Walmart just erased $80 billion because shoppers are tapped out

US comparable sales rose just 2.6% excluding fuel, the slowest quarterly growth Walmart has posted in six years, and traffic growth slowed to 1.5%. The stock lost more than $80 billion in a single session, its worst day since May 2022, even though the company beat earnings estimates and raised full-year guidance. Management pointed to gasoline prices squeezing the exact low-income shoppers Walmart depends on, which is a specific admission from the retailer that usually claims to be recession-proof. Jefferies and RBC kept Buy ratings anyway, betting the slowdown is a blip rather than the start of something worse, as Reuters reported. If Walmart is feeling this, the discount chains further down the food chain are feeling it more.