Walmart Showcases Business Strategy Focused on Driving Growth and Shareholder Value; Doug McMillon and John David Rainey Comment

Walmart is hosting its Investment Community Meeting where leadership is sharing its focus on driving growth and creating shareholder value. The meeting will highlight Walmart’s people-led, tech-powered omnichannel strategy, and why it is uniquely positioned to sustain attractive growth and create shareholder returns.

“The combination of a purpose-driven, people-centric culture with world-class technology is the winning formula,” said Doug McMillon, president and CEO of Walmart Inc., in a recent press release. “Our customers want four things: everyday low prices, a broad assortment, a convenient and enjoyable shopping experience and to do business with a company they trust. We’re changing to serve them even better.”

The meeting will provide attendees a view into the company’s strategy to:

Drive growth by improving customer and member experiences. Walmart’s low prices and growing eCommerce assortment combined with the convenience of faster delivery, curbside pickup and in-store shopping are driving growth.

Create shareholder value by strengthening its business model. The company’s evolving business model is designed to deliver strong returns as it better serves customers and members. Reshaping its profit mix allows the company to invest in lower prices for customers, associate wages, and experience-enhancing technologies while growing profit faster than sales, strengthening cash flows and delivering higher capital returns for shareholders.

In addition to the longer-term strategy, executives will also speak to the current operating environment ahead of its Q1 earnings report May 15, 2025. The company expects Q1 sales growth to continue to be in line with its 3-4% outlook and annual sales and operating income growth guidance remains unchanged. The range of outcomes for Q1 operating income growth has widened due to less favorable category mix, higher casualty claims expense, and the desire to maintain flexibility to invest in price as tariffs are implemented.

“History tells us that when we lean into these periods of uncertainty, Walmart emerges on the other side with greater share and a stronger business,” said John David Rainey, executive vice president and chief financial officer, Walmart Inc.

Rainey also added, “We have fundamentally changed our business model through years of thoughtful, strategic investments and now have a financial model that yields much higher returns.”

At its last investor meeting in April of 2023, Walmart outlined its building blocks of value creation – growth, margin, and returns. In the two years since that meeting, the company has:

• Generated annual top-line growth over 5% and adjusted operating income growth1 of almost 10% with all business segments contributing to growth.
• Delivered eCommerce sales growth of over 20% annually for two years with eCommerce accounting for 18 % of net sales.
• Expanded delivery catchment to be able to deliver food, general merchandise, and prescriptions to 93% of the U.S. in less than three hours.
• Accelerated growth of membership across formats, with Sam’s Club and Walmart+ membership benefits expanding and renewals advancing higher.
• Grown global advertising to $4.4 billion; finalized the acquisition of VIZIO in the U.S. in December 2024.
• Made enhancements in assortment, improvements in omni experiences, investments in associates, new stores, automation, and fast delivery, which are expected to drive future growth.
• Expanded U.S. marketplace and launched marketplaces in multiple global markets.
• Invested in price, with more than 30,000 items priced lower through the company’s rollback program.
• Invested in owned brands, including the launch of bettergoods, a private brand in food; Walmart U.S. has 21 private brands with over $1B each in annual sales, five with over $5B each in sales.
• Renovated 1,930 stores & clubs, and built 373 more; invested $22 billion in capex annually including $19 billion in the U.S.
• Deployed more than $7 billion to share repurchases and raised the dividend by the largest amount in over a decade.
• Noted that PhonePe recently announced that it has begun preparatory steps for a potential IPO in India

Event Livestream

Event livestream: https://www.youtube.com/live/tGHr3M7GgpY beginning at 8 a.m. CT. A replay of the webcast will be available on the company’s website following the event.