US retailer Walmart Inc reported an estimate-beating jump in second-quarter US comparable sales on Thursday as shoppers boosted purchases at its stores and websites.
Walmart raised its earnings expectations for the year after recording 20 quarters, or five straight years, of US growth, unmatched by any other retailer.
Chinese Imports
The prices of some items sold by the retailer have climbed due to tariffs on Chinese imports, but the company is managing that pressure by negotiating with suppliers and sourcing from alternate supply bases, chief financial officer Brett Biggs told Reuters in an interview.
US President Donald Trump raised tariffs on $200 billion (€179.3 billion) of Chinese imports to 25% from 10% earlier this year, a move that has begun pushing up prices of thousands of products including clothing, furniture and electronics.
Earlier this week, Trump backed off his 1 September deadline for imposing 10% tariffs on remaining Chinese imports, delaying duties on cellphones, laptops and other consumer goods, to shield US holiday sales from their impact.
Sales at US stores open at least a year rose 2.8%, excluding fuel, in the quarter ended 31 July. Analysts estimated growth of 2.07%, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Adjusted earnings per share increased to $1.27 per share, beating expectations of $1.22 per share.
Forecast
The retailer raised its forecast for adjusted earnings-per-share to a "slight decrease to slight increase," from a "decline by a low single-digit percentage range." That forecast includes the impact from the acquisition of Indian e-commerce firm Flipkart.
Online sales surged 37%, in line with the previous quarter's increase and higher than the company's expectation of 35%.
News by Reuters, edited by ESM. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
