Higher-margin commerce solutions now roughly one-third of operating income
Reported gross margin was 25.14%, reinforcing the quarter's better-than-guided profitability.
Walmart delivered strong Q1 results with 5.7% constant currency sales growth, driven by e-commerce (26% growth) and general merchandise share gains. Management is reiterating full-year guidance despite absorbing a $175 million fuel cost headwind, and expects profitability to accelerate through the year. The call emphasized the scaling of high-margin businesses like advertising, marketplace, and membership, and the growing competitive advantage of its fast delivery network. Q1 sales grew ~6% constant currency, beating guidance by 120 bps; e-commerce grew 26% and US marketplace sales grew almost 50%.
Walmart delivered strong Q1 results with 5.7% constant currency sales growth, driven by e-commerce (26% growth) and general merchandise share gains. Management is reiterating full-year guidance despite absorbing a $175 million fuel cost headwind, and expects profitability to accelerate through the year. The call emphasized the scaling of high-margin businesses like advertising, marketplace, and membership, and the growing competitive advantage of its fast delivery network. Q1 sales grew ~6% constant currency, beating guidance by 120 bps; e-commerce grew 26% and US marketplace sales grew almost 50%.
Reported gross margin was 25.14%, reinforcing the quarter's better-than-guided profitability.
Q1 sales grew ~6% constant currency, beating guidance by 120 bps; e-commerce grew 26% and US marketplace sales grew almost 50%.
Management highlighted AI as core to strategy: Sparky, its AI shopping agent, saw weekly active users double in Q1, response quality improve 40%, and now works in stores, supports auto-reorder, and speaks Spanish. They see AI improving supply chain and fulfillment decisions…
Company reiterates full-year sales growth guidance of 3.5-4.5% but expects to land at the upper end; full-year operating income growth guidance is 6-8%.
Management highlighted AI as core to strategy: Sparky, its AI shopping agent, saw weekly active users double in Q1, response quality improve 40%, and now works in stores, supports auto-reorder, and speaks Spanish. They see AI improving supply chain and fulfillment decisions, and noted Sparky customers have roughly 35% higher average order value.
Management reiterated full-year guidance despite absorbing a $175 million fuel cost hit in Q1, signaling confidence in accelerating operating income growth in Q2 and the back half. The tone is optimistic, emphasizing share gains, e-commerce momentum, and the scaling of high-margin businesses.
No formal capex guidance change was given, but management emphasized continued infrastructure investment: about half of US e-commerce fulfillment volume is automated, over half of regional DCs are being retrofitted, and more investments are coming to support faster delivery and operating leverage.
Management repeatedly struck an upbeat, assured tone, calling the business strong and exciting, highlighting momentum, and reiterating full-year guidance despite absorbing $175 million in higher fuel costs.
“We absorbed approximately $175 million or about 250 basis points of operating income growth from higher than planned fuel costs in our global distribution and fulfillment operations.”
“We can now reach approximately 60% of the US population in 30 minutes or less.”
“In Q1, we saw the highest level of general merchandise share gains in five years.”
| 지표 | 기간 | 범위 | 중간값 | 상태 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EPS | FY2028 Q2 | $0.72–$0.74 | $0.73 | GUIDED |
| EPS | FY2028 | $2.75–$2.85 | $2.80 | MAINTAINED |
| Revenue | FY2028 Q2 | 4%–5% | 4.5% | GUIDED |
| 제시 시점 | 지표 | 목표 기간 | 가이던스 | 실제 | 결과 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 Q3 | EPS | FY2026 Q4 | $0.67–$0.72 | $0.74 | Met / beat |
Fuel cost pressure is real-time and significant: Walmart absorbed $175 million in higher fuel costs in Q1, about 250 bps of operating income growth, and it is changing consumer behavior (fuel gallons per fill-up dropped below 10 for first time since 2022). — Persistent high fuel prices are squeezing Walmart's logistics margins and the low-end consumer, potentially dampening discretionary spend and hurting oil demand as consumers trade down.
… and clubs. Customers and members are also shopping deeper into our catalog as 3P Marketplace sales growth in the U.S. reached the highest level in two and a half years. In addition, our advertising business had one of its best quarters, growing 37% globally. First quarter adjusted operating income growth in constant currency of approximately 5% was in line with our guidance despite higher than anticipated fuel costs. We absorbed approximately $175 million or about 250 basis points of operating income growth from higher than planned fuel costs in our global distribution and fulfillment operations. We continue to play offense. Despite the short-term pressure on profits, we're confident this was the right approach to reinforce customer trust and support share gains over the long term. We're always focused on providing low prices for customers. EDLP is core to who we are. That said, these are real impacts to cost of goods sold for us and our suppliers, and if the current elevated cost environment persists, we'd expect somewhat higher retail price inflation in Q2 and the second half of the year. Importantly, we're reiterating our original full-year guidance that we provided in …
General merchandise, particularly fashion, is a major source of share gains and margin improvement, with the strongest GM share gains in five years. — Walmart's investment in fashion and general merchandise is directly siphoning market share from off-price and specialty retailers, suggesting increased competitive pressure on that segment.
… in the member value proposition at Sam's supported the membership fee increase that became effective on May 1st. Lastly, we're making progress on improving merchandise category mix, particularly in Walmart US. Q1 marked the first time in 18 quarters that merchandise mix contributed favorably to Walmart US gross margin expansion of 29 basis points. This reflects broad-based improvement in general merchandise sales with growth up mid-single digits for the quarter. In Q1, we saw the highest level of general merchandise share gains in five years. We're continuing to lean into rollbacks and seasonal value programs to reinforce our price leadership, and we're seeing a strong response from customers through increased unit volumes. We have approximately 7,200 rollbacks across our assortment, which is up more than 20% versus last year. Now I'll discuss guidance. While there are certainly pressures on the consumer, let me reiterate, our business is strong. We are executing on the important strategic initiatives that are critical to our future sales and earnings growth. Our delivery speed and capabilities continue to get faster and reach more customers and members. And our value …
Walmart's fast delivery capability is a key competitive advantage and driver of frequency and membership growth, with 60% of the U.S. population now reachable in 30 minutes or less. — Walmart is rapidly scaling its last-mile speed advantage, directly challenging Amazon's dominance in e-commerce convenience and potentially forcing increased competitive investment from Amazon.
… accelerating by using our unique assets, stores and clubs, DCs and FCs, and last-mile delivery networks to get orders to customers faster and more efficiently. In the U.S., sales utilizing store-fulfilled delivery have more than doubled over the past two years. Over 36% of these orders were delivered in under three hours in Q1, an improvement of 800 basis points over the past two years, and our under one-hour and under 30-minute solutions are growing the fastest. We can now reach approximately 60% of the US population in 30 minutes or less. And customer satisfaction with our delivery offering reached record highs. In China, e-commerce grew over 30% as we use our cloud network to make deliveries within minutes. Flipkart delivered orders in less than 13 minutes on average across more than 30 cities in India. and Sam's Club U.S. Club Fulfilled Delivery Sales grew more than 90% in Q1. We're also encouraged by the performance of our U.S. marketplace, with nearly 50% net sales growth, aided by increased engagement with higher-income households. Marketplace is an area that we invested in last year, and the momentum is building. General merchandise categories performed especially well …