Walmart Raises Full‑Year Guidance After Strong Quarter as Stock Plunges on Slowing U.S. Sales
Tariff‑funded temporary price cuts plus pharmacy deflation tied to new drug rules plus higher fuel costs create uncertainty about whether recent traffic gains will last.
Overview
- Walmart reported fiscal second‑quarter revenue of $187.9 billion and raised its full‑year sales and adjusted EPS outlook on stronger headline results.
- The company disclosed it received roughly $2.9 billion in tariff refunds and will use much of that to fund temporary price rollbacks to try to drive store traffic.
- U.S. comparable‑store sales decelerated to 2.6%, with pharmacy deflation from new drug‑pricing rules cutting comps by about 125 basis points and an expected just‑over $2 billion fuel cost headwind.
- Higher‑margin digital businesses powered gains: global e‑commerce rose about 23%, advertising grew about 38%, and membership fee income increased roughly 17%, while transactions rose 1.5% and average ticket rose 1.1%.
- Investors pushed the stock down about 9.2% in a single session, the largest drop since May 2022, and now watch whether short‑term, tariff‑funded price moves will translate into durable traffic and sales growth.