Walmart‘s stock surged this week. ເປົ້າຫມາຍ‘s shares plunged.
The rival big-box players are both known for selling an array of products including food, clothing, home goods and kitchen appliances. Both their CEOs — Walmart’s Doug McMillon and Target’s Brian Cornell — stepped into their roles in 2014.
But the retailers issued starkly divergent outlooks this week that underscored their differences, most notably in how much each relies on grocery sales.
On Tuesday, Walmart raised its financial outlook for the year after U.S. same-store sales in the third quarter rose 8.2% from a year ago when excluding fuel. A day later, Target ຫຼຸດການຄາດຄະເນຂອງຕົນ for the holiday quarter after comparable sales rose just 2.7%, with executives noting weakening trends heading into the season.
Here’s a rundown of four key factors that help explain the split in the earnings results:
Grocery routine vs. Occasional stop
Low prices vs. Fun finds
Walmart’s McMillon speaks often about the company being a price leader — and more recently, an inflation fighter. For Thanksgiving, the company said it would hold down the price of foods like turkey and ready-to-heat macaroni and cheese to last year’s levels.
The low prices are attracting new customers, including more higher-income households.
For the past two quarters, the company said about 75% of its market share gains in groceries have come from households with an annual income of more than $100,000 a year.
Walmart vs. Target
- Groceries as a percentage of sales:
Walmart: 56%, Target: 20%
- U.S. same-store sales in the third quarter vs. year ago:
Walmart up 8.2%, Target: up 2.7% - U.S. store count
Walmart: More than 4,700, Target: More than 1,900
Source: Company filings
Planned purchases vs. Impulse buys
Target has turned its stores into mini malls offering a range of “cheap chic” items.
In an inflationary environment, those shopping sprees – and impulse buys – become a tougher sell.
Shopper spending power
Both retailers draw shoppers from across incomes, but Target’s customers tend to be wealthier.
But now as people go back to traveling, dining out and commuting into the office, Target is competing with more spending priorities. It has also gotten tougher for the company to keep topping its own growth.
“It’s picked a lot of that low handing fruit,” Saunders said. “Now even if there wasn’t this consumer crunch, it would have been much more difficult to eke out gains.”
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/17/walmart-and-targets-quarterly-results-lay-bare-retailers-differences.html