What You Need To Know From Walmart's Q1 Report

Walmart Inc WMT reported Thursday its first-quarter results, which sent shares higher by more than 1.5 percent.

What Happened

Walmart said it earned $1.14 per share in the first quarter on revenue of $120.7 billion versus Wall Street's estimate of $1.13 per share on revenue of $120.51 billion. Operating income remained flat from a year ago at $5.2 billion and operating cash flow fell from $5.4 billion to $5.2 billion.

Walmart U.S. comp sales rose 2.1 percent, comp traffic rose 0.8 percent. Comp sales at Sam's Club rose 3.8 percent on a traffic growth of 5.6 percent. Online sales also grew 33 percent in the quarter which marks a reversal from the prior quarter's disappointing performance in the prior quarter.

International sales rose from $27.1 billion a year ago to $30.3 billion while operating income rose from $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion.

Due to a change in accounting laws, Walmart is required to disclose unrealized gains and losses from certain equity investments within its net income. The company said its stake in China-based JD.Com Inc(ADR) JD has increased by $3.7 billion as of January 31.

Why It's Important

Walmart President and CEO Doug McMillon commented the company continues to change "from within" to become a "faster and more digital" company while at the same time "shaping our portfolio of businesses for the future."

What's Next

Walmart said it will continue updating investors with certain full year guidance in its second-quarter release.

The stock traded around $86.75 at time of publication.

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