NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart experienced the slowest growth in U.S. comparable sales in six years during its most recent quarter and it offered a cautious outlook for the year, sending company shares down 6% before the opening bell Thursday.
Comparable sales in U.S. stores, which measure sales at stores open at least a year along with online sales tied to those locations, rose 2.6% in the second quarter. They rose 4.1% in the previous quarter.
Excluding the wellness category that includes Walmart’s pharmacies, comparable sales increased 3.4% in the second quarter. Those sales were hit by federal legislation that requires pharmacies to dispense some high-cost Medicare drugs at capped prices, the retailer said. That was still below analysts’ projections of a 3.8% increase, according to FactSet.
Walmart’s U.S. e-commerce business, which has become an engine of growth for the retailer, rose 24%, trailing the first-quarter pace of 26%.
Walmart is among the first batch of major retailers to report second-quarter results, which could offer industry analysts and economists another read on whether ongoing price pressures from the conflict in Iran have impacted consumer behavior.
Walmart is considered a barometer of consumer spending given its vast customer base. More than 150 million customers are on its website or in its stores every week, according to Walmart.
That may draw even more attention this quarter after U.S. data released Friday showed that retail sales were surprisingly weak in July and a new read on consumers from the University of Michigan revealed growing pessimism about the economy, with so many Americans struggling with higher costs for gas, groceries and just about everything else.
The new figures from Walmart revealed the smallest gain in comparable store sales since a 1.9% gain for the quarter ended Jan. 31, 2020, according to FactSet.
That has broadened Walmart’s customer base and the retailer has begun capturing a larger share of wealthier Americans. The biggest gains in market share for Walmart are coming from households with annual incomes over $100,000.
Walmart’s quarterly net income was $6.37 billion, or 80 cents per share, in the three-month period ended July 31. Adjusted per-share results were 81 cents, easily topping the 74 cents Wall Street had expected, according to FactSet.
Sales rose 5.9% to $187.94 billion. Analysts were predicting $186.62 billion, according to FactSet.
For the third quarter, Walmart expects earnings per share of 62 cents to 64 cents. It projects sales to be up 3% to 3.5%. That would put sales in a range of $184.88 billion to $186.23 billion. The forecasts are below analysts’ expectations of 68 cents per share and sales of $188.19 billion, according to FactSet.
For the full year, Walmart now expects earnings per share to be in the range of $2.80 to $2.87 while sales should be up anywhere from 4% to 5%. That would mean a forecast for sales in the range of $741.7 billion to $748.8 billion, according to FactSet.
Analysts expected $2.90 per share and sales of $752.06 billion for the year, according to FactSet.
The Walmart logo is displayed on a store, Aug. 14, 2025, in Manchester, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The intensifying use of drones against civilians and humanitarian workers is a dangerous obstacle for aid operations in Ukraine, the U.N.'s humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, said on Wednesday.
Fletcher spoke to The Associated Press in an interview after a visit to the southern city of Kherson, where he witnessed how communities there are coping while living under the constant threat of Russian drones. Fletcher described the visit to Kherson, split by the Dnipro River, which acts as an active front line, as “quite chilling."
Russian forces occupy the eastern bank, while Ukrainian forces hold the western bank. From across the water, surveillance and exploding drones routinely hunt and attack civilians, vehicles and public transit.
“It really gives us an insight into the dangers ahead of us,” he said.
The threat is also making it harder for humanitarian organizations to reach people who need assistance.
Fletcher spoke after attending a commemoration for two humanitarian workers who had died while doing their jobs.
“Drones are a real threat to not just civilians but the humanitarians who are here to protect them,” Fletcher said.
He said that aid workers are protected under international humanitarian law and yet marked humanitarian vehicles have still been hit. “So that does restrict what we can do," he said.
Local organizations are particularly exposed. More than two-thirds of operations funded through Ukraine's humanitarian fund are carried out by local organizations, according to Fletcher.
“They’re the ones who are saying most loudly to us, we’re not protected,” he said.
Fletcher said the U.N. needs more than $2 billion for its prioritized humanitarian response in Ukraine this year, with winter among his biggest concerns. Damage to civilian infrastructure, including electricity, water and gas systems, could once again leave millions vulnerable during the harsh winter months, raising fears of a repeat of last winter’s severe conditions.
The U.N. has sharply narrowed its humanitarian priorities all over the world as donor funding has fallen. Fletcher said the organization initially identified 87 million people facing the most severe humanitarian needs, but that figure has since risen to about 92 million with the onslaught of Ebola in Africa, the earthquake in Venezuela and other conflicts.
The U.N. is seeking $23 billion to provide life-saving assistance to those people and had raised about $11 billion, said Fletcher.
Ukraine is relatively well funded compared with many other crises, he added, with roughly 70%–75% of its hyper-prioritized funding requirement covered. But even full funding of the humanitarian plan would address only part of Ukraine’s needs.
Fletcher also admitted that raising money for humanitarian operations has become more difficult as governments have increasingly redirected spending toward defense and domestic priorities.
“We’re in a more transactional world, I would say a more selfish world,” he said.
Fletcher said the U.N. now has to demonstrate that it is using limited taxpayer money efficiently and strategically.
“We have to show governments that we are spending their taxpayers’ money sensibly, wisely, in a prioritized way,” he said.
In a stark new assessment released on Wednesday, the U.N. warned that 907 aid workers were victims of violence last year and over 1,000 have been killed in three years. Fletcher said he could not reassure colleagues that those responsible would be held accountable based on how the international community has reacted.
He said accountability should extend beyond identifying the person who physically carried out an attack.
“I want to see investigations into the people who fired the weapon or flew the drone,” he said.
People search for survived books after the fire on the site of the country's biggest book market, cased by Russia's recent missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug.19, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Burned books are seen after the fire on the site of the country's biggest book market, cased by Russia's recent missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug.19, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
A woman reacts as she looks at charred books after a fire at the country's biggest book market, caused by a recent Russian missile attack, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Tom Fletcher, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, speaks during an interview in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Dan Bashakov)
Tom Fletcher, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, speaks during an interview in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Dan Bashakov)
