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Faster Delivery Propels Walmart's US E-Commerce Growth 26%
Walmart's online business is showing no signs of slowing down in the U.S., and the retail giant is attributing part of the growth to its faster delivery speeds. The Bentonville behemoth saw second-quarter e-commerce sales grow 26 percent in the U.S., inching up from the 'low-20 percent growth range' delivered over the prior four quarters. More from Sourcing Journal Target CEO Cornell Resigns, but His Delivery and Fulfillment Investments Endure Walmart Adds Vietnam to Cross-Border Ocean Freight Network Target Ends Fulfillment Operations at Two Distribution Centers, Cutting 260 Jobs According to chief financial officer John David Rainey, deliveries fulfilled from the store increased almost 50 percent from the year prior, with same-day delivery continuing to accelerate. Approximately one-third of deliveries from store in recent weeks were completed in three hours or less, and 20 percent of those deliveries reached customers in 30 minutes or less. Three-hour-or-less expedited delivery has been a major priority of the Walmart team since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, when the company first debuted its Express Delivery service across nearly 2,000 total stores. As of May 2025, expedited delivery has since been expanded to more than 4,500 U.S. stores. Worldwide, Walmart now offers same-day delivery out of more than 6,500 stores. 'Our customers are responding to our delivery speeds. We see billions and billions of units at a high growth rate being delivered same day,' said John Furner, president and CEO of Walmart U.S., during the call. 'I'm excited about what the team has done to lean into speed. We're now covering 93 percent of the country under three hours. We think that will be 95 percent by the end of the year. So our reach is getting better, our speed is improving and customers love being able to deliver with speed.' Walmart has been able to achieve a rare feat by making its e-commerce operation profitable, achieving profitability for the second straight quarter. Rainey said profitability continued to increase in the second quarter, with progress made on improving net delivery costs and more momentum in advertising as Walmart Connect saw revenues increase 31 percent. Furner also said the merchandise mix offered online 'has been better,' pointing to apparel as a strong point for general merchandise. Like the Walmart U.S. branch, Sam's Club also saw 26 percent e-commerce growth, with club-fulfilled delivery representing nearly 50 percent of this increase, even while curbside pickup was up double-digits. The retail giant's international presence saw e-commerce growth of 22 percent, with the company again highlighting the strengths of store-fulfilled pickup and delivery in powering that expansion. Markets like India and China have reaped the benefits of Walmart's international supply chain investments. In China, Walmart opened 33 one-hour delivery 'cloud depots' throughout the quarter, bringing its nationwide total to 455 locations, according to Kathryn McLay, president and CEO of Walmart International. With more than 50 percent of sales in China initiated online, Walmart can deliver more products to the customer in less than an hour. E-commerce sales in China expanded 39 percent in the quarter, while it scaled up 24 percent and 21 percent in Canada and Mexico, respectively. And in India, the company now operates 300 'minute FCs,' which enables Walmart to reach customers in less than fifteen minutes. Sixty of these MFCs are for Walmart-owned fashion retailer Myntra, which enables them to be able to get to the customer in under 30 minutes. In the call, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said the company sees lots of opportunities to expand on the recent deployment of its agentic AI capabilities after the release of its personal shopping assistant Sparky. The CEO said agentic AI could help create digital twins of the company's facilities, 'which can help predict or prevent issues before they happen,' or create more accurate dynamic delivery windows, which McMillon expects will be offered for 95 percent of U.S. households by the end of 2025. McMillon also noted that Walmart's composition of inventory is in 'good shape' up 3.8 percent globally to $57.7 billion and up 2.2 percent in Walmart U.S. But expect unit costs to increase amid the higher costs of importing goods in recent months due to tariffs. 'The impact of tariffs has been gradual enough that any behavioral adjustments by the customer have been somewhat muted,' said McMillon. 'But as we replenish inventory at post-tariff price levels, we've continued to see our costs increase each week, which we expect will continue into the third and fourth quarters.' For the second quarter, Walmart grew revenue 4.8 percent from a year ago to $177.4 billion, with Walmart's U.S. sales rising 4.8 percent to $120.9 billion. For the 2026 fiscal year, Walmart raised its outlook for net sales growth to 3.75 percent to 4.75 percent, up from the prior range of 3 percent to 4 percent. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) also increased to a $2.52 to $2.62 range, from a prior $2.50 to $2.60.
Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
H World Group (HTHT) Jumps on Impressive Earnings, Outlook
We recently published . H World Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:HTHT) is one of Wednesday's best performers. Shares of H World Group grew by 5.43 percent on Wednesday to close at $35.16 apiece as investors were impressed by its earnings performance and growth outlook for the current quarter. In the second quarter, attributable net income increased by 45 percent to 1.5 billion yuan from 1.067 billion yuan in the same period last year, on the back of a strong performance from Legacy-Huazhu. Total revenues grew by 4 percent to 6.4 billion yuan from 6.148 billion yuan year-on-year, near the high-end guidance of 1 to 5 percent revenue growth target. Pixabay/Public Domain As of June 30, H World Group Ltd.'s (NASDAQ:HTHT) worldwide hotel network ended at 12,137 with rooms totaling 1.18 million. Of the total, 12,016 hotels were under Legacy-Huazhu. Looking ahead, H World Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:HTHT) said it expects revenues in the third quarter of the year to grow by 2 to 6 percent. While we acknowledge the potential of HTHT as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an extremely cheap AI stock that is also a major beneficiary of Trump tariffs and onshoring, see our free report on the . Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
CRA penalizes taxpayer for failure to report the sale of his principal residence
Perhaps the biggest tax break remaining for ordinary Canadians is the principal residence exemption (PRE), which allows individuals to realize an unlimited tax-free gain upon the sale of their home. Contrast that to the U.S. where the exemption is currently limited to US$250,000 for single filers (US$500,000 for married couples filing jointly), although last month, a bill was introduced in the U.S. that would provide an unlimited exemption just like in Canada. Under our tax rules, if you do sell your principal residence, as of 2016 you need to report that sale on your tax return even if it fully qualifies for the PRE. The designation of your principal residence is reported on the front page of Schedule 3 of your return, and you must also complete the appropriate sections of Form T2091(IND), Designation of a Property as a Principal Residence by an Individual. For a property to qualify as your principal residence for a particular tax year, four criteria must be satisfied: 1. the property must be a housing unit; 2. you must own the property (either alone or jointly with someone else); 3. you or your spouse (or common-law partner) or kids must 'ordinarily inhabit' the property and 4. you must 'designate' the property as a principal residence. Note that a seasonal residence, such as a cottage, cabin, lake house or even ski chalet, can be considered to be 'ordinarily inhabited in the year' even if you only use it during vacation periods 'provided that the main reason for owning the property is not to gain or produce income.' A rental property, however, is generally not considered a principal residence, and you could be on the hook for capital gains tax when you sell it. Similarly, you may be precluded from claiming the PRE if you bought or built a home with the purpose of selling it for a profit. In recent years the government has been cracking down on residential house flipping. New anti-flipping rules for residential real estate (including rental properties) came into effect Jan. 1, 2023, and were designed to 'reduce speculative demand in the marketplace and help to cool excessive price growth.' The rules prevent you from claiming the PRE to shelter the capital gain realized on the sale of your home if you've owned it for less than 12 months. And, any gain on the sale of residential real estate held under 12 months is taxable not as a 50 per cent capital gain, but rather as 100 per cent taxable business income, subject to certain exemptions for life events such as death, disability, separation and work relocation. If you sold residential real estate (including a rental property) that you owned for less than 365 days, you are obligated to declare that sale on Part 2 of the Schedule 3 of your personal tax return for the year of sale. And, although the flipped property rules only came into play for 2023 and future years, the Canada Revenue Agency can still challenge real estate flips that took place prior to 2023 if it feels a taxpayer has speculated and flipped a property for a quick profit. In recent years, the CRA has also been cracking down on perceived abuse of the PRE even when properties are held for more than a year. Take the recent decision of the Tax Court, decided in June 2025, involving a Toronto taxpayer whose 2016 tax return was reassessed by the CRA because he failed to report a capital gain of $159,282 on the sale of residential real estate. To make matters worse, he was also hit with a $21,000 gross negligence penalty for failure to report the gain. The taxpayer, an avid investor who was 'particularly fond of real property,' purchased several properties along a certain portion of Toronto's Yonge Street between 2010 and 2017. In 2016, the taxpayer sold multiple real estate holdings. One of these properties was his principal residence in which he lived from May 2010 to July 2016. The CRA allowed him to claim the PRE on the sale of this property even though he failed to report its disposition on his 2016 tax return. The taxpayer also failed to report the disposition of a second property sold at a gain in 2016, claiming that it was 'always intended as a principal residence.' This claim was rejected by the CRA for a variety of reasons, including the fact he never resided at the property, did not file a T2091 to report it and already had a different principal residence at the same time in the same taxation year. Unfortunately, this was not the first time the taxpayer failed to report a disposition of real estate. It turns out that in 2011 the taxpayer was also reassessed, penalized and 'red flagged for future vigilance by the (CRA)' for failure to report a sale. In his defense, the taxpayer claimed that he reviewed his 2016 tax return with his accountant, reported the disposition of two other properties he sold in 2016, but omitted the gain on his principal residence and the property in question, believing that the gains were sheltered by the PRE. The taxpayer blamed his accountant for failing to disclose the sale of his principal residence since 2016 was the first year this was required and his 'accountant likely was ignorant' of the need to report it. When asked why his accountant didn't testify, the taxpayer said it was because he had 'moved to the States.' But the judge wasn't buying this excuse, noting that the taxpayer had a master's degree, was experienced in real estate and even became a licensed real estate broker in 2022. The judge upheld the CRA's assessment of the unreported gain. CRA loses case as judge rules in favour of taxpayers' Home Buyers' Plan withdrawal timing CRA prevails over Holt Renfrew saleswoman in battle over wardrobe deduction The judge also concluded that in failing to report any disposition from the sale of the property, the taxpayer 'knowingly or under circumstances amounting to gross negligence' made a false statement or omission on his 2016 tax return. Consequently, the CRA was justified in levying a gross negligence penalty for failure to report the gain associated with the sale of the property. Jamie Golombek, FCPA, FCA, CFP, CLU, TEP, is the managing director, Tax & Estate Planning with CIBC Private Wealth in Toronto. If you liked this story, in the FP Investor newsletter. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
