Walmart Surges After Reporting Its Best Holiday Quarter in Years

Company grabs share in first Christmas without Toys ‘R’ Us
Still, online push, transportation costs weigh down margins

Analyst Chuck Grom examines Walmart’s numbers as retailers brace for a pullback in consumer demand this year.(Source: Bloomberg)

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By Matthew Boyle

February 19, 2019 at 12:04 PM UTC

Updated on

February 19, 2019 at 2:40 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Walmart Inc. finally gave the U.S. retail sector some good news.

The company brushed off the industry’s disappointing December sales with its best holiday quarter in at least a decade, soothing concerns about the sector’s outlook for 2019. Comparable sales for Walmart stores in the U.S. -- a key performance barometer -- rose 4.2 percent in the quarter that included Christmas, beating analysts’ estimates by a full percentage point.