Bulletin: Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s First-Quarter Results Were Ahead Of Expectations; No Rating Impact

NEW YORK (S&P Global) May 19, 2016—S&P Global Ratings today said Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s reported results for the three months April 30, 2016 (first quarter 2017) were ahead of our expectations, including a 1% increase in comparable-store sales for Wal-Mart U.S. This marked the sixth consecutive quarter of positive traffic (up 1.5%), though we note average ticket was down 0.5%. In our view, while the company is making strides in the complex process of right-sizing its store fleet and improving its digital channel (including shipping capabilities), we remain cautious about its ability to preserve market share in a very challenging and promotional retail and grocery environment this year. Global e-commerce sales increased about 7% and international sales increased 4.3%, both

...NEW YORK (S&P Global) May 19, 2016--S&P Global Ratings today said Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s reported results for the three months April 30, 2016 (first quarter 2017) were ahead of our expectations, including a 1% increase in comparable-store sales for Wal-Mart U.S. This marked the sixth consecutive quarter of positive traffic (up 1.5%), though we note average ticket was down 0.5%. In our view, while the company is making strides in the complex process of right-sizing its store fleet and improving its digital channel (including shipping capabilities), we remain cautious about its ability to preserve market share in a very challenging and promotional retail and grocery environment this year. Global e-commerce sales increased about 7% and international sales increased 4.3%, both on a constant currency basis. We expect both areas to continue to increase at a faster rate than core U.S. operations this year, though we note e-commerce sales gains in this quarter were slightly below the prior quarter....

Bulletin