Walmart Is Still Losing Ground to Amazon
Walmart's (NYSE: WMT) recently released fourth-quarter earnings report was admittedly not as strong as the retail chain would have liked. CEO Doug McMillon called it, "Not our best."
The company's U.S. comparable-store sales growth slowed from 3.2% in the third quarter to 1.9%. Overall revenue rose 2.1% to $141.7 billion, missing estimates at $142.5 billion. Adjusted operating income fell 3.7% to $5.84 billion, and adjusted earnings per share fell from $1.41 to $1.38, below expectations at $1.43. Lower prices and increased sales from e-commerce weighed on profitability.
Walmart's biggest strength in the quarter will be familiar to followers of the retail giant. U.S. e-commerce sales jumped 35%, led by growth in the online grocery program as Walmart continues to expand online grocery pickup and delivery to new stores. It now has 3,200 stores providing online grocery pickup and 1,600 locations doing grocery delivery. In the quarter, online grocery was a meaningful contributor to e-commerce growth, and e-commerce made up all of the comps growth in the U.S. On a comps basis, grocery sales rose in the low single digits, and the two-year comp was one of the best the company has seen in the last 10 years.
Source Fool.com
