Wal-Mart's 1Q Profit Tops Expecations as Sales Rise
May 18 2017 - 8:31AM
Dow Jones News
By Sarah Nassauer and Anne Steele
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reported stronger quarterly sales Thursday,
showing that the world's largest retailer is drawing shoppers at a
time when many competitors are reeling in the era of Amazon.com
Inc.
Wal-Mart's U.S. same-store sales rose 1.4% for the fiscal first
quarter -- the 11th straight quarterly increase -- due to a 1.5%
rise in foot traffic, thanks in part to improvements Wal-Mart has
made in its stores. However, profit fell 1.3% in the quarter, as
the retailer continued making investments to compete with online
retailers and discounters by lowering prices, raising wages and
expanding e-commerce services.
Shares in the company added 0.8% premarket to $75.75.
The company's stable sales are a marked contrast with many
department-store retailers and competitors including Target Corp.,
which reported lower sales Wednesday.
Wal-Mart also reported higher sales over the winter holiday
season. But those gains are being supported by heavy investments,
including buying up e-commerce companies, expanded online inventory
and investments to speed up shipping times.
During the first quarter, U.S. e-commerce sales surged 63%,
boosted by the purchases of online retailer Jet.com in September
and smaller e-commerce sites ModCloth, Moosejaw and ShoeBuy earlier
this year. Global e-commerce sales rose 7% from a year ago.
"We need to scale our e-commerce business further and see some
additional strength in our store comps to deliver the results we
know we're capable of," said Wal-Mart Chief Executive Doug
McMillon.
In all for the April period, Wal-Mart earned $3.04 billion, or
$1.00 a share, compared with $3.08 billion, or 98 cents a share, a
year ago.
Revenue increased 1.4% to $117.54 billion. Excluding currency
headwinds the company said revenue would have climbed to $118.8
billion. Analysts, polled by Thomson Reuters, were looking for
earnings of 96 cents a share on $117.74 billion in revenue.
Wal-Mart said operating, selling, general and administrative
expenses grew 2.2% during the quarter. Its cost of sales rose
1.3%.
For the current quarter, the company guided for earnings of
$1.00 to $1.08 a share, including a 5-cent tax benefit from the
sale of the company's apparel format in Mexico. Analysts, on
average, are looking for Wal-Mart to earn $1.07 a share.
"The first quarter was a solid quarter for Wal-Mart on multiple
fronts as margins held steady despite the myriad ongoing
investments in people, technology and price," said Moody's analyst
Charlie O'Shea.
Write to Sarah Nassauer at sarah.nassauer@wsj.com and Anne
Steele at Anne.Steele@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 18, 2017 08:16 ET (12:16 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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