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.