Walmart Stock Falls 9% Despite Beat, Raised Outlook — SkimNews
SkimNews Take
The 9% drop shows that a raised full-year outlook cannot offset a sizable U.S. sales miss, as current growth expectations weigh more heavily on the stock than management’s broader forecast.
Get the Finance newsletter
Daily finance — markets, central banks, M&A, the prints that move money. Free.
- Walmart shares dropped roughly 9% Thursday despite beating revenue estimates ($187.94B vs. $186.77B expected), as U.S. comparable sales growth of 2.6% undershot the 3.5% Wall Street projected, per FactSet
- Walmart raised its full-year guidance to net sales growth of 4–5% (from prior 3.5–4.5%) and adjusted EPS of $2.80–$2.87, while guiding Q3 to 3–3.75% sales growth and adjusted EPS of 62–64¢
- CFO John David Rainey told CNBC Walmart is eligible for roughly $2.9B in tariff refunds, has recouped all but ~$100M, and will use the funds to cut consumer prices in Q3
- Walmart projects just over $2B in incremental cost headwinds from higher fuel prices this year and is cutting prices across categories including beef as gas costs squeeze consumers
- Walmart posted 23% global e-commerce growth, 38% global advertising revenue growth, and 17% growth in companywide membership fee revenue, with Walmart+ net adds hitting a high for a Q2
- Sam's Club U.S. reported $25.7B in net sales, up 8.8% year-over-year, with membership fees climbing 6%
- Walmart reported Q2 net income of $6.37B (80¢/share) vs. $7.03B (88¢/share) a year earlier; adjusted EPS was 81¢ and gross profit rate rose to 25.4%, boosted by the tariff refund benefit
Why it matters: A 9% selloff after a revenue beat and raised full-year outlook shows Wall Street is now punishing anything short of clean execution: the 2.6% U.S. comp-sales print missed by ~90 basis points. With ~$2.9B in tariff refunds funding price cuts and ~$2B in fuel-cost headwinds on deck, Walmart's higher-income customer gains are doing the heavy lifting on market share.
Ask SkimNews
