Walmart posted the slowest US sales growth in six years on Thursday, the latest sign that consumers are feeling strapped. Same-store sales missed analyst estimates, with CFO John David Rainey telling CNBC “consumers have been more pressured” than earlier this year. Walmart’s sheer scale makes it a bellwether for Americans’ economic health, and its results mirror what other big retailers have indicated in recent weeks.
Higher fuel costs caused by the Iran war have driven up prices across the board, and retail sales were down 0.6% in July, the steepest monthly drop in more than a year. Lowe’s revised its full-year comparable sales guidance down to flat. TJX bucked the trend, but its biggest division, Marmaxx, managed just 1% comparable sales growth.
As America’s biggest retailer, Walmart is keenly sensitive to the Trump administration’s affordability push, and plans to put a band-aid on the price pain: it’s steering some of its $2.9 billion worth of tariff refunds into cutting prices in its grocery and general merchandise categories.
