Walmart is sticking to its full-year growth forecasts for sales and operating income, the retailer said today, even as US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs fuel economic uncertainty and dent consumer confidence.
The retail giant had in February forecast sales for the fiscal year ending January 2026 to rise between 3% and 4%, and annual adjusted operating income to increase between 3.5% and 5.5%.
Walmart, which is the biggest US importer, is at the risk of taking a hit from Trump’s slew of tariffs, mainly on Asian countries that supply everything from clothing to toys to the retailer.
“We’ve learned how to manage through turbulent periods,” Walmart’s CEO Doug McMillon said at a two-day investor meeting in Dallas, Texas, that started yesterday.
“And while we don’t know everything that is going to happen … We do know what our priorities are, and we know what our purpose is, and we’ll be focused on keeping prices as low as we can,” he said. “And we’ll focus on managing our inventory and our expenses well.”
Walmart also kept its first-quarter sales forecast intact but said “the range of outcomes” for first-quarter operating income growth has widened due to several factors including the need “to maintain flexibility to invest in price as tariffs are implemented.”
The retailer in February said it expected first-quarter adjusted operating income to rise in the range of 0.5% to 2%.
While that is not necessarily a reduction in the forecast for first-quarter operating income, the reasons cited by Walmart seem to point to pressure points rather than enhancements, DA Davidson analyst Michael Baker said.
Around 60% of Walmart’s imports are from China, while Vietnam remains one of its top five suppliers, according to a Reuters report in November 2023.
Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs on dozens of countries took effect today, including a 104% duty on Chinese goods, deepening the global trade war.
The retailer’s shares, which have fallen nearly 9% since the new tariff announcement on April 2, were down about 1% in premarket trading.
