Walmart is stocked up for the holidays — thanks to its pricey private ships

Stocked and loaded… Walmart’s holiday shopping carts. Walmart beat quarterly sales growth expectations, but profits plunged 40% from last year on higher supply and labor costs. FYI: Target, Macy’s, and Kohl’s, which face similar supply and labor crunches, also report earnings this week.

• E-cart (still) strong: Walmart’s US e-commerce sales jumped 8% from last year and 87% from 2019.
• Mixed bag: While Walmart shares fell 3% on plunging profits, execs boosted holiday forecasts, saying there’s “excitement in the air.”

Ship, ship, hooray… US holiday spending is expected to hit a record $800B+ this season — great news for retailers with inventory, but a missed opportunity for those running short. Last month, shipments from Asia took twice as long and cost twice as much as pre-pandemic. Walmart, Home Depot, and Costco started paying for private ships as early as May to keep shelves stocked. Now...

• Walmart had 11.5% more inventory than last year, from clothes to Christmas trees.
• Home Depot reported stronger-than-expected sales partly because of inventory management (feat. chartered ships).
• Smaller retailers that can’t afford $140K/day private ships may be stuck: Half of small retailers say they expect supply-related holiday inventory shortages.