Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) reported fiscal fourth-quarter results Thursday that topped Wall Street estimates on both the top and bottom lines, yet investors focused squarely on the retailer's conservative fiscal-year guidance, which missed analyst expectations and briefly dragged shares lower before the stock recovered ground in morning trade.
The world's largest retailer posted adjusted earnings of 74 cents per share against a consensus estimate of 73 cents, while net revenue reached $190.66 billion, edging past the $190.43 billion expected by analysts polled by LSEG. Comparable-store sales rose nearly 6% in the quarter, driven by a 24% surge in e-commerce activity and accelerating adoption of its third-party marketplace and same-day delivery services.
However, the company guided for full fiscal-year 2027 adjusted earnings per share in the range of $2.75 to $2.85 — well below the $2.96 consensus — and projected net sales growth of just 3.5% to 4.5%. Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey attributed the cautious outlook to ongoing tariff uncertainty and the timing of expenses in the first quarter, noting that year-over-year comparisons will be tougher given the tariff headwinds that began in the second quarter of fiscal 2026.
The earnings report marks the first quarterly disclosure under newly appointed CEO John Furner, who replaced longtime executive Doug McMillon on February 1. Furner is widely expected to continue McMillon's strategic pivot toward higher-margin revenue streams, including advertising and third-party membership fees, which collectively accounted for nearly one-third of operating income in the quarter.
In a milestone that underscores shifting competitive dynamics in retail, Amazon surpassed Walmart as the largest company by annual revenue for the first time, posting $716.9 billion in sales versus Walmart's $713.2 billion. The comparison is imperfect — Amazon derives substantial revenue from cloud computing — but it reinforces the urgency for Walmart to accelerate its own digital transformation.
On the capital allocation front, Walmart's board authorized a $30 billion share repurchase program, the largest in company history, signaling management's confidence in long-term cash generation. The company reported operating cash flow of $42 billion and free cash flow growth of 18% for the fiscal year, underscoring the financial flexibility to simultaneously invest in automation and return capital to shareholders.
Management also highlighted the emergence of a so-called K-shaped spending pattern, with upper-income consumers accounting for a disproportionate share of gains in fashion and discretionary categories, while lower-income households remained more cautious. This dynamic, CFO Rainey indicated, reflects broader macroeconomic pressures that Walmart expects to persist into the first half of the fiscal year before easing as tariff impacts stabilize.