Walmart Posted $187.9 Billion in Quarterly Revenue. A Tariff Refund Did Some of the Heavy Lifting.

Walmart reported results for the second quarter of its fiscal 2027 on August 20, 2026. Revenue was $187.9 billion, up 5.9% from a year earlier and up 5.1% excluding currency effects. Reported operating income rose 28.8%. Adjusted operating income, in constant currency, rose 17.4%.

Those last two figures describe the same quarter and differ by more than eleven percentage points. Reading the gap is the useful exercise here.

Where the margin came from

The gross profit rate improved by 96 basis points, led by Walmart U.S. The company said the operating income growth reflects tariff refunds received, partially offset by price investments — the discounts and rollbacks it puts back into shelf prices. A refund of duties previously paid lands in a single period. It flatters the comparison against the prior year, and it does not repeat.

The adjusted, constant-currency figure of 17.4% is the company's own attempt to strip out items it considers non-representative and currency movement. Walmart said underlying operating income growth reached the top end of its guidance. Both numbers are real; they answer different questions. The reported number says what happened to the income statement. The adjusted number is a claim about what the business would have done without the one-offs — and it is the company making the claim.

The operating results underneath

• Walmart U.S. comparable sales, excluding fuel: up 2.6%.
• Sam's Club U.S. comparable sales, excluding fuel: up 4.4%.
• Walmart International net sales: up 7.9% in constant currency.
• Global eCommerce: up 23%. Walmart U.S. eCommerce up 24%, Sam's Club U.S. up 26%, International up 19%.
• Global advertising: up 38%, with Walmart Connect in the U.S. up 43% excluding VIZIO.
• Global membership fee revenue: up 17%.
• Global inventory: up 6.7%, or 6.0% in constant currency.

The mix shift that matters more than the quarter

Advertising up 38% and membership fees up 17% are growing several times faster than the 2.6% comparable sales figure at Walmart U.S. These are structurally higher-margin revenue lines than selling groceries. Walmart also said nearly half of its marketplace business flowed through its own fulfillment services in the quarter — third-party sellers paying Walmart to warehouse and ship, which is again a different margin profile than retail.

A retailer whose fastest-growing lines are advertising, memberships and logistics services is gradually becoming something other than a pure retailer. That trend, rather than any single quarter's tariff accounting, is the thing the figures keep pointing at.

Cash and returns

• Operating cash flow: $19.7 billion.
• Free cash flow: $5.5 billion.
• Return on assets: 8.0%.
• Return on investment: 15.4%.

Why a retailer's quarter is read as an economic indicator

Walmart sells to a very large cross-section of American households, weighted toward groceries and consumables, which people buy regardless of sentiment. Analysts read its comparable sales and mix — how much is food versus general merchandise, whether shoppers trade down — as a read on household budgets. That reading has real limits: a single company's results reflect its own execution, pricing decisions and competitive position as much as the macro backdrop, and one quarter is a short window.

This article reports figures the company disclosed. It is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security.