Walmart’s grocery sales are surging amid rising inflation fears

Shoppers are flocking to Walmart as soaring prices for household goods ranging from gas to groceries take an ever-bigger bite out of their wallets.

The Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer said total revenue grew by 4 percent to $140.5 billion for the quarter ended Oct. 29. Same-store sales — or sales at stores open at least a year — rose 9.2 percent from a year earlier in the US and a whopping 16 percent from the same time in 2019.

With price-conscious shoppers increasingly focused on bargains, the largest retailer in the world said it’s adding new customers in the grocery wars after beating Wall Street’s expectations for sales and profits and raising its guidance for the year.

“We gained market share in grocery in the US and more customers and members are returning to our stores and clubs around the world,” Chief Executive Doug McMillon said in a statement.

Inflation rose to its highest level in three decades to 6.2 percent in October up from 5.4 percent in September, according to Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index.

As consumer grapple with rising prices for everything from gas for their cars, fuel to heat their homes and grocery bills, they are trying to mitigate these expenses by shopping at budget retailers like Walmart, industry experts say.

“We’ve always been an inflation fighter for customers,” Walmart chief financial officer Brett Biggs told CNBC. “Our scale and the product breadth that we have allows us to do things in a way that is beneficial to customers and beneficial to shareholders.”

Earnings per share hit $1.45 in the quarter and Walmart raised its full-year guidance for earnings to $6.40 a share compared to its earlier forecast of of $6.20 to $6.35 a share. 

Walmart’s shares were down by less than 1 percent to $145 in early morning trading on Tuesday.