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Don't Forget Walmart International

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: August 19, 2024 7:10 am

24/7 Wall St. Insights

• By some measures, Walmart Inc.’s (NYSE: WMT) international figures are better than those in its home market.
• The retailer has a presence in many of the world’s largest countries by population.
• Also: Dividend legends to hold forever.

The latest earnings from Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) beat estimates and drove its stock higher. However, they were mostly built on U.S. figures. International figures, by some measures, are better.

Walmart’s global revenue rose 4.8% year over year to $169.3 billion. Operating income was up 8.5% to $7.9 billion. International revenue, which was nearly a fifth of total revenue, increased 7.1% to $30 billion. Operating income was 14.3% higher to $1.4 billion. International e-commerce rose 18%. As was the case with global revenue, international was helped by store pickup and delivery.

Of the company’s 10,619 locations, 5,414 are international, which means sales per store are lower than in the United States. By far, the largest number of these is in Mexico, which has 2,468. Walmart does not use its brand in every country. The United Kingdom, its second-largest market outside the United States, has 633 locations. Walmart’s U.K. brand is Asta, which the company bought in 1999.

At one point, Walmart hoped China would be its second-largest market. It opened its first store in 1996. It was never able to overcome the huge foothold of China’s local retailers.

Walmart has a presence in many of the world’s largest countries by population. However, the division is not growing fast enough to become a much larger part of Walmart’s revenue.

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