NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart ratcheted up sales and profits again in the third quarter with its comparatively low prices proving a powerful draw for shoppers seeking to cut spending where they could.
The nation’s largest retailer raised its outlook for the year as well and shares rose nearly 4% in premarket trading Tuesday.
Walmart, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, reported net income of $4.58 billion, or 57 cents per share, in the three months ended Oct. 31. That compares with $453 billion, or 6 cents per share in the year-ago period.
Adjusted earnings were 58 cents per share, five cents better than Wall Street had expected, according to a survey by FactSet.
Sales rose 5.5% to $169.59 billion, up from $160.8 billion in the year-ago period, and also easily beat analyst projections.
Comparable store sales — which include online and stores open for the past 12 months — rose 5.3% in the U.S. That is an acceleration from the 4.2% jump in the U.S. in the second quarter and 3.8% in the first quarter.
Sales reflect broad-based strength across all product categories and physical and digital channels, the company said.
Anne D'innocenzio, The Associated Press
