- Walmart (NYSE:WMT) beat Wall Street's earnings expectations on Thursday, nearly doubling the forecasted same-store sales growth rate.
- E-commerce grew 40% over the same period a year ago.
- Shares rose more than 10% in early trading Thursday following the release.
- Follow Walmart's stock price in real-time here.
Shares of Walmart surged more than 10% in early trading Thursday after the US' largest grocer reported an uptick in same-store sales and digital orders that helped it top Wall Street’s expectations.
For the second quarter ended June 30, Walmart said it earned $1.29 per share where analysts had expected $1.22. Revenue also topped the expected $126 billion to come in at 128 billion.
The beat was fueled by a 4.5% uptick in same-store sales, a closely watched metric for retailers, which nearly doubled the forecasted 2.4%.
Walmart has also been aggressively pushing into the digital realm with expensive investments in companies like Jet.com, ModCloth, Bonobos and more. After taking a hit on its most recent fourth quarter earnings to pay for the acquisitions, they seem to be paying off. E-commerce sales were up 40% over the same period a year ago.
"We’re pleased with how customers are responding to the way we’re leveraging stores and e-commerce to make shopping faster and more convenient," Doug McMillan, Walmart's chief executive, said in a press release. "We’re continuing to aggressively roll out grocery pickup and delivery in the U.S., and we recently announced expanded omni-channel initiatives in China and Mexico."
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Shares of Walmart are now up about 1% since the beginning of the year, but still well off their $109 high set in January.