Overview
- Walmart reported second-quarter results Friday showing U.S. comparable store sales up 2.6%, the slowest pace in nearly six years.
- The company said federal drug‑price negotiations trimmed comparable sales by about 0.8% and that sales excluding that drag rose 3.4%, still short of expectations.
- Walmart beat analyst estimates on earnings and revenue and raised full‑year guidance while warning that higher fuel and energy costs will pressure margins.
- Investors pushed the stock down roughly 9% to a 2026 low and major analysts including Goldman Sachs and BofA cut price targets but kept Buy ratings.
- To defend traffic and share, Walmart will deploy the $2.9 billion tariff refund into lower prices and lean on faster e‑commerce and advertising growth as U.S. retail sales weakened 0.6% in July.