America’s largest retailer, Walmart (WMT), just warned consumers that its “Everyday Low Prices” are about to go up. Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey stated as much following the company’s latest earnings report. He said customers will start to see the price hike later this month, with more coming in June.
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Rainey attributes the need for higher prices to President Donald Trump’s trade war. While the President has temporarily reduced tariffs on Chinese imports, the Walmart CFO said they are “still too high.” According to him, these tariffs are “more than any retailer can absorb.”
With consumers already stretching their dollars in a time of economic uncertainty, Walmart’s price hike warning is another blow to their confidence. The U.S. economy has struggled to recover from the effects of COVID-19 lockdowns, including inflation, increased interest rates, and other issues. The trade war isn’t helping matters either, as it puts the U.S. at odds with many of its economic allies.
Walmart Fiscal Q1 2026 Earnings Results
Walmart’s price increase warning came after a lackluster earnings report. The company posted adjusted earnings per share of 56 cents alongside revenue of $165.6 billion in Fiscal Q1 2026. These results were below Wall Street’s estimates of 57 cents per share and revenue of $166.02 billion. That’s despite a same-store sales increase of 4.5%, while e-commerce sales jumped 21% in the U.S. and 22% globally.
Walmart investors, understandably, don’t appear pleased by its latest earnings results. The retail company’s shares slipped 0.33% in pre-market trading.
Is WMT Stock a Buy, Hold, or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, the analysts’ consensus rating for Walmart is Strong Buy, based on 29 Buy and two Hold ratings over the past three months. With that comes an average WMT stock price target of $108.71, representing a potential 12.27% upside for the shares. These ratings and price targets will likely change as analysts update their coverage after today’s earnings.
