Walmart’s next earnings report could uncover a major truth about the American consumers

The state of the economy has an impact on how people spend, and that's why consumer behavior can describe the state of the economy. Walmart is one of America's biggest retail chains, and its third-quarter earnings report can shed a lot of light on consumer spending in these uncertain times. Inflation has been on the rise recently, partly thanks to President Donald Trump’s tariffs, but it has not been so bad that consumers are struggling to buy basic necessities just yet. That could change in the future if prices continue to go up.

This report will be important for analysts and policymakers as the government has failed to release data for the last two months, thanks to the shutdown. This data relates to employment, which is usually released on the first Friday of every month for the previous month. Walmart, being one of the biggest supermarket chains in the country, sees millions of customers. An earnings report will shed light on these customers’ spending habits at a time when a lot is being kept under wraps.

As per a report in Investopedia, consumer sentiment crashed to a record low in November, but spending on retail purchases has not come down. The report suggests that it could be reflective of the confidence of wealthy customers, who have been able to gain from the stock market. However, that confidence could soon be evaporated if the market slump continues for a prolonged period of time.

Some may expect Walmart not to have had the best time business-wise in this period, but the company is actually enjoying one of its most successful stints. Shares hit an all-time high in October, although it has fallen some 8% since then. Analysts predict the company to report revenue of $177.5 billion, around 4.7% up from this time last year. Same-store sales in the U.S. are expected to have risen about 3.9% as per the report as well.

A big question that a lot of people may find themselves asking is why a company’s quarterly earnings report is so important in determining how the American consumer and the economy are doing. Recently, President Trump signed an order ending the longest government shutdown in the country’s history. It lasted well over a month, and in that time, crucial employment data for the months of September and October was not released, and might never be released.

As per White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, some of the data might never see the light of day. Of course, she ended up blaming her political rivals for it. “The Democrats may have permanently damaged the federal statistical system, with October CPI and jobs reports likely never being released, and all of that economic data released will be permanently impaired, leaving our policymakers at the Fed flying blind at a critical period,” she said.

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