The stock of Walmart (WMT) is up 4% after the discount retailer announced better-than-expected third-quarter financial results and raised its forward guidance.
The world’s largest retailer announced earnings per share (EPS) of $0.58 U.S., which topped the $0.53 U.S. expected among analysts.
Revenue in the quarter totaled $169.59 billion U.S., which was also ahead of the $167.72 billion U.S. forecast on Wall Street.
Management said the strong results were due to robust sales of general merchandise items that are outside of the company’s grocery department.
General merchandise sales had previously declined for 11 consecutive quarters.
Same-store sales rose 5.3% for Walmart and 7% at Sam’s Club, excluding gasoline purchases. U.S. transactions rose 3.1% and average ticket purchases increased by 2.1% year-over-year.
E-commerce sales rose 22% in the U.S., with gains coming from curbside pick-up and home delivery, along with growth in Walmart’s advertising and third-party marketplace businesses.
Looking ahead, Walmart raised its forward guidance as its customers buy more discretionary items and order more items to be delivered to their homes.
The retailer now expects net sales to grow between 4.8% and 5.1% for all of this year. That’s up from a previous forecast that called for 3.75% to 4.75% sales growth.
The company added that year-end holiday spending is expected to increase this year, but at a modest rate as consumers contend with still elevated interest rates.
Prior to today (Nov. 19), the stock of Walmart had increased 58% to trade at $84.08 U.S. per share.
