Walmart muscled through rising inflation, a snarled global supply chain and surging costs related to COVID-19 sick leave among its workers to deliver strong fourth quarter results Thursday.
The nation’s largest retailer, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, also delivered on Thursday an upbeat outlook for this year and boosted its dividend. Shares rose more than 2% in late morning trading.
Walmart is the first major retailer to report fourth-quarter fiscal results, which include the critical holiday shopping period, and is considered a major barometer of spending given its size so analysts carefully parse through the data. Walmart executives said that its shoppers are still in good financial shape, and they don’t see any major changes in consumer behavior patterns like trading down to cheaper labels but they’re paying close attention to higher prices. It also expects supply chain issues to ease in coming months.
