Walmart Reports Mixed Results as Gas Prices Drag on US Sales Growth
Walmart said higher fuel prices and a new pharmaceutical price cap cut into spending, even as revenue rose 5.9% and it issued a stronger forecast.
- On Thursday, Walmart reported second-quarter profits of $6.4 billion, down 9.4 percent, with comparable sales growth hitting its slowest pace in six and a half years.
- Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey attributed the slowdown to high fuel prices, saying consumers make trade-offs when gasoline exceeds $4 per gallon.
- To combat slowing demand, Walmart announced price "rollbacks" on more than 11,000 products on Wednesday, funded partly by $2.9 billion in tariff refunds.
- Shares fell more than 9 percent on the news, erasing more than $80 billion in market value—Walmart's largest single-day decline since May 2022.
- Despite raising annual forecasts, GlobalData Managing Director Neil Saunders warned that higher-income shoppers migrating to Walmart "may be fading" as consumer pressure mounts.
11 Articles
11 Articles
Walmart sales slowdown tests consumer resilience
NEW YORK — Walmart reported its slowest quarterly comparable sales growth in six years on Aug. 20 and warned shoppers were likely being squeezed by high gasoline prices, stoking concerns that pressure on U.S. consumers is mounting.
Walmart reports mixed results as gas prices drag on US sales growth
The giant US retailer steered much of the benefit from US tariff refunds towards investments to attract inflation-strapped customers, who faced gasoline prices above $4 a gallon for much of the quarter. US comparable sales, a closely watched benchmark, grew by 2.6 percent compared with 4.1 percent in the first quarter, a slowdown that weighed on shares. Walmart also cited a negative effect from a price cap on 10 top-selling pharmaceutical produ…
The profit per share of the company fell by 9.1 %, from 0.88 dollars to 0.80 dollars
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