C. Mcmillon on consumer spending
From Walmart Inc ($WMT) Q1 2027 Earnings Call · · Castify Earnings Call
“When I look at the consumer, especially here in the US, they're telling us they're feeling some pressure and they're looking to Walmart for value. We're continuing to invest in prices, extending the roll backs we started in the second half of last year, and we now have about 7,200 rollbacks in place.”
On , C. Mcmillon, President, Chief Executive Officer & Director at Walmart, spoke about consumer spending during Walmart Inc ($WMT) Q1 2027 Earnings Call on Castify Earnings Call.
About C. Mcmillon
On Walmart’s Q1 2027 earnings call, McMillon said the company was reiterating its full-year guidance of constant currency sales growth between 3.5% and 4.5%, and based on Q1 performance at 5.7% and the Q2 outlook, he said he expected full-year sales growth to be toward the upper end of that range. He noted that the company was strengthening its business mix by scaling higher-margin businesses such as advertising, membership, and marketplace. McMillon stated that U.S. consumers were “feeling some pressure” and looking to Walmart for value, and that the company had about 7,200 rollbacks in place. He also said Walmart was becoming “AI native,” citing the use of an AI shopping agent called Sparky. On tariffs, McMillon said that while Walmart was focused on providing low prices, the elevated cost environment could lead to higher retail price inflation in the second quarter and second half of the year. On the Q1 2026 earnings call, McMillon said Walmart achieved e-commerce profitability in the U.S. and globally for the first time, calling it an important milestone. He stated that the company would do its best to keep prices low but could not absorb all the pressure from tariffs given narrow retail margins. He warned that a restoration of dramatically higher tariff levels could have a significant impact on financials and “even jeopardize” the company’s ability to grow earnings year over year. McMillon said Walmart had modeled various tariff scenarios and was not fully immune from short-term financial impacts. He also noted that the company planned to spend more on share buybacks in the current year than the prior year.