Walmart delivers another quarter of impressive sales but offers a muted
outlook
[February 20, 2026] By
ANNE D'INNOCENZIO
NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart delivered another impressive quarter as the
promise of lower prices and speedy deliveries attracted a broader
spectrum of Americans from cash-strapped to wealthier households during
the critical holiday shopping period.
The subdued outlook, offered Thursday, from the Bentonville, Arkansas,
company, however, hinted at a volatile economic environment ahead.
“Given that we are as large as we are and so tied to consumer health and
the economy, we want to maintain maximum flexibility and not get out
ahead of ourselves at this point in the year, ” Walmart's chief
financial officer John David Rainey told investors during the earnings
call.
He cited subdued consumer sentiment, a fragile job market and student
loan delinquencies among other issues it's monitoring.
Still, Walmart’s impressive quarter wasn’t enough to postpone what was
coming.
For the first time, Walmart recorded annual sales that were lower than
online behemoth Amazon, dethroning the discounter from its status as the
nation’s largest company by revenue, according to Fortune, which
compiles a ranking of the top 500 U.S. corporations by total revenue for
their respective fiscal years.
For the full year, Walmart’s sales reached $713.2 billion, while Amazon
earlier this month delivered net sales of $716.9 billion, helped by its
surging cloud service unit, advertising and massive ecommerce business.
The quarterly results were Walmart’s first in more than a decade to get
reported under a new chief executive.
John Furner, 51, who headed the company’s U.S. operations, took over for
Doug McMillon this month. McMillon had turned America’s largest retailer
into a tech-powered giant and spearheaded an era of robust sales growth
after being named Walmart’s CEO in 2014.
Walmart’s shares rose more than 25% since its last quarterly earnings
report and earlier this month it became the first non-tech company to
reach a valuation of more than a $1 trillion. Shares rose nearly 1% in
afternoon trading.
Walmart has resonated with many Americans who are carefully considering
where they spend money because of inflation and how the company performs
is considered a barometer of consumer spending given its vast customer
base. More than 150 million customers are on its website or in its
stores every week, according to Walmart.
While inflation has cooled, consumer prices have soared about 25% over
the past five years. Many economists expect more companies will begin
passing on higher costs from higher U.S. tariffs to their customers in
coming months.
Walmart’s promise of lower prices, improved merchandise and faster
delivery has broadened its base to include wealthier shoppers in that
environment, with the biggest gains in market share coming from
households with annual income over $100,000. That has happened as
lower-income shoppers have become more restrained, reflecting what
economists call a K-shaped economy phenomenon.
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A shopper heads into a Walmart store Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025, in
Englewood, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
 Furner said shoppers overall remain
resilient, but customers with household income below $50,000 are
under financial strain.
“We continue to see (their) wallets are stretched, and in some
cases, people are managing spending paycheck to paycheck,” he said
during a conference call. “That said, even these households are
emphasizing convenience nearly as much as price.”
Walmart has managed higher costs from President Donald Trump's
tariffs by shifting what it offers on store shelves while absorbing
some higher costs and diversifying sourcing.
Rainey told The Associated Press during a phone call Thursday that
for the latest quarter, average prices for identical items at the
retailer rose a little above 1%, with prices for food up a little
less than that and general merchandise inflation was up more than
3%. Managing costs for general merchandise items like TVs and vacuum
cleaners has been more challenging since most are foreign imports,
he said.
Still, Rainey acknowledged that he had a lot more trepidation nine
months ago when tariffs were just starting to hit, but he said the
company has done a good job in minimizing the impact to the
consumer.
Walmart reported fourth-quarter earnings of $4.24 billion, or 53
cents per share, for the quarter ended Jan. 31. Adjusted per-share
results were 74 cents, a penny better than Wall Street expected,
according to FactSet.
Last year, the company reported net income of $5.25 billion, or 65
cents per share.
Sales rose 5.6% to $190.7 billion from $180.6 billion, also edging
out expectations.
Comparable sales at Walmart stores, including online sales, rose
4.6% after a 4.5% increase in the previous quarter. Sales were
broadly stronger, particularly groceries, which have been an
enormous generator of traffic for Walmart, the company said. It
cited fashion as a bright spot, too.
And Walmart said speedier deliveries helped fuel the sales momentum,
with expedited deliveries under three hours accounting for 35% of
orders from stores.
U.S. e-commerce business increased 27% during the quarter,
accounting for 23% of overall sales.
Walmart said that for the current quarter, it expects sales to
increase anywhere from 3.5% to 4.5% and earnings per share to be in
the range of 63 cents to 65 cents. For the year, it expects sales to
reach $706.4 billion and earnings per share to be $2.64.
That is a little cooler than Wall Street had been projecting.
Analysts polled by FactSet had been expecting per-share earnings of
68 cents in the first quarter. For the year, they have been
projecting earnings of $2.64 per share on sales of $712.6 billion.
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