Walmart has told its workers that it plans to “win” the holiday season. Ahead of the peak shopping periodvoslot, the nation’s largest retailer appears well positioned, citing “broad-based strength” across its product range.
Walmart said Tuesday that U.S. sales increased 5 percent in the third quarter, to $114.9 billion, easily surpassing analysts’ estimates. The number of visits and the amount spent per visit both rose, a promising trend. Walmart raised its full-year forecast for sales and profit, higher than the estimates it had already increased three months ago.
Doug McMillon, Walmart’s chief executive, said the company had “momentum.” “In the U.S., in-store volumes grew, pickup from store grew faster, and delivery from store grew even faster than that,” he said in a statement on Tuesday. The results were somewhat affected by hurricanes and a strike by East Coast port workers, the company said, slightly raising sales but denting profits.
Walmart, which brings in millions of customers each week, is a bellwether of U.S. consumer trends. The period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day can make or break a retailer’s year, and companies are unsure about how freely shoppers will spend in the weeks ahead.
U.S. sales for the holiday shopping season are expected to increase moderately, by 2.5 to 3.5 percent, according to the National Retail Federation, a pace that resembles that of 2019.
John David Rainey, Walmart’s chief financial officer, said next month was likely to feel similar to that period, but with more online shopping. The company’s forecast of 3 to 4 percent sales growth for the current quarter gives “an indication of how we’re thinking about the holiday period.”
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