Walmart Trades Higher After Q4 Earnings Beat

Retail giant Walmart Inc WMT reported fourth-quarter results, which sent shares higher by more than 3 percent during in the pre-market trading session.

What Happened

Walmart said it earned $1.41 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $138.8 billion, which came in better than the $1.33 per share and $138.66 billion Street analysts were expecting.

Comparable store sales in the U.S. rose by 6.8 percent on a two-year stack, which marks the strongest performance seen in nine years. E-commerce sales were higher by around 43 percent from last year and was aided by the expansion of grocery pickup and delivery along with a broader assortment of products on Walmart.com.

The company also lifted its annual cash dividend from $2.08 per share paid in the last year to $2.12 per share for fiscal year 2020. This marks the 46th consecutive year of dividend increases for the retailer.

Why It's Important

Walmart President and CEO Doug McMillon said in the earnings report a favorable economic environment helped the company gain market share. E-commerce growth was consistent with what was seen in the prior quarter as the company continues to introduce new product lines like apparel products backed by celebrities and food kits.

Walmart made no change to its prior 2020 full year guidance which was detailed in mid-October 2018. Some of the metrics management continues to expect include:

• 3 percent net sales growth;
• Around 35 percent e-commerce growth;
• Low single-digit percentage operating income decline including Flipkart or up by a low single-digit percentage range excluding Flipkart; and
• Around $11 billion in planned capital expenditures which includes e-commerce, and store remodels.

Walmart's stock traded around $103.81 per share at time of publication, up 3.8 percent.

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Photo credit: Walmart Corporate from Bentonville, USA, via Wikimedia Common