U.S merchants suffer losses after Walmart lowers its profit projection

• Walmart lowered its projection for full-year profit, stating that it anticipates its adjusted profits per share to decline by as much as 13 per cent, sounding the alarm that inflation is harming its customers and causing them to shift what they spend their money on.
• According to Walmart, consumers are spending more on food and less on higher-margin goods as a result of inflation.
• In prolonged trading, Walmart’s stock fell more than 9%, while other significant retailers experienced a sell-off.

A sell-off in shares of major U.S. retailers was sparked by a profit warning from Walmart (WMT.N), rapidly wiping off over $100 billion in stock market value in the extended session.

Walmart lowered its projection for full-year profit, stating that it anticipates its adjusted profits per share to decline by as much as 13 percent, sounding the alarm that inflation is harming its customers and causing them to shift what they spend their money on.

According to Walmart, consumers are spending more on food and less on higher-margin goods as a result of inflation. Walmart was compelled to lower prices on goods like clothing in order to minimize its inventory due to the shift in consumer purchasing.

In prolonged trading, Walmart’s stock fell more than 9%, while other significant retailers experienced a sell-off. Both Target (TGT.N) and Amazon (AMZN.O) had declines of over 5%. Best Buy (BBY.N), Dollar General (DG.N), Dollar Tree (DLTR.O), Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST.O), and Dollar Tree all experienced declines of over 3%. Home Depot (HD.N) had an almost 2% decline.

Based on the after-hours reductions in their share prices, U.S. retailers together lost more than $100 billion in stock market value, with Amazon and Walmart accounting for the great majority of that loss.

The S&P 500 retailing index (.SPXRT), which has fallen by 24 percent so far in 2022, had a further decline on Monday after market hours.