Kim Souza

Analysts and economists will be watching Thursday morning for Walmart's second-quarter financial results for the period ending July 31. Consensus estimates call for net income per share of 73 cents, up 7.4% from a year ago. The revenue estimate is $186.32 billion, up 5% year over year.

NielsenIQ reports that 42% of consumers have used at least one artificial intelligence tool to shop in the past month, 19% have used an auto-plenish feature for repeat purchases, and 17% have used AI for product recommendations.

Walmart on Thursday (Aug. 20) reported adjusted earnings per share of 81 cents, up 19.1% compared with adjusted earnings per share in the 2025 quarter, and better than the consensus estimate of 74 cents per share. Unadjusted earnings per share was 80 cents, 9.1% lower than a year ago.

Anastasia de Jong and her husband and business partner, Stefan, did not set out to create a denim jeans brand for tall women. They were already gainfully employed in real estate and the Northwest Arkansas Walmart supplier community.

Through the first seven months of 2026, online grocery sales grew at a faster rate than in-store sales in each of the seven months, according to Brick Meets Click. In July, total e-grocery sales rose 21.5%, driven by higher order totals among active monthly users.

Sales tax revenue reported in August for Bentonville, Fayetteville, Rogers and Springdale totaled $10.001 million, down 0.12% from the same month last year. For the first eight reporting months of this year, sales tax revenue in the four cities was $78.077 million, up 0.98% from the previous year.

It's not uncommon to see elaborate Halloween decorations in stores as early as mid-summer. But more families are celebrating much earlier, and Halloween is creeping into September and even August with so-called Summerween parties by the pool or at a backyard barbecue.

Tyson Foods lowered its full-year earnings guidance on Thursday (Sept. 3) after reporting larger beef losses than expected. The Springdale-based company now expects to lose between $775 million and $625 million in its beef segment, with losses driven primarily by high cattle prices and lower live-cattle inventory values.

Jane Ewing, a senior advisor and executive board member leading ethics and compliance in Walmart's operations in China for the past 20 months, is leaving the company. Ewing announced her departure in a social media post, saying she is leaving to join Nike.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) has revised its outlook for U.S. container import volumes as this year remains unpredictable in large part because of global geopolitical issues. After forecasting import volumes declines, September could be the highest-volume month of the year.