Discount home retailer Walmart Inc announced its Q1 earnings today before US markets opened.
With the US economy embattled with stickier-than-expected inflation and interest rates still punishingly high for consumers, the market was eager to see what would come from today’s earnings.
Walmart has a reputation for results outperforming when the US economy is in dire enough straits (lie in the 2008 financial crisis), but its also known to lose revenue on its big-ticket purchases when consumers tighten their belts.
Read our analysis on the significance of today’s Walmart earnings here
The financial results
The company posted consolidated revenues of $161.5 billion, up 6.0%.
Operating income for the quarter was $6.8 billion, growing faster at 9.6%; while adjusted operating income was up 13.7%.
Walmart Inc also reported eCommerce growth, with international eCommerce growing 19% year-on-year.
eCommerce was up 21% globally for the quarter, led by store-fulfilled pickup & delivery and marketplace
Meanwhile, Walmart international net sales were up 10.7% to $29.8 billion.
The company announced earnings per share of $0.63 for the quarter, or adjusted EPS of $0.60.
Ahead of earnings expectations
These results beat analysts’ expectations and did little to shock markets.
Analysts expected revenues of around $156 billion for the quarter, and EPS of $0.52 per share.
However, market participants were slightly bearish on the stock today, which saw Walmart Inc stocks trading 0.05% lower before earnings and before markets opened today, and roughly 0.39% lower this week so far.
Forward-looking guidance
The company also gave updated quarterly and FY 2025 guidance for the rest of the year, which was largely in line with or above previous forecasts:
Previous results
The results were higher than the previous year’s Q1 2024 earnings, which reported:
- Consolidated revenue of $152.3 billion, up 7.6%
- Consolidated operating income up $0.9 billion, or 17.3%
- Walmart U.S. comp sales up 7.4% and eCommerce up 27%
- International net sales of $26.6 billion, up 12%
- Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.47, and diluted EPS of $1.30
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