Walmart raises profit forecast after strong second quarter

Another strong quarter has Walmart so excited about the rest of fiscal 2025 that the mass retailer has raised its earnings forecast for the remainder of the fiscal year.

In the second quarter of 2025, Walmart’s consolidated revenue was $169.3 billion, an increase of 4.8% year-over-year.

Related: Walmart, Target and Dollar General recall candy possibly contaminated with salmonella

In the U.S., net sales totaled over $115 billion, up 4.1 percent year over year. Comparable sales excluding gasoline rose 4.2 percent, while transactions (3.6 percent) and the average ticket price (0.6 percent) also increased.

E-commerce sales increased 22% year over year, driven by in-store pickup and delivery. In addition, Walmart Connect advertising sales increased 30%.

Related: Walmart is unique in online grocery sales in the second quarter

“Every part of our business is growing,” Walmart President and CEO Doug McMillon said during the quarterly earnings call. “Store and club sales are growing, e-commerce is growing as we add pickup, and delivery is growing even faster as our velocity increases.”

“Our newer business lines such as marketplace, advertising and membership also help diversify our profits and strengthen the resilience of our business model.”

Walmart’s forecasts are also rising. Consolidated net sales for the third quarter are now expected to increase between 3.25% and 4.25%, and consolidated operating income is expected to grow by 3% to 4.5%.

For the full year 2025, Walmart increased its consolidated net sales forecast from 3 to 4 percent to 3.75 to 4.75 percent. Consolidated adjusted operating income, which was originally expected to increase from 4 to 6 percent, is now 6.5 to 8 percent.

At Sam’s Club, U.S. net sales were $22.9 billion, up 4.7 percent year over year. Net sales excluding fuel were $20 billion, up 5.5 percent, and comparable sales excluding fuel were 5.2 percent higher than the prior year.

Transactions increased 6.1% compared to the second quarter of 2024, but the average ticket decreased slightly by 0.8%.

Food and health & wellness drove comparable sales, and e-commerce sales increased 22% year-over-year.

Member revenue increased 14.4% year-over-year, with record membership numbers and high Walmart Plus penetration.

Walmart has made major efforts in the technology space in recent months.

A few weeks ago, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer announced that it was partnering with Denali and would launch unpacking services that can help improve the food waste recycling process in over 1,000 Walmart and Sam’s Club stores across the country.

Designed to increase operational efficiency for Walmart associates, the unpacking technology has, based on initial testing, increased the volume of potentially reusable organic content recovered at participating Walmart and Sam’s Club stores by more than 60% and reduced waste from landfill compaction by 12%.

In July, a 700,000-square-foot Walmart distribution center for perishable foods opened in Lancaster, Texas. It is Walmart’s second of five high-tech centers that have now opened. The technology enables more than double the processing volume of a traditional distribution center.

The Lancaster facility is one of four highly automated perishable distribution centers Walmart will deploy across the country. The retailer will also add automation to five other existing centers.

The technology includes an automated 24-meter-high storage system in a temperature-controlled environment and will help build pallets designed for optimized efficiency of merchandise display at the store level.

In June, Walmart announced it would work with Agritask, a company specializing in crop supply intelligence, on a pilot project to develop a technology solution that would enable supply managers to make more informed decisions about seasonal fruit crop yields.