Report: Walmart Earnings Results Will Show Impact of Tariffs

When Walmart reports its fourth-quarter earnings results and guidance Thursday (Feb. 20), analysts will reportedly be looking for signs of the impact of new and potential tariffs.

The retailer known for its low prices is also the country’s largest importer of containerized goods, with many of those products coming from China and India, Reuters reported Wednesday (Feb. 19).

President Donald Trump imposed new tariffs on China and threatened to do so with India, Canada and Mexico, according to the report.

Walmart is expected to report that it had record annual sales in 2024, according to the report.

However, investors will be looking to see if tariffs impacted margins or consumer spending during the year ended Jan. 31, the report said. The retailer’s guidance will also offer clues about this.

Walmart said in an April 2024 annual filing, per the report: “Significant changes in tax and trade policies, including tariffs and government regulations affecting trade between the U.S. and other countries where we source many of the products we sell in our stores and clubs could have an adverse effect on our business and financial performance.”

Analysts currently expect that Walmart will report a 5% increase in revenue for the past year and that its revenue growth will slow to 4% this year due to tariffs, per the report.

The report noted that Walmart has moved to protect its margins by reducing its reliance on China, increasing its sourcing of products from the U.S., adding warehouse automation and moving white-collar jobs to lower-cost areas.

Fifty-seven percent of consumers who say they are knowledgeable about potential import tariffs think these tariffs will hit their wallet hard, PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster wrote in an article posted Wednesday.

PYMNTS Intelligence found that 78% of those consumers anticipate higher prices and 75% expect product shortages.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) said in November that Americans could lose between $46 billion and $78 billion in spending power every year if proposed tariffs go into effect.

When the University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers found that consumer sentiment dropped about 5% in February, Surveys of Consumers Director Joanne Hsu attributed the drop in part to consumers’ concerns about the impact of tariffs.