Walmart held an Investment Community Meeting on April 9 to update shareholders and other attendees on its growth initiatives and strategies. However, the company made an unexpected announcement that came as a shock to many.
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The retail giant previously stated during an earnings call that it was confident in its ability to manage any tariff implementations since it had done so for years and will continue to focus on saving people money when shopping at Walmart.
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“Tariffs are something we’ve managed for many years, and we’ll just continue to manage that. We’ve got a great team. We know how to do that. We can’t predict what will happen in the future, but we can manage it really well. And we’re wired to try and save people money. So that will be our ultimate goal,” said Walmart’s CEO, C. Douglas McMillon, in an earnings call.
Walmart gives a major update amid tariff uncertainty.
Image source: Jeff Greenberg/Getty
President Donald Trump gives a huge update on tariffsÂ
President Donald Trump announced in February that he would implement additional tariffs on all goods imported into the U.S. from Canada, Mexico, and China to boost the country’s economy.
However, two months later, Trump declared that foreign trade and economic practices had created a national emergency. He implemented new, higher tariffs on products imported into the U.S. from many countries, including an additional 10% baseline tariff.
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But, Trump’s mind was changed once again as he took to his social media platform Truth Social on April 9 to declare that he would pause the 10% additional global ‘reciprocal’ tariff on many countries for 90 days, except for China, since it responded by retaliating with an 84% tariff on American products.
“Based on the lack of respect that China has shown to the World’s Markets, I am hereby raising the Tariff charged to China by the United States of America to 125%, effective immediately. At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realize that the days of ripping off the U.S.A., and other Countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable,” Trump wrote in the post.
Walmart withdraws earnings and guidance for fiscal 2026
In a sudden turn of events, Walmart (WMT)  announced at the meeting on April 9 that it had withdrawn its earnings guidance for fiscal 2026 due to uncertainty in the global market resulting from the recent tariff changes, which have amounted to the ongoing trade war.
This shocking decision comes after U.S. President Donald Trump announced he would raise the tariffs on imports from China to 125%.
In its latest earnings, Walmart had previously predicted net sales growth of 3% to 4% and adjusted operating income to increase by 3.5% to 5.5% for fiscal 2026.
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Although the retail giant completely scrapped its guidance, it still insists it is not worried about the economy’s current uncertain state. It remains confident in its ability to navigate the environment and continue boosting growth while maintaining low prices for consumers.
“History tells us that when we lean into these periods of uncertainty, Walmart emerges on the other side with greater share and a stronger business,” said Walmart’s CFO, John David Rainey, in a statement. “We have fundamentally changed our business model through years of thoughtful, strategic investments and now have a financial model that yields much higher returns,” he added.
Around two-thirds of Walmart’s products are grown or manufactured in the U.S., while the remaining third comes from China and Mexico. With the increase in tariffs, the cost of these foreign-made products is expected to increase, making maintaining low prices more challenging than before.Â
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