Walmart gave an optimistic outlook after topping analyst earnings and revenue views, with e-commerce sales continuing to see robust growth. Walmart stock broke out.
The Walmart earnings report followed signals on Tuesday from Home Depot of a consumer pullback, with lower revenue and store traffic in its latest quarter.
Walmart Earnings
Estimates: Analysts expected Walmart earnings to rise 7% to 53 cents, according to FactSet. Revenue was seen growing 5%, year over year, to $159.51 billion.
Results: The Bentonville, Ark.-based company reported adjusted earnings of 60 cents per share, up 22% from the prior year's Q1. Revenue rose 6% to $161.51 billion. Walmart reported for the first quarter, ended on April 30, of its fiscal year 2025.
Global e-commerce sales surged 21%, year over year. But that was down from a 26% gain a year ago. Same-store sales, excluding fuel, rose 3.8%.
The company said it continues to draw more frequent and new shoppers amid price inflation.
Outlook: Walmart now expects to hit the top end or to slightly top its prior full-year EPS and revenue guidance. It expects EPS of $2.23-$2.37 for the year and net sales growth of 3%-4%.
The Dow Jones retail behemoth — and the nation's largest grocer — previously guided revenue for fiscal 2025 higher in February after Q4 earnings unexpectedly rose 5% vs. expectations for a decline.
Walmart Stock
Shares of Walmart gapped up nearly 7% in big volume in Thursday's stock trading.
Walmart stock jumped well above a 60.89 buy point from a shallow double-bottom base on the daily chart. The move presented a breakaway gap buying opportunity. WMT briefly topped that entry on Monday before reversing lower.
The MarketSurge weekly chart shows a flat base with a 61.66 buy point. Walmart stock also cleared that entry Thursday.
The relative strength line for Walmart stock shows some lag. The RS line, the blue line in the chart shown, measures a stock's performance against the S&P 500.
Walmart stock split 3-for-1 in February.
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Nation's Largest Grocer
Groceries have helped to boost recent Walmart earnings, offsetting declines in general merchandise. Roughly 60% of Walmart's annual domestic sales come from groceries.
The latest earnings from travel-related companies signaled the consumer is still resilient. The retail earnings season, now underway, will shed more light on whether the American shopper is still spending.
Bank of America analyst Savita Subramanian recently warned that "consumer cracks are emerging," especially among lower-income shoppers.
But Amazon said its customers continue to shop though they are cautious, trading down to lower-priced items and seeking out deals.
On Thursday, Walmart CFO John Rainey told CNBC that said shoppers' "wallets are still stretched," forcing them to prioritize grocery shopping over general merchandise.
