Walmart Shares Tumble Up to 8% as US Comparable Sales Miss and Q3 Profit Outlook Disappoints

Walmart shares fell as much as 8 percent on August 20 after the retailer reported second-quarter U.S. comparable sales growth of 2.6 percent, its weakest showing since 2020 and below Wall Street expectations, while its third-quarter earnings guidance also came in light. The company beat on earnings per se, with adjusted EPS for Q3 guided to $0.62 to $0.64, but the muted profit outlook overshadowed that beat. The weak comp sales figure included an 80-basis-point drag from the health and wellness category.

On tariffs, CFO John David Rainey told CNBC that Walmart is eligible for up to $2.9 billion in tariff refunds but has received less than $100 million of that amount. Rainey noted that tariff refunds received in the second quarter are being funneled into price investments and customer experience in the back half of the year, and urged investors to assess Q2 and Q3 performance together. Walmart raised its full-year fiscal 2027 net sales growth forecast to 4.0 to 5.0 percent and adjusted operating income growth to 7.0 to 8.5 percent in constant currency, with full-year adjusted EPS guided to $2.80 to $2.87.

Global e-commerce grew 23 percent in the quarter. Despite the full-year raise, the soft near-term profit outlook and the slowest U.S. sales growth in six years drove the sharp stock selloff.