Walmart targets inflation pressure with price investment for products

Walmart will navigate inflationary pressure from elevated fuel pricing without swerving off its value message to consumers, executives said in reporting strong earnings and sales gains in its fiscal 2027 first quarter.

“When I look at the consumer, especially here in the US, they’re telling us they’re feeling some pressure and are looking to Walmart for value,” John Furner, president and chief executive officer of Walmart, told analysts in a May 21 conference call. “We’re continuing to invest in prices, extending the (price) rollbacks we started in the second half of last year, and we now have about 7,200 rollbacks in place.”

Rollbacks are up more than 20% from last year and providing a clear lift for Walmart, said John Rainey, chief financial officer.

“We’re continuing to lean into rollbacks and seasonal value programs to reinforce our price leadership,” Rainey said in the call. “And we’re seeing a strong response from customers through increased unit volumes.”

As in the past, Walmart will lean on its experience and capabilities in purchasing, merchandising, operations, technology and logistics to deal with rising cost concerns, led by tariffs last year and oil/gas this year, executives said.

“Our merchants have a lot of levers to be able to navigate all sorts of environments,” Furner noted. “I think we’re positioned well to weather all environments, and we’ll continue to do the right things in terms of investing in the best proposition for our customers.”

For the first quarter ended April 30, Walmart’s net income climbed 19% to $5.33 billion, equal to 67¢ per share on the common stock, from $4.49 billion, or 56¢ per share, a year earlier. Excluding the impact of changes in equity and other investments and business reorganization charges, adjusted earnings per share was 66¢, up from 61¢ a year ago. Analysts, on average, had projected adjusted EPS of 66¢ for the quarter.