- Walmart beat on both the top and bottom lines, boosted by strong online sales.
- Same-store sales rose for a 13th consecutive quarter.
- The retailer raised its fiscal-year 2018 adjusted earnings guidance.
- Walmart shares are trading at an all-time high.
Walmart on Thursday reported third-quarter adjusted earnings and revenue that topped Wall Street estimates, boosted by continued growth from its e-commerce platform that saw revenue explode by 50% versus a year ago. The results sent shares of the company to a record high.
The big-box retailer earned an adjusted $1 a share, edging out the $0.98 that Wall Street was expecting. Revenue came in at $123.18 billion, easily beating the $121 billion that was expected.
America’s largest brick-and-mortar retailer said US comparable-store sales rose by 2.7% versus a year ago, making for the 13th straight quarter with positive results.
“We have momentum, and it’s encouraging to see customers responding to our store and eCommerce initiatives,” Walmart’s president and CEO, Doug McMillon, said in the earnings release. “We are leveraging our unique assets to save customers time and money and serve them in ways that are easy, fast, friendly, and fun.”
The retailer said that its e-commerce platform contributed about an 80-basis-point boost to segment comparable-store sales growth and that the impact from hurricanes benefited comparable-store sales by "approximately 30-50 basis points." It also noted strong performance in its food categories.
Walmart sees fiscal-year 2018 adjusted earnings of $4.38 to $4.46 a share. It previously saw 2018 adjusted EPS of $4.30 to $4.40 a share.
Shares were trading higher by 6.26% at $95.45 early Thursday. They've gained about 39% this year.
