First Quarter 2026 Earnings Report for Walmart (WMT)

Walmart on Thursday fell just short of quarterly sales estimates, as even the world’s largest retailer said it would feel the pinch of higher tariffs.

Even so, the Arkansas-based discounter beat quarterly earnings expectations and stuck by its full-year forecast, which calls for sales to grow 3% to 4% and adjusted earnings of $2.50 to $2.60 per share for the fiscal year. That cautious profit outlook had disappointed Wall Street in February. Wall Street was also underwhelmed by the results Thursday, as shares fell more than 4% in morning trading.

Walmart also marked a milestone: It posted its first profitable quarter for its e-commerce business both in the U.S. and globally. The business has benefited from the growth of higher-margin moneymakers, including online advertising and Walmart’s third-party marketplace.

In an interview with CNBC, Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey said tariffs are “still too high” – even with the recently announced agreement to lower duties on imports from China to 30% for 90 days.

“We’re wired for everyday low prices, but the magnitude of these increases is more than any retailer can absorb,” he said. “It’s more than any supplier can absorb. And so I’m concerned that consumer is going to start seeing higher prices. You’ll begin to see that, likely towards the tail end of this month, and then certainly much more in June.”

Walmart said it expects net sales to increase 3.5% to 4.5% for the fiscal second quarter, but declined to provide guidance for earnings per share or operating income growth because of fluctuating U.S. tariff policy.

Here is what the big-box retailer reported for the three-month period that ended May 2 compared with Wall Street’s estimates, according to a survey of analysts by LSEG:

• Earnings per share: 61 cents, adjusted vs. 58 cents expected
• Revenue: $165.61 billion vs. $165.84 billion expected

In the fiscal first quarter, Walmart’s net income fell to $4.49 billion, or 56 cents per share, compared with $5.10 billion, or 63 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.

Revenue rose about 2.5% from $161.51 billion in the year-ago period, but had a 1% headwind from lapping leap day in the year-ago period. Yet it marked Walmart’s first quarterly revenue miss since February 2020.

Comparable sales – an industry metric also known as same-store sales – jumped 4.5% for Walmart U.S. and 6.7% for Sam’s Club, excluding fuel.

E-commerce sales increased 21% in the U.S., marking the 12th straight quarter of double-digit gains. Global e-commerce sales jumped 22% year over year.

Walmart is often seen as a barometer for the health of the U.S. consumer because of its thousands of stores and large customer base that cuts across age, income and region. Rainey told CNBC that Walmart has not seen a noticeable shift in consumer behavior from previous quarters.

“They’re discerning. They’re mindful. They’re maybe a little concerned about possible looming price increases, but their behaviors largely have not changed. They’re still looking for value,” he said.

Sales in the quarter were “a little choppy,” Rainey said. He said results in February fell below the company’s expectations, March results came in closer to what Walmart expected and then April “was a lot stronger.” So far, he said May “feels a lot more like April” with sales patterns.

Average ticket, or the amount that a customer spent, rose 2.8% year over year. Customer transactions increased 1.6% compared with the year-ago period in the U.S. Yet despite the growth of purchases across Walmart’s store and website, that marked the fourth straight quarter of deceleration for the metric.

Trade remains a major wild card for the company — and the retail industry — as companies debate how much inventory to order and place bets about where tariff levels will ultimately land. About a third of what Walmart sells in the U.S. comes from other parts of the world, with China, Mexico, Canada, Vietnam and India representing its largest markets for imports, Rainey said on the company’s earnings call Thursday.

CEO Doug McMillon said on the company’s earnings call that tariffs on China, in particular, create the greatest cost pressure. He said imports from the country account for high volume in categories such as toys and electronics.

He said Walmart is focused on keeping food prices low, but said tariffs on countries like Costa Rica, Peru and Colombia have put pressure on the prices of bananas, avocados, coffee and roses. In some cases, he said, it’s keeping prices where they are — even if that means absorbing higher costs — such as keeping the price consistent for flowers at Sam’s Club on Mother’s Day.

In an interview with CNBC on Thursday, Rainey said the company is working with vendors to try to keep prices down. But, he added “this is a little bit unprecedented in terms of the speed and magnitude in which the price increases are coming.”

Still, he said, Walmart plans to “play offense” by keeping its price gaps below competitors. He said the…