Walmart shares hit fresh 52-week highs Thursday morning after the retailer beat earnings expectations thanks, in large part, to a booming e-commerce and grocery delivery business.
Online sales jumped 41 percent in the most recent quarter with the important same-store-sales metric rising by over 3 percent.
Adjusted earnings per share were $1.16, above the consensus forecast of $1.09.
In a conference call with investors, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon praised the company's employees for driving its continued transformation into an e-commerce giant. "Our associates are responding to change in an inspiring way and we're proud of them," he said.
Even President Trump congratulated the big-box retailer on its beat (and managed to get in a dig at the Fed Chair in the same breath).
Walmart has been investing heavily in its online infrastructure to better compete with Amazon, and groceries have been a cornerstone of that investment. The largest grocer in the U.S., grocery sales make up the majority of Walmart's domestic revenue stream. More than 3,000 Walmart locations now offer customers the option to order groceries online and pick them up in store; nearly half of those offer home grocery delivery. Still, only a tiny fraction of Americans do their food shopping online, offering Walmart and others a huge potential for growth.
McMillon noted that the company's recent strength ー four years and counting of quarterly gains ー has been "driven by food," but said it needs to make even greater progress in its e-commerce offerings, which is a segment still dominated by Amazon and in which Walmart faces additional competition from the likes of Target. A major test of both Walmart and Target's online investments is fast approaching with the holiday shopping season. Both of those companies are offering faster free delivery options and curbside pick-up, a growing segment of e-commerce that is especially attractive for last-minute shoppers.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
Chipmaker Nvidia is poised to release a quarterly report that could provide a better sense of whether the stock market has been riding an overhyped artificial intelligence bubble or is being propelled by a technological boom that’s still gathering momentum.
Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
Low-value imports are losing their duty-free status in the U.S. this week as part of President Donald Trump's agenda for making the nation less dependent on foreign goods. A widely used customs exemption for international shipments worth $800 or less is set to end starting on Friday. Trump already ended the “de minimis” rule for inexpensive items sent from China and Hong Kong, but having to pay import taxes on small parcels from everywhere else likely will be a big change for some small businesses and online shoppers. Purchases that previously entered the U.S. without needing to clear customs will be subject to the origin country’s tariff rate, which can range from 10% to 50%.
Southwest Airlines will soon require plus-size travelers to pay for an extra seat in advance if they can't fit within the armrests of one seat. This change is part of several updates the airline is making. The new rule starts on Jan. 27, the same day Southwest begins assigning seats. Currently, plus-size passengers can pay for an extra seat in advance and later get a refund, or request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the new policy, refunds are still possible but not guaranteed. Southwest said in a statement it is updating policies to prepare for assigned seating next year.
Cracker Barrel is sticking with its new logo. For now. But the chain is also apologizing to fans who were angered when the change was announced last week.
Elon Musk on Monday targeted Apple and OpenAI in an antitrust lawsuit alleging that the iPhone maker and the ChatGPT maker are teaming up to thwart competition in artificial intelligence.
