Outbreak a boon to Walmart earnings

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart’s Q1 results beat expectations as customers flooded its online channel to make purchases while sheltering in place. Profits amounted to $1.40 per share and adjusted earnings came to $1.18 per share, well ahead of Wall Street’s expectations of $1.10 per share. Revenues of $134.62 billion beat analyst forecasts by almost $1 billion. Online sales soared by 74 percent as customers stocked up on supplies such as canned food and paper towels. The online channel’s performance is so solid that Walmart announced it has shut down Jet.com, which it acquired in 2016. In Canada, Walmart’s net sales rose 7.6 percent while comp sales were up 8.5 percent.