Walmart's Q2 earnings beat expectations, but online sales growth slowed

On August 17, Walmart released its second quarter financial report for fiscal year 2022. Data showed that the company's total revenue in Q2 was $141 billion, a year-on-year increase of 2.4%, exceeding Wall Street's expectations of $137.17 billion . The company's earnings per share were $1.78, also exceeding analysts' estimates of $1.57.

Thanks to the slowdown of the epidemic , consumers gradually resumed their offline shopping habits, and Walmart said it had achieved good growth in its retail business. In addition to grabbing more market share in the retail sector, one of its core businesses , Walmart has also made progress in new areas. Thanks to the addition of thousands of online sellers on the Walmart platform, Walmart's U.S. advertising sales almost doubled this quarter compared to a year ago.

Although Walmart has a good performance in terms of earnings, there are also data showing that Walmart's sales growth is slowing down. According to a survey by StreetAccount, Walmart's same-store sales in the United States increased by 5.2%, higher than analysts' expectations of 3.3%, but lower than 9.3% in the same period last year.

As offline shopping gradually returns to normal, the growth of online sales, which grew rapidly during the epidemic , has slowed down. In the first quarter of this year, Walmart's online revenue sales increased by 37% , and in the second quarter, the sales growth rate slowed sharply to 6%.

With the return of the back-to-school shopping season , Walmart has raised its sales forecast for this year. Walmart said it expects same-store sales in the United States to grow 5% to 6% in fiscal 2022, compared with a previous forecast of low single-digit growth. It also expects sales in the current quarter to be much higher than expected. In addition, in the e-commerce field, Walmart expects its global e-commerce sales to reach US$75 billion this year.

Retail analyst Charlie O'Shea said Walmart 's growth in the third quarter was heavily dependent on its offline stores. As the epidemic blockade was lifted , more and more consumers flocked to offline stores to buy items such as suitcases, party supplies and clothing . With the arrival of the back-to-school shopping season , sales of backpacks and school supplies are also growing.

Walmart Chief Financial Officer Brett Biggs said the company is chartering ships for Walmart merchandise in preparation for the upcoming shopping season and the holiday shipping crisis.