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Opinion
Andrea Felsted

Walmart Flashes a Warning Sign to the Entire Consumer Economy

The world’s biggest retailer is known for being careful about costs. But that’s harder to do when prices for everything are going up. 

Things are looking shaky.

Things are looking shaky.

Photographer: Bloomberg/Bloomberg
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Walmart Inc. just highlighted the dark side of inflation.

The world’s biggest retailer on Tuesday reported profit that fell short of Wall Street expectations and downgraded its outlook for full-year earnings per share from a mid-single digit increase to a 1% decline. Chief Executive Officer Doug McMillon said the bottom-line results were “unexpected” and reflecte the “unusual” environment. Walmart shares tumbled more than 11% on Tuesday, the most in 35 years.