Walmart Shares Fall After U.S. Comparable-Sales Miss and Soft Q3 Outlook

Walmart shares closed at $103.84 on August 20, 2026, down $10.46, or 9.15%, after the company reported fiscal second-quarter 2027 results. Trading volume reached 83.18 million shares, about 2.43 times the prior session’s volume, according to StockAnalysis.

U.S. sales missed expectations

Walmart U.S. comparable sales excluding fuel grew 2.6% in the quarter, slowing from 4.1% in fiscal Q1 and 4.6% a year earlier. The result fell below estimates of about 3.8% from LSEG and FactSet and approximately 3.5% cited by TD Cowen. The miss provided the clearest reported reason for investors to reassess near-term U.S. retail momentum.

The 2.6% result included a material pharmacy effect. Walmart estimated that pharmacy deflation and brand-to-generic transfers tied to Medicare Maximum Fair Price regulation reduced the U.S. comparable-sales figure by about 125 basis points. Comparable sales excluding health and wellness grew 3.4%, according to the company’s earnings presentation.

Customer activity still increased during the quarter. U.S. transactions rose 1.5% and average ticket increased 1.1%. U.S. e-commerce sales grew 24% and contributed about 510 basis points to comparable sales, while grocery grew at a mid-single-digit rate and general merchandise grew at a low-single-digit rate. These results show that the headline comp reflected different performance across categories and channels.

Guidance focused attention on the next quarter

Walmart forecast fiscal third-quarter sales growth of 3% to 3.75%, adjusted operating-income growth of 2% to 4%, and adjusted EPS of $0.62 to $0.64. Reuters reported consensus expectations of 4.9% sales growth and EPS of $0.68. The outlook placed the sales miss in a forward-looking context despite the company’s stronger reported second-quarter profit.

Management said the timing of Flipkart’s Big Billion Days would reduce third-quarter sales growth by more than 100 basis points and expected the effect to reverse in the fourth quarter. Whether that recovery occurs remains uncertain until later results. Walmart has asked investors to assess the second and third quarters together after its refund-funded price investments receive a full-quarter effect.

CFO John David Rainey said management observed more obvious customer trade-offs in June as gasoline moved above $4 per gallon. AAA reported a national average gasoline price of $4.1044 on August 20. Walmart now expects more than $2 billion of incremental fiscal-year fuel-related costs above its original assumptions, affecting both customer discretionary budgets and company distribution and fulfillment costs.

Earnings beat included a large refund benefit

Fiscal Q2 revenue rose 5.9% to $187.94 billion, above consensus estimates of roughly $186.6 billion to $186.8 billion. Adjusted EPS was $0.81, compared with $0.74 expected, according to Walmart’s earnings release.

Reported adjusted operating-income growth of 17.4% included a net benefit of roughly 750 basis points from nearly $2.9 billion in IEEPA tariff refunds after price investments. Walmart said underlying growth excluding that net effect was at the top of its prior 7% to 10% guidance range. The refund contribution means reported profit growth included a substantial item that does not directly measure recurring retail operating momentum.

Walmart implemented more than 11,000 price rollbacks during Q2, up from roughly 7,200 at the end of Q1, and plans to use tariff refunds for further customer-price investments. The company raised full-year guidance to 4% to 5% constant-currency net-sales growth, 7% to 8.5% adjusted operating-income growth, and adjusted EPS of $2.80 to $2.87. Investors nevertheless focused on the nearer-term sales and earnings outlook.

The broader August 20 market decline also coincided with rising Treasury yields and oil prices. Reuters reported that Costco, Dollar Tree, and Albertsons also fell, while the Dow declined 681.62 points, or 1.27%. Walmart’s results had relevance for other retailers, though the wider selloff cannot be attributed solely to Walmart.

MacroShed Markets is informational analysis, not investment advice.