BENTONVILLE — Americans are going into Wal-Mart stores and they're spending money on its website, pushing the performance of the world's biggest retailer beyond Wall Street expectations during the second quarter.
Revenue for the three months ended July 31 climbed to $123.36 billion, from $120.85 billion, and online sales surged 60 percent. The results beat the $122.71 billion that analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research were looking for.
There are signs that traditional retailers are gaining traction online in the face of intense competition from Amazon.com. On Wednesday, Target said its online sales jumped 32 percent in its most recent quarter.
And Wal-Mart's effort to revitalize traffic in stores continues to gain ground. Sales at U.S. stores open at least a year increased 1.8 percent, the 12th straight quarter of growth for the figure. Traffic rose 1.3 percent.
Sales at its international division fell 1 percent.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. earned $2.9 billion, or 96 cents per share, for the quarter. A year earlier the Bentonville-based company earned $3.77 billion, or $1.21 per share.
Stripping out certain items, earnings were $1.08 per share. That was a penny better than what analysts polled by Zacks expected.
The retailer anticipates 2018 adjusted earnings of between $4.30 and $4.40 per share. It predicts third-quarter earnings of 90 to 98 cents per share. Analysts polled by FactSet predict full-year earnings of $4.36 per share and third-quarter earnings of 97 cents per share.
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