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Walmart's Grocery Stays Resilient: Is Value the Key Share Lever?
ZACKS· 2026-01-07 15:01
Core Insights - Walmart Inc.'s grocery business showed steady performance in Q3 of fiscal 2026, with low single-digit comparable sales growth driven by increased customer engagement in food and consumables [1][7] Grocery Performance - Fresh food sales led the grocery strength, followed by pantry items, with consumables also showing growth in personal care and beauty categories [2] - The grocery performance was broad-based, overcoming previous year impacts from port disruptions [2] - Walmart executed approximately 7,400 price rollbacks, with over half in grocery, and more than 2,000 of these rollbacks transitioned to new everyday low prices [3] Inflation and E-commerce - Inflation levels in Walmart U.S. moderated to 1.3%, with food and general merchandise inflation at low single-digit levels [4] - Walmart U.S. e-commerce sales increased by 28%, with significant growth in store-fulfilled pickup and delivery, including nearly 50% growth in store-fulfilled delivery [4] Market Share and Competitive Position - Walmart U.S. gained market share across various income brackets, including higher-income households, with grocery being a key traffic driver [5] - The company's shares increased by 24.6% over the past year, outperforming the industry growth of 22%, while competitors Costco and Target saw declines of 4.1% and 24.5%, respectively [6] Financial Metrics - Walmart's forward 12-month price-to-earnings ratio is 39.04, higher than the industry's 34.91, indicating a premium valuation compared to Target but a discount to Costco [8] - The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Walmart's current financial-year sales and earnings per share implies year-over-year growth of 4.6% and 4.8%, respectively [10]