Sales at Walmart stores in the USA opened for a minimum of 12 months were up 1.6% during the just ended quarter, which ended on July 31, said the company based in Bentonville, Arkansas. The closely watched measure – known as “comps” – had been projected to gain 1 percent, according to Consensus Metrix.
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Under the leadership of McMillon, Wal-Mart is taking aggressive steps to change its reputation as a retailer that’s focused only on price. “Walmart is uniquely positioned to provide customers with a seamless shopping experience where we save them time and money”.
“We are seeing a steady improvement in the USA business, and it is responding favorably to the changes we are making”, he said.
The shares have been up 19 percent this year through Wednesday’s close.
Excluding a non-cash gain of US$535 million from sale of Wal-Mart’s China e-commerce business, operating income dropped 7.2 percent. Higher EPS forecast that can be expected in this Fiscal Year is noted at $4.35 and a lower EPS estimate is calculated at $4.15. The world’s largest retailer, fresh off of its billion purchase of Jet.com, cites strong ecommerce sales and improvements to its omnichannel strategy for the earnings beat. The average estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.02 per share. Second-quarter results also compare to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimates for EPS of $1.02 and $120.16 billion in revenue.
The results, for the three months ending 30 June 2016, followed fierce competition and food deflation in the United Kingdom market, parent company Walmart said. Retailers have been warning of shaky consumer spending, with shoppers shifting their dollars away from traditional stores. The U.S. Wal-Mart division accounts for 62 percent of total sales.
At Walmart U.S., same-store sales grew 1.6%, the eight consecutive quarter of gains.
Net sales at Walmart International were $28.6 billion.
In addition to the deal, which was created to jump-start Wal-Mart’s slowing online sales, the retailer recently opened up registration for its ShippingPass service.
The Jet.com deal comes after Wal-Mart’s online business had slowed, despite substantial investments. (WMT) reported Thursday higher profit in its second quarter with slight increase in revenues.
Wal-Mart also is under increasing wage pressure.
However, labor groups are pushing to have a base of $15 per hour. It’s also struggling to reinvent its food section and it also cited weak electronics sales.
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LFL sales were up 1.6% in the U.S. in the second quarter from the same period of 2015, which was an improvement on the 1% growth rate seen in the first quarter.
