Walmart shares jump as holiday-quarter sales top estimates
The performance gave a glimpse into the health of the US consumer as spending was helped by a strong labour market and lower fuel prices
Walmart reported an estimate-beating jump in holiday-quarter comparable sales on Tuesday as a strong economy boosted consumer spending and fuelled more e-commerce purchases, sending shares of the world’s largest retailer up almost 5%. The performance offered a glimpse into the health of the US consumer as spending was helped by a strong labour market and lower fuel prices. “We still feel pretty good about the consumer. We haven’t seen much of a change,” Walmart CFO Brett Biggs said. “The data we are seeing still looks pretty healthy. Gas [fuel] prices are down year over year, which helps.” US retail sales recorded their biggest drop in more than nine years in December, the government reported last week, as receipts fell across the board, suggesting a sharp slowdown in economic activity at the end of 2018. Overall sales for the 2018 US holiday shopping season hit a six-year high as shoppers were encouraged by early discounts, according to a Mastercard report in late December.
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