Wall Street slid in premarket trading Thursday after Walmart, the nation’s biggest retailer and a bellwether for the health of the American consumer, released a 2025 forecast that spooked some investors, the Associated Press reports. Futures for the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and Nasdaq which had been up early, all retreated 0.3%.
Walmart shares tumbled more than 8% even as the retailer topped off 2024 with another strong quarter, beating Wall Street’s sales and profit expectations. Investors focused instead on the company’s profit outlook for the year, which is as much as 27 cents per share below analyst projections.
Walmart’s sales outlook was also disappointing, reflecting a possible spending pullback by consumers amid uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s tariffs on China and other countries that could threaten Walmart’s low-price model. Analysts fear that Americans, already reluctant to put big-ticket items on high-interest credit cards, could pull back their spending further if prices remain elevated.
Walmart’s dim forecast for the year dragged down shares of other retailers as well. Target fell 2.4%, and Costco slipped 1.7%.
Benchmark U.S. crude rose 32 cents to $72.42 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, picked up 38 cents to $76.42 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar slipped to 149.98 Japanese yen from 151.37 yen.
