Walmart Market Cap Surges to All-Time High of $500B

Walmart has released its Q1 2024 earnings, and its resultant capitalization surged to an all-time high of $500 billion.

Yahoo! Finance has confirmed that the retail giant has posted a Q1 2024 revenue of $161.51 billion, which was higher than the expected earnings of $159.58 billion. As a result of this profit surge, the stock jumped 7% in early trading on Thursday.

Additionally, same-store sales grew by 3.8%, global e-commerce sales jumped by 21%, and the stock split for the 12th time in 50 years, resulting in a jump in shares by 13.9% during the quarter.

All these surges led to Walmart receiving a market cap of $500 billion, an all-time high for the company.

“Customers are continuing to come to Walmart for not only just value but also convenience,” said CFO John David Rainey. “We see that wallets are still stretched, [customers are] still looking for value.”

“The momentum we see across the business is driven by growth in units sold and transaction counts as well as market share gains, including in general merchandise,” CEO Doug McMillon said in a phone call with investors. “These are not inflation-driven results.”

Despite these positive gains, Walmart is still significantly cutting back on its workforce.

Earlier this week, the corporation reported that it intends to let go of hundreds of its corporate employees. Walmart will also request that its remote employees return to the workplace on a modified schedule.

The American retailer is requesting that staff members at its smaller locations in Dallas, Atlanta, and Toronto move to Walmart’s corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, a northeast office in Hoboken, New Jersey, or a central hub in Southern California, as was previously reported. Corporate staff members will also be required to work a hybrid schedule, which allows them to work remotely part time as long as they spend the majority of their workweek in the office.

Additionally, the Arkansas-based retailer made the decision last month to close all 51 Walmart Health locations as well as the Walmart Health Virtual Care program. In 2019, the business opened the centers. Walmart asserts that these closures were brought on by financial difficulties, such as an unviable business plan in the face of challenges with reimbursement and increased operating expenses.