Walmart hikes annual profit forecast on steady demand, shares jump

US retailer Walmart raised its annual profit forecast on Thursday for the second time this year, as Americans kept flocking to its stores for inexpensive everyday essentials and as it sold more higher-margin ads to product companies.

Shares of the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company rose more than 7 per cent in premarket trading. The blue-chip stock has climbed 30.7 per cent so far in 2024, outperforming the S&P 500's 14.4 per cent rise.

Walmart's shares are richly valued, trading at about 27 times forward earnings, up from its historical average valuation of about 22, according to RBC, increasing pressure on the company to report strong results.

Walmart is among the first major US chains to report quarterly results that could provide insight into how consumers are feeling, particularly after the government reported an unexpected deterioration in the labor market, raising fears of a recession.

Still, consumer spending has remained resilient this year, bolstered by higher wages and low unemployment. US consumer prices fell for the first time in four years in June, offering some relief to Americans struggling with steep prices for meat, toilet paper and packaged food. Data released on Wednesday by the Labor Department showed inflation continues to moderate.

Walmart said it continued to gain share across income cohorts primarily driven by upper-income households on state of consumer.

The retail bellwether forecast annual adjusted profit per share to be between $2.35 and $2.43, compared with its prior expectations to potentially better or be at the high end of a range of $2.23 to $2.37 per share.

Fiscal 2025 consolidated net sales is now forecast to grow in the range of 3.75 per cent to 4.75 per cent from a prior range of an increase of 3.0 per cent to 4.0 per cent.