Walmart defies earlier pessimistic predictions, posts significant revenue bump for second quarter

Walmart this week defied its own earlier pessimistic projections of its second quarter earnings, posting a revenue report that saw marked gains for the world's largest retailer through the middle of the year. 

The company last month had said it was lowering its profit outlook for Q2, citing in part higher food prices that have come with record levels of inflation throughout the economy. 

Yet its quarterly earnings report released on Tuesday showed comp sale growth of 6.5 percent for the second quarter, as well as revenue growth of 8.4 percent. 

"The actions we’ve taken to improve inventory levels in the U.S., along with a heavier mix of sales in grocery put pressure on profit margin for Q2 and our outlook for the year," company President and CEO Doug McMillion said in the report. 

McMillon added that the company "made good progress throughout the quarter operationally to improve costs in our supply chain, and that work is ongoing."

Walmart noted that it continues to "maintai[n] [its] outlook for back-half of FY23."