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Walmart, Home Depot Grow Cautious Despite Strong Consumer Spending
- Walmart, Home Depot both gave subdued annual earnings guidance
- Executives concerned about economic outlook, shift to services
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The US consumer is largely holding up, but retail executives are becoming more cautious about the quarters ahead given a shift toward spending on services and a dip in purchases of nonessential products.
Walmart Inc. and Home Depot Inc. both gave cautious annual guidance Tuesday and warned that demand could moderate through 2023. At the same time, though, Walmart’s comparable store sales in the three months through January far exceeded analyst estimates while Home Depot Chief Executive Officer Ted Decker said “we still see a healthy consumer.”