Walmart Posts Strong Holiday Sales Gains in U.S.
February 19 2019 - 8:21AM
Dow Jones News
By Sarah Nassauer
Walmart Inc.'s profit and sales rose over the winter holidays, a
sign that the retail giant lured shoppers from rivals and that
Americans continued to spend freely amid mixed economic
signals.
In the U.S., the company's comparable sales, which exclude gas
but include digital sales, rose 4.2% in the January-ended quarter,
adding to a string of positive quarterly sales for Walmart as it
invests to grow online.
Sales got a boost from Walmart's push into grocery delivery,
investments to lower prices as well as strong sales of holiday
purchases including toys.
Walmart had said it expected quarterly U.S. comparable sales to
rise at least 3% from a year earlier. In the latest quarter, the
company got a lift from the U.S. government sending February checks
to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients in January
to ensure payment ahead of the federal government shutdown. The
company said the shift added 0.4% to its comp sales growth.
The results were mostly better than Wall Street had expected and
the company reiterated its financial forecasts for fiscal 2020.
Shares of Walmart gained about 5% to $104.69 in premarket trading
Tuesday.
For the full fiscal year, Walmart's U.S. e-commerce sales
increased 40%, hitting the company's expectations for a small but
key part of its business. The growth has been driven by the
expansion of online grocery pickup services to over 2,100 of
Walmart's 4,600 U.S. stores this fiscal year.
When customers buy online, then pick up in store parking lots,
those sales get counted as online sales. Walmart has previously
said U.S. e-commerce growth will slow to 35% this fiscal year.
"Progress on initiatives to accelerate growth, along with a
favorable economic environment, helped us deliver strong comp sales
and gain market share," said Walmart Chief Executive Doug McMillon
in a release.
Overall, Walmart reported a quarterly profit of $3.69 billion,
or $1.27 per share, compared with $2.18 billion, a year ago. The
latest period included a 17 cent charge related to tax
provisions.
Total revenue, including the Sam's Club chain and Walmart's
overseas business, was $138.8 billion, up 1.9% from a year ago.
Excluding currency swings, Walmart said total revenue rose 3.1% to
$140.5 billion.
Write to Sarah Nassauer at sarah.nassauer@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 19, 2019 08:06 ET (13:06 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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