Walmart continues to benefit as consumers resist high prices

The world's largest retailer saw a 22% bump in online sales during the second quarter.

Transcript

00:00I'm Conway Gittins reporting from the New York Stock Exchange. Here's what we're watching on the street today.

00:04Wall Street is no longer on recession watch. Housing, however, remains a weak spot.

00:10New construction of single-family homes

00:13tumbled 14.1% in July according to the Commerce Department.

00:17New projects have fallen five months in a row and now sit at a one-and-a-half-year low. On the flip side,

00:23consumers remain resilient. Consumer sentiment for early August rose more than expected.

00:29Sticking with the mighty U.S. consumer,

00:31selective shopping.

00:33That's the consumer theme emerging from Walmart and the 1% jump in official retail sales data for July.

00:39Shoppers are shopping, but they are doing so carefully

00:43due to high prices. Now that penny-pinching is leading consumers to look for ways to stretch dollars and that's leading many

00:50straight to Walmart. In

00:53contrast to the somber consumer assessments given by a wide range of consumer-focused companies ranging from McDonald's to

01:00Starbucks to Amazon to Home Depot,

01:03Walmart CEO Doug McMillan told analysts,

01:05quote, we are not experiencing a weaker consumer overall. Customers from all income levels are looking for value and we have it.

01:14In particular, Walmart says it continues to gain market share with higher income customers earning over

01:20$100,000 a year who are snapping up furniture, appliances, clothing, and toys on the cheap. The world's largest retailer saw a

01:2822% surge in U.S. online sales during the second quarter, which boosted total U.S. revenue to

01:34$115 billion.

01:37That'll do it for your daily briefing. From the New York Stock Exchange, I'm Conway Gittens with The Street.