Big box giant Walmart reported its slowest sales growth in a single quarter in more than six years, as shoppers cut spending in the face of rising fuel costs.
According to The New York Times, Walmart's comparable sales in the U.S. in Q2 — a measure of in-person and e-commerce sales at stores that have been open for at least a year — rose by 2.6%, down from growth of 4.1% in the previous quarter, and from 4.6% in that same quarter in 2025. The company's stock also fell by more than 9% between trading on August 19 and 20, marking its highest single-day dip since 2022.
In a statement issued shortly after its sales figures were released, Walmart said that new federal regulatory changes that dragged down drug prices were partially to blame for the slower growth. Company executives said that they also observed changes in shopper behavior when national average gas prices topped $4 a gallon in July.
“Perhaps there’s a psychological impact to that,” said Walmart CFO John David Rainey in a conference call with investors and analysts. “There are choices that consumers are making."
Walmart also reported that it received nearly $3 billion tariff refunds from the Trump administration, and said that it used that money to temporarily lower prices for 11,000 items in Q2, compared to 7,200 price cuts in the previous quarter.
