WMT STOCK ROSE 4.27 IN PRE MARKET AFTER BEATING EARNINGS LONGWalmart Inc. stock rose 4.2% in Tuesday premarket trading after the retail giant reported first-quarter earnings and sales that beat expectations. Net income totaled $3.99 billion, or $1.40 per share, up from $3.84 billion, or $1.33 per share, last year. Adjusted EPS of $1.18 beat the FactSet consensus for $1.12. Revenue of $134.62 billion was up from $123.93 billion last year and ahead of the $132.69 billion FactSet outlook. U.S. same-store sales rose 10% with food, wellness and consumables leading the way. FactSet forecast domestic same-store sales growth of 11.3%. Walmart e-commerce sales soared 74%. Walmart incurred nearly $900 million in COVID-19-related expenses including $755 million in bonuses for associates, the launch of Express Delivery, which gets purchases to customers' homes in less than two hours, and hiring more than 235,000 new associates. Walmart will shut down Jet.com "due to the continued strength of the Walmart.com brand." Walmart has withdrawn fiscal 2021 guidance due to the uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. Walmart stock has rallied 26.6% for the past year while the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 4.5% for the period.
