BENTONVILLE, AR - Walmart has announced a successful second quarter to its fiscal year 2017, beating expectations on both earnings and sales.

“We had a strong quarter, with adjusted earnings per share of $1.07. Excluding the $2.7 billion currency impact, we delivered total revenue of $123.6 billion, an increase of 2.8 percent over last year,” Doug McMillon, President & CEO, said on an earning call in regards to the report. McMilllon added that this was the company’s 8th consecutive quarter of positive comp sales and 7th consecutive quarter of positive traffic.

Financial highlights for the quarter included:

• Total revenue was $120.9 billion, an increase of 0.5%. On a constant currency basis, total revenue was $123.6 billion, an increase of 2.8%.
• Walmart U.S. delivered positive comp sales for the eighth consecutive quarter, up 1.6%, driven by the seventh consecutive quarter of positive traffic, up 1.2%. Neighborhood Market comp sales increased approximately 6.5%.
• Net sales at Walmart International were $28.6 billion. Excluding currency impacts, net sales were $31.3 billion, an increase of 2.2%.
• Globally, on a constant currency basis, e-commerce sales and GMV increased 11.8% and 13.0%, respectively, representing an acceleration from the first quarter.

When it comes to Walmart’s focus on fresh, McMillon credited grocery with much of the positive return seen in its moves on e-commerce.

“We’re also showing progress in e-commerce [...]. This was primarily due to growth in our marketplace offering in the U.S., the continued rollout of online grocery and growth of pick-up in stores and clubs,” he stated on the call.

As the news broke of the quarter’s end, the retailer’s stock saw a decided jump, peaking this morning at an almost 1.5% jump at 9:30 a.m. EDT, $75.19 per share.

While the company did not address the recent move to cut its price-matching program from hundreds of stores, McMillon did say, “We’re committed to providing Everyday Low Prices, using data and analytics to better serve our customers both through stores and e-commerce.”

As for what’s to come, aside from continuing to offer low prices to consumers, it looks like even more focus on growing its online presence.

“We remain focused on building e-commerce capabilities globally and executing our omni-channel plan, as evidenced by our recent alliance with JD.com in China and agreement to acquire Jet.com in the U.S. Walmart is uniquely positioned to provide customers with a seamless shopping experience where we save them time and money," McMillon said.

AndNowUKnow will continue to track Walmart’s and other retailer’s plans to grow their fresh offerings and reach throughout the year and beyond.

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