Bill Simon, former US CEO of Walmart, thinks the stock decline on Thursday is odd.
Big-Box retailers have raised their annual sales and revenue forecasts, but the stock slipped 4.5%. Walmart finished as the Dow’s biggest loser on Thursday.
“It was as quarterly as retailers had in any environment,” he said on CNBC’s “Fast Money.” “Today, I’m not diminishing in the market.”
After running Walmart from 2010 to 2014, Simon cites his ability to attract shoppers at lower prices, while absorbing tariffs as an important advantage.
“If you like them yesterday, you don’t know why you don’t love them today. The topline is growing. They’re expanding their margins,” he said. “They really hit it with every cylinder.”
Simon is still active in the consumer space. He now works as chairman of the Board and Haynes Brand at Darden Restaurant. Regarding Walmart, we see a decision to raise guidance, despite tariffs being an important reason for optimism.
“As far as tariffs are concerned, there is no impact on that business,” Simon said.
He suggested that investors could have hanged over Walmart’s first revenue mistake in over three years. This was driven primarily by one-off expenses, including restructuring costs and insurance claims.
“That’s a big number, but it’s a one-off adjustment,” Simon said. “It’s not a systematic issue.”
Simon has not always been bullish in the Walmart business. In May 2024, he told “Fast Money” that high-income shoppers were creating “bubbles” at Walmart. His concern: Once inflation begins to fade, they will return to premium retailers.
But that didn’t happen. Simon now claims the convenience of having cheaper price pulls and having groceries and general goods magnetically in one place.
“If they [Walmart] You can continue with those toplines, and that’s their prediction, and they’ll just become bears of the company,” Simon said.
Walmart stocks have grown 8% so far this year. However, it is about 7% lower than the record high hit on February 14th.
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