By Mike Troy
Source: Progressive Grocer
A first-quarter same-store sales increase of 6%, aided by federal stimulus payments and the continued strength of digitally enabled sales, has enabled Walmart to blow past analysts’ profit forecasts.
Walmart said that sales at its U.S. stores division increased 5% to $93.1 billion, while operating profit surged 26.8% to $5.4 billion. Traffic to stores declined 3.2%, transaction sizes increased 9.5%, and e-commerce growth, which includes digitally enabled sales fulfilled by stores, increased 37%. The company also noted that it gained market share.
