Walmart Inc posts profit growth of almost 10% in Q1 earnings

Written by

Written on May 16, 2024

Reading time 2 minutes

Markets have been eagerly anticipating Walmart's earnings, often considered a view into US shoppers' health.
This morning, Walmart reported Q1 FY 2025 earnings
Results were positive and largely beat analysts' expectations, with income up almost 10%.

Discount home retailer Walmart Inc announced its Q1 earnings today before US markets opened.

With the US economy embattled with stickier-than-expected inflation and interest rates still punishingly high for consumers, the market was eager to see what would come from today’s earnings.

Walmart has a reputation for results outperforming when the US economy is in dire enough straits (lie in the 2008 financial crisis), but its also known to lose revenue on its big-ticket purchases when consumers tighten their belts.

Read our analysis on the significance of today’s Walmart earnings here

The financial results

The company posted consolidated revenues of $161.5 billion, up 6.0%.

Operating income for the quarter was $6.8 billion, growing faster at 9.6%; while adjusted operating income was up 13.7%.

Walmart Inc also reported eCommerce growth, with international eCommerce growing 19% year-on-year.

eCommerce was up 21% globally for the quarter, led by store-fulfilled pickup & delivery and marketplace

Meanwhile, Walmart international net sales were up 10.7% to $29.8 billion.

The company announced earnings per share of $0.63 for the quarter, or adjusted EPS of $0.60.

Ahead of earnings expectations

These results beat analysts’ expectations and did little to shock markets.

Analysts expected revenues of around $156 billion for the quarter, and EPS of $0.52 per share.

However, market participants were slightly bearish on the stock today, which saw Walmart Inc stocks trading 0.05% lower before earnings and before markets opened today, and roughly 0.39% lower this week so far.