Walmart Excites With Strong Quarterly Sales and Earnings Leadership

Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon speaks onstage at the 2017 ESSENCE Festival on June 30 in New Orleans. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images for 2017 ESSENCE Festival )

First of the major retailers to report this earnings season, Walmart demonstrated sales and earnings leadership in the final quarter of 2017. Comparable sale grew 2.6% and e-commerce sales rose 23%, with revenues reaching $500.3 billion for the full fiscal year. That is an increase of $14.5 billion over the previous year.

One of the real achievements was that e-commerce rose 44% in the year and e-commerce revenues including its third-party marketplace rose 47%. CEO Doug McMillon said that the company has “good momentum with solid growth in Walmart U.S., Sam’s Club and International. We are making progress putting our unique assets to work to serve customers in all the way they want to shop.” These comments stress the dynamic growth of the e-commerce business.

The company indicated that the new tax act contains several provisions that affect Walmart, including a one-time mandatory transition tax on accumulated foreign earnings and a reduction of the U.S. corporate income tax to 21 percent, effective January 1. The company is currently analyzing the accounting impact and has recorded $207 million for both the fourth quarter and the full year. It will complete work within the allowed measurement period of one year. As a result, the company reported 4th quarter fully diluted earnings of $0.73 vs. $1.22 the previous year. For the full year the company reported fully diluted earnings of $3.28 vs. $4.38 in the previous year.

It is notable that for the fiscal year 2017 Walmart U.S. recorded an increase of 3.5%, International 1.7%, Sam’s Club 3.2%. In the fourth quarter Walmart U.S. reported a 3.4% increase, International 6.7% and Sam’s Club 3.3%. That was aided by the strong e-commerce business.

Management is optimistic about the fiscal 2018 outlook. It expects earnings in the next fiscal year to be $4.75 to $5.00. The better sales momentum and tax reform act will certainly support this outlook. The company has added new apparel brands for women and children which should strengthen their customer traffic in stores and on the web. Walmart is showing a more competitive attitude -- Amazon watch out!

Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon speaks onstage at the 2017 ESSENCE Festival on June 30 in New Orleans. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images for 2017 ESSENCE Festival )

First of the major retailers to report this earnings season, Walmart demonstrated sales and earnings leadership in the final quarter of 2017. Comparable sale grew 2.6% and e-commerce sales rose 23%, with revenues reaching $500.3 billion for the full fiscal year. That is an increase of $14.5 billion over the previous year.

Management is optimistic about the fiscal 2018 outlook. It expects earnings in the next fiscal year to be $4.75 to $5.00. The better sales momentum and tax reform act will certainly support this outlook. The company has added new apparel brands for women and children which should strengthen their customer traffic in stores and on the web. Walmart is showing a more competitive attitude -- Amazon watch out!

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