Walmart issued Q2 guidance in May and held its FY2027 outlook
Walmart's 21 May first-quarter release forecast second-quarter net sales growth of 4% to 5% and adjusted operating income growth of 7% to 10%, both in constant currency, and left the fiscal 2027 outlook unchanged.
Based on a filing dated .
Disclaimer
This article was produced by Scroll Insights News Desk using automated systems and published under our standing editorial policy. It is compiled from the primary sources linked above and is provided for general information only — it is not legal, financial, investment, tax or professional advice, and no decision should be taken on it without independent verification against those sources. Errors can be reported to corrections@scrollinsights.com and are corrected on the record.
Walmart issued guidance for its fiscal second quarter on 21 May 2026 and left its full-year fiscal 2027 outlook unchanged. Walmart's own first-quarter release states the position in one line: "Company issues guidance for Q2; reiterates outlook for FY27."
Issuing a forecast is not the same as revising one. Walmart had no previously published second-quarter range to move, so the 7% to 10% adjusted operating income growth it forecast for the quarter is a first estimate rather than an increase. The full-year figure it reiterated covers twelve months, not three, and the two cannot be compared as a direction of travel.
What Walmart forecast for the second quarter
The guidance, all on a constant-currency basis, covers net sales, adjusted operating income and adjusted earnings per share. Constant currency restates results at prior-year exchange rates, which strips out the effect of a moving dollar and leaves the underlying trading performance.
| Period | Metric | Figure |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 FY2027 actual | Revenue growth | 7.3% reported, 5.9% constant currency |
| Q1 FY2027 actual | Operating income growth | 5.0% reported, 5.1% adjusted constant currency |
| Q1 FY2027 actual | Global eCommerce sales | up 26% |
| Q1 FY2027 actual | Walmart U.S. comparable sales | up 4.1% |
| Q1 FY2027 actual | GAAP earnings per share | $0.67 |
| Q1 FY2027 actual | Adjusted earnings per share | $0.66 |
| Q2 FY2027 guidance | Net sales growth, constant currency | 4% to 5% |
| Q2 FY2027 guidance | Adjusted operating income growth, constant currency | 7% to 10% |
| Q2 FY2027 guidance | Adjusted earnings per share | $0.72 to $0.74 |
| FY2027 outlook | Status | unchanged from prior guidance |
Walmart's fiscal year runs ahead of the calendar, so the quarter this guidance covers fell in calendar 2026 despite carrying a fiscal 2027 label.
Growth in the digital lines did not carry through to operating income
The first-quarter numbers contain a tension the headline figures hide. Global eCommerce sales grew 26%, well ahead of the 5.9% constant-currency revenue growth for the group. Operating income grew 5.0% on a reported basis and 5.1% adjusted in constant currency — below the rate at which revenue itself expanded.
Walmart names one cause directly. Higher fuel costs in distribution and fulfilment reduced operating income growth by 250 basis points, which is 2.5 percentage points. Without that drag, the operating income figure would have been materially closer to the revenue line.
Walmart's second-quarter guidance assumes that gap closes. Walmart forecast adjusted operating income growth of 7% to 10% for the second quarter against net sales growth of 4% to 5%, so the range implies profit growing faster than sales. Reaching it requires the cost pressure that held back the first quarter to ease, or the faster-growing lines to contribute more than they did.
Why the original comparison was invalid
Comparing the 7% to 10% second-quarter range with the 6% to 8% full-year range treats twelve months and three months as the same measurement. A quarter within a year can run above the annual rate without the annual rate changing, which is exactly what Walmart described when it reiterated the fiscal 2027 outlook while issuing a higher quarterly range.
The two ranges also answer different questions. The annual figure is a commitment across four quarters that absorbs seasonal swings; the quarterly figure is an estimate for one trading period. A reader told that one exceeds the other learns nothing about whether Walmart's view of the year had changed. Walmart left that view intact.
Primary sources
Every figure in this article comes from Walmart's own filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, which are public records. The two documents below are the only ones the article relies on.
- Walmart Q1 FY2027 earnings release, 21 May 2026 — the Q2 guidance, the reiterated FY2027 outlook, and every first-quarter figure above
- Walmart Q4 FY2026 results, 19 February 2026 — the fiscal 2027 outlook that was later reiterated
Correction, 16 August 2026: An earlier version of this article was headlined "Walmart lifts Q2 guidance on advertising and eCommerce momentum" and stated that Walmart raised its second-quarter guidance. Walmart did not raise it. Walmart issued second-quarter guidance on 21 May 2026 and reiterated its unchanged fiscal 2027 outlook. The earlier version also compared the quarterly operating income range of 7% to 10% with the full-year range of 6% to 8% and presented the difference as an increase; those ranges cover different periods and the comparison was invalid. The headline, summary and article have been rewritten, and an unrelated 5 June 2026 filing concerning Walmart's shareholder meeting has been removed from the source list. The original URL is unchanged.