Walmart Opens the Year With Stronger Sales and Profit

The News

Walmart, the largest retailer in the United States, on Thursday reported higher sales and profit in the first quarter, giving insight into how consumer spending is weathering the high-interest-rate environment.

The Numbers: Sales grew in stores and especially online.

Walmart said its comparable-store sales in its U.S. business rose 3.8 percent from the quarter a year earlier. Its global e-commerce business jumped 21 percent. Walmart has performed better than retailers dependent on apparel sales, in part because it also sells essential goods like groceries. Consumers are continuing to find places to cut back on their purchasing.

Transactions were up 3.8 percent, while the average ticket price showed with each visit people were spending about the same as they did this time last year. The retailer said consumers from “upper-income households” helped it gain market share, reiterating a trend it has noted since Americans started navigating high inflation a couple of years ago.

Walmart’s quarterly profit, of $5.1 billion, was triple the result a year earlier.

The retailer’s stock rose in premarket trading, as investors reacted to last quarter’s results and the company’s upgraded forecast for growth this year.

What They’re Saying: Smooth sailing on a choppy sea.

“In a sea of challenged and volatile and confusing consumer spending,” said David Silverman, a retail analyst at Fitch Ratings, “what’s interesting is how strong and consistent this quarter and many of Walmart’s last few quarters have been.” He said Walmart’s focus as a value-oriented retailer had been a strength during this period.