Walmart shares tumble on weakest US sales growth in six years, soft profit outlook

Walmart shares tumble on weakest US sales growth in six years, soft profit outlook

Thu, August 20, 2026 at 5:44 PM GMT+3 2 min read

• WMT -9.47%

Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT, XETRA:WMT) shares tumbled on Thursday after the retailer posted its slowest US comparable-sales growth in more than six years and issued a third-quarter profit forecast that fell short of Wall Street estimates, raising concerns about the health of the US consumer.

US comparable sales rose 2.6% in the second quarter, missing the 3.7% growth analysts had expected.

Walmart stock was down 9.5%, on pace for its worst single-day performance since May 2022.

The world's largest retailer said shoppers remain under pressure from higher gas prices, while lower pharmacy pricing also weighed on sales.

The retailer guided third-quarter adjusted earnings per share to a range of $0.62 to $0.64, below the $0.68 analysts had forecast.

Despite the weaker outlook, Walmart's second-quarter results beat expectations. Revenue came in at $187.9 billion, above estimates of $186.7 billion and up 5.9% from a year earlier. Adjusted earnings per share of $0.81 topped forecasts of $0.74, a 19% increase from the prior year, while net income rose to $6.5 billion, ahead of the $5.91 billion analysts had projected.

Global e-commerce sales grew 23%, and global advertising revenue jumped 38%. Membership fee revenue rose 17% worldwide.

By segment, Walmart US net revenue reached $125.2 billion, up 3.5% year-over-year. Walmart International revenue climbed 12.8% to $35.2 billion, and Sam's Club US revenue rose 8.8% to $25.7 billion.

Walmart raised its full-year guidance, now forecasting adjusted earnings per share of $2.80 to $2.87, up from a prior range of $2.75 to $2.85. The company also lifted its outlook for net sales growth at constant currency to 4% to 5%, from 3.5% to 4.5% previously, and raised its adjusted operating income growth forecast to 7% to 8.5%, from 6% to 8%.

Analysts at Jefferies said Walmart continues to operate from a position of strength despite the headline comp miss. The firm noted that Walmart U.S. comps would have risen 3.4% excluding health and wellness, reflecting pharmacy-related deflation tied to maximum fair price regulation.

Jefferies pointed to transaction growth, broad-based market share gains and continued momentum in e-commerce, advertising, marketplace and membership as underlying strengths.

For the third quarter, Walmart guided net sales growth at constant currency of 3% to 3.75% and operating income growth of 2% to 4%.

Other second-quarter metrics included a gross profit rate increase of 96 basis points, operating cash flow of $19.7 billion and free cash flow of $5.5 billion. Capital expenditures are expected to run at about 4% of net sales for the full year.