Walmart posted strong numbers during 2019’s second quarter, increasing its total revenue haul by 2.3 billion compared to the previous year’s quarter.
According to figures released by Walmart, the Bentonville retailer earned a total of $130.4 billion in revenue during the second quarter, a 13-week period that ended on July 26. This total was a 1.8 percent increase over Walmart’s revenue total from 2019’s second quarter.
Walmart’s e-commerce division also grew its sales – increasing by 37 percent. According to Walmart’s 2020 fiscal year guidelines, the company plans to have net sales for its e-commerce division continue to grow by roughly 35 percent.
In the year to date, Walmart has an operating cash flow of $11.185 billion with capital expenditures amounting to $4.871 billion. That leaves the company with a free cash flow of $6.314 billion.
For the second quarter, Walmart reported dividends of &1.516 billion and share repurchases of $1.572.
During this quarter, Walmart had a net opening of one Supercenter and a closure of one Neighborhood Market, in addition to the remodeling of more than 150 stores. The company reports that it now has 2,700 grocery pickup locations and 1,100 stores with same-day grocery delivery and 1,200 pickup towers.
In the company’s earnings release, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon attributed soft early comp sales to severe weather. However, once that weather shift, the sales number improved, he says.
Walmart’s second-quarter comp sales came to 2.8 percent. McMillon says the company’s comp sales have “accelerated sequentially on a two-year stacked basis to 7.3 percent.” This, he says, is the company’s strongest growth in more than a decade.
“For the quarter, disruptive weather in parts of the U.S. negatively affected comp sales early on, yet we saw significant improvement in comps as the quarter progressed and weather turned more favorable,” McMillon says. “On a consolidated basis, we had good topline growth in constant currency, and along with productivity gains and cost controls, we were able to leverage operating expenses by 23 basis points.”
McMillon also addressed the recent shootings that occurred at Walmart stores in El Paso and Southaven, Miss. He highlighted Walmart’s past decisions related to firearms sales, such as stopping the sale of handguns in the 1990s in all states except Alaska, stopping the sale of military-style rifles in 2015 and raising the age limit for purchasing a firearm or ammunition to 21
“We’ve attempted to take common sense steps that allow us to serve customers and create a safer environment. We estimate that we represent about 2 percent of the market for firearms today, which we believe places us outside at least the top three sellers in the industry. We estimate we have about a 20 percent share of ammunition,” McMillon says.
“We do not sell military-style rifles, and we believe the reauthorization of the Assault Weapons ban should be debated to determine its effectiveness in keeping weapons made for war out of the hands of mass murderers. We must also do more to understand the root causes that lead to this type of violent behavior.”
During the earnings meeting, McMillon discussed Walmart Rise, a community engagement program that is geared towards impacting associates and customers and supporting local communities. He says Walmart is contributing $20 million in funding during 2019 to “help spark change and make a difference.”
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