The family’s late patriarch,Sam Walton,centred the business around a discount ethos that has in the past helped buoy its stock during recessionary times. Walton’s three surviving children,Alice,Jim and Rob,daughter-in-law Christy and Christy’s son,Lukas,own just under half the retailer,with the stock fall wiping around $US19 billion ($27 billion) from the family fortune. The family now has combined net worth of about $US214 billion,according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The disappointing performance shook Wall Street’s faith in Walmart’s ability to cope with higher costs for merchandise,transportation and labour. The results also underscored the pressure on US consumers as soaring prices send sentiment to the lowest in a decade. Walmart and peers already were facing tough comparisons to early 2021,when federal stimulus payments bolstered household spending during the coronavirus pandemic.
Chief executive officer Doug McMillon set the stage for more price increases at the world’s largest retailer,saying the company would seek to balance customers’ needs with the goal of delivering profit growth. His goal is to raise prices while seeking to stay below competitors and limiting the price bumps on entry-level food items.
“Price leadership is especially important right now,” McMillon told analysts. He pledged to vowed to put the disappointing quarter “behind us and have a strong year.”
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Earnings are likely to drop about 1 per cent this year,the retailer said in a statement,abandoning its previous forecast for a mid-single-digit gain. In the first quarter,adjusted profit sank to $US1.30 a share,below the lowest of 29 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.