Walmart Beats on Earnings as Online Sales Surge (WMT)

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Walmart on Thursday reported second-quarter earnings and revenue that topped Wall Street estimates, boosted by an increase in foot traffic and by strong online sales. Shares, however, are trading down by about 2%.

America's largest brick-and-mortar retailer said US comparable-store sales rose 1.8% versus a year ago, making for the 12th straight quarter with positive results.

Walmart said food categories delivered their strongest comparable-store sales performance in five years, as food inflation boosted the performance by "approximately 30 basis points."

Walmart continues to reap the benefits of its Jet.com acquisition. Gross merchandise volume in its e-commerce unit — the value of everything sold online — surged by 67% year-over-year.

The company announced adjusted earnings of $1.08 a share, edging out the Wall Street estimate by a penny. Revenue totaled $123.36 billion, surpassing the $122.84 billion that analysts were expecting.

The only blemish on the report seems to be the dip in gross margins, which fell by 11 basis points to 25%.

Walmart raised the lower end of its full-year adjusted earnings forecast to $4.30 to $4.40 a share after initially anticipating $4.20 to $4.40. Analysts were expecting $4.39.