at Walmart (WMT-US) following lowering its second-quarter and full-year forecasts, Amazon (AMZN-US) shares fell more than 4% in following-hours trading on Monday (25th).
Walmart announced following the bell on Monday that second-quarter earnings per share (EPS) would fall 8% to 9%, and full-year EPS would fall 11% to 13%, due to inflation. Walmart had expected a flat to marginal increase in the second quarter, while full-year EPS fell just 1%.
Markets are expecting Amazon to cut its forecast when it reports second-quarter earnings on Thursday. Because as consumers spend more on necessities, the budget that can be spent on non-essentials falls, which incentivizes merchants to offer discounts. Wall Street will be watching closely how the e-commerce giant responds amid inflation, slowing consumer discretionary spending and ongoing supply chain constraints.
On last quarter’s earnings call, Amazon Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky said “Amazon doesn’t see any signs of weakness.”
Walmart news spooks other retailers, Target (TGT-US) and Costco (COST-US) fell 5% and 3%, respectively, in following-hours trading.
Recently confirmed, Amazon closed down 1.05% to $121.14 per share on Monday, and fell $4.54, or 3.75%, to $116.60 per share in following-hours trading.