Key Takeaways
- Walmart posted a first-quarter earnings beat Thursday, with international and e-commerce sales improvements driving growth.
- The retailer also updated its full-year guidance, projecting a number of metrics to be near the top or above original estimate ranges.
- Shares rose over 6% ahead of markets opening.
Walmart (WMT) shares jumped in premarket trading Thursday following the release of a fiscal 2025 first-quarter earnings report that surpassed analyst estimates, and also included raised guidance for the full fiscal year.
International, E-Commerce Growth Drive Earnings Beat
Revenue rose 6% year-over-year to $161.51 billion, above the $159.51 billion that analysts had expected, according to estimates compiled by Visible Alpha.
Walmart was also substantially more profitable than analysts expected, with the retailer reporting net income of $5.1 billion, or 63 cents per share, above estimates of $4.05 billion and 51 cents per share. Profits more than tripled last year’s figures.
Walmart’s U.S. locations and its members-only chain Sam’s Club each reported a 4.6% year-over-year bump in revenue to $108.67 billion and $21.44 billion, respectively, while Walmart International’s revenue jumped over 12% to $29.83 billion.
Walmart’s shift to digital growth is also continuing to pay off, with global e-commerce sales rising 21%, similar growth to the 23% jump that it reported for the fourth quarter in February. The retailer’s advertising business grew by 24% from last year, as Walmart has said it wants to find new sources of revenue to boost its earnings rather than raise prices, which the Biden administration has criticized other retailers for implementing.
Walmart Lifts Full-Year Guidance
The retail giant didn’t provide any new numbers for its guidance, but said it expects several metrics to be at the high end or above the original ranges they gave earlier this year.
For the current quarter, Walmart projects revenue growth of 3.5% to 4.5% from the $161.63 billion it recorded in the second quarter of fiscal 2024, along with adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of 62 cents to 65 cents.
Walmart in February guided fiscal 2025 revenue to increase by 3% to 4% from fiscal 2024’s $648.13 billion. Now, Walmart projects that growth will be at the “high-end or slightly above” its previous guidance.
Similarly, Walmart expects full-year adjusted EPS to be at the top end or above its original range of $2.23 to $2.37.
Walmart shares have gained about 14% in 2024 through Wednesday’s closing level of $59.83, and are up a further 6% about 40 minutes before the opening bell Thursday.