Walmart Q4 earnings beat expectations, guidance disappoints

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Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

$90.39

05:45 22/11/24

2.27%

$2.01

Retail giant Walmart reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results on Tuesday but still saw shares head south in pre-market trading after issuing some bullish guidance.

Dow Jones I.A.

44,114.28

04:30 15/10/20

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Walmart stated earnings per share came to $1.71 for the quarter, ahead of consensus estimates for a print of $1.52, while revenues of $164.0bn also easily beat expectations of $159.8bn.

The Arkansas-based group also said US comparable sales, excluding gas, grew 8.8%.

Chief executive Doug McMillon said: "We're excited about momentum. The team delivered a strong quarter to finish the year, and as our results in the last two quarters show, they acted quickly and aggressively to address the inventory and cost challenges we faced last year.

For the current quarter, Walmart expects EPS to come in between $1.25 and $1.30 per share, while sales were projected to grow 4.5-5.0% - short of expectations of $1.36 per share. For the year as a whole, Walmart guided for EPS in the range of $5.90-6.05 - considerable shy of consensus at $6.50 per share.

As of 1315 GMT, Walmart shares were down 3.50% in pre-market trading at $141.31 each.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com