing their competitors. These closely watched reports each offered a look at how cash-strapped consumers are (and aren’t) spending in a darkening economic landscape.

So, who won their apparent matches?

Built different. In one corner, Home Depot. In the other, Lowe’s. Both are watched for their proximity to the housing market and homebuilding, neither of which have been doing especially well lately. In August, homebuilder sentiment in the US unexpectedly dipped to its lowest level in over two and a half years.

Home Depot seemed unfazed by the low morale in housing, sticking to its full-year outlook. In its latest earnings report, the company said it still expects full-year total sales to climb by 2.8%.

But is that confidence fully founded? This marks the second straight quarter of earnings misses for the home improvement retailer, and its Q2 2025 report was the first since May 2014 to miss on both earnings and revenue expectations, per CNBC.

What do the big box earnings say about consumers?—NP

It’s no secret that AI is being touted as a boon for the accounting industry, with some saying it could both help overcome the talent shortage and increase productivity. But how much of that is hype, and how much is reality?

A research paper from MIT Sloan and Stanford University Graduate School of Business shows that AI could be delivering on some of its productivity promises for accountants. In partnership with an unnamed AI-based accounting software and a San Francisco accounting firm, researchers analyzed hundreds of thousands of transactions for 79 small and medium-sized companies and surveyed 277 accountants on how they adopted AI.

According to the paper, accountants using generative AI tools managed 55% more clients a week (though, not a significant difference in unique clients overall) and were able to pivot 8.5% of their time from routine, manual tasks to “higher level tasks.” Accountants who used AI tools also shaved 7.5 days off the month-end close. That’s as much as 3.5 hours of routine work freed to dedicate to other tasks per 40-hour work week, according to the researchers.

“These patterns indicate that AI integration can improve the timeliness and precision of financial reporting, likely by automating data processing and flagging anomalies in real time,” the researchers wrote.

How is AI impacting accounting?—JK

Christopher Smith has been in the sustainability world since his days as a director at Enron. (Yes, that Enron). These days he is the CFO of CleanChoice Energy, a wind and solar project developer and provider of clean energy to the Northeast Atlantic region. When he first started out in sustainability 25 years ago, it was more commonly called the “alternative energy” industry. And today, with Trump’s recent actions against clean energy, those euphemisms might be coming back.

CFO Brew sat down to talk with Smith about how federal cuts are impacting the sector, his plans for a possible recession, and the unique challenges facing a solar CFO.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How have the cuts that have come to solar and wind from the Trump administration impacted your role as a CFO?

I’ve seen ups and downs through the energy business, so we’ve seen this sort of turbulence.

But long term, we think, and clearly see, clean energy is the long-term winner. And so we plan to stay the course and really stay focused on delivering for our customers and being citizens in the communities where we are.

Keep reading here.—JK

Financial leadership today isn’t just about crunching numbers—it’s about shaping strategy, driving accountability, and navigating complexity with confidence. On Sept. 16, hear how the president and CFO of the Institute of Management Accountants is helping redefine what it means to lead from the finance seat and why adaptability is the new superpower. Register here.

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