Walmart Inc. on Thursday raised its outlook after beating Wall Street expectations, fueled largely by strong e-commerce and higher sales across categories even as consumers remain cautious in a challenging economy.
The Arkansas-based company, which offers a snapshot of how the American consumer is holding up, reported revenue of $179.5 billion during the three-month period ending on Oct. 31. That’s higher than the $177 billion projected by Wall Street and up 6% from a year earlier.
Total sales for Walmart U.S. climbed 5.1% to $120.7 billion in the three-month period and online sales jumped 28%, marking the company’s seventh straight quarter of more than 20% e-commerce growth.
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Sales at stores open for at least a year in the U.S., a key measure of retail performance, rose 4.5% due to an increase in shoppers and customers making bigger purchases. Transactions were up 1.8%, while the average amount spent per trip increased 2.7%.
The company also continued to gain market share among higher-income shoppers looking for value, a trend the company has been seeing for consecutive quarters.
Sales in health, grocery and general merchandise rose. The rise in general merchandise sales is notable though, given the pullback in discretionary spending among consumers. However, Walmart said shoppers responded to its expanded assortment and stronger private-label brands, which are typically cheaper than their national brand counterparts.
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The report also follows leadership changes at the retail giant. The report comes just a week after the company announced that the head of its U.S. business, John Furner, will become the head of the global business in February, succeeding Doug McMillon, who served as CEO for more than a decade.
For fiscal 2026, Walmart is now expecting net sales to grow between 4.8% and 5.1%, up from its prior forecast of 3.75% and 4.75%.
It also expects adjusted operating income to rise 4.8% to 5.5%, compared with an unchanged prior range of 3.5% to 5.5% earlier in the year, and adjusted earnings per share to land between $2.58 and $2.63, up from the prior view of $2.52 to $2.58.
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Walmart’s report stands in sharp contrast to Target’s. The Minneapolis-based retail behemoth saw another decline in store sales, underscoring how consumers are turning to Walmart for lower prices.
Target, which relies more heavily on discretionary products, has been contending with consecutive quarters of subdued traffic, weak growth and sliding sales. In its latest quarter, sales at its stores declined 2.7% and total revenue slipped 1.5%. Adjusted earnings per share, removing the impact of restructuring costs, also fell 4% from last year.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WMT | WALMART INC. | 109.10 | +2.14 | +2.01% |
| TGT | TARGET CORP. | 89.79 | +3.21 | +3.71% |
Michael Fiddelke, who will replace Brian Cornell as CEO in February and is aiming to steer the embattled retailer toward a more profitable future, said it’s prudent to take a more cautious approach for the rest of the year. However, the company is launching several initiatives to try to boost sales, including cutting the price of 3,000 items for the holiday season and investing millions into remodeling and building new large-format stores. It is also investing in supply chain and technology upgrades to enhance the shopping experience.
Last month, Target cut about 1,000 corporate positions and eliminated 800 open roles in an effort to speed up business decision-making and drive growth.
Walmart also announced on Thursday that it will transfer the listing of its common stock from the New York Stock Exchange to the Nasdaq. The company expects its common stock to begin trading on the Nasdaq on Dec. 9 under its current ticker symbol “WMT.” Walmart will also transfer the listing of nine bonds to the Nasdaq.
Walmart CFO John David Rainey said the move to the “Nasdaq aligns with the people-led, tech-powered approach to our long-term strategy.”
“Walmart is setting a new standard for omnichannel retail by integrating automation and AI to build smarter, faster, and more connected experiences for customers, while enabling our associates to deliver even greater value at scale,” he said.
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