Walmart (WMT) Q3 2026 earnings
Walmart The retailer raised its sales and earnings outlook on Thursday after reporting double-digit e-commerce growth and sales gains driven by new customers in its fiscal third quarter.
The retailer said it expects full-year net sales to rise between 4.8% and 5.1%, up from previous expectations of 3.75% to 4.75%. The company said it expects adjusted earnings per share to range from $2.58 to $2.63, up slightly from the previous range of $2.52 to $2.62.
For the second consecutive quarter, Walmart raised its full-year forecast.
Walmart’s earnings report was the first since the Arkansas-based company announced its leadership change. The major retailer said last week that John Furner, CEO of its U.S. business, will replace longtime CEO Doug McMillon on Feb. 1.
In an interview with CNBC, Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey said consumer habits remained unchanged during the quarter as shoppers spent selectively and looked for deals. He said Walmart is gaining “value-seeking” customers across different income levels due to both economic conditions and its own strategic moves.
“Consumers want to do business with companies that provide value, offer the convenience they know and expect, and consistently perform well,” he said.
He said Walmart saw an impact from the pause in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits, formerly known as food stamps, during the extended government shutdown. But “this is starting to pick up as people start receiving these funds again,” he said.
Here’s what the major retailer reported compared to Wall Street’s estimates for its fiscal third quarter, according to a survey of LSEG analysts.
- earnings per share: 62 cents corrected, 60 cents expected
- Revenues: $179.50 billion, expected $177.43 billion
Walmart also said Thursday that it will transfer the listing of its common stock to Nasdaq and begin trading there on Dec. 9. It is currently traded on the New York Stock Exchange. It will have the same ticker symbol, “WMT.”
The company’s shares fell nearly 2% in premarket trading Thursday. As of Wednesday’s close, shares of Walmart were up nearly 11% so far this year. This follows the S&P 500’s gain of nearly 13% in the same period.
Walmart, a retail giant that attracts shoppers across income levels, is being closely watched as an indicator of the health of the U.S. consumer and how President Donald Trump’s tariffs are affecting the prices shoppers pay. It can appeal to consumer behavior across categories because it sells necessities like milk and toilet paper, as well as discretionary items like make-up and clothing.
Walmart has gained more high-income customers as even wealthy households seek relief from rising grocery bills due to high inflation in recent years. This group also responded to store renovations and faster deliveries.
Those gains continued in the latest quarter as Walmart tried to offer better amenities as well as prices, Rainey told CNBC.
Some shoppers come to Walmart for speed, Rainey said. The retailer can now deliver from stores in under three hours to nearly 95% of U.S. households.
He said about a third of the online orders customers now place in stores arrive within one- to three-hour time frames. It said revenue related to faster deliveries was up 70% year over year. The company charges for some of these express deliveries, while others are included as a benefit of its subscription-based membership program Walmart+.
The service is popular even among low-income customers, he said. During the November weeks when SNAP benefits were paused, Rainey said Walmart noticed a decrease in that volume.
For the three months ended Oct. 31, Walmart’s net income rose to $6.14 billion, or 77 cents per share, from $4.58 billion, or 57 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.
Excluding one-time items such as business restructuring expenses, Walmart’s adjusted earnings per share were 62 cents.
Revenue was up from $169.59 billion in the prior-year quarter.
Walmart US comparable sales, excluding fuel, increased 4.5% in the third quarter compared to the prior-year period. This beat analysts’ expectations for growth of 4%, according to StreetAccount. Industry metric, Also called same-store sales, this includes sales from stores and clubs that have been open for at least one year.
At Sam’s Club, comparable sales rose 3.8%, excluding fuel.
Walmart’s e-commerce sales rose 27% globally, with all of the company’s segments posting sharp gains. E-commerce in the US increased 28%, driven by increased store fulfillment of online orders and growth in advertising and the third-party market.
E-commerce sales were up 26% internationally and 22% at Sam’s Club in the US.
U.S. shoppers made more visits to Walmart and spent more on those visits. Customer transactions increased 1.8% and average tickets increased 2.7%.
As Walmart gains more digital traffic and adds more products to its third-party marketplace, advertising has also become a meaningful growth area. Its global advertising business, including smart TV maker Vizio, which it acquired last year for $2.3 billion, was up 53% in the quarter. Its US advertising business, Walmart Connect, grew 33% year over year.
Like other retailers, Walmart said it was raising prices on some products to offset higher costs from the tariffs. About a third of the products Walmart sells in the U.S. come from other parts of the world, with China, Mexico, Canada, Vietnam and India representing the largest import markets, Rainey told CNBC in May.
“The pressure is real” when it comes to higher tariff costs, Rainey said in a phone interview Thursday. But he said Walmart’s team was able to reduce the impact on customers by finding ways to cover some costs.
Walmart’s results on Thursday followed cautious updates from Target, Home Depot and Lowe’s. All three of these retailers lowered their full-year profit outlooks this week, citing consumers hesitant to make big purchases and hungry for deals.
Meanwhile, TJX, the parent company of TJ Maxx and Marshalls, raised its full-year forecast, saying it’s seeing a “strong start” to the holidays as it appeals to value-conscious customers.
Rainey said Walmart “went into the holidays pretty optimistic” and was prepared with competitive price points.
