Raphael Stevens

Walmart+ members drove nearly half of the total spent across Walmart’s website and app in the U.S. in the most recent fiscal year, the company told CNBC.
The membership program is an example of the newer moneymakers that have allowed Walmart to grow profits faster than sales.
The discounter will deliver business updates at an investor event in Dallas on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Shoppers at the Walmart Supercenter in Burbank during Walmart’s multi-week Annual Deals Shopping Event in Burbank Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024.
Allen J. Schaben | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images

As tariffs roil the U.S. economy, Walmart may find safety in a new part of its business that’s driving more store traffic and online sales: its membership program, Walmart+.
Customers who belong to the subscription-based service accounted for nearly 50% of spending across Walmart’s website and app in the U.S. in the most recent full fiscal year, which ended in late January, the company told CNBC. On average, Walmart+ members shop twice as much and spend nearly three times as much as Walmart customers who aren’t subscribers.

The membership program’s gains come at a helpful time for Walmart. The big-box retailer disappointed Wall Street with its outlook for the year ahead even before President Donald Trump announced tariffs on goods from around the world, sparking retaliation and fears of a global recession.
As the largest grocer in the U.S., the discounter has advantages in an economic downturn. Even so, Walmart+ could help insulate it from tariff turmoil, not only because it’s a new source of revenue, but also because it helps to drive loyalty.
In an interview with CNBC, Chief Growth Officer Seth Dallaire described the program as a “frequency driver.” He said Walmart has seen a rise in spending per subscriber and strong growth of sign-ups through Walmart+ Assist, a program that allows customers who qualify for government assistance to pay half price for membership.
He added that as Walmart+ grows, higher profits will allow Walmart to keep grocery prices low and invest in other areas to make it more competitive. The company can also use customer insights to pitch itself to advertisers — another growing, high-margin business for Walmart — and inform choices about the products it puts on shelves.
Walmart is expected to give an update on its retail business and other alternative revenue streams, such as the membership program and advertising, on Tuesday and Wednesday at an investor event in Dallas. The company, often seen as a barometer for consumer health in the U.S., could also give commentary on the state of the U.S. economy.

Walmart+ drives e-commerce boom

A shopper browses near the poultry section at a Walmart in Rosemead, California on December 19, 2024.
Frederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty Images

Walmart+, which launched almost five years ago, has become a loyalty play and one of the reasons why Walmart has been able to grow profits faster than sales. It offers perks including free shipping, free same-day grocery deliveries for orders of $35 or more, gas discounts and a Paramount+ subscription.
The membership program was Walmart’s answer to Amazon Prime. It’s just another page the retailer has taken from the playbook of Amazon, which surpassed Walmart in revenue for the first time in the fourth quarter.
Later this month, Walmart will look to build on member loyalty by using another tool deployed by Amazon. Starting April 28, it will throw Walmart+ Week, a special event with deeper deals on the program’s existing perks like gas discounts and free sandwiches from Burger King.
Walmart+, which costs $98 annually or $12.95 per month, also explains in part why the discounter’s e-commerce business has boomed. Walmart has posted 11 quarters in a row of double-digit online sales gains in the U.S., with 20% growth in the most recent quarter.

A shopper picks up his package of bacon while shopping for food items at a grocery store on August 14, 2024 in Rosemead, California.
Frederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty Images

Walmart has not disclosed the number of Walmart+ subscribers. Market researcher Consumer Intelligence Research Partners estimates the program had about 25 million members as of the end of January, according to estimates based on quarterly consumer surveys and industry research. That’s more than double its estimate of around 11 million to 11.5 million in the fall of 2022. 
Walmart+ has much less reach than Prime. Amazon’s subscription service, which debuted in 2005, has an estimated 190 million members in the U.S., according to CIRP. Nearly three-quarters of Amazon’s customer base reported having a Prime membership, according to CIRP surveys, compared with 43% of Walmart.com shoppers who reported having a Walmart+ membership.
Walmart+ is still winning over more customers, however. Three years ago, only 23% of Walmart.com shoppers reported having a Walmart+ membership.

Trump’s tariffs loom

Walmart’s investor event this week will coincide with the expected start of steep tariffs on countries across the globe that have become major production hubs for the company and other retailers, including China, Vietnam and Cambodia. The tariffs are expected to start on Wednesday, after 10% tariffs took effect on Saturday.
Walmart gave its forecast for the full year in February, ahead of Trump’s broad tariff expansion. In late February, the discounter said it expects full-year net sales to grow 3% to 4% and adjusted operating income to increase between 3.5% and 5.5% on a constant currency basis. That includes a 1.5 percentage point headwind from acquiring smart TV company Vizio and from having a leap year in 2024. The company said in February that it expects full-year adjusted earnings of $2.50 to $2.60 per share, which includes a 5 cent per share headwind from currency.
Escalating global trade conflicts have raised concerns that a recession may be looming. And consumers weren’t feeling great even before Trump announced the new duties: consumer sentiment dropped in March to its lowest level since 2022, according to the University of Michigan’s survey.
As retailers brace for the impact of tariffs, Walmart Is “not immune,” but should be better positioned, said Seth Sigman, a retail analyst at Barclays. As the nation’s largest grocer, its business is steadier even if shoppers pull back on other kinds of spending, he said. As a giant company, it has greater ability to nudge suppliers to share higher costs and to absorb some of them. And as a well-known value retailer, it can gain sales if upper- and middle-income shoppers seek lower prices, he said.
Plus, he added, new moneymakers like membership have brought greater profitability and “a stickier customer.”

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Walgreens reported fiscal second-quarter earnings and revenue that topped expectations, as the retail drugstore giant benefits from cost cuts and prepares to go private. 
The company withdrew its fiscal 2025 guidance given the pending transaction.
The results include a $4.2 billion charge related to a loss in value of its U.S. retail pharmacy and investment in primary care clinic chain VillageMD.

Walgreens on Tuesday reported fiscal second-quarter earnings and revenue that topped expectations, as the retail drugstore giant benefits from cost cuts and prepares to go private.
The company is in the process of being taken private by Sycamore Partners in a roughly $10 billion deal that is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year. Walgreens withdrew its fiscal 2025 guidance given the pending transaction. In January, it said it expects a full-year adjusted profit of $1.40 to $1.80 per share. 

The historic deal with Sycamore ends Walgreens’ tumultuous run as a public company, which began in 1927. The company is shuttering stores and cutting other costs as it gets squeezed by pharmacy reimbursement headwinds, softer consumer spending, and competition from its main rival CVS, grocery and retail chains, and Amazon. It’s also grappling with a troubled push into health care.
Shares of Walgreens rose nearly 2% in premarket trading on Tuesday.
Here’s what Walgreens reported for the three-month period ended Feb. 28 compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

Earnings per share: 63 cents adjusted vs. 53 cents expected
Revenue: $38.59 billion vs. $38 billion expected

“Second quarter results reflect disciplined cost management and improvement in U.S. Healthcare, which were partially offset by weaker front-end results in U.S. Retail Pharmacy, while significant legal settlements resulted in continued negative free cash flow,” Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth said in a release.
“We remain in the early stages of our turnaround plan, and continue to expect that meaningful value creation will take time, enhanced focus and balancing future cash needs with necessary investments to navigate a changing pharmacy and retail landscape,” he added.

During the fiscal second quarter, Walgreens booked sales of $38.59 billion, up 4.1% from the same period a year ago, as sales grew in its U.S. retail pharmacy business and international segments. 
The company reported a net loss of $2.85 billion, or $3.30 per share, for the fiscal second quarter. It compares with a net loss of $5.91 billion, or $6.85 per share, in the year-earlier period.
Excluding certain items, adjusted earnings were 63 cents per share for the quarter.
The results include a $4.2 billion charge related to a loss in value of its U.S. retail pharmacy and investment in primary-care clinic chain VillageMD.
But Walgreens made $1 billion in profit by cashing out early on some of its shares of Cencora, a pharmaceutical solutions organization, and benefiting from gains from its investment in BrightSpring, a provider of comprehensive home and community-based health services. Those are two of Walgreens’ top health-care investments. 
The company’s operating cash flow in the second quarter was hit by $969 million in legal payments for opioid-related settlements and a dispute with virtual-care company Everly Health Solutions, which alleged that Walgreens broke the terms of a business contract during the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Warner Bros.’ and Legendary Entertainment’s “A Minecraft Movie” snapped up $163 million at the domestic box office during its debut.
The movie set a record for the highest-opening video game adaption, surpassing Universal’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.”
The film also gave a much needed jolt to the domestic box office, which was down 12% during the first three months of the year.

Jack Black, Jason Momoa, and Sebastian Hansen as seen in Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment’s “A Minecraft Movie.”
Warner Bros.

Warner Bros.’ struck gold over the weekend.
“A Minecraft Movie,” the studio’s co-production with Legendary Entertainment, snapped up $163 million at the domestic box office during its debut.

The movie not only set a record for the highest-opening video game adaption, surpassing Universal’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” but it also gave a much needed jolt to the domestic box office.
“Generations Z and Alpha came to the rescue of an historically weak first quarter at the box office,” said Shawn Robbins, director of analytics at Fandango and founder of Box Office Theory. “The film is another bellwether highlighting where studios and theaters can meet today’s young and family moviegoing audience looking for fresh, familiar, and accessible blockbuster content.”
“Minecraft” fueled Cinemark’s all-time domestic box office record for a three-day family film opening and tallied $22 million at the global box office for premium screen company IMAX, the largest haul since “Deadpool & Wolverine” opened last July.
“This was a total game changer that took the year-to-date box office deficit from 13% heading into the weekend to just 5% coming out of the weekend,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.
Through the first three months of the year, the domestic box office has snared $1.4 billion in ticket sales, about 12% shy of the $1.65 billion collected during the same period last year, according to data from Comscore.

Disney and Marvel’s “Captain America: Brave New World” stands as the highest-grossing title so far in 2025, generating just under $200 million in ticket sales. Meanwhile Universal’s “Dog Man” has tallied $97 million and Disney’s live-action Snow White stands at around $77 million.
The first quarter of the year was propped up by 2024 titles like “Mufasa: The Lion King,” “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” and “Moana 2.”
“The upside surprise from ‘A Minecraft Movie’ provided a great way to kick off the first weekend of 2Q and reclaim a lot of ground that was lost in 1Q,” Eric Wold, analyst at Roth, wrote in a research note to investors Monday.
The strong opening for “Minecraft” bodes well for a second quarter that is packed with blockbuster IP.
“This now sets the stage for a big comeback for theaters which will create momentum, moving forward and with multiple notable films set for April leading up to the beginning of the summer movie,” said Dergarabedian.
Disney and Marvel’s “Thunderbolts*” officially kicks off the summer season and is followed by Paramount’s “Mission Impossible — The Final Reckoning,” Disney’s live-action “Lilo and Stitch,” Universal’s live-action “How to Train Your Dragon,” Universal’s “Jurassic World Rebirth,” Warner Bro.’s “Superman” and Marvel’s “The Fantastic Four: First Steps.”
“On an absolute basis, we believe the quarter has good depth with upward of nine movies capable of surpassing $100 million versus only four movies last year surpassing that level,” Handler wrote.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. Comcast also owns Fandango. More

General Motors revealed an all-electric Chevrolet Corvette concept car as part of the opening of a new design studio in England.
The automaker said the car, which is a “design study” not intended to be a production model, is part of its “commitment to Europe.”

An angle view of the new Chevrolet Corvette concept car.

DETROIT — General Motors on Monday revealed a new all-electric Chevrolet Corvette concept car as part of the opening of a new design studio in England.
The car features a sleek, aerodynamic exterior that resembles a futuristic IMSA race car more than a traditional Corvette, but it does pay some homage to the American sports car in featuring a split window design from the 1963 Sting Ray model, among other design elements.

GM said the new concept — which is a “design study” not intended to be a production model — and design studio show the Detroit automaker’s continued “commitment to Europe as the company scales its Cadillac electric vehicle business there, while also preparing to launch Corvette sales” across the region.
The Corvette concept and U.K. design center opening come at an inopportune time as the U.S. and the world’s largest automotive markets partake in a trade war with tariffs, including between America and Europe. 

The front view of GM’s new Chevrolet Corvette concept car.

GM is attempting to reenter Europe after selling off its Opel European division to then-PSA Groupe, now part of Stellantis, in 2017.
Automakers routinely use concept vehicles to gauge customer interest, showcase future technologies and signal the direction of a vehicle or brand.
GM said Monday the U.K. concept is part of a global design project involving multiple studios that will see additional Corvette concepts revealed throughout 2025. The carmaker has other design studios in or near Detroit; Los Angeles; Shanghai; and Seoul, South Korea.

The side view of GM’s new Chevrolet Corvette concept car.

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