Walmart Plans Price Hikes Due to Tariffs

Walmart took a financial hit this quarter. The retail giant's profits dropped to $4.49 billion, down from $5.10 billion last year. Now, customers might need to get ready for higher prices because of growing tariff costs.

Share earnings fell to 56 cents from 63 cents. But after accounting adjustments, the final number reached 61 cents - beating what analysts expected at 58 cents.

"We will do our best to keep our prices as low as possible, but given the magnitude of the tariffs, even at the reduced levels announced this week, we aren't able to absorb all the pressure given the reality of narrow retail margins," said CEO Doug McMillon to Investopedia.

Sales went up 2.5% to $165.61 billion, coming in just under the $165.99 billion market expectation. However, U.S. stores did well, with a healthy 4.5% increase in same-store sales.

Online shopping jumped 22% across the board. More shoppers bought from home, thanks to new delivery options becoming available.

Most products - around two-thirds - come from U.S. manufacturers. Food takes up most of the store space, while health and wellness items were unexpectedly strong sellers.

After accounting for exchange rates, overall growth was 4.3%. Next quarter is expected to bring 3.5% to 4.5% more growth, according to forecasts.

These numbers came out before markets opened May 15. The retail giant kept its yearly goals unchanged.

When excluding currency exchange effects, worldwide sales grew 4.0% - showing a better picture of actual growth.