Walmart's finance chief had a message Thursday for analysts pressing the company on its decision to cut prices: Give it time.
Walmart said it rolled back prices on more than 11,000 items, including ground beef, citing the ongoing strain on consumers of inflation and high gas prices. The move comes after the company received tariff refunds worth about $2.9 billion, which it's using to fund the price cuts. The company's shares fell sharply Thursday after it reported its smallest sales gain in more than six years, due in part to new pharmacy-pricing regulations.
Retail CFOs walk an endless tightrope making trade-offs between higher prices and more volume. During Walmart's earnings call, executives said it has already seen some market-share gains from its move to cut prices, showing demand for those goods was elastic, or sensitive, to price changes.
But on other items, it may take a bit longer to see the benefit in terms of market share, Walmart's finance chief John David Rainey told analysts. Lowering prices helps build trust with consumers over time, the company said on the call.
"We're not managing our business for one quarter. We're managing our business on a multiyear basis to play to win," Rainey said.
The Day Ahead
📆 Earnings
📈 Economic Indicators
S&P Global releases both its Manufacturing and Services Purchasing Managers' Indexes for August
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What Else Matters to CFOs
Starbucks will lay off more than 200 corporate staff, continuing a strategy to tighten its operations two years into a turnaround effort pursued by Chief Executive Brian Niccol.
The Seattle company plans to cut about 120 technology workers, according to the company, after those staff declined to relocate to Nashville, where a new corporate office is being built. Starbucks is cutting an additional 104 jobs in coffeehouse design and development.
Starbucks, the world's largest coffee chain, is working toward Niccol's goal of eliminating $2 billion in costs by the end of its 2028 fiscal year. It is also investing more heavily in its cafe operations.
📰 Other headlines
Markets Brush Off Treasury's Buyback Plans
SpaceX Is Racking Up Wins in Washington
Super Micro Clears Senior Management in Alleged Smuggling Scheme
GM Ruled U.S. Auto Sales for 100 Years. Now Toyota Is Closing In.
Hyundai's Union Launches First Full-Day Strike in Decade
Alibaba Posts Weaker Earnings Amid Heavy AI Investments
U.S. Jobless Claims Pull Back After Recent Run-Up
'Ghost Job' Ads Are Getting So Bad That Lawmakers Want to Ban Them
The Big Number
The amount by which U.S. employers expect their health insurance costs to rise in 2027, the steepest increase in 20 years, according to a new survey from benefits consultant WTW.
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CFO Moves
Boston Beer said its CFO and treasurer, Diego Reynoso , is stepping down. Matthew Murphy, the company's chief accounting officer and vice president of finance, will take over the role on an interim basis, effective Sept. 15. The company said it has launched a search for Reynoso's successor.
Skyward Specialty Insurance named Taryn McHarg as chief financial officer, effective March 31. McHarg currently serves as Skyward's deputy CFO and as the finance chief at the company's Apollo Group unit. She succeeds Mark Haushill, who plans to retire.
-Colin Kellaher contributed to today's Ledger.
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