Walmart raised its full-year profit target on Thursday as e-commerce sales surged in advance of a potentially blockbuster holiday shopping season.
The retailer expects earnings as high as $4.85 per share in the 12 months through January 2019, up from $4.80. Revenue in the three months through October, its third budget quarter, rose 1.4 percent to $125 billion, in-line with Wall Street expectations. Same store sales – a key performance metric for the industry – grew 3.4 percent.
Walmart is among leading U.S. retailers that struggled in recent years to compete against surging e-commerce businesses like Amazon. The Bentonville, Ark.-based company purchased e-commerce firm Jet.com in 2016 to boost its online offerings.
Now, after reporting a double-digit gain in web sales in the second quarter, it boosted them 43 percent in the three months through October.
Chief Executive Officer Doug McMillon attributed the results to “a favorable economic environment in the U.S.” The GOP-led tax cuts are fueling higher consumer sentiment, leading to a surge in the retail industry, while unemployment remains at the lowest level in decades.
“We’re accelerating innovation and utilizing technology to shape the future of retail,” he said in a statement. We’re making shopping at Walmart faster and easier.”
Net income, including a loss related to the sale of a majority stake in Walmart Brazil, dropped 2.2 percent to $1.7 billion, or 58 cents per share.
Walmart’s stock rose 1.5 percent to $103.09 in pre-market trading in New York.
