业绩虽好但预期不佳，沃尔玛让投资者担忧

Hallie Steiner

2025-02-25

强劲的业绩并不足以打消投资者对其增长预期疲软的担忧。

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2024年1月9日，在内华达州拉斯维加斯的威尼斯度假酒店举行的2024年国际消费电子展（CES 2024）上，沃尔玛公司（Walmart Inc.）总裁兼首席执行官董明伦（Doug McMillon）发表主题演讲。图片来源：Ethan Miller—Getty Images

在上周四的第四季度财报电话会议上，沃尔玛管理层仍保持乐观，宣布销售额实现了5.2%的增长，股息上调了13%，创下了十多年来的最大涨幅纪录。然而，强劲的业绩并不足以打消投资者对其增长预期疲软的担忧。由于消费者对通胀感到厌倦，加之关税威胁迫在眉睫，沃尔玛预计2025年的增长将会有所放缓，其股价因此下跌约6%。对该公司而言，另一个打击是沃尔玛季度营收首次低于亚马逊。

尽管该公司在疫情和通货膨胀期间始终保持低价，并因给中层管理人员加薪高达62万美元而广受赞誉，但投资者对其不尽如人意的增长预期并不满意。

尽管存在一些不利因素，沃尔玛高管仍对其在当日达服务和数字优化方面取得的进展表示赞赏。首席执行官董明伦说：“如果能改变外界当前对我们的看法，我希望更多人了解我们丰富的线上商品种类，以及不断提升的配送速度。”据董明伦称，该公司第四季度全球电子商务销售额增长了16%，其人工智能工具去年节省了400万开发工时。

在近期宣布裁员数百人并要求员工搬迁后，沃尔玛还重点介绍了其位于阿肯色州本顿维尔的新办公大楼。董明伦表示，公司的规划为这家已有63年历史的企业注入了新活力。“我们感觉充满朝气。看看公司发生的事情，无论是我们在技术方面的举措，还是搬到新办公地点，都充满了新鲜感和新气象，而且这种发展势头正推动着我们前进。”

以下是本次电话会议的要点，随后是完整的财报电话会议记录。

• 沃尔玛公司公布，2025年第四季度销售额增长5.2%，按固定汇率计算，调整后营业收入增长9.4%。

• 该公司宣布将股息上调13%，创十多年来的最大涨幅，彰显了对股东丰厚的现金回报。

• 沃尔玛公司预计2026财年合并净销售额将增长3-4%，考虑到闰年带来的负面影响和VIZIO销售带来的积极贡献。

• 该公司正在大力投资门店的翻新和建设，以提升客户体验并扩大数字订单覆盖范围。

• 沃尔玛表示，尽管鸡蛋、培根和碎牛肉等食品品类存在局部通胀，但该公司仍致力于通过回调来降低价格。

• 沃尔玛的数字支付平台PhonePe正筹备在印度进行首次公开募股，这凸显了该公司在金融科技领域的扩张。

• 汽车、玩具和露台品类的增长率均超过20%。

• 山姆会员店在客户满意度方面位居榜首，会员收入增长超过35%，续卡率创历史新高。

接线员：大家好。欢迎参加沃尔玛2025财年第四季度财报电话会议。请注意，本次会议将被录音。现在，有请投资者关系部高级副总裁斯特芬妮·维辛克（Steph Wissink）发言，您可以开始了。

斯特芬妮·维辛克：谢谢。欢迎大家。感谢大家拨冗出席并持续关注沃尔玛的发展。今天在本顿维尔总部与我一同出席的有沃尔玛首席执行官董明伦和首席财务官约翰·大卫·雷尼（John David Rainey）。董明伦和约翰·大卫将首先分享他们对本季度的见解，之后我们将开放提问环节。在此环节，我们还将邀请各细分领域首席执行官加入，分别是沃尔玛美国首席执行官约翰·弗纳（John Furner）、沃尔玛国际首席执行官凯斯·麦克雷（Kath McLay）和山姆会员店首席执行官克里斯·尼古拉斯（Chris Nicholas）。如需了解更多业绩详情，包括各细分领域的亮点，请参阅我们在公司网站上发布的财报及相关演示文稿。在本次电话会议安排的一小时时间里，我们将尽最大努力回答大家的问题。

[接线员提示]今天的电话会议将被录音，管理层可能会分享前瞻性声明。这些声明存在风险和不确定性，可能导致实际结果与这些声明存在实质性差异。这些风险和不确定性包括但不限于我们向美国证券交易委员会提交的文件中列明的因素。请查阅我们的新闻稿及随附的幻灯片演示文稿，了解有关前瞻性声明的警示性声明，以及我们在stock.walmart.com网站上发布的完整安全港声明和非美国通用会计准则的对账信息。董明伦，我的介绍到此结束。我们现已准备就绪，可以开始会议了。

董明伦，总裁、首席执行官兼董事：早上好，感谢大家参加今天的会议。我们以一个业绩斐然的季度圆满收官，我们的员工在为顾客和会员提供服务方面表现出色。本季度，我们的销售额增长了5.2%，按固定汇率计算，调整后营业收入增长了 9.4%。

我们在各个国家和不同收入阶层的市场份额不断扩大。整体市场交易量和客单量均呈现上升趋势，这与今年前三季度保持一致。

回顾本季度和全年的业绩，首先令我们感到高兴的是，公司的营收状况持续保持良好。我们不断提升服务能力，旨在以顾客期望的方式为他们提供服务。这正是驱动我们持续增长的动力。我们价格低廉，购物体验更加便捷。顾客更频繁地选择在我们这里购物，并且购买更多的商品，包括日用百货品类，本季度沃尔玛美国和山姆会员店美国的日用百货品类销售额实现了低个位数增长。

其次，我们的利润增速超过销售额增速，而且我们在会员制、全球电商和广告等高利润率业务上拥有广阔的发展空间。我们在调整业务结构的同时，还致力于降低价格，提高员工工资。

第三，即便我们投入更多资金以把握那些能增强公司实力的机遇，我们的投资回报率依然实现了提升。我们的三大业务细分领域都取得了不错的业绩。我为我们的领导团队以及所有员工感到骄傲。这是他们应得的。他们不断学习，行动迅速，工作勤勉尽责。

就本季度和全年表现而言，我们对在全球各地节假日期间所取得的业绩感到满意。我们在美国、墨西哥、加拿大和中国都表现出色，山姆会员店在中国刚刚结束的农历新年促销活动取得了销售佳绩。

我们在印度的业务同样表现出彩。我想分享一个消息，我们的金融科技业务PhonePe正准备在印度进行首次公开募股。PhonePe团队一直渴望成为一家上市公司，我们很高兴能够进行这些早期的步骤。作为一家公司，我们在节假日期间实现了销量的显著增长，同时保持了健康的库存水平，整体库存增长了2.8%。我们一如既往努力降低价格。去年在沃尔玛美国，我们进行了超过22000次降价。我们致力于帮助人们节省开支，过上更好的生活。

我们在扩大商品种类方面所做的工作是实现增长的另一个原因，因为越来越多的顾客能在这里找到他们心仪的商品。除了价格低廉和可供选择的商品种类不断增加之外，我们还专注于配送服务、速度和准确性。如果能改变外界当前对我们的看法，我希望更多人了解我们丰富的线上商品种类，以及不断提升的配送速度。

就沃尔玛美国而言，我们近期推出了药品当日达服务，早期反响强烈。顾客喜欢一篮子商品送货上门服务，其中包括生鲜、冷冻食品、日用百货以及现在的药品。得益于我们与顾客近距离的优势，我们能够实现快速送达。

山姆会员店最近推出了新配送服务，包括免费当日达或次日达服务。会员们提出了这一需求，团队予以满足。倾听会员心声并解决他们的需求，是山姆会员店近期在零售商客户满意度排名以及最新的美国客户满意度指数中位居榜首的重要原因。

在全球范围内，我们在加快向客户和会员配送货物方面取得了巨大进展。我们正在借鉴中国等市场的经验，并迅速在其他市场推出快速配送解决方案。我们对供应链自动化方面的投资仍充满热情，并将在 4 月的投资者大会上分享更多相关内容。

在过去的几个季度里，我们一直在谈论如何运用人工智能。多年来，我们在技术方面取得的进步使我们能够更紧密地跟进并利用如今快速发展的技术能力。我为苏雷什、我们的技术团队以及所有领导者感到骄傲，他们积极投入、迅速适应变化。

今天，我想再分享两个例子。第一个例子与我们为商家推出的一款全新人工智能助手有关，该助手名为“学习”，能够帮助我们更精确、更迅速地找到缺货或库存过剩等问题的根源所在。

第二个例子是，对于我们技术团队的开发人员来说，我们如今研发了新的编码辅助和代码补全工具，这些工具正在帮助简化部署流程，加速代码交付速度，同时降低错误率。去年，这些工具帮助我们节省了大约400万开发工时。今年，我们计划将这些工具提供给北美和印度的所有开发人员。

随着工作效率的提升，我们得以从繁琐的日常事务中解脱出来，将更多精力投入到促进业务增长和加速发展的工具开发上。我非常欣赏我们在保持本质不变的同时，积极转变思维方式和工作方式的态度。我能预见到我们的发展步伐将会越来越快。

今年早些时候，我们开始启用本顿维尔的部分新办公大楼，将在这一年里逐步迁入新的办公场所。这是一个激动人心的时刻，也是我们铭记并巩固传承公司独特之处的契机。

迁往新址并不会改变我们的本质。诸如领导力、谦逊和紧迫感等文化特质仍然至关重要。秉持日常低成本的文化和理念进行运营一如既往地重要。我们肩负帮助人们节省开支、过上更好生活的重要使命。无论总部设在何处，我们都有一套永恒的价值观来塑造我们的文化。

诸如此类的特质和信念推动着我们取得成果，也让我们独树一帜。我希望大家在六月份的员工和股东周期间参观我们的总部办公室时，能感受这种发展势头。我们对自己的定位清晰明确，对未来的发展方向也充满信心。我们深知，这只是我们征程的起点。接下来，有请约翰·大卫。

约翰·大卫·雷尼，执行副总裁兼首席财务官：谢谢，董明伦。我很高兴能和大家探讨我们第四季度以及全年的业绩，阐述我们在战略重点方面的执行情况，并分享我们对 2026 财年第一季度及全年的展望。

我们先来看关键数据。沃尔玛在本季度再创佳绩，销售额、利润及收益均超出预期。这一业绩彰显了我们商业模式的强大，也体现了全球员工的辛勤付出。

我们始终专注于为顾客和会员创造价值，同时为股东实现可持续增长。我们提供更低的价格、更丰富的商品种类以及更高的便利性，顾客对我们的价值主张持续给予积极反馈。通过改善顾客体验，我们赢得了他们的信任，市场份额也随之扩大。

纵观全年。按固定汇率计算，合并收入增长5.6%，较去年增加约360亿美元。

按固定汇率计算，调整后营业收入增长了近10%，调整后每股收益增长了13%。汇率因素对公布的销售额产生了一定的负面影响，大约造成了32亿美元的损失，相当于增长幅度减少 50 个基点，并使每股收益减少约0.02美元。我们的商业模式正如预期般发挥作用。这是我们连续第二年销售额增长超过5%，营业收入增速明显超过销售额增速。

在各个细分业务领域，我们取得了全面业绩超越计划的成果。电子商务的经济效益持续提升，尤其是沃尔玛美国的表现尤为亮眼。我们新开展的数字业务不仅推动了更快的增长，还使我们的产品组合更加多元化。

去年，全球广告业务增长 27%，达到约 44 亿美元。沃尔玛美国全球电商收入增长37%，其中近 45% 的订单由沃尔玛配送服务完成配送。

最后，全球会员收入增长了21%，达到约38亿美元。在我们的规划期内，这一业务板块的增长预计将成为推动营业收入增速超过销售额增速的最大动力之一。这些新利润流不仅为我们的核心业务投资提供了资金，同时也提升了营业利润率。

投资回报率提高了约50个基点，达到15.5%，这是自2016年以来首次达到这一水平。资本支出总计238亿美元。在门店和会员店翻新与新建项目上的投资，提升了顾客和会员的体验，使我们能够扩展数字订单的最后一英里配送范围。对供应链自动化和效率提升的投资，将有望降低服务成本，有助于我们履行天天低价的承诺。

现金流依然强劲。正如我们今天上午宣布的，我们很高兴今年将股息提高13%，这是十多年来的最大涨幅，再次表明我们致力于为股东提供丰厚的现金回报。在过去五年里，我们的业务发生了转变，正从对核心全渠道零售业务的投资中获益。

目前，全球电商渗透率占销售额的18%，比2020财年高出约1100个基点。具体到美国市场，我们建立了全球电商能力，丰富了商品种类，同时在未新增门店的情况下，门店完成的电商订单配送量平均增加了5亿多单。

我们正以新方式利用门店服务来服务更多客户并实现收益最大化，但显然我们并非仅依赖门店进行订单配送。我们也在提高配送中心的能力，包括对配送中心自动化进行投资。尽管随着电商订单配送量的增加，渠道结构的转变带来了一定的成本压力，但在此期间，得益于配送路线密集化带来的效率提升，以及电商业务增长带来的新业务贡献，我们的盈利能力有所提升。尽管过去几年消费者预算紧张，商品销售品类结构从日用百货向杂货、健康和保健品类转移，给利润率带来了压力，但我们依然取得了这样的成绩。我们设计并拓展的商业模式不断演进，拥有广告和会员制等更多元化、更持久的利润来源，这使我们能够在面临这些挑战的情况下，实现营业收入增速超过销售额增速。

接下来谈谈我们的季度业绩。在第四季度，按固定汇率计算，合并收入增长超过5%，这得益于各业务细分领域的强劲表现，其中电子商务业务增长了16%。受汇率波动影响，公布的销售额减少超过20亿美元，这相当于将增长率拉低了120个基点。

沃尔玛美国同店销售额增长4.6%，其中电商销售额增长20%，各品类市场份额持续提升。同店销售额增长主要得益于门店和电商渠道顾客交易量增加。食品杂货品类依然表现突出，实现了中个位数增长，健康和保健品类实现了中双位数增长，这主要归功于胰高血糖素样肽-1（GLP-1）类产品的销售，该类产品的销售为该业务细分领域同店销售额增长贡献了约0.1个百分点，这一趋势与前几个季度保持一致。我们对日用百货品类的改善感到高兴，该品类同店销售额连续第二个季度实现低个位数增长，其中耐用品、玩具、家居和时尚品类表现强劲。

美国消费者依然保持韧性，过去一年中的消费行为基本保持不变。人们一如既往地追求性价比，同时也更加注重节省时间。我们不断提升便利性，这一策略推动了业务增长。

在本季度，我们扩大了门店配送服务覆盖范围，如今已能为93%的美国家庭提供当日达服务。加急配送服务大受欢迎，超过 30%的订单来自那些选择支付便利费以享受1小时内或3小时内收到预定商品的顾客和会员。

我们推出的药品当日达服务的初步反响也令我们深受鼓舞。我们是首家将药品、日用百货和食品杂货整合到一个线上订单的企业，并通过这项服务获得了新药品客户。尽管鸡蛋、培根和碎牛肉等食品品类存在局部通胀，我们仍持续致力于通过回调来降低价格。日用百货和消耗品的同店产品价格处于通缩状态，而食品仍保持低个位数的通胀水平。

值得注意的是，我们发现各收入阶层的消费者参与度均有所提升，其中高收入家庭继续成为我们市场份额增长的主要驱动力。

我们发现各收入阶层的参与度都有所提高，高收入家庭仍然是市场份额增长的主要贡献者。按固定汇率计算，我们的国际业务销售额增长5.7%，反映了中国、沃尔玛墨西哥和加拿大的强劲表现，与此同时，营业收入增长更快。

各市场客流量和客单量均实现增长，在节日期间，日用百货销售表现强劲。正如预期，Flipkart“十亿日大促销”活动时间安排对同比销售额比较产生了负面影响。除印度市场外，所有市场的电商销售额增长均超过20%。

配送速度对顾客而言仍然至关重要。在过去12个月里，在国际业务方面，超过23亿件商品配送实现当日达或次日达，增幅超过 30%，其中约45%的商品在3小时内送达。

我们在中国的业务继续保持两位数增长，山姆会员店和电商业务表现强劲。山姆会员店美国同店销售额（剔除燃油）增长6.8%，交易量和客单量增长强劲，其中山姆自有品牌Member's Mark的渗透率有所提高。电商销售额增长 24%，其中会员店配送业务实现三位数增长，这是因为诸如快递配送和免除会员路边取货费用等新福利，继续受到会员的欢迎。

通过店内“即扫即走”（Scan & Go）和Jusco Exit塔等技术便利措施，以及电商渠道，我们正在部署数字化解决方案，以在仓储式会员店领域脱颖而出。

从利润率角度来看，综合毛利率提高了53个基点。在我们的新闻稿和财报演示文稿中，您会看到各业务细分领域毛利率的最新披露信息。沃尔玛美国毛利率的提高反映了卓越的库存管理、较大的降价幅度以及业务结构的优化，这使我们能够根据竞争价格差距管理定价，并抵消持续存在的商品品类混合压力。

国际业务毛利率提高得益于Flipkart“十亿日大促销”活动时间的调整。随着我们商业模式的不断发展，看到通过多样化的产品实现盈利能力的提升，这无疑是令人振奋的。在全球范围内，第四季度电子商务经济效益持续改善，这得益于美国每单净配送成本降低约 20%。

我们还继续通过业务组合实现利润构成多元化，包括在广告、会员服务、全球电商、配送服务以及数据分析与洞察业务方面均取得显著进展。在沃尔玛美国Walmart Connect广告业务24% 的增长带动下，我们的全球广告业务增长了 29%。我们在扩大美国市场平台卖家使用Walmart Connect广告的数量方面取得了良好进展，卖家广告数量较去年增长了约 50%。

我们也很高兴将VIZIO及其SmartCast操作系统纳入我们的广告功能组合之中。VIZIO的加入将帮助我们以全新方式服务客户，提升他们的购物体验，同时也为广告商创造与客户建立联系和促进产品发现的新机会，使品牌能够更有效地利用在沃尔玛的广告投入，获得更大的市场影响力。

公司整体的会员收入增长了16%。在美国，山姆会员店的会员数量持续增加，卓越会员的渗透率也有所提高，使得会员收入增长超过12%，而沃尔玛Plus会员收入实现了两位数增长。在国际业务方面，由于第四季度新开设 4 家山姆会员店，会员人数持续增加，山姆会员店中国的会员收入增长超过 35%。

对于沃尔玛全球电商和沃尔玛配送服务业务而言，沃尔玛美国全球电商业务增长了34%，延续了全年以来的强劲增长态势。凭借更广泛的日用百货品牌和顾客所需的商品品类，全球电商销售和家居管理、汽车以及季节性销售均实现了超过20%的增长。通过为卖家提供低成本配送服务，沃尔玛配送服务的渗透率达到了近50%的历史新高，较去年提高了近600个基点。

在美国以外的地区，我们在墨西哥和加拿大也看到了类似的令人鼓舞的趋势，沃尔玛配送服务卖家的数量增长了 20% 以上，通过沃尔玛配送服务配送的商品销售额增长了 85% 以上。在数据分析和洞察业务方面，Walmart Data Ventures持续快速增长，净销售额实现了两位数增长。在过去的一年里，我们的客户群几乎翻了一番，随着该平台在加拿大的推出，我们对继续拓展新市场充满期待。

本季度，销售、一般及行政费用（SG&A）率下降了46个基点。沃尔玛美国费用率下降主要是由于技术投资的时间安排、因业绩超出预期而增加的浮动薪酬，以及营销和公用事业成本的上升。VIZIO收购相关的交易费用也对本季度产生了影响，且未纳入我们的业绩指引。

此外，国际业务受到了Flipkart“十亿日大促销”活动时间调整的影响。山姆会员店美国则受到了此前宣布的工资投资的影响。虽然工资投资在未来几个季度会对山姆会员店的利润造成压力，但我们对会员的积极反馈（续卡率的提高）以及员工流失率的下降感到满意。

我们将继续优化业务，以提高效率，并致力于在持续投资与为客户、员工和股东提升回报之间实现平衡。我们的商业模式能够为员工提供工资投资，为顾客提供价格优惠，同时也能实现我们的财务框架目标。

总结本季度业绩，按固定汇率计算，销售额增长超过5%，调整后营业收入增长超过9%，均超出了我们指引区间的上限。调整后每股收益为0.66美元，远超预期，这反映了强劲的基础业务表现和较低的税费水平。公布的每股收益受到了汇率因素（约0.01美元的负面影响）以及与收购VIZIO相关的成本（近0.01美元的负面影响）的双重影响。

现在让我来谈谈业绩指引。多年来，我们一直处于高度动态变化的环境中，预计今年也不例外。我们的展望基于相对稳定的宏观经济环境，但也认识到消费者行为、全球经济和地缘政治状况仍存在不确定性。因此，在制定今年的初步指引时，我们采取了与过去几年相似的方法，即在已知风险和我们所能控制的因素之间寻求平衡。

我们依然坚信，沃尔玛能够像过去几年那样应对自如，同时继续为顾客和股东创造价值。对于 2026 财年，我们预计合并净销售额将增长约 3%至 4%，这一预测已经考虑了闰年带来的负面影响以及 VIZIO 销售带来的积极贡献。

预计营业收入增速将超过销售额增速，增幅在3.5% 至 5.5% 之间，其中包括因收购VIZIO产生的与整合投资和过渡成本相关的150个基点的负面影响，以及闰年因素的影响。

调整后每股收益预计在2.50美元至2.60美元之间。这一预测已经扣除了约每股0.05美元的汇率不利影响，以及与去年相比更高的实际税率所带来的影响。请记住，我们对销售额和营业收入的增长指引是基于固定汇率计算的。汇率波动对去年的业绩产生了重大影响。

如果当前汇率全年保持不变，预计会对销售额增长造成约 100 个基点的不利影响，对营业收入增长造成约 150 个基点的不利影响。鉴于与去年相比汇率的变化幅度，上半年受到的不利影响会更为显著。

我们预计资本支出将占销售额的3%至3.5%，我们将投资于技术以优化供应链，对门店进行改造，并在美国和某些国际市场开设新门店和会员店。

需要指出的是，对于第一季度而言，同比数据对比可能会对季度增长率产生较大影响。按固定汇率计算，我们预计合并净销售额将增长 3% 至 4%。这一预测中已包含了闰年因素对销售额增长带来的约100个基点的负面影响，并且考虑到了复活节时间从第一季度移至第二季度对我们国际业务组合（尤其是沃尔玛墨西哥）的影响。

按固定汇率计算，预计营业收入将增长0.5%至2%，这其中包括因收购VIZIO带来的约70个基点的不利影响，以及闰日因素对增长造成的250个基点的不利影响。我们的营业收入指引还考虑了复活节时间变动的影响，以及沃尔玛墨西哥去年第一季度消费者刺激措施时间安排的影响。

所有这些因素都会对同比增长率产生一定影响。但我要强调的是，我们的核心业务表现依然非常强劲。按两年累计计算，我们指引的中间值意味着营业收入将实现15%的增长。鉴于基础业务的强劲和稳定，预计在调整日历因素的影响后，企业净销售额和营业收入将在各个季度保持相对一致的增长步伐。此外，我们预计上半年的销售额和营业收入增长将在全年指引的范围内。

值得注意的是，如果当前汇率在整个第一季度保持不变，我们预计销售额增长将受到约150个基点的不利影响，营业收入增长将受到约250个基点的不利影响。第一季度每股收益预计在0.57美元至0.58美元之间。这其中包括汇率带来的每股约 0.02 美元的不利影响，以及相较于去年有所上升的实际税率所带来的压力。

正如我们过去所说，营业收入增速超过销售额增速的情况可能不会每个季度都出现，但从企业整体层面来看，我们预计这一情况每年都会出现。

在进入问答环节之前，我想借此机会向全球员工在过去一个季度以及整个 2025 财年的辛勤付出致以最诚挚的感谢。他们每天致力于服务我们的顾客和会员，这种奉献精神和投入态度正是沃尔玛成为一家独具特色公司的关键所在。

展望 2026 财年，我代表整个团队表达我们对业务前景的兴奋之情。这并不是说未来没有挑战，但我们的战略是正确的。整个团队正全力以赴地执行这一战略。我们比以往任何时候都更好地服务客户和会员，我们的员工和股东也从中受益，然而在某些方面，我们感觉自己才刚刚起步。感谢您对公司的关注，现在我们准备回答您的问题。

问答环节

接线员：第一个问题来自瑞银集团（UBS）的迈克尔·拉瑟（Michael Lasser）。

瑞银投资银行研究部迈克尔·拉瑟：在过去几个季度里，沃尔玛正处于从长期投资中获取回报的初期阶段，而且随着市场份额的大幅增长，公司似乎更能抵御宏观经济的影响。那么，沃尔玛是否正在进入一个对经济形势更加敏感（对其模式而言），甚至不再具有逆周期优势的阶段？这一情况如何反映在 2026 年的销售和每股收益指引中？如果宏观经济敏感性导致销售不足，沃尔玛会采取什么行动？如果能深入说明一下2025财年的结束时的情况，可能会对理解这一问题有所帮助。

董明伦：迈克尔，我是董明伦。我先简要回答一下，然后再请约翰·大卫做进一步阐述。基本上，我们的感受与以往保持一致。顾客和会员追求性价比，他们也追求便利性，我们公司所做出的改变，让我们在这些方面对他们更具吸引力，甚至比以往都更胜一筹。

因此，我们信心十足。我很高兴看到这一季度表现如此强劲，销售额增长5%，利润增长9%，我感到非常高兴。我也很高兴看到增长的势头依然存在。门店和会员店仍在推动销量增长，电商业务也在发生变化。因此，我认为我们对外部环境的看法是一致的。

雷尼：好的，迈克尔。我是约翰·大卫。关于我们商业模式对宏观环境的敏感性，我希望投资者对沃尔玛有不同的看法，因为顾客和会员告诉我们，他们的看法已经不同了。我们不仅以高性价比著称，而且在便利性方面也越来越受到认可。我们的业务表现良好。你问到了我们这一年是如何收官的。实际上，一月份是美国业务同店销售额表现最强劲的一个月。但这种与顾客和会员紧密的关联也为我们带来了更好的财务业绩。随着电子商务等数字业务的发展，本季度我们全球电商业务的增量利润率为11%，是整体利润率的两倍多。不过，让我来谈谈这个问题背后可能与明年前景有关的问题。

本季度，我们的业务在几乎所有运营和财务指标上都表现优异。我们觉得自身表现非常出色。我们给出的业绩指引，我们认为与过去几年的情况非常一致。请记住，过去两年，我们每年的营业收入增长指引都设定在4%至6%的区间内。今年，如果将 VIZIO 交易中闰日的影响排除在外，我们的业绩指引表明预期增长率将达到 5% 至 7%，这反映了我们对这项业务的整体预期。我们对公司未来一年的发展前景以及我们所能取得的成绩感到无比兴奋。今年已经过去了一个月。所以我认为谨慎一些，保持适度的预期是明智之举。我们不想操之过急。

在我们所处的任何环境中，无疑都有其不可预测性。但我们对自己的驾驭能力充满信心。我们对自己与客户的关系感到非常满意。我们对自己的商业模式如何进行调整以提高利润也很有信心。

董明伦：是的。当你排除业绩指引中的干扰因素时，就能发现我们提高了预期。我认为这反映了我们的信心。就我们目前的运营状况来看，收入和利润均呈现出强劲的增长势头，库存水平也维持在健康的状态，我们觉得今年开局形势大好。

库存增长 2.8%，这正是我们所期望的。我们的库存水平看起来不错。我们确实在一些方面稍微提前做了些准备，但我们也在迅速销售这些商品。因此，二月份的开局确实不错。

接线员：下一个问题来自高盛集团（Goldman Sachs）的凯特·麦克沙恩（Kate McShane）。

高盛集团研究部凯瑟琳·麦克沙恩：正如您在事先准备好的发言中提到的，毛利率仍然受到品类结构的影响。在即将到来的财年里，尤其是在日用百货品类增长持续改善的情况下，我们应该如何看待品类结构对毛利率的影响？第二个问题是关于其他替代收入业务。这些业务现在是否达到一定规模？如果没有，您预计它们会在25财年达到一定规模吗？

董明伦：我认为我们的新业务还有很大的发展空间。我的意思是，你可以看到我们的市场份额还很低。如果日用百货业务表现强劲，那就太好了。你们几位或许可以就目前的情况发表一下看法？

弗纳：凯特，我是约翰。感谢提问。首先，我想表达的是，我为我们的员工和团队刚刚取得的季度业绩感到骄傲——同店销售额增长了4.6%，而去年同期为 4%。我对他们服务顾客的方式和所展现出的发展势头感到无比兴奋。就品类组合而言，正如我们在材料中提到的，过去几个季度日用百货品类的表现让我们备受鼓舞。我们看到销售额和客单量都有所提升。所有产品的客单量都在增加，这很好。我们通过客单量来衡量自己的表现，以确保能够满足顾客的需求。董明伦提到库存增长了约3%。这一数据也让我们感到非常满意。如前所述，我们的库存水平有所改善。在过去的几个季度里，销售和季节性销售都非常强劲，这对我们的毛利率有所帮助。显然，这减少了因降价促销而带来的损失。

在定价方面，我只想说，再次感谢我们的团队，目前门店有超过5800种商品进行了降价。仅在过去几周内，新增的降价商品就达到了1000多种。所以我们仍然专注于为顾客提供高性价比的商品。我认为我们处于一个非常有利的位置，能够灵活地按照顾客期望的方式为他们提供服务。我们的团队在理解所有变动因素以及如何将其纳入成本结构方面表现优异。我对团队今年的定位感到非常自豪。

山姆会员店美国执行副总裁、总裁兼首席执行官克里斯托弗·尼古拉斯：凯特，我是克里斯·尼古拉斯。我想说的是，我们看到了很多积极的发展势头。约翰·大卫提到1月份是本季度最为强劲的月份，我们山姆会员店的情况亦是如此。我们在会员价值主张方面进行了投资，这确实带来了回报，通过数字化互动，以及我们为会员打造的购物体验，让会员更轻松买到他们所需的任何商品，无论是食品、消耗品、日用百货还是服装，我们看到这些举措引起了会员的共鸣。

而且很有意思的是，我们的日用百货同店销售额已经连续三个季度实现增长了，尽管增长幅度仍有提升空间，但客单量增速超过了同店销售额增速。我们看到电视、科技产品和服装的销售表现强劲，那些超值商品的销售情况尤为亮眼。这种良好的态势并没有减弱的迹象。

沃尔玛国际执行副总裁、总裁兼首席执行官凯瑟琳·J·麦克雷：在国际业务方面，我想特别提及我们在日用百货领域的销售表现。第四季度，我们的销售情况极为强劲，尤其是在促销活动期间。以墨西哥和加拿大为例，顾客的反响异常热烈。在沃尔玛墨西哥的“Elfin Irresistible”促销活动期间，我们创下了有史以来单日销售额的最高纪录。这一成绩的取得，很大程度上得益于日用百货和服装品类的卓越表现。因此，我对目前的品类销售情况感到非常满意。

雷尼：凯特，我是约翰·大卫。我们显然有很多话要说。但我想直接回答你的问题。在过去的一年里，我们业务中日用百货的品类结构变化下降了约 100 个基点。我们假设今年的变化幅度约为去年的一半。尽管如此，我们对日用百货业务的发展前景感到非常兴奋。

我们之前没有提到的一点是，我们的全球电商业务所带来的益处。在我们的全球电商平台中，诸如汽车用品、玩具、露台用品等品类的增长率均超过20%。这些都是沃尔玛特有的例子，可能不仅仅是因为宏观经济环境使得顾客的消费预算相对宽松，更是因为我们在提供更丰富的商品种类方面所做的努力，让顾客购买更多的日用百货。

接线员：下一个问题来自摩根士丹利（Morgan Stanley）的西蒙·古特曼（Simeon Gutman）。

摩根士丹利研究部西蒙·古特曼：我的问题是关于再投资和加快业务增长的。之前提到电子商务的增量利润率为11%。看起来第四季度的企业利润率是7%。如果我们认为随着时间的推移，利润率存在上升压力。因此，既要以健康的速度进行再投资，又要加快盈利增长速度，两者显然可以兼得，董明伦几年前就提出过这一点。问题是，为什么不加快投资速度呢？因为如果增量利润率在上升，那么像市场营销和其他与电子商务相关的前期投入应该会带来更高的利润和回报。而且我记得约翰·大卫说过，我们在某些方面已经有所领先，如果您能就此展开谈谈，然后再讨论一下关于加快投资速度这个问题就好了。

雷尼：西蒙，感谢提问。我认为我们目前在投资和利润率提升之间找到了恰当的平衡点。在我们的业务中有一些基础性投资项目，比如对商品价格的投资以及对员工的投资，我们将持续进行这些投资。

近年来，我们在技术平台以及供应链自动化方面投入了大量资金。但实际上，正是这些投资推动了本季度业绩的提升。如果没有我们所做的这些投资，就不可能实现利润增速达到收入增速两倍的成绩。

因此，当我们展望未来几年时，我们无疑会看到像本季度的机遇和增量利润，甚至可能还有更多。但我们可以在为业务进行投资的同时做到这一点。我们不希望过分关注某一个季度的业绩表现，而牺牲长期投资。我们努力打造一家优秀的公司，持续努力将其建设成一家伟大的公司，并在很长一段时间内实现这样的回报，而这需要进行投资。

接线员：下一个问题来自BMO Capital Markets的凯莉·巴尼亚（Kelly Bania）。

BMO Capital Markets股票研究部凯莉·巴尼亚：董明伦和约翰·大卫，你们提出按固定汇率计算，息税前利润增长5%到7%，这是剔除了VIZIO交易和闰年因素带来的干扰后的预期。这一预期与过去几年保持一致，甚至可能略优于初始预期。但相对于你们今年取得的成绩和业务发展势头来说，这一预期似乎略显保守

所以我想请你们谈一谈两个因素。首先是关税问题，你们对关税的未来走势有何预期，消费者会对此做出怎样的反应，你们打算如何将关税成本转嫁出去，以及这是否会被认为是今年盈利的一个不利因素呢？另外，我认为你们所看到的加急订单的持续需求，一直在助力电商业务提高盈利能力。你们是否认为，这种需求趋势会持续保持同样的增速，或是在这方面有任何变化？

董明伦：好的，我先谈一下关税和加急订单的问题，然后再由约翰·大卫补充。正如我们一直说的，关税问题，一直以来都是我们密切关注并妥善应对的挑战。我们拥有一支优秀的团队，知道如何做到这一点。我们无法预测未来会发生什么，但我们能够有效应对各种挑战。而且我们的宗旨是努力为人们节省开支，这将是我们的终极目标。

这与配送速度有关，至关重要。我们在世界各地的客户和会员身上看到的行为，让我们对未来的可能性感到兴奋，我们的门店离顾客如此之近，这是一个巨大的优势，而且门店在提高订单质量和配送速度方面做得非常出色。我认为随着今年各项工作的进展，情况会越来越好。就像西蒙提到的，我们要保持灵活性。我们会对全年的情况进行把控，而不是在年初就制定好计划然后一成不变地执行。情况是会变化的。我的意思是，看看现在生成式人工智能的发展，以及用不同方式编写代码的机会。我们有机会节省成本、提高效率，并且能够灵活地决定在技术上投入多少资金，在哪些方面提高员工工资，以及这周在价格方面需要做哪些调整。我们的商业模式不断演变，这让我们有空间去实施我们的战略规划，不仅关注短期利益，更着眼于中长期的业务管理，同时每个季度都能实现利润增速超过销售额增速的目标。

雷尼：凯莉，我来说几点。我们的业绩指引中并未对关税做出明确的假设。我们觉得我们有能力应对关税问题。实际情况会不会和我们现在预期的不一样呢？有可能，但我们对自身的应对能力充满信心。

关于业绩指引，我们认为它与去年以及过去几年的情况存在相似之处。我们必须承认，我们正处于一个充满不确定性的时期。我们不想操之过急。这一年还有很长时间，很多事情都可能发生变化。我们对自己应对各种环境的能力很有信心，无论是关税问题还是其他宏观经济的不确定性。

在电商配送方面，与整体情况一样，我们将继续推进业务多元化，从而提高盈利能力。这里所说的新业务，比如广告、会员服务、沃尔玛配送服务等，对本季度营业收入增长的贡献超过了50%。所以你可以看到我们业务正在不断发生变化。

随着我们更多地利用这些数字渠道，业务中增长较快的部分往往也是利润率较高的部分。配送网络密集化是这一趋势的一个重要推动因素，所以你可以看到，随着越来越多的顾客使用我们提供的服务，比如当日达等，甚至愿意为一小时内或三小时内送达的服务付费，这将持续提升我们电商业务的盈利能力。

仅在美国，去年电子商务的亏损就减少了 80%。因此，我们对美国的业务变化感到非常满意。

董明伦：这种全渠道的布局确实是一大优势。我们的路边取货业务仍在增长，门店和会员店内的业务也在增长，而且配送业务也在增长，能够同时做好这些方面的业务是一个很大的优势。

接线员：下一个问题来自 Gordon Haskett 的查克·格罗姆（Chuck Grom）。

Gordon Haskett研究顾问查克·格罗姆：恭喜你们在本季度和本年度都取得了出色的业绩。我希望您能谈谈沃尔玛Plus会员计划的最新情况，以及最近几个季度是加速增长还是保持稳定？沃尔玛Plus会员的增长有多少是由沃尔玛Plus Assist服务推动的。另外，您能否谈谈您对明年食品杂货和日用百货的同店通胀率的基本假设？

沃尔玛美国执行副总裁、首席执行官兼总裁约翰·弗纳：我是约翰·弗纳。很高兴和你交流。我们仍然对沃尔玛Plus会员计划感到兴奋。在过去的几年里，该计划一直保持稳定增长，在过去的几个季度里，配送数量和订单数量持续攀升，这非常令人欣喜。

我想回应一下刚才讨论的一个点，结合上一个关于快速配送的问题，我们的3小时内和1小时内当日达配送业务同比增长了180%，这确实令人兴奋。因此，我们看到这项服务还在继续增长。这项服务的大一部分用户是沃尔玛Plus会员，他们从中感受到了实实在在的价值，因此也带来了较高的回头率。去年我们的当日达配送商品数量超过50亿件，全年增长超过100%。还有我们今天上午提到的第三件令人兴奋的事——药品配送计划开局良好。我们看到很多会员和顾客参与了这项计划。

我们认为，随着这一年的发展，这项计划会有很好的发展势头。看到很多顾客在享受处方药配送的同时，还会选购其他商品，这很令人兴奋。无论是孩子生病需要急性处方药，还是日常所需的普通处方药，顾客们在享受我们的处方药配送服务时，往往还会顺带选购其他商品，这确实令人倍感振奋。

然后回答你问题的第二部分，关于通货膨胀，我们预期今年将维持一个相对稳定的态势。我认为通货膨胀率将在1%到2%之间。当然，市场中也存在一些异常情况，比如当前鸡蛋价格的上涨，这主要是由于去年秋天禽流感疫情所引发的。随着时间的推移，市场供需会逐渐恢复平衡，价格也会相应回落。所以我们预计今年不会出现较高的通货膨胀率。

未知高管：是的。查克，也许我知道，你没问到这个问题，但既然我们在讨论会员制。山姆会员店的会员数量和续卡率创历史新高。这一成就的背后，离不开我们卓越的员工以及在会员价值主张上的持续投入。因此，我们今年的首年续卡率实现了数百个基点的增长。因此，当我们提及所有的对员工的投资和工资方面的投资时，现在我们看到了这些投入所带来的回报，员工流失率同比下降了1700个基点。所以，山姆会员店也有广阔的发展前景。

麦克雷：然后从国际业务角度来看会员制，比如山姆会员店的直接会员制，今年会员收入增长超过35%。所以山姆会员店中国的客户价值主张引发了消费者的强烈共鸣，但我们也从了解客户的角度来考虑会员制相关事宜。

在过去一年里，我们在墨西哥推出了一项名为Beneficios的项目，已有超过4500万顾客注册参与。这一项目增强了我们对顾客的了解，使我们能够为其提供个性化的服务和产品。

接线员：下一个问题来自D.A. Davidson的迈克·贝克（Mike Baker）。

D.A. Davidson研究部的迈克尔·艾伦·贝克：非常好。我想问一下整体的消费者环境，你们观察到了什么情况吗？我记得在（听不清）电话会议上，你曾说大选后消费者信心有所提升。董明伦，在12月的时候，你说过类似风云渐散之类的话。你现在还这么认为吗？在过去几个月里情况有什么变化吗？似乎现在的环境变得更动荡了。与此相关的是，我知道这个问题被问了很多次，但我还是要再问一次。您提到有5800种商品降价，这个数量似乎比前几个季度要少一点。请再给我们解释一下该如何看待这个问题呢？我认为你们并没有减少在价格方面的投资，但很想再听听你们的解释。

董明伦：麦克，我是董明伦。我先解释一下风云渐散那个说法。我当时说我们看到前方有乌云，但它们一直没有出现。现在，我仍然持有同样的观点，即我们看到的市场环境在很多方面都保持稳定。

弗纳：董明伦，我同意你对消费者环境的看法。情况非常稳定。我们提到过消费者具有韧性。虽然全年的商品品类结构略有变化，但过去几个季度的趋势确实让我们备受鼓舞。所以，鉴于我们为完善战略所做的一切努力，我们感到很乐观。以全渠道的方式为顾客提供服务是一件令人兴奋的事情。这意味着我们将随时准备好以任何顾客期望的方式满足他们的需求，无论是在门店、路边取货点还是他们家中，我们看到这些方面都在增长。

所以我们对任何环境变化都做好了准备。我们的团队经验丰富。在过去5到10年里，他们经历了无数的市场波动，并且知道如何完美应对各种情况。所以我们会根据情况实施不同的应对策略。我们还是认为消费者保持稳定且具有韧性。

接线员：下一个问题来自花旗集团（Citigroup）的保罗·莱朱埃兹（Paul Lejuez）。

花旗集团研究部的保罗·莱朱埃兹：你们提到第四季度的降价幅度有所降低。我很好奇这与原定计划有何关系，另外公司对2026年的促销形势有何预期，业绩指引中是否考虑了大量的价格投入？请再给我们讲讲今年的情况与年初预期相比会有怎样的变化？还有一个宏观层面的问题。几周前你们提到将增加在加拿大的投资。我很感兴趣，你们如何看待这一市场的长期发展机会？

弗纳：我是约翰，先回答关于利润率和降价的问题。对我们来说，根据顾客的购买需求来控制和管理库存至关重要，门店和配送中心团队以及供应链在库存流转方面表现优异。我们在门店和整个供应链中利用技术进行了多项改进，以便能够准确了解我们有哪些库存、库存在哪里，以及我们能以多快的速度为顾客调配这些库存。所以结果确实显示毛利率有所提升，我们对此深感自豪，但其中某些部分也至关重要——商品毛利率。此外，还有一些其他方面，比如广告收入以及新业务、新数字服务中能提高利润率的部分。所以对于核心利润率、核心降价管理，我们为自己的管理方式感到自豪。我对今年的库存情况感到非常满意。

从历史数据来看，50100种商品降价，这一数字非常庞大。而且数量每个季度都会有所波动。再次声明，过去几周新增的降价商品就达到了约1000种。无论是面对促销力度加大的情况，还是促销力度减小的情况，我们都已经做好了充分的准备。我们会专注于为顾客提供高性价比的商品，并且会尽一切努力控制价格，保持低价。

麦克雷：如果我来回答关于加拿大市场的问题，我想说我们对加拿大的营收增长感到满意。但对我来说，真正的亮点之一是电商业务业绩，实现了高达30%的增长。而且在过去一年里，每个季度都在持续加速。所以我们看到我们在加拿大提供的商品和服务真正引起了顾客的共鸣。

我们专注于提供高性价比的商品。我们推出了仅需40加元即可享受4人份的感恩节午餐套餐。因此，我们致力于确保价格定位合理，同时顾客也在便利性方面给予了积极回应。因此，我们对加拿大的业务前景感到无比兴奋。

接线员：下一个问题来自巴克莱银行（Barclays）的塞思·西格曼（Seth Sigman）。

巴克莱银行研究部的赛斯·西格曼：我想问一下VIZIO的情况。你们能否谈谈这里提到的股权稀释的部分细节，然后或许可以讨论一下整合计划，你们期望如何利用VIZIO平台呢？总体而言，你们觉得Walmart Connect广告业务的发展势头相当惊人。你们在拓展这项业务时一直秉持着严谨的态度。我只是好奇你们如何看待其增长前景？

雷尼：当然，赛斯。我们很高兴VIZIO团队能加入沃尔玛，也很期待这个新平台能为我们的客户带来的改变。第一季度，由于与该交易相关的成本，我们确实经历了股权稀释，大约70个基点。

但我们预计该交易从明年开始将为沃尔玛带来增值。这将为我们开辟接触客户的新渠道，使他们能够享受沃尔玛和山姆会员店提供的所有服务。不过，约翰，你还有什么要补充的吗？

弗纳：好的。对于VIZIO加入沃尔玛大家庭，我同样感到无比兴奋。我认识威廉和他的团队已经很长时间了，很高兴他们能成为我们的一员。VIZIO的操作系统给我留下了深刻的印象，它运行流畅、几乎没有障碍，易于设置和安装。我自己就有好几套VIZIO操作系统，自从我们开始讨论这项收购以来，我又购入了多套该操作系统。对于Walmart Connect业务来说，VIZIO的加入无疑将为卖家和供应商提供更多分发广告的途径，我确实非常满意，而且这对他们来说无疑是一个令人振奋的消息。我们希望能高效地做到这一点。所以我们已经开始整合进程。在接下来的一年里，随着团队有更多时间协同合作，我们将为这个品牌制定更宏大的计划。

接线员：下一个问题来自伯恩斯坦的马志涵。

伯恩斯坦研究部的马志涵：我想接着谈谈电子商务方面的问题。能否请您解释一下，在替代收入来源和降低核心电子商务成本方面，推动你们提高电子商务盈利能力的三大主要因素是什么？您提到零售媒体会员制推动了超过50%的息税前利润增长。您能否透露一下，目前高利润率的替代收入来源在息税前利润中所占的比例是多少？

雷尼：从你问题的最后一部分开始，我先提供几个数据点。仅看广告和会员这两个类别，这两类收入占我们本季度整体营业收入的四分之一多一点。因此，我们深受这些新业务发展的鼓舞。

至于电子商务盈利能力的驱动因素，我想列出以下几大因素，排名不分先后。一是我们配送网络的密集化。可以这样理解，我们的一名司机以前只向街上的一户人家运送包裹，而如今要向街上的四五户人家运送包裹。这样我们就能将成本分摊到更多的业务量上。随着越来越多的客户选择我们，这确实提高了单位经济效益。

第二点是，我们超过30%的门店配送客户愿意支付额外费用，以享受在1小时或3小时内送达服务。在平安夜，77%的订单都是这种快递类型。因此，这无疑有助于提高单位经济效益。第三点是我们业务中的这些新板块，比如会员制、广告业务，它们还有很大的发展空间，并能提高我们的利润率。

接线员：下一个问题来自富国银行（Wells Fargo）的爱德华·凯利（Edward Kelly）。

富国银行证券研究部的爱德华·凯利：我想先接着刚才关于电子商务经济的问题继续问。增量利润率约为11%，这无疑是一个令人满意的数字。但从长远来看，情况会怎样呢？它会增长吗？我们应该如何看待电子商务整体恢复盈利，或者我应该说，实现盈利？此外，从长远来看，我们还很好奇，像移民问题这样的问题，你们是如何考虑的？你认为今年会有什么影响吗？

董明伦：爱德华，我是董明伦。当你看第二张损益表时，正如我们所描述的，它最终会比第一张损益表更有利可图。第一张损益表是传统零售店损益表。当你把会员制、广告、数据货币化等电子商务组成部分，以及我们在拓展电子商务业务过程中能做的所有努力整合在一起时——顺便说一下，既有自营业务也有第三方业务，这会提升整个业务的营业收入百分比，而这正是正在发生的情况。

所以关键在于持续推动电子商务的增长，并以顾客期望的服务方式为其提供服务。正如我刚才提到的，全渠道的好处在于，无论人们当下期望以何种方式购物，我们都能满足其需求。你想去门店或会员店，我们就在你附近。

你想在路边取货，也可以。你想以各种方式送货上门，我们也能做到。至于移民问题，目前并没有对我们产生任何影响，没什么值得一提的。到目前为止，我们还没有遇到过这种情况。

接线员：下一个问题来自美国银行（Bank of America）的罗比·欧姆斯（Robbie Ohmes）。

美国银行证券研究部的罗伯特·欧姆斯：我想这个问题可能是问约翰·大卫·雷尼的。仅看运营费用，我记得第四季度不包括阿片类药物结算的话，运营费用增长了超过50个基点。能否请你为我们解读一下，我们应该如何看待沃尔玛的销售、一般及行政费用率，今年有哪些因素可能使它好于或差于预期，以及我们应该如何从长期角度看待沃尔玛的这一比率？

雷尼：好的，罗比。很高兴和你交流。首先，我认为我们需要了解我们的业务是如何变化的。我在事先准备好的发言中提到过，目前我们的电子商务业务占比已达到18%，比5年前高出了1100个基点。

与数字交易、电子商务交易相关的销售、一般及行政费用比实体业务要高。所以从历史上看，当我们的业务以实体为主时，我们认为将业务成本占比控制在20%或略低于20%是比较合理的。

随着我们的业务向数字化转型，这会带来压力。这只是一个渠道组合的问题。但与此同时，我们一如既往地高度关注天天低价。但我们也有机会对业务进行投资。以第四季度为例，我们在市场营销方面加大了投入。

这直接促进了日用百货业务的改善。但从根本上说，当你考虑我们未来成本结构时，其中一个重要驱动因素将是我们在供应链自动化方面看到的改进。我们已经取得了一些成效，部分早期生产率指标令人鼓舞。

但时至今日，美国只有不到一半的门店实现了完全自动化。因此，随着我们继续推进供应链和门店自动化，这将推动销售、一般及行政费用的改善，我们还将获得更多好处。

董明伦：我们非常期待在4月邀请大家参观达拉斯的设施。相信那些曾经参加过佛罗里达之行的朋友们，当亲眼目睹我们在达拉斯所取得的成就时，定会有类似的积极体验。

接线员：下一个问题来自杰富瑞（Corey Tarlowe）的科里·塔洛（Corey Tarlowe）。

杰富瑞研究部的科里·塔洛：董明伦，您之前提到有关PhonePe的一些令人振奋的消息。我想知道您能否分享一下关于该业务目前的增长或盈利方面的细节？还有一个问题，约翰·大卫，在您事先准备好的发言中，您提到投资回报率是一个耐人寻味的统计数据，我认为这是自2016年以来的最高水平。您能否谈谈您认为投资回报率还能达到多高的水平，以及在您考虑投资回报率的走势时，这些新投资处于怎样的位置？

麦克雷：我来回答关于PhonePe的问题。我的意思是，截至1月31日，PhonePe的总交易额达到了1.7万亿，每天的交易量约为3.1亿次。这是一个非常强大的业务，我们很高兴宣布他们将开始筹备首次公开募股。这对PhonePe来说是一个重要里程碑。我想它们今年也将迎来成立十周年纪念日。因此，它们的业务涵盖金融服务和技术解决方案，很高兴能够宣布这一消息。

雷尼：关于投资回报率，首先，我认为我们很幸运，作为一家有着63年历史的公司，我们有机会对自身进行投资并获得我们所看到的回报。我举了供应链自动化这个例子，但这样的例子还有很多，在某些情况下，这类投资的回报率接近20%。我们为自己设定了每年提高投资回报率的目标。

过去几年我们成功实现了这一目标。所以我希望在一段时间内，我们能够达到历史最高水平。但我们希望继续看到这些投资带来回报，使投资回报率不断上升。

接线员：下一个问题来自奥本海默（Oppenheimer）的鲁佩什·帕里克（Rupesh Parikh）。

奥本海默研究部的鲁佩什·帕里克：我长话短说。展望今年，我认为自由现金流与去年相比有所下降。我只是想了解一下，我们是否更接近自由现金流拐点？另外，我们确实看到了股息有所增加，所以能否分享一下资本配置方面的最新想法？

好的，我来回答这个问题。鲁佩什，很高兴和你交流。我们确实觉得在盈利和自由现金流方面，我们即将迎来拐点，因为随着我们整体业务结构的变化，这些变革所带来的正面效应正在逐渐显现。

希望我们的资本配置能够反映出我们对自身业务的信心和热情。我们宣布将股息提高13%。我们今年的计划是，预计股票回购数量将超过去年。当然，如果今天公告的初步反应有任何指示意义的话，我们目前也有机会这样做。但我们也会通过资本支出对业务进行投资。所以我认为，未来我们可以在向股东返还现金和对自身进行投资之间找到完美的平衡。

接线员：问答环节到此结束，下面请管理层做总结发言。

董明伦：好的，我是董明伦。约翰·大卫刚才提到了我们公司的历史。我脑海中想到的是，我们感觉自己依然年轻。看看公司发生的事情，无论是我们在技术方面的举措，还是搬到新办公地点，都充满了新鲜感和新气象，而且这种发展势头正推动着我们前进。

我们非常高兴地看到，第四季度的持续增长势头在业绩中得以体现。显然，我们以帮助人们节省开支而闻名，但如今，我们同样重视为顾客节省时间，这一点对于推动我们的业务增长至关重要。我们的团队不仅在短期内实现了客单量增长、市场份额提升、价格投资和库存管理等目标，更为公司的长期发展奠定了基础。同时，我们还实现了投资回报率的增长。这一点给我留下了深刻印象，我对此深表感激。

在国际业务方面，我们目前所取得的成就确实令人赞叹不已。这一板块展现出了无比光明的前景，在过去几年持续强劲增长的基础上，今年更是取得了令人瞩目的业绩。三个业务细分领域都取得了亮眼的业绩。所以我们觉得今年开局形势一片大好，我们将继续保持积极进取的态度，充分利用当前的有利时机。感谢大家的参与。

接线员：今天的会议到此结束。现在大家可以挂断电话了。再次感谢大家的参与。（财富中文网）

译者：中慧言-王芳

尽管该公司在疫情和通货膨胀期间始终保持低价，并因给中层管理人员加薪高达62万美元而广受赞誉，但投资者对其不尽如人意的增长预期并不满意。

以下是本次电话会议的要点，随后是完整的财报电话会议记录。

• 沃尔玛公司公布，2025年第四季度销售额增长5.2%，按固定汇率计算，调整后营业收入增长9.4%。

• 该公司宣布将股息上调13%，创十多年来的最大涨幅，彰显了对股东丰厚的现金回报。

• 沃尔玛公司预计2026财年合并净销售额将增长3-4%，考虑到闰年带来的负面影响和VIZIO销售带来的积极贡献。

• 该公司正在大力投资门店的翻新和建设，以提升客户体验并扩大数字订单覆盖范围。

• 沃尔玛表示，尽管鸡蛋、培根和碎牛肉等食品品类存在局部通胀，但该公司仍致力于通过回调来降低价格。

• 沃尔玛的数字支付平台PhonePe正筹备在印度进行首次公开募股，这凸显了该公司在金融科技领域的扩张。

• 汽车、玩具和露台品类的增长率均超过20%。

• 山姆会员店在客户满意度方面位居榜首，会员收入增长超过35%，续卡率创历史新高。

我们在各个国家和不同收入阶层的市场份额不断扩大。整体市场交易量和客单量均呈现上升趋势，这与今年前三季度保持一致。

纵观全年。按固定汇率计算，合并收入增长5.6%，较去年增加约360亿美元。

去年，全球广告业务增长 27%，达到约 44 亿美元。沃尔玛美国全球电商收入增长37%，其中近 45% 的订单由沃尔玛配送服务完成配送。

值得注意的是，我们发现各收入阶层的消费者参与度均有所提升，其中高收入家庭继续成为我们市场份额增长的主要驱动力。

通过店内“即扫即走”（Scan & Go）和Jusco Exit塔等技术便利措施，以及电商渠道，我们正在部署数字化解决方案，以在仓储式会员店领域脱颖而出。

我们预计资本支出将占销售额的3%至3.5%，我们将投资于技术以优化供应链，对门店进行改造，并在美国和某些国际市场开设新门店和会员店。

正如我们过去所说，营业收入增速超过销售额增速的情况可能不会每个季度都出现，但从企业整体层面来看，我们预计这一情况每年都会出现。

问答环节

接线员：第一个问题来自瑞银集团（UBS）的迈克尔·拉瑟（Michael Lasser）。

接线员：下一个问题来自高盛集团（Goldman Sachs）的凯特·麦克沙恩（Kate McShane）。

接线员：下一个问题来自摩根士丹利（Morgan Stanley）的西蒙·古特曼（Simeon Gutman）。

接线员：下一个问题来自BMO Capital Markets的凯莉·巴尼亚（Kelly Bania）。

仅在美国，去年电子商务的亏损就减少了 80%。因此，我们对美国的业务变化感到非常满意。

接线员：下一个问题来自 Gordon Haskett 的查克·格罗姆（Chuck Grom）。

接线员：下一个问题来自D.A. Davidson的迈克·贝克（Mike Baker）。

接线员：下一个问题来自花旗集团（Citigroup）的保罗·莱朱埃兹（Paul Lejuez）。

接线员：下一个问题来自巴克莱银行（Barclays）的塞思·西格曼（Seth Sigman）。

接线员：下一个问题来自伯恩斯坦的马志涵。

接线员：下一个问题来自富国银行（Wells Fargo）的爱德华·凯利（Edward Kelly）。

接线员：下一个问题来自美国银行（Bank of America）的罗比·欧姆斯（Robbie Ohmes）。

接线员：下一个问题来自杰富瑞（Corey Tarlowe）的科里·塔洛（Corey Tarlowe）。

接线员：下一个问题来自奥本海默（Oppenheimer）的鲁佩什·帕里克（Rupesh Parikh）。

接线员：问答环节到此结束，下面请管理层做总结发言。

接线员：今天的会议到此结束。现在大家可以挂断电话了。再次感谢大家的参与。（财富中文网）

译者：中慧言-王芳

Walmart Inc. President and CEO Doug McMillon delivers a keynote address during CES 2024 at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas on Jan. 9, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Ethan Miller—Getty Images

Walmart leadership remained optimistic on a Q4 earnings call Thursday, reporting 5.2% sales growth and a 13% dividend increase, marking the largest rise in over a decade. However, results weren’t strong enough to sway investor concern over weaker projected growth. Walmart shares dipped about 6% as the company predicted weaker growth in 2025 because of inflation-weary consumers and looming tariff threats. In another blow to the company, Walmart reported lower quarterly revenue than Amazon for the first time ever.

While the company maintained low prices throughout the pandemic and periods of inflation, and garnered praise for its pay bumps of up to $620,000 for middle managers, investors are not pleased with its less than stellar projections.

Despite some headwinds, Walmart executives touted its improvements in same-day deliveries and digital optimization. “If I could change anything about how we’re perceived today, it’d be that more people know about our breadth of assortment online and our increasing delivery speed,” CEO Doug McMillon said. E-commerce sales grew 16% globally in Q4 and its AI tools saved 4 million developer hours last year, according to McMillon.

Walmart also highlighted its new home office buildings in Bentonville, Arkansas, after recently announcing layoffs and relocation orders for hundreds of employees. McMillon said the company’s plans are bringing fresh momentum to the 63-year-old business. “We feel young. Like if you look at what’s happening around the company, whether it’s what we’re doing with tech or moving to this new office location, there’s a lot of freshness and newness and the momentum is helping to fuel that.”

See key takeaways from the call below, followed by the full earnings transcript.

• Walmart Inc. reported a sales growth of 5.2% and a 9.4% increase in adjusted operating income in constant currency for Q4 2025.

• The company announced a 13% dividend increase, marking the largest rise in over a decade, emphasizing strong cash returns to shareholders.

• Walmart Inc. anticipates a 3-4% growth in consolidated net sales for FY 2026, inclusive of negative impacts from leap year and positive contributions from VIZIO sales.

• The company is making significant investments in remodeling and constructing store locations to enhance the customer experience and expand digital order reach.

• Walmart says it’s focused on bringing down pricing through rollbacks despite pockets of food inflation in areas like eggs, bacon, and ground beef.

• Walmart’s digital payments platform PhonePe is preparing for an IPO in India, highlighting the company’s expansion in fintech.

• Automotive, toys, and patio categories each grew over 20%.

• Sam’s Club achieved #1 in customer satisfaction, with membership income increasing over 35% and record-high renewal rates.

Operator: Greetings. Welcome to Walmart’s Fourth Quarter Fiscal Year 2025 Earnings Call. Please note this conference is being recorded. At this time, I’ll now turn the conference over to Steph Wissink, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations. Steph, you may begin.

Stephanie Wissink: Thank you. Welcome, everyone. We appreciate you joining us and your interest in Walmart. Joining me today from our home office in Bentonville are Walmart’s CEO, Doug McMillon; and CFO, John David Rainey. Doug and John David will first share their views on the quarter, and then we’ll open up the line for your questions. During the question-and-answer portion, we will be joined by our segment CEOs, John Furner from Walmart U.S.; Kath McLay from Walmart International; and Chris Nicholas from Sam’s Club. For additional detail on our results, including highlights by segment, please see our earnings release and accompanying presentation on our website. We will make every effort to answer as many of your questions as we can in the hour we have scheduled for this call.

[Operator Instructions]. Today’s call is being recorded, and management may make forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the factors identified in our filings with the SEC. Please review our press release and accompanying slide presentation for a cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statements as well as our entire safe harbor and non-GAAP reconciliations on our website at stock.walmart.com. Doug, that concludes my intro. We’re ready to begin.

Douglas McMillon, President, CEO & Director: Good morning, and thanks for joining us. We finished the year with another quarter of strong results. Our associates are doing a great job serving our customers and members. For the quarter, we had sales growth of 5.2% and adjusted operating income was up 9.4% in constant currency.

We continue to gain market share across countries and income levels. As with the first 3 quarters of the year, transaction counts and unit volumes were up across markets.

As we look at our results for the quarter and the year, we’re pleased to see, first, a healthy top line. We’re strengthening our ability to serve people how they want to be served in the moment. That’s what’s driving our growth. Our prices are low, and we’re becoming more convenient. Customers are shopping with us more often and buying more items, including in general merchandise categories, which were up low single digits in Walmart U.S. and Sam’s U.S. for the quarter.

Second, we’re growing profit faster than sales, and we have runway to scale our higher-margin businesses like membership, marketplace and advertising. We’re mixing ourselves up, while simultaneously investing in lower prices and associate wages.

Third, we’re able to improve ROI even as we invest higher levels of capital to take advantage of the opportunities we see to strengthen the company. All 3 segments of our business had a good year. I’m proud of our leaders and all of our associates. They earned it. They’re learning, they’re acting fast and they’re working hard.

For the quarter and the year, we’re pleased with our performance during the holiday seasons around the world. We performed well in the U.S., Mexico, Canada and in China, where Sam’s Club just wrapped up a strong Lunar New Year.

We also performed well in India. And I’d like to share the news that PhonePe, our fintech business, is making preparations for an IPO in India. Our PhonePe team has long aspired to be a public company, and we’re excited to be taking these early steps. As a company, we drove a lot of volume during the holidays and ended with our inventory level in good shape, up 2.8%. As always, we’re working hard to help bring down prices. In Walmart U.S. last year, we had over 22,000 rollbacks. We’re wired to help people save money and live better.

The work we’re doing to expand our assortment is another reason for our growth as more customers are finding what they’re looking for. In addition to low prices and a growing assortment to choose from, we’re focused on delivery, speed and accuracy. If I could change anything about how we’re perceived today, it’d be that more people know about our breadth of assortment online and our increasing delivery speed.

For Walmart U.S., we recently announced same-day pharmacy delivery and the early response has been strong. Customers love being able to get a basket of items delivered to their door that includes fresh, frozen, general merchandise and now pharmacy. And because we’re so close to them, they can get it fast.

Sam’s Club recently launched new shipping offer, including free same or next-day delivery from the club. Members asked for it and the team delivered. Listening to our members and solving what they want is a big reason why Sam’s was recently ranked #1 in customer satisfaction for retailers and the latest American Customer Satisfaction Index.

Around the world, we’re making great progress on delivering goods faster to customers and members. We’re taking learnings from markets like China and quickly standing up fast delivery solutions in other markets. We continue to be excited about our investments in supply chain automation, and we’ll share even more on that topic during our investor conference in April.

These past few quarters, we’ve talked about how we’re using AI. The progress we’ve made over the years with technology has put us in a position to leverage today’s fast-moving capabilities closer to real-time. I’m very proud of Suresh, our tech team and all our leaders for how they’re leaning in to adapt quickly.

Today, I’d like to share 2 more examples. The first is related to a new AI agent for our merchants called learning to help us get to the root cause of issues related to things like out of stocks or overstocks with more accuracy and speed.

Second. For developers on our tech team, we now have new coding assistance and completion tools that are helping streamline deployments and deliver code faster with fewer bugs. Last year, these tools helped us save about 4 million developer hours. This year, we plan to make these tools available to all developers in North America and India.

As we become more productive and reduce the amount of time we work on routine tasks that gives us time to develop tools that help us grow the business and move faster. I love how we’re changing how we think and work without changing who we are. I can see us getting faster.

Earlier this year, we began opening some of our new home office buildings in Bentonville. We’ll be transitioning to the new home office throughout the year. It’s an exciting time. It’s also a time to remember the special things about this company that we want to strengthen and perpetuate.

Moving to a new location doesn’t change who we are. Cultural characteristics like leadership, humility and a sense of urgency remain critical. Operating with an everyday low cost culture and mindset is as important as ever. We have a meaningful purpose of saving people money and helping them to live better. And we have a set of timeless values that shape our culture regardless of the address of our home office.

Characteristics and beliefs like these drive our results and make us unique. I hope you’ll come see your home office when you visit during our associate and shareholders week in June and that you’ll feel the momentum. We know who we are, and we like where we’re going. We feel like we’re just getting started. Here’s John David.

John David Rainey, Executive VP & CFO: Thanks, Doug. I’m excited to discuss our fourth quarter and full year performance, provide some context on how we’re executing against our strategic priorities and offer our outlook for the first quarter and full fiscal year 2026.

Let’s start with the headline. Walmart delivered another strong quarter, exceeding our sales, profit and earnings expectations. This performance reflects the strength of our business model and the dedicated work of our associates around the globe.

Our focus remains on delivering value to customers and members while driving sustainable growth for shareholders. Customers continue to respond to our value proposition as we provide lower prices, a broader assortment and greater levels of convenience. With improved customer experience, we’re earning their trust and seeing share gains as a result.

Looking at the full year. Consolidated revenue grew 5.6% in constant currency, adding approximately $36 billion versus last year.

Adjusted operating income increased nearly 10% in constant currency, and adjusted EPS was up 13%. Currency was a headwind to reported sales of approximately $3.2 billion or 50 basis points to growth and pressured EPS by about $0.02. Our business model is delivering as it’s designed to do. This is the second consecutive year that we’ve grown sales more than 5% and operating income meaningfully faster.

Relative to our plan, our performance has been broad-based across segments. E-commerce economics continue to improve, most notably in Walmart U.S. Our newer digital businesses have contributed to faster growth and more diversification of our product mix.

Over the last year, global advertising grew 27% to about $4.4 billion. Walmart U.S. Marketplace revenue grew 37% with nearly 45% of orders fulfilled by WFS.

And lastly, global membership income grew 21% to about $3.8 billion. Over our planning horizon, the growth of this portfolio is expected to be one of the largest drivers of operating income growing faster than sales. These new profit streams allow us to fund investments in our core business while also expanding our operating margins.

Return on investment improved approximately 50 basis points to 15.5%, a level last achieved in 2016. CapEx totaled $23.8 billion. Our investments in stores and clubs through remodels and new construction have improved customer and member experience and have enabled us to broaden our last mile catchment area for digital orders. Investments in supply chain automation and productivity are expected to lower our cost to serve, which supports our EDLP commitment.

Cash flow remained strong. And as we announced this morning, we’re pleased to raise the dividend by 13% this year, the largest increase in over a decade, reinforcing our commitment to strong cash returns to shareholders. Our business has transformed over the past 5 years, and we’re benefiting from the investments we’ve made in our core omni-retail business.

Global e-commerce penetration is now 18% of sales, about 1,100 basis points higher than it was in FY ’20. In the U.S. specifically, we’ve built marketplace capabilities to broaden our assortment while also growing the average number of e-commerce orders fulfilled from stores by over 500 million orders without new store growth during that time period.

We’re utilizing our stores in new ways to serve more customers and maximize returns, but we obviously don’t have a stores-only approach for fulfillment. We’re growing our fulfillment center capacity, including through investments in FC automation in parallel. While the shift in channel mix creates some cost pressure as we fulfill more orders through e-commerce, we’ve seen improved profitability during this period with efficiencies gained as we densify our delivery routes and with the contributions from newer businesses that are enabled by e-commerce growth. We’ve achieved this despite the margin pressure from merchandise category mix of sales shifting towards grocery and health and wellness and away from general merchandise as consumer wallets have been stretched over the past couple of years. The way we’ve designed and grown our evolving business model with more diversified and durable sources of profit like advertising and membership has enabled us to grow operating income faster than sales despite these headwinds.

Turning to our quarterly performance. For the fourth quarter, consolidated revenue increased more than 5% in constant currency, driven by strong results across segments, aided by 16% e-commerce growth. Currency headwinds reduced reported sales by over $2 billion or 120 basis points of growth.

Walmart U.S. comp sales increased 4.6% including e-commerce sales growth of 20% with ongoing share gains across categories. Comp growth was led by increased customer transactions in both stores and e-commerce. Grocery remains a standout category with mid-single-digit growth, and we saw mid-teens growth in health and wellness due largely to GLP-1 sales, which contributed about 0.1 to the segment comp, consistent with prior quarters. We’re encouraged by the improvement in general merchandise, where we had low single-digit comp sales growth for the second consecutive quarter, including strength in hardlines, toys, home and fashion.

U.S. customers remain resilient, exhibiting behaviors that have been largely consistent over the past year. As always, people are looking for value and they want to save time. Becoming more convenient is helping to drive our growth.

During the quarter, we expanded our store fulfilled delivery catchment areas to now reach 93% of U.S. households with same-day delivery. The popularity of expedited delivery has resulted in more than 30% of orders coming from customers and members that elected to pay a convenience fee to receive their scheduled delivery in less than 1 hour or less than 3 hours.

We’re also encouraged by the initial response to our launch of same-day pharmacy delivery. We’re the first to integrate pharmacy, general merchandise and grocery in a single online order and have gained new pharmacy customers with this service. Our focus on bringing down pricing through rollbacks continues despite pockets of food inflation in areas like eggs, bacon and ground beef. Like-for-like pricing in general merchandise and consumables was deflationary, while food remained inflationary in the low single digits.

We’re seeing higher engagement across income cohorts with upper income households continuing to account for the majority of share gains. Our international business in constant currency delivered sales growth of 5.7% reflecting strength in China, Walmex and Canada, while operating income grew faster.

We saw positive traffic and unit growth across markets with sales strength in general merchandise during festive events. As expected, the timing of Flipkart’s Big Billion days event negatively affected year-over-year sales comparisons. Outside of India, e-commerce sales grew more than 20% across all markets.

Speed of delivery continues to be important to customers. In the past 12 months, International delivered over 2.3 billion items same day or next day, which is an increase of over 30% with about 45% of those items delivered in under 3 hours.

And our business in China continued to grow double digits with strength in Sam’s Club and e-commerce. Sam’s Club U.S. comp sales ex fuel increased 6.8%, with strong growth in transaction and unit volumes, including increased penetration of members mark. Ecommerce grew 24%, including triple-digit growth in club fulfilled delivery, as new perks like express delivery and the elimination of curbside pickup fees for the club membership level continue to resonate with members.

With tech-enabled convenience prevalent both inside the club through Scan & Go and Jusco Exit towers as well as via e-commerce, we are deploying digital solutions to differentiate ourselves in the warehouse club channel.

From a margin standpoint, consolidated gross margin expanded 53 basis points. In our press release and earnings presentation, you’ll see new disclosure regarding gross margins by segment. In Walmart U.S. improved gross margins reflected strong inventory management as well as lower levels of markdowns and improvement in business mix that has allowed us to manage pricing aligned to competitive price gaps and offset sustained merchandise category mix pressure.

Gross margins in International benefited from the timing shift of Flipkart’s Big Billion Day event. As our business model evolves, it’s encouraging to see our profitability improve from a diverse set of offerings. Globally, e-commerce economics continued to improve in Q4, aided by an approximately 20% reduction in U.S. net delivery cost per order.

We also continued to diversify our profit composition through business mix, as we skilled advertising, membership, marketplace and fulfillment and data analytics and insights. Our global advertising business increased 29%, led by 24% growth from Walmart Connect in the U.S. We’re making good progress on expanding the number of U.S. marketplace sellers that also utilize Walmart Connect advertising with seller advertising counts up about 50% versus last year.

We’re also excited about the addition of VIZIO and its SmartCast operating system to our portfolio of advertising capabilities. VIZIO will help us serve customers in new ways to enhance their shopping journeys while also creating new opportunities for advertisers to connect with customers and boost product discovery, empowering brands to realize greater impact from their advertising spend with Walmart.

Membership income was up 16% across the enterprise. In the U.S., Sam’s Club continued to grow membership count and increase its penetration of Plus members, resulting in more than 12% membership income growth, while Walmart Plus membership income grew double digits. Within International, membership income from Sam’s Club China grew more than 35% as member counts continue to increase, helped by the opening of 4 new clubs in Q4.

For Marketplace and Walmart fulfillment services, in the U.S. marketplace grew 34%, continuing the strong trends we’ve seen all year. With the broader assortment of the general merchandise brands and items customers want, marketplace sales and home management, automotive and seasonal all grew more than 20%. And with our low-cost fulfillment offering for sellers, WFS penetration reached record highs of nearly 50%, which is up nearly 600 basis points versus last year.

Outside the U.S., we’re seeing similar encouraging trends in both Mexico and Canada, the number of WFS sellers increased over 20% and sales of items delivered through WFS grew over 85%. Within data analytics and insights, Walmart Data Ventures continues to grow rapidly with net sales up double digits. Our client base nearly doubled over the past year, and we’re excited about continuing to broaden our reach to new markets with the launch of the platform in Canada.

SG&A expenses deleveraged 46 basis points in the quarter. Walmart U.S. deleverage was primarily driven by the timing of tech investments, increased variable pay as we exceeded planned performance and higher marketing and utilities cost. Transaction-related expenses for the VIZIO acquisition also impacted the quarter and were not considered in our guidance.

In addition, International was impacted by the timing shift of Flipkart’s BBD event. And Sam’s Club U.S. was affected by the previously announced wage investments. While wage investments will pressure profit at Sam’s for a couple of quarters, we’re pleased with the member response tied to increased renewals as well as the improvement in associate turnover.

We’re continuing to optimize our business to deliver greater efficiency, and we’re committed to balancing ongoing investments with improved returns for customers, associates and shareholders. Our business model provides the ability to fund wage investments for associates and price investments for customers, while also delivering on our financial framework.

Summarizing the quarter, in constant currency, sales grew over 5% and adjusted operating income grew more than 9%, both exceeding the upper bound of our guided ranges. Adjusted EPS of $0.66 compared favorably to our expectations and reflected strong underlying business performance and lower tax expense. Reported EPS included headwinds of approximately $0.01 from currency and nearly $0.01 from costs related to the acquisition of VIZIO.

Now let me turn to guidance. We’ve been operating in a highly dynamic backdrop for several years, and we expect this year to be no different. Our outlook assumes a relatively stable macroeconomic environment, but acknowledges that there are still uncertainties related to consumer behavior and global economic and geopolitical conditions. As a result, we’ve taken a similar approach to our initial guidance for you for the year as we have in the past couple of years, balancing known risk with what we can control.

We remain confident that Walmart is well positioned to navigate as it has over the last several years, while continuing to deliver value for customers and shareholders alike. For fiscal year 2026, we expect consolidated net sales growth of approximately 3% to 4%, including the negative impact from lapping leap year and the favorable contribution from VIZIO sales.

Operating income is projected to grow faster than sales at 3.5% to 5.5%, including 150 basis points of negative impacts for the VIZIO acquisition related to integration investments and transition costs as well as from lapping leap year.

Adjusted EPS is expected to be in the range of $2.50 to $2.60. This includes a headwind from currency of approximately $0.05 per share and a higher effective tax rate compared to last year. Recall that we guide sales and operating income growth on a constant currency basis. volatility and currency rates had a meaningful impact on last year’s results.

If current exchange rates were to prevail for the full year, we would expect a headwind of approximately 100 basis points to sales growth and approximately 150 basis points to operating income growth, with more significant headwinds in the first half, given the degree of change in exchange rates versus last year.

We expect CapEx to range between 3% and 3.5% of sales, as we invest in technology to optimize our supply chain, remodel stores and open new stores and clubs in both the U.S. and certain international markets.

For the first quarter, it’s important to note that our year-over-year comparisons can have an outsized impact on quarterly growth rates. We expect consolidated net sales growth of 3% to 4% in constant currency. This includes the negative effect of approximately 100 basis points to sales growth from lapping leap year and accounts for the shift in Easter timing from Q1 into Q2 in our international portfolio, namely Walmex.

Operating income is projected to grow 0.5% to 2% in constant currency, including the approximately 70 basis point headwind from the VIZIO acquisition as well as the 250 basis point headwind to growth from lapping Leap Day. Our operating income guidance also takes into account the Easter timing shift and lapping last year’s consumer stimulus timing in Q1 for Walmex.

All of these items affect the year-over-year growth rates. But let me emphasize, our core business is still performing very strong. On a 2-year stack basis, the midpoint of our guidance would suggest operating income growth of 15%. Reflecting strength and consistency in the underlying business, we expect Enterprise net sales and operating income growth to be relatively consistent across quarters after adjusting for calendar impacts. Additionally, we expect first half sales and operating income to grow in the range of our full year guidance.

Notably, if current exchange rates were to stay where they are for the entire first quarter, we would expect a headwind of approximately 150 basis points of sales growth and approximately 250 basis points to operating income growth. First quarter EPS range is expected to be $0.57 to $0.58. This includes a headwind from currency of approximately $0.02 per share in a higher effective tax rate versus last year.

As we’ve said in the past, the relationship of operating income growing faster than sales may not occur every quarter that we expect the framework to hold on an annual basis at the enterprise level.

Before I turn it over to questions, I want to take a moment to thank our associates around the world for their hard work this past quarter and throughout fiscal year 2025. Their dedication and commitment to serving our customers and members every day is what makes Walmart such a special company.

As we look ahead to fiscal year 2026, and I speak for the whole team here, we’re incredibly excited about our business. It’s not to say that there aren’t challenges ahead, but our strategy is the right one. This team is executing on it. We’re serving our customers and members better than ever before, and our associates and shareholders are benefiting, and yet in some ways, it feels like we’re just getting started. We appreciate your interest in our company and are now ready to take your questions.

Question and Answer

Operator: And our first question is from the line of Michael Lasser with UBS.

Michael Lasser, UBS Investment Bank, Research Division: Over the last several quarters, as Walmart was in the early stages of generating returns from the longer-term investments that it’s been making, it appeared that the company was more insulated to the macro as it was gaining significant market share. Now is Walmart entering a phase where there’s just simply more economic sensitivity to the model or perhaps even less of a countercyclical benefit? And how is this factored into the sales and EPS guidance for 2026? And if this macroeconomic sensitivity results in a sales shortfall, what would be the course of action? It may be helpful to frame this with some insight into how the exit rate for fiscal 2025 unfolded.

McMillon: Michael, this is Doug. I’ll respond quickly and then hand it over to John David. Basically, we feel the same way we have been feeling. Customers members are going to be looking for value. They’re going to be looking for convenience, the changes that we’re making in the company continue to have us appealing to them in those respects in an even better way.

So our confidence level is high. I’m really pleased to see such a strong quarter, being up 5% and up 9% on the bottom line, feels really good. Great to see that the momentum is still there. Stores and clubs still driving volume, e-commerce changes are happening. So I think it’s really consistent in terms of our view of how we look at the external environment.

Rainey: Sure, Michael. This is John David. With respect to the sensitivity of our model to the macro environment, I hope investors think differently about Walmart because our customers and members are telling us that they do. We’re not just known for value, we’re also increasingly known for convenience. Our business is performing well. You asked about how we exited the year. January was actually our strongest comp in the U.S. business. But this increased relevance translates into improved financial performance for us as well. As we grow these digital businesses like e-commerce, the incremental margins in our e-commerce business globally for us in the quarter were 11% twice the rate — over twice the rate of what our overall margin is. But let me address what is maybe the question behind the question as it relates to the outlook for next year.

Our business outperformed on virtually every operational and financial metric in the quarter. We feel like we’re performing exceptionally well. The guidance that we provided, we feel is very consistent with what we’ve done in prior years. Keep in mind, each of the last 2 years, we’ve guided operating income of 4% to 6% growth annually. This year, if you normalize for the effect of leap day in the VIZIO transaction, our guidance suggests an outlook of 5% to 7%, that reflects how we all feel about this business. We’re really excited about what the year holds for us and what we can do there. We’re 1 month into the year. So I think it’s prudent to have an outlook that is somewhat measured. We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves.

There is certainly some unpredictability in any environment that we have. But we feel really good about our ability to navigate that. We feel really good about our relevance with customers. And we feel really good about how our business model is changing to inflect our profits upwards.

McMillon: Yes. When you take that noise out of the guidance, you can see that we’re stepping things up a bit. I think that reflects our confidence. And to be in the position we’re in right now with this momentum on the top line and the bottom line and inventory levels being so healthy, we feel like we’re in a great spot to start the year.

The 2.8% increase in inventory is what we would want. Our in-stock levels look good. We did pull a little bit forward around the edges, but we’re selling through that stuff quickly. So really in a good place to begin February.

Operator: Our next question is from the line of Kate McShane with Goldman Sachs.

Katharine McShane, Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., Research Division: Like you had mentioned in the prepared comments that gross margins are still being impacted by mix. How should we think about the mix impact to gross margin in this upcoming fiscal year, especially as general merchandise growth continues to improve? And just as a second question to that, for your alternative revenue businesses. Have any of those businesses now reached scale? And if not, would you expect them to reach scale in fiscal year ’25?

McMillon: I think we got a lot of room to run on the newer businesses. I mean you can see our shares are really low. It would be great to have general merchandise be strong. You guys might want to comment a little bit on what you’re seeing right now?

Furner: Kate, it’s John. Thanks for the question. I would just start by saying that I’m really proud of our associates and our team for the quarter that they just had, up 4.6%. That compares to 4% a year ago. And really excited about the way they’re taking care of customers and momentum that they have. In terms of mix, we did have in the material that we are encouraged by the recent couple of quarters in general merchandise. We’re seeing better sales, better units. We’re seeing unit flow through all across the box, which is great. We measure ourselves in units to ensure that we’re delivering for customers. Doug mentioned inventory performance being up just about 3%. We’re really pleased with that performance. As mentioned, our in-stock is better. selling through and seasonal sell-through has been really strong in the last couple of quarters, which has helped our gross margin. Obviously, that results in savings of markdowns.

And on pricing, I just — I would just say, again, thanks to the team we have over 5,800 rollbacks in stores today. Over 1,000 of those are new in just the last couple of weeks. So we remain focused on value. And I think we’re in a really good position to be able to deliver flexibly for customers any way they want to deliver. And the team has done a great job understanding all the moving pieces and how they build that into the cost structure. And I’m really proud of the way the team is positioned going into this year.

Christopher Nicholas, Executive VP, President & CEO of Sam’s Club U.S.: Yes. I think — it’s Chris Nicholas here, Kate. What I would say is — we are seeing a lot of momentum. John David talked about January being the strongest month of the quarter, and we saw the same thing, too. We’re investing across the member value proposition, and it’s really paying dividends and making it easier through digital engagement, making it easier through the member experience we’re creating to buy everything you want, whether it’s groceries, whether it’s consumables, whether it’s general merchandise or apparel, we see all resonating.

And it’s interesting. We’re seeing our third quarter of GM comp growth, even though it’s still a little deflated, so units are running ahead of comps. And we’re seeing strength in TVs and technology and apparel. So we’re seeing good strength on incredible items at incredible value. So it’s not getting old.

Kathryn J. McLay, Executive VP, President & CEO of Walmart International: And I would just say, across international, as I look at kind of GM sales, we had really strong GM sales in Q4, particularly in events. So if I look across Mexico and Canada, we saw really strong response from our customers. We had our largest sales day ever in Walmex in — during Elfin Irresistible. And a lot of the cells that we saw, particularly were coming through GM and apparel. So happy with how that’s all mixing out.

Rainey: Kate, this is John David. We obviously have a lot to say about this since we’re all talking. But I want to directly answer your question. Over the last year, the mix change for general merchandise in our business was down about 100 basis points. We’re assuming this year is about half of that. But we’re quite excited about what we’re doing in general merchandise.

One of the things that we didn’t mention was the benefit that our marketplace is providing there. We have categories in our marketplace business like automotive, toys, patio that are all growing north of 20%. So these are good examples of that are specific to Walmart and maybe not just a general macro effect of customers maybe not having their wallet stretched as much, but things that we’re doing to provide better assortment where our customers are buying more general merchandise.

Operator: Our next question is from the line of Simeon Gutman with Morgan Stanley.

Simeon Gutman, Morgan Stanley, Research Division: My question is on reinvesting and growing the business faster. It was mentioned that the e-commerce incremental margins were 11%. It looks like the enterprise in Q4 was 7%. And if we think there’s upward pressure on this over time. So the idea of reinvesting at a healthy rate and growing earnings faster, you can clearly do both, which Doug called out a couple of years ago. The question is, why not invest faster? Because if incremental margins are rising, then top-of-funnel things like marketing and plus and anything related to e-commerce should be even more profitable and higher returns. And I think John David said, we’re leading in a little bit, if you could speak to that and then talk about this debate of investing at a faster rate.

Rainey: Simeon, thanks for the question. I feel that we’re striking the right balance right now between investment and margin expansion. There are some table-stake items in our business, and that’s investing in price, investing in our associates. We’re always going to do that.

Over the more recent years, we’ve invested a lot in our technology platform as well as supply chain automation. But those investments are actually driving the improvements that you see in our results this quarter. You don’t deliver the bottom line at twice the rate of growth as the top line without some of these investments that we’ve made.

So as we look forward into the coming years, we certainly see the type of opportunity and incremental margins that we’ve had this quarter and maybe even something beyond that. But we can do that while investing for the business. We don’t want to get overly focused on 1 quarter’s performance at the expense of investing for the long term. We’re trying to build a great company here, continue to build a great company and drive these kind of returns for a long period of time, and that requires investment.

Operator: The next question is from the line of Kelly Bania with BMO Capital Markets.

Kelly Bania, BMO Capital Markets Equity Research: Doug and John David, you framed the 5% to 7% constant currency EBIT growth kind of excluding the noise from the VIZIO and leap year. And it is consistent or maybe even slightly better than the past few years, originally, but it does seem a little conservative relative to what you achieved this year and to the momentum you have in the business.

So I was wondering if you could just touch on 2 factors — a couple of factors. One, the tariffs and just what you’re assuming and how the consumer responds to that, how you’re planning on passing that through and if that is assumed to be any sort of headwind to earnings this year? And then also the demand for expedited orders that you’re seeing that continues, I think, to be helping the e-commerce profitability. Are you assuming that, that continues at the same pace or any changes there on that front?

McMillon: Yes, let me talk a little bit about tariffs and expedited orders. John David and then turn it over to you. As we’ve been saying, tariffs are something we’ve managed for many years, and we’ll just continue to manage that. We’ve got a great team. We know how to do that. We can’t predict what will happen in the future, but we can manage it really well. And we’re wired to try and save people money. So that will be our ultimate goal.

And as it relates to delivery speed, it’s important, and we’re seeing behavior with our customers and members around the world that causes us to be excited about what’s possible, and having these assets so close to people is such a big advantage and the stores are doing a great job of improving order quality and delivering with speed. And I think that will just get better and better as things go through the year. We will have, as kind of Simeon was pointing to flexibility. We manage the year. We don’t just start the year with a plan and execute the plan. Things change. I mean look at what’s happening with generative AI right now and the opportunity to build code in different ways. We’ve got opportunities to save money, get faster and we’re making fluid decisions about how much we invest in technology, what do we put into wages and where, what needs to be done on prices this week? And to have the business model be morphing the way it is, just gives us the room to be able to do what we want to do strategically and manage the business for the mid and longer term, not just the short term, while we deliver results each quarter, growing profit faster than sales.

Rainey: Kelly, a couple of things. We don’t have any explicit assumption in our guidance around tariffs. We feel like we’ll be able to navigate that. Will it turn out differently than maybe what we expect today? Perhaps, and we feel good about our ability to do that though.

With respect to the guidance. Look, I think similar to last year, the last couple of years very consistently, we have to acknowledge that we are in an uncertain time. And we don’t want to get out over our skis here. There’s a lot of the year to play out. Again, we feel good about our ability to navigate the environment, whether it’s tariffs or other macro uncertainty.

On delivery with e-commerce, like overall, you’re continuing to see this diversification of our business that is improving our profitability. The newer businesses and by newer businesses, I’ll just suggest like advertising, membership, WFS, some of those categories, they contributed to over half of the operating income growth this quarter. So you’re seeing this change in our business.

As we leverage more of these digital channels, a lot of the faster-growing parts of our business are the higher-margin ones. Densification of our network is one, and so you’re seeing as more customers avail themselves of the services that we provide, sameday delivery, things like that, and even paying for that, if they want it within 1 hour or 3 hours, that’s continued to improve our ecommerce profitability.

Just in the U.S. alone, just in the U.S. alone, we saw an 80% improvement in the level of e-commerce losses in the last year. So we feel really good about how the business is changing here.

McMillon: This omnichannel position really is an advantage. We’re still seeing curbside growth. We’re seeing in-store in club growth, and we’ve got this growth in delivery and being able to do all of those things all the time is a big advantage.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Chuck Grom with Gordon Haskett.

Charles Grom, Gordon Haskett Research Advisors: Congrats on a great quarter and a great year. I was hoping you could discuss what you’re seeing in Walmart Plus membership and whether that’s accelerated or held steady in recent quarters? And then how much of the growth in Walmart Plus is being driven by Walmart Plus Assist. And then separately, can you talk about the underlying assumptions you have in the next year for like-for-like inflation, both in grocery and within general merchandise?

John Furner, Executive VP, CEO & President of Walmart US: It’s John Furner. Good to talk to you. We continue to be excited about Walmart Plus. We’ve had consistent growth over the last couple of years, last couple of quarters, the number of deliveries and the number of orders they’re placing continue to rise, which is great to see.

I just want to pick up one point we’re talking about and with the last question with fast delivery and then our same-day our deliveries under 3 hours and under 1 hour, we grew 180% year-on-year, which is really exciting. So we see that offer continue to grow. And a large part of that offer is Walmart Plus members, so Plus members are seeing the value, and we see the repeat rates coming through. Our same-day delivery of over 5 billion units last year, over 100% growth for the year. And then the third thing that we mentioned this morning, which is really exciting to see how strongly it started is our pharmacy delivery program. We are seeing a lot of members and customers participate in this program.

We think this will have a lot of momentum as the year goes. And it’s exciting to see the number of customers who are building baskets while they have their prescription delivered. And that’s true for both acute prescriptions where maybe you have a sick child, and you need groceries with it, or it’s your regular prescription. So that’s exciting to see.

And then the second part of your question, in terms of inflation, we plan to I’d say a normalized year, and I know this is 1% to 2%. There will always be some anomalies like what we’re seeing right now with eggs as a result of avian flu last fall. Those things tend to work themselves out over time. So we don’t have a large inflation number planned into this year.

Unknown Executive: Yes. Maybe I know, Chuck, you didn’t ask about it, but seeing as we’re talking about membership. Membership in Sam’s Club is at all-time highs as our renewal rates. And the reason for that is because of our incredible associates and because we’re investing across the member value proposition. So our first year renewal rates this year are up hundreds of basis points. And so when we’ve talked to you all about the associate investments and the wage investments, we’re seeing that paying dividend with turnover down 1,700 basis points year-on-year. So yes, good things still to come for Sam’s Club, too.

McLay: And then if you think about membership from an international flavor, if I look at Sam’s Club where we have a straight membership, membership income grew there over 35% this year. So strong resonating CVP with the Sam’s Club China business, but we also think about membership from a know-your-customer perspective.

And over the last year, we launched a program called Beneficios in Mexico, and we have had over 45 million customers sign up for that, which enables us to know them, to enable us to also personalize services and offerings to them.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Mike Baker with D.A. Davidson.

Michael Allen Baker, D.A. Davidson & Co., Research Division: Great. I just wanted to ask about the overall consumer environment, what you’re seeing? I think after [indiscernible] call, it was right after the election you had said that there was a little bit more consumer confidence after the election. Doug, in December, you had said something about storm clouds lifting or something along those lines. Are you still seeing that? Has anything changed in the last couple of months? It seems like the environment maybe has gotten a little bit more volatile. And related to that, I know this is asked a lot, but I’ll ask it again. The rollback number of 5,800 seemed to be a little bit less than it was in the last few quarters. Remind us how we think about that? I don’t think it’s that you’re investing less in price, but love to hear that explanation again.

McMillon: Mike, this is Doug. Let me clarify the storm clouds thing. What I said was we had seen clouds on the horizon and they never came. And I kind of feel that same way right now. We’re just seeing a lot of consistency.

Furner: Doug, I agree with the consumer environment. Very consistent. We mentioned the word resilient, mix has shifted slightly throughout the year, but really encouraged by the trends we saw in the last couple of quarters. So we’re optimistic given all the things that we’ve done to improve our strategy, working in omni is an exciting way to work on behalf of customers. And what that means is we’ll be ready to fulfill customers wants and needs any way they want to, whether it’s in the store, at the curb, at their home, we’re seeing growth rates across those.

And so we’re ready for any environment. This is a team that’s experienced. They’ve been through a lot of changes in the economy in the last 5 to 10 years, and they know how to manage things really well. So we’ll react accordingly. But we — again, we see a consistent, resilient consumer.

Operator: The next question is from the line of Paul Lejuez Citigroup.

Paul Lejuez, Citigroup Inc., Research Division: You mentioned seeing lower markdowns in the fourth quarter. Curious how that came in relative to your plan and also what you assume about the promotional landscape ’26, whether you build in significant price investment into your guidance? And just remind us how that will shake out this year versus what you thought coming into the year? And then just a bigger picture question. You mentioned some increased investment in Canada a few weeks back. Just curious how you view the long-term opportunity of that market?

Furner: This is John. Let me pick up the question on margins, markdowns first. It’s really important for us that we control and manage our inventory based on what our customers are wanting to buy the teams and the supply chain in stores, fulfillment centers did a really nice job flowing inventory. We made a number of improvements with technology, both in-store and across the supply chain to have a really accurate understanding of what we have, where it is, how quickly we can deploy that inventory for customers. And so the results did show an increase in gross margin that we’re proud of, but there are some pieces there that are important. There’s gross margin for merchandise. There are also some other things in there like ad revenues and some things that increased margin that are part of our newer businesses, our new digital services. So our core margins — our core markdown management, we’re proud of the way that we’ve managed that. I feel great about inventory going into this year.

That number of 50, 100 rollbacks is a large number of rollbacks historically. And that will fluctuate quarter-to-quarter. Again, we’ve added about 1,000 in the last few weeks. And we’re prepared for all sorts of environments, whether it’s more promotional or less promotional. We’re going to focus on value for our customers and we’re going to do everything we can do to control prices and keep prices low.

McLay: And if I pick up on Canada, I would say we’re pleased with the top line growth we’re getting in Canada. But one of the real highlights for me has been the e-com performance, which has been up 30%. And and their growth has accelerated every quarter over the last year. And so we are seeing our offering in Canada, really resonating with the customer.

We’re focused on value. We were able to offer a Canadian Thanksgiving lunch for CAD 40 for 4 people. And so really leaning into making sure we have the price positioning right but also the customer is really responding from a convenience perspective. So we’re excited about the business we have in Canada.

Operator: Our next question is from the line of Seth Sigman with Barclays.

Seth Sigman, Barclays Bank PLC, Research Division: I wanted to ask about VIZIO. Could you talk about some of the details around the dilution that you’ve embedded here and then perhaps discuss plans to integrate that, how do you expect to leverage their platform? And in general, as you think about Walmart Connect, pretty incredible momentum there. You’ve been really disciplined in building that out. I’m just curious how do you think about the growth outlook?

Rainey: Sure, Seth. We’re really excited about having the VIZIO team join Walmart and what that new platform will do for our customers. We do have some dilution related to the transaction cost with that in the first quarter, about 70 basis points.

But we expect this transaction to be — to begin being accretive to Walmart next year. And so this will create new channels for us to reach out to our customers and allow them to avail themselves of all the things that Walmart and Sam’s provides. But John, do you want to add anything else?

Furner: Sure. Sure. I’m really excited about the addition of VIZIO to the Walmart family. I’ve known William and the team for a long time, and it’s just great to have them part of the team. The operating system in VIZIO is an impressive operating system. It works with very little friction. It’s easy to set up and install. I have several of these personally, and I’ve acquired more since we started talking about this acquisition. I’m just really pleased with the way it works for the Walmart Connect business to have more ways to distribute advertising for sellers and suppliers, that’s really exciting for them. We hope to be able to do that in a very efficient way. So we’re starting the process of integration. And over this next year, we’ll be working on bigger plans for the brand as the teams get more time to work together.

Operator: The next question is from the line of Zhihan Ma with Bernstein.

Zhihan Ma, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., LLC., Research Division: I guess I wanted to follow up on the e-commerce side. If you could just help us understand what are the top 3 drivers of you improving e-commerce profitability between the alternative revenue streams and also reducing core e-commerce cost? And you mentioned retail media membership kind of driving more than 50% of EBIT growth. Are you able to share what proportion of EBIT dollars for now coming from the high-margin alternative revenue streams?

Rainey: Let me give you a couple of data points here, starting with the last part of your question. So if you just take advertising and membership, just those 2 categories, that was a little more than 1/4 of the overall operating income for us in the quarter. So really encouraged about these new parts of our business.

In terms of the drivers of e-commerce profitability and no particular order, there are a few things that I would call out. One is the densification of our network. So think of this as one of our drivers instead of delivering a package to one house on the street is now hitting 4 or 5 houses on that street. So we’re able to spread those costs over more volume. And as more customers come to us, this is really improving the unit economics here.

The second area would be the fact that over 30% of our customers that are having something delivered from a store are paying something extra to have that delivered within 1 hour or 3 hours. On Christmas Eve, 77% of the orders were this express type delivery. So that certainly helps with the unit economics there. And the third area are these newer parts of our business, like membership, like advertising that continue to have a lot of runway and improve our margins.

Operator: Our next question is from the line of Edward Kelly with Wells Fargo.

Edward Kelly, Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Research Division: I wanted to start just with a follow-up on that question around e-com economics. So incremental margin of around 11%, obviously, good margin. But what does that look like over time? Does that grow? How do we think about e-com overall returning to profitability or I should say, attaining profitability? And then as we look out over time, in addition to that, just kind of curious, issues like immigration, does that — how are you thinking about that? Any impact that you think that might have this year?

McMillon: Ed, this is Doug. When you look at the second P&L, as we’ve described it, it ends up being more profitable than the first P&L. First P&L being kind of the traditional retail store P&L. When you put together e-commerce components like membership and advertising, data monetization, all the things that we get to do as we scale an e-commerce business, it’s both first-party and third-party, by the way, it just lifts the overall operating income percentage of the business, and that’s what’s happening.

So the key is keep the foot on the gas as it relates to e-commerce growth, serving people how they want to be served. And as I mentioned a minute ago, the great thing about omni is, however someone wants to shop in the moment, we can help them. We want to go to a store a club, we’re there and we’re close to you.

You want to do curbside pick up, you can. You want to get delivered in a variety of forms, we can do that too. As it relates to immigration, it hasn’t been anything that’s impacted us in any way that we could share anything interesting. It’s a nonevent for us so far.

Operator: Our next question is from the line of Robbie Ohmes with Bank of America.

Robert Ohmes, BofA Securities, Research Division: I think this might be for John David Rainey. Just operating expenses delivered. I think it was 50-plus basis points in the fourth quarter, excluding the opioid settlement. Can you just help us — tell us how we should think about the SG&A ratio for Walmart, the puts and takes for opportunities to be better than expected this year versus worse, but also the sort of way we should think about that long term for Walmart?

Rainey: Sure, Robbie. It’s good to speak with you. To start with, I think we need to be grounded in how our business is changing. I talked about in my prepared remarks that our business is 18% e-commerce right now. That’s 1,100 basis points higher than it was 5 years ago.

The SG&A related to a digital transaction, an e-commerce transaction is higher than it is for brick-and-mortar. So historically, we thought of our business when it was more brick-and-mortar as 20% or maybe slightly below that was a good way to think about the cost profile of that business.

As our business moves more digital, it’s going to create pressure there. It’s just a channel mix equation. But at the same time, we’ve got a hyper focus as we always have on everyday low cost. But we have an opportunity to make investments in the business as well. If you look at the fourth quarter, marketing is an area that stands out that we invested a little bit more heavily into.

It also drove some of the improvement that we saw in general merchandise. But fundamentally, as you think about our cost structure going forward, one of the big drivers is going to be the improvements that we see in supply chain automation. We’re already seeing that. We’re encouraged by some of the early productivity metrics.

But still today, less than half of the stores in the U.S. are served fully by automation. And so there’s a lot of benefit still to come here as we automate our supply chain as we continue to automate our stores that will drive improvements in SG&A.

McMillon: We’re excited to show you a few facilities in Dallas in April. You’ll remember the trip to Florida, those of you that came, I think were going to have a similar positive experience when you see what we’re doing there.

Operator: Our next question is from the line of Corey Tarlowe with Corey Tarlowe.

Corey Tarlowe, Jefferies LLC, Research Division: Doug, you had mentioned some exciting news regarding PhonePe. I was wondering if you could share any details around the business, around the growth or profitability today? And then just as another question. John David in your prepared remarks, you mentioned that ROI is an interesting stat that I think it’s the highest it’s been since 2016. Is there a way to maybe put into context just how high you think your ROI can go and where some of these newer investments rank as you think about the trajectory for your return on investment?

McLay: I’ll pick up the one on just on PhonePe. I mean the PhonePe business to by the end of 31st of January hit 1.7 trillion TV and they have something like 310 million transactions daily. It’s a very strong business, and we’re excited to make the announcement that they are going to commence their preparation towards IPO. That’s a significant milestone for PhonePe. I think who’s also going to celebrate its 10-year anniversary this year. So their business spans both financial services through the technology solutions and excited to be able to make that announcement.

Rainey: On ROI, first, I think we’re fortunate to be a 63-year-old company that has the type of opportunities to invest in itself and drive the returns that we see. I mentioned supply chain automation as 1 example, but there are many, but these are returns that are approaching 20% in some cases. The standard that we’re holding ourselves to is that we want to see our ROI go up every single year.

And we’ve seen that result over the last couple of years. And so I’d hope that we’d be able to get to historical highs over some period of time. But we want to continue to see these investments pay off with our ROI going up.

Operator: Our next question is from Rupesh Parikh with Oppenheimer.

Rupesh Parikh, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., Research Division: I’ll be quick here. Just as we look forward this year, I think free cash flow was down versus last year. I just want to get a sense if we’re getting closer to a positive free cash flow inflection? And then we did see an increase in dividends, so just any updated thoughts on capital allocation going forward?

Rainey: Sure. I’ll take that, Rupesh, good to speak with you. We do feel like we’re getting really close to both in earnings and a free cash flow inflection as you look at the benefits of a lot of these changes in our business just becoming larger as the composition of our overall business.

And hopefully, our capital allocation reflects the conviction and excitement that we have in our business. We announced a 13% increase in our dividend. Our plan this year assumes that we’re going to buy back more stock than we did last year. And certainly, if the early reaction to today’s announcement is any indication, we have an opportunity too right now. But we’re also going to invest in our business with CapEx. And so I think we can be very balanced there going forward with both returning cash to shareholders and investing in ourselves.

Operator: At this time, we’ve reached the end of the question-and-answer session, and I’ll turn the call over to management for closing remarks.

McMillon: Yes, this is Doug. John David just mentioned how old we are. What went through my mind was we feel young. Like if you look at what’s happening around the company, whether it’s what we’re doing with tech or moving to this new office location, there’s a lot of freshness and newness and the momentum is helping to fuel that.

We’re really pleased to see that the consistent momentum in the fourth quarter showed up in our results. We’re obviously known for saving people money, but we’re increasingly saving them time and that matters, and it’s driving our growth. And not only are — is the team executing in the short term with things like unit growth and market share improvements and pricing investments and inventory management, but they’re building for the long term and seeing ROI grow at the same time. And I’m really impressed by that and grateful for that.

It’s awesome to be in the position we are for international. International has got a really bright future, had a really strong year yet again on top of strong years in the past. All 3 segments had a good year. So we feel like we’re in a good spot to start the year, and we’ll just stay focused on playing offense and making the most of our opportunity. Thank you all for dialing in.

Operator: This concludes today’s conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

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