*By Carlo Versano*
Walmart, the world's largest retailer, reported its strongest growth in a decade in its second-quarter earnings released before the bell Thursday.
"Every part of the set of numbers were incredible," said Sucharita Kodali, a retail analyst at Forrester.
Revenue for the quarter was $128 billion ー about $2 billion more than expected ー and adjusted earnings per share were $1.29 compared with an expected $1.22.
Walmart said same-store sales were up 4.5 percent for the second quarter, helped by strong grocery and apparel segments. The e-commerce slice of Walmart's business was up 40 percent compared with the same quarter last year.
The retail giant acquired Jet.com two years ago in a bid to attract more affluent, urban shoppers, and bolster Walmart's e-commerce strategy. It appears to be working, Kodali said, but Amazon maintains an online advantage. "It's still a work in progress," she said Thursday in an interview with Cheddar.
Walmart seems to be riding strong consumer spending, low unemployment, and wage growth to better-than-expected earnings. Shares of Walmart stock rose about 10 percent Thursday morning after the company's earnings report.
But Kodali said the retail sector may face headwinds from tariffs, higher input costs for raw materials, and rising gas prices. "All of these things are going to adversely affect Walmart," she said.
Walmart is the third major retailer to beat earnings expectations this week, after Home Depot and Macy's.
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
