The good times keep rolling on at Walmart (WMT), as inflation-weary shoppers continue to search for value.
On Tuesday, the world’s biggest retailer posted fiscal third quarter results that easily beat Wall Street expectations. Sales of $169.59 billion topped analyst estimates for $167.5 billion. Adjusted earnings per share eclipsed estimates by 5 cents at $0.58.
“We had a strong quarter, continuing our momentum,” CEO Doug McMillon said in a statement. “In the US, in-store volumes grew, pickup from store grew faster, and delivery from store grew even faster than that.”
Shares of Walmart rose over 4% in premarket trading on Tuesday. The stock is up 60% year to date, out-performing the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s (^DJI) 15% advance.
Here’s what Walmart posted for its third quarter of fiscal year 2025 results, compared to Bloomberg consensus estimates:
Revenue: $169.59 billon versus $167.5 billion
Adjusted earnings per share: $0.58 versus $0.53
Overall same-store sales growth: 5.5% versus 3.81%
Walmart US same-store sales growth: 5.3% versus 3.68%
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Traffic: 3.1% versus 2.82%
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Ticket growth: 2.1% versus 1.20%
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E-commerce growth: 22% versus 2.22%
Sam’s Club US same-store sales growth: 7.0% versus 4.22%
Walmart US saw same-store sales jump 5.3%, driven by more foot traffic, up 3.1% and a higher average ticket, up 2.1%. That’s compared to a 4.9% increase it posted this time last year.
In the US, e-commerce sales jumped 22%, while advertising unit Walmart Connect grew 26%. Membership income also saw a double-digit increase.
The retailer notched gains across all product categories and income cohorts, primarily driven by upper-income households.
Sales in the groceries category grew by mid-single digits as “food units reached highest level in four years” led by pantry products. Personal care and household cleaning products also saw sales growth. Its private-brand penetration rose 80 basis points as it doubled down with new lines like BetterGoods early this year.
Groceries make up about 60% of US sales for Walmart.
Walmart signaled it sees the momentum continuing for the holiday shopping season.
The retail giant raised its guidance for fiscal year 2025 for the third time.
Net sales are now expected to grow between the range of 4.8% to 5.1%. Previously, Walmart guided to 3.75% to 4.75% sales growth. Coming into the year, Walmart had expected 3.0% to 4.0% sales growth.
Adjusted operating income is expected to grow between 8.5% to 9.25%, compared to previous guidance of 6.5% to 8.0%.
