Posted on 08/17/2022 1:09:57 PM PDT by EBH
Walmart Inc. said Tuesday that it has canceled billions of dollars in orders as part of a continued effort to align inventory levels with projected demand and to reduce its exposure to certain products that have fallen out of favor with budget-conscious consumers.
The nation’s largest retailer (NYSE: WMT) said its U.S. division reported a 26% increase in fiscal second-quarter 2023 inventory levels compared with the same period in fiscal 2022. This was a 750-basis-point improvement over a nightmarish fiscal 2023 first quarter when Walmart got blindsided by a combination of rapidly rising costs and a mix of higher-end inventory that was passed over by consumers coping with rapidly rising inflation.
Walmart executives said the company has cleared out most of its summer seasonal inventory ahead of the back-to-school season — which has begun in large parts of the South — and the upcoming holiday period. Executives said the company is making progress right-sizing its inventories, but that it will take at least a couple more quarters to wring the imbalances out of its network.
Walmart’s seasonally adjusted days to turn inventory declined to 44 days in the second quarter from 46 in the prior quarter, according to data from Michigan State University. That signals that sales are starting to outpace order arrivals, according to Jason Miller, associate professor of logistics at the university’s Eli Broad College of Business.
Walmart’s gross margins took a hit as a result of its actions, said Miller. He said, however, that the gross margin drop was not as severe as at rival Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT). Target, which faces the same inventory challenges as Walmart, has also been reducing inventories as quickly as possible.
Walmart’s seasonally adjusted product arrivals, not adjusted for inflation, increased by just 0.1% in the second quarter from the first,
(Excerpt) Read more at freightwaves.com ...
Target isn’t the only one with inventory problems.
This is a super poor indicator of what’s happening on the ground.
What’s the extra they are trying to move?
Always time for a bargain if it’s a bargain.
Walmart is notorious for only having things “in season”.
They always choose the rating things at the wrong time.
But it is not a recession! Bigot!
(Walmart Inc. said Tuesday that it has canceled billions of dollars in orders as part of a continued effort to align inventory levels with projected demand)
Build Back Better not Building Back Better?
(by consumers coping with rapidly rising inflation)
Rising Bidenflation.
With Chinese companies, I expect.
Neighbor shopped local WM last week. Found MANY empty shelves.
Probably little effect on US manufacturers. Walmart is China, Inc.
Same here. Also at stores like TJ Maxx and Marshalls.
Just as zero told us.
I thought the economy was doing just great?
Inventory problems...
Demographic shift downward...
People are whistling past the graveyard!
Sez it all
The media is telling us that gasoline prices are down so all is getting better. What they are not telling you is that diesel fuel prices have just barely moved down.
And until diesel prices come down significantly, inflation will continue to occur.
But Biden says inflation is at 0%.
Massive job cuts coming.
Probably in essentials like food, not household or other non-essentials.
>>I thought the economy was doing just great?
That is why we need to cancel student loans - because the economy is so great that people can’t pay them back </sarc>
“Walmart is China, Inc.”
Yes, and so is most of what we buy. Ever find any tools in Lowes not made in China?
Our diesel dropped 50 cents in one day a couple weeks ago...stayed there since.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.