Walmart delivered another standout quarter, posting strong sales and profits that blew past Wall Street expectations as it wins over more cash-strapped Americans who have grown increasing anxious about the economy.
With other retailers dialing back projections, the nation’s largest retailer raised its financial outlook Thursday after its strong third quarter, setting itself up for a strong holiday shopping season.
Walmart Inc., based in Bentonville, Arkansas, also said Thursday that it will be transferring the listing of its common stock to the tech-heavy Nasdaq from the New York Stock Exchange. It expects its common stock to begin trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on December 9, under the the same ticker symbol “WMT.”
CEO Doug McMillon, who surprised investors with plans to retire early next year, has reshaped Walmart itself as tech-powered retail giant that has leaned heavily into automation and artificial intelligence.
McMillon spearheaded a period of robust sales growth since becoming chief executive in 2014, going toe-to-toe with online behemoth Amazon and , plans to retire early next year. John Furner, 51, the head of Walmart’s U.S. operations, will take over on Feb. 1, the day after McMillon’s retirement becomes effective, the company said.
The leadership change at Walmart arrives at a challenging time for retailers and other U.S. companies. They have spent months navigating an uncertain economic environment as President Donald Trump’s administration imposes wide-ranging tariffs on imports and pursues an immigration crackdown that has threatened to shrink the number of workers availabe in America.
Walmart’s performance serves as a barometer of consumer spending given its size and vast customer base. The company maintains that 90% of U.S. households rely on Walmart for a range of products, and more than 150 million customers shop on its website or in its stores every week.
So analysts will be focusing on consumer health heading into the holiday shopping season and more details on how Furman will fill the hole that will be left by McMillon. Analysts expect Furman to continue the strategies pushed forward by McMillon.
Under McMillon leadership, Walmart has been laser-focused on maintaining low prices while embracing new technology like artificial intelligence and robotics. Walmart has also invested heavily in e-commerce and faster deliveries under McMillon’s stewardship.
Walmart has also looked for new sources of revenue like advertising and launched a membership program called Walmart + to compete with Amazon Prime, its rival’s free shipping program.
Such strategies have helped bolster Walmart’s results in the latest quarter.
Third-quarter profits rose to $6.14 billion, or 77 cents per share, in the quarter ended Oct. 31. That compares with $4.58 billion, or 57 cents per share, for the year-ago period.
Adjusted earnings was 66 cents for the quarter.
Sales rose nearly 6% to $179.5 billion, up from $169.6 billion in the year-ago period.
Analysts were forecasting a profit of 60 cents on sales of $177.44 billion, according to FactSet.
Comparable sales — those from sales from established physical stores and online channels— at U.S. namesake stores rose 4.5% in the fiscal third quarter. In the previous quarter, sales for that measure were up 4.6%.
Global e-commerce sales rose 27%,. That follows a 25% jump in the second quarter and a 22% growth in the first quarter.
The company said that it now expects adjusted profits per share for the fiscal year to be in the range of $2.58 to $2.63, up from the early guidance offered in August of $2.52 to $2.62 per share.
It also said that its expects sales for the year to be up anywhere from 4.8% to 5.1%. That’s up from its earlier estimates of 3.75% to 4.75%.
Analysts were predicting $2.61 per share, according to FactSet analysts.