Walmart Thursday reported better than excpected second quarter sales and operating income growth, with its Marketplace e-commerce site jumping 21% globally. File Photo by James Atoa/UPI | License Photo
Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Walmart on Thursday reported stronger than expected second-quarter growth of 4.8% and 8.5% operating-income growth. The company said it's not projecting a recession and isn't seeing a fraying of consumer health. Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said in a statement, "Our team delivered another strong quarter. They work hard every day to help our customers and members save time and money. Each part of our business is growing -- store and club sales are up, e-commerce is compounding as we layer on pickup and even faster growth in delivery as our speed improves." Advertisem*nt
He added that newer Walmart business areas such as e-commerce site Walmart Marketplace, as well as advertising and membership also are contributing to improved company economic performance.
The retailer's e-commerce operations jumped 21% globally.
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Walmart CFO John David Rainey told CNBC strong results in the fist half of 2024 have raised projected performance estimates.
"In this environment, it's responsible or prudent to be a little bit guarded with the outlook, but we're not projecting a recession," Rainey said. "We see, among our members and customers, that they remain choiceful, discerning, value-seeking, focusing on things like essentials rather than discretionary items, but importantly, we don't see any additional fraying of consumer health."
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Rainey said Walmart continues to push its suppliers to cut prices.
The company's net income dropped to $4.5 billion in the second quarter compared with $7.89 billion in the same quarter a year ago.
Regarding third quarter expectations, Walmart said in a statement that it is raising its sales and profit growth outlook for fiscal year 2025, with third quarter sales this year expected to grow 3.25% to 4.25% while the company expects operating income to grow 3.0% to 4.5%.
Walmart reported $8.8 billion in cash or cash equivalents with a total debt of $47.0 billion.
Walmart stock rose 6.5% Thursday and has gained 20% following its first quarter results report.
Walmart appeals primarily to value-oriented shoppers looking for low prices, but has also posted recent growth with people making more than $100,000 a year.
DA Davidson analyst Michael Baker said, "The only place anyone is shopping right now is Amazon, Walmart and Costco. Walmart does a great job focusing on value. Value has become more important. Structurally, they're well positioned."
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