Overview
- Walmart reported U.S. comparable‑store sales growth of 2.6% in the quarter, the slowest pace in about six years and below Wall Street expectations.
- Company executives said federal drug‑price negotiations created roughly a 0.8 percentage‑point drag on comps and that, excluding that headwind, growth would have been about 3.4%.
- Average spending per transaction slowed to about 1.1% growth, down from 3.1% a year earlier, signaling shoppers are buying less per visit even as foot traffic holds up.
- Shares fell roughly 9% after the report to a 2026 low, and major analysts such as Goldman Sachs and BofA cut price targets while largely keeping Buy ratings.
- Management plans to redeploy a $2.9 billion tariff refund into price cuts to try to restore traffic, but it also warned of roughly $2 billion in added fuel costs and ongoing pharmacy pressure that could squeeze margins in the near term.