Walmart generated $187.9 billion of revenue in fiscal Q2 2027, up 5.9% year over year, while operating income increased much faster, rising $2.1 billion, or 28.8%, as tariff refunds contributed to profitability and the retailer’s eCommerce, advertising, and membership businesses continued growing substantially faster than its overall sales base.
Even after adjusting for currency and other specified items, operating income increased 17.4% on a constant-currency basis, considerably faster than revenue growth of 5.1% in constant currency. Walmart said the quarter included tariff refunds, partially offset by price investments made during the period.
The tariff impact was also visible in gross profitability. Walmart’s gross profit rate rose 96 basis points, led by Walmart U.S., with the company citing tariff refunds as the primary driver.
However, Walmart does not appear to be planning to retain the full benefit of remaining tariff recoveries. The company said its outlook reflects the continued prioritization of remaining tariff refunds toward price investments, effectively using some of those proceeds to support lower consumer prices. Walmart also said underlying operating income growth, excluding the net tariff-refund and price-investment effect, was at the top end of its guidance.
At the same time, Walmart’s digital operation continued expanding several times faster than the company’s enormous consolidated revenue base. Global eCommerce sales increased 23%, compared with the 5.9% increase in total revenue, with store-fulfilled pickup and delivery and marketplace identified as the primary growth drivers.
Store-fulfilled eCommerce is particularly important to Walmart’s operating model because it allows the company to use its physical store network as fulfillment infrastructure for online orders. The Q2 performance indicates that Walmart’s stores are increasingly supporting both traditional in-person shopping and the faster-growing pickup and delivery business.
Marketplace growth adds another component to that digital strategy. Rather than relying solely on merchandise Walmart owns and sells directly, marketplace enables third-party sellers to participate in Walmart’s online ecosystem, broadening assortment while supporting continued eCommerce growth. Walmart specifically identified marketplace alongside store-fulfilled pickup and delivery as a driver of the 23% global eCommerce increase.
Advertising is growing even faster. Walmart’s global advertising business increased 38%, including 38% growth at Walmart U.S. That growth rate was more than six times the company’s overall reported revenue growth, giving Walmart another rapidly scaling business attached to its retail and eCommerce customer traffic.
Membership revenue provides another layer of higher-growth activity. Global membership fee revenue increased 17%, nearly three times Walmart’s overall revenue growth rate. The combination of eCommerce growth of 23%, advertising growth of 38% and membership fee growth of 17% shows that several businesses built around Walmart’s core retail network are expanding considerably faster than consolidated sales.
That creates an increasingly differentiated revenue model around Walmart’s $187.9 billion quarterly retail base. Traditional merchandise sales continue to provide enormous scale and customer traffic, while eCommerce adds digital transactions, marketplace broadens third-party assortment, advertising monetizes shopper attention and membership adds recurring fee revenue. The Q2 growth rates show each of those digital and recurring components materially outpacing consolidated company growth.
Walmart’s inventory increased 6.7% globally, or 6% in constant currency, slightly faster than reported revenue. The company attributed the increase to strategic initiatives and inflation.
Earnings per share were relatively close on a GAAP and adjusted basis. Walmart reported GAAP EPS of $0.80 and adjusted EPS of $0.81. Adjusted EPS excluded a $0.12-per-share net loss from equity and other investments as well as a $0.11-per-share benefit related to a tax matter, two items that largely offset each other.
Walmart also issued guidance for fiscal Q3 and reiterated its outlook for fiscal 2027. The quarter’s combination of substantially faster operating income growth, a 23% increase in global eCommerce and even stronger advertising growth illustrates how the company’s earnings profile is increasingly being influenced by businesses growing on top of its core retail platform rather than merchandise sales alone.
