Walmart reported earnings for its most recent fiscal quarter ending Oct 31, 2023 this morning. Revenue was $160.8B vs. $159.13B expected. US same-store sales grew 4.7% vs. 3.35% expected. Adjusted EPS was $1.53 vs. $1.52. Foot traffic grew 3.4% vs. 1.5% expected. Avg. ticket size was up 1.5% vs. 2.08% expected. The results beat expectations but the company gave a cautious outlook and WMT 0.00%↑ stock tanked 8% during today’s session.
Walmart CFO said they observed some softness of their business in the second half of October but noticed people are waiting for deals for the upcoming shopping season. He said the consumers are *pressured* and also expects sales growth to moderate in Q4 as inflation in grocery prices slows down. In other words, he is saying consumers are more cautious and trying to save money. I suppose the pandemic free spending frenzy is over and hopefully inflation will come down further.
Was definitely a very interesting call.
His forward looking deflationary comments on goods and even food where quite interesting.
Alot of these companies have been growing at around the speed of inflation. If prices come down, on weaker consumer spend, there is currently a very big issue with 2024 analysts forecasts.
Will be interesting to see how it plays out.