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Bloomberg
Walmart Inc jumped after reporting coronavirus-related stockpiling led to a surge in quarterly sales, underscoring the company’s strong position amid widespread carnage in the US retail sector.
Comparable-store sales, a key retail metric, increased 10% for US Walmart stores in the period, compared with the 8.6% estimate compiled by Consensus Metrix. That’s the fastest pace of growth in almost two decades. Profit in the quarter also beat expectations.
Walmart’s results reinforce how Americans’ spending priorities rapidly shifted to staples and away from discretionary items with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, before pivoting back to items like office equipment, sporting goods and toys as the quarter wore on. The report for the three-month period ended on April 30 sparked stock advances from peers such as Target and Costco Wholesale.
Walmart CFO Brett Biggs said the quarter was a roller coaster ride that started strong in February before a flurry of stockpiling in mid-March.