Walmart's first quarter financial report is released: e-commerce sales increased by 37%, and earnings exceeded expectations

Foreign media reported that Walmart Inc. recently released its first-quarter financial report, with first-quarter earnings and sales exceeding expectations .

Walmart's stock price rose 2.6 % before the opening on Tuesday , with net profit of $2.73 billion, or $0.97 per share, compared with $3.99 billion and $1.40 per share in the same period last year. Adjusted earnings per share were $1.69, exceeding the factset consensus of $1.21.

Walmart's revenue this year is reported to be US$138.31 billion, up 2.7% from last year's US$134.62 billion , and higher than the consensus of US$132.16 billion reached by FactSet.

Walmart 's U.S. e-commerce sales grew 37%, with strong performance in all channels contributing approximately 360 basis points to the company's sales. Sales have more than doubled in the past two years. U.S. same-store sales grew strongly by 6% in key areas such as apparel, leisure goods and home goods such as outdoor living products.

According to the financial report data, Walmart's e-commerce sales growth slowed this quarter , down from 69% in the previous quarter and 74% in the same period last year. Although the stable trend of online shopping is expected to continue, demand for physical stores will also rise as more Americans are vaccinated and move freely.

It is reported that Walmart began allowing fully vaccinated people to shop without masks last week, making it the first major retailer to cancel its mandatory mask policy and its physical business will gradually resume .

Walmart now expects profit to rise by a high-single digit for the year, compared with its previous forecast of a slight profit decline. Revenue is also expected to rise by a low-single digit, compared with its previous forecast of a low-single digit.

It is reported that the growth in consumer online shopping , the increase in grocery orders and the increase in consumer spending due to multiple rounds of relief funds in the United States were the main reasons for Walmart's sales growth in the first quarter.

Walmart said in a press release that solid earnings prompted the company to raise its second-quarter and full-year outlook.

The latest round of U.S. government stimulus sent retail sales jumping to a pandemic-era high in March, while U.S. consumer confidence hit a 14-month high in April, and both data points suggest the odds are that Walmart could report stronger-than-expected store sales, which are expected to rise 1.1%.

Walmart

First quarter

Exceeding expectations