{"id":113397,"date":"2021-02-18T16:32:43","date_gmt":"2021-02-18T16:32:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?p=113397"},"modified":"2021-02-18T16:32:43","modified_gmt":"2021-02-18T16:32:43","slug":"walmarts-investment-year-will-hold-back-profit-growth-shares-slide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/walmarts-investment-year-will-hold-back-profit-growth-shares-slide\/","title":{"rendered":"Walmart's investment year will hold back profit growth; shares slide"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Reuters) – Walmart Inc expects full-year sales and profit growth to slow as it reinvests in its business, after revenue soared to $560 billion last year as people stocked up on groceries during the pandemic.<\/p>

FILE PHOTO: Walmart shopping carts are seen on the parking lot ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. November 27, 2019. REUTERS\/Kamil Krzaczynski\/File Photo<\/figcaption>

The world\u2019s biggest retailer, which employs 1.5 million people in the United States, also said it is raising wages to more than $15 per hour on average. About half of Walmart\u2019s hourly U.S. workers will earn $15 an hour or more, though there are some roles that will still start at $11 an hour, the company said.<\/p>\n

Shares in Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart were down 5.6% on Thursday. The company has invested heavily in online, advertising and healthcare businesses over the past year, using pandemic-led sales momentum to diversify beyond brick-and-mortar retail.<\/p>\n

\u201cGuidance was muted, locking in gains from last year but stalling profit expansion in favor of critical investments in people and platform,\u201d Jefferies analyst Stephanie Wissink said.<\/p>\n

Walmart forecast adjusted net sales to grow in the low single digits in fiscal 2022 which ends Jan. 31, much lower than the 8.5% growth seen in the preceding year. It also expects earnings per share to be flat-to-slightly up, below the 2.2% growth analysts had been expecting, according to Refinitiv.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to invest more aggressively in capacity and automation to position ourselves to earn the primary destination with customers, we are absolutely playing offence here,\u201d Chief Executive Doug McMillon said at Walmart\u2019s investor day conference.<\/p>\n

Walmart expects capital expenditure to increase 27% to about $14 billion this year, focusing on key areas like supply chain and automation.<\/p>\n

Related Coverage<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

WAGE HIKE, STIMULUS BOOST<\/h2>\n

Walmart\u2019s announcement to increase wages comes at a time when pressure to increase the federal minimum wage has gathered fresh momentum. President Biden has made the issue a priority and reiterated his support for a base wage hike. He is also pushing to get $15 minimum wage added to his COVID rescue package.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople who we are raising wages for tend to have been with us for a longer period of time than someone who might be earning the entry wage,\u201d McMillon said. \u201cWe will raise our starting wage rate over time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Driven by an early holiday season and government stimulus checks, fourth-quarter sales at Walmart\u2019s U.S. stores open at least a year surged 8.6%, excluding fuel, well above analysts\u2019 expectations for a 5.6% rise.<\/p>\n

The retail industry is expecting another wave of stimulus-driven consumer spending in coming months as the U.S. Congress considers the Biden administration\u2019s recovery plan that includes sending a $1,400 check to households.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe guidance that we\u2019re going to give this morning really doesn\u2019t include any material stimulus because we just don\u2019t know what will happen. If we get more stimulus certainly that\u2019s a tailwind for us,\u201d Chief Financial Officer Brett Biggs told Reuters in an interview.<\/p>

Slideshow ( 3 images )<\/span><\/figcaption>

Walmart missed expectations for fourth-quarter profit as it took on about $1.1 billion in pandemic-related costs during the quarter, including higher wages for warehouse workers, bonuses for store employees and costs related to keeping its stores clean.<\/p>\n

Online sales rose 69% in the quarter, blowing past a 35% increase in the year-earlier period, but slower than a 79% surge in the third quarter.<\/p>\n

The retailer has relied on its scale and strengthening online presence during the pandemic to attract new customers looking for a one-stop shop for their daily needs.<\/p>\n

Operating income rose 3.1% to $5.49 billion in the quarter, while adjusted earnings were $1.39 per share. Analysts on average were expecting the company to earn $1.51 per share.<\/p>\n

Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Reuters) – Walmart Inc expects full-year sales<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":113396,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23054],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nWalmart's investment year will hold back profit growth; shares slide - Pre Coin News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/walmarts-investment-year-will-hold-back-profit-growth-shares-slide\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Walmart's investment year will hold back profit growth; shares slide - Pre Coin News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"(Reuters) – Walmart Inc expects full-year sales\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/walmarts-investment-year-will-hold-back-profit-growth-shares-slide\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pre Coin News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-18T16:32:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mediabest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/cnewsfotor14-5.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"mediabest\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/walmarts-investment-year-will-hold-back-profit-growth-shares-slide\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/walmarts-investment-year-will-hold-back-profit-growth-shares-slide\/\",\"name\":\"Walmart's investment year will hold back profit growth; shares slide - Pre Coin News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-18T16:32:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-18T16:32:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ad0e9920e03d3b41c7ad02a18375d76a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/walmarts-investment-year-will-hold-back-profit-growth-shares-slide\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/walmarts-investment-year-will-hold-back-profit-growth-shares-slide\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/walmarts-investment-year-will-hold-back-profit-growth-shares-slide\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Markets\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/category\/markets\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Walmart's investment year will hold back profit growth; shares slide\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/\",\"name\":\"Pre Coin News\",\"description\":\"precoinnews.com\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ad0e9920e03d3b41c7ad02a18375d76a\",\"name\":\"mediabest\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f5f13cb3b94fc348d515c0951f6ca073?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f5f13cb3b94fc348d515c0951f6ca073?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"mediabest\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Walmart's investment year will hold back profit growth; shares slide - Pre Coin News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/walmarts-investment-year-will-hold-back-profit-growth-shares-slide\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Walmart's investment year will hold back profit growth; shares slide - Pre Coin News","og_description":"(Reuters) – Walmart Inc expects full-year sales","og_url":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/walmarts-investment-year-will-hold-back-profit-growth-shares-slide\/","og_site_name":"Pre Coin News","article_published_time":"2021-02-18T16:32:43+00:00","author":"mediabest","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/cnewsfotor14-5.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"mediabest","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/walmarts-investment-year-will-hold-back-profit-growth-shares-slide\/","url":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/walmarts-investment-year-will-hold-back-profit-growth-shares-slide\/","name":"Walmart's investment year will hold back profit growth; shares slide - Pre Coin News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-02-18T16:32:43+00:00","dateModified":"2021-02-18T16:32:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ad0e9920e03d3b41c7ad02a18375d76a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/walmarts-investment-year-will-hold-back-profit-growth-shares-slide\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/walmarts-investment-year-will-hold-back-profit-growth-shares-slide\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/walmarts-investment-year-will-hold-back-profit-growth-shares-slide\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Markets","item":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/category\/markets\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Walmart's investment year will hold back profit growth; shares slide"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/","name":"Pre Coin News","description":"precoinnews.com","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ad0e9920e03d3b41c7ad02a18375d76a","name":"mediabest","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f5f13cb3b94fc348d515c0951f6ca073?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f5f13cb3b94fc348d515c0951f6ca073?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"mediabest"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113397"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}