Walmart Inc. glided through the fourth quarter — solidifying its retail lead with more market share gains, although growth is expected to slow in the year ahead.
Revenues for the fourth quarter increased 5.6 percent to $190.7 billion, an increase of 4.9 percent in constant currency. That gain was powered by a 24 percent increase in the global e-commerce business and a 37 percent advance in the still-nascent advertising business. Comparable sales at the flagship Walmart U.S. business rose 4.6 percent.
Net income — which took a hit from losses on equity and other investments — fell 19.4 percent to $4.2 billion for the quarter ended Jan. 31. But adjusted earnings per share rose to 74 cents, 1 cent ahead of the 73 cents analysts forecast, according to Yahoo Finance.
For the full year, Walmart’s revenues grew 4.7 percent to $713.2 billion with net income increasing 12.6 percent to $21.9 billion.
That’s going to be a tough act to follow.
This year, Walmart forecast sales would increase by 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent, although companies often set targets that end up being raised.
Investors signaled a bit of caution and traded shares of Walmart down 2.8 percent to $123.08 in premarket trading on Thursday.
Keeping the retail giant’s metabolism up is now the job of John Furner, who took the reins as chief executive officer from Doug McMillon last month.
“The pace of change in retail is accelerating,” Furner said. “It’s exciting. And our financial results show that we’re not only embracing this change, we’re leading it. For our customers and members, the future is fast, convenient, and personalized.”
