Walmart generated 4.6% comparable sales growth in its US retail business, reflecting higher sales across grocery, pharmaceuticals and general merchandise.

But the US retail behemoth offered a cautious outlook, projecting lower earnings per share in this year’s first quarter compared with analyst expectations and slower annual revenue growth.

Profits for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 that ended Jan 31 were US$4.2 billion, down 19.4% from the year-ago level, with the company citing a drop in the value of some equity investments.

Revenues rose 5.6% to US$190.7 billion.

Long known for competitive prices that have drawn in lower-income consumers, Walmart’s results in recent quarters have benefited from an uptick in business with people of greater means.

A company presentation said the figures in the US were the result of “broad-based growth across merchandise categories as well as share gains across income tiers, led by upper-income households.”

Walmart said its “like-for-like” inflation came in at 1.1% for the quarter in its US division.

Walmart on Feb 3 overtook the US$1 trillion valuation marker following recent stock market gains, a rare occurrence for a brick-and-mortar legacy company that began as a family store in Arkansas in 1962.

The company has positioned itself as a champion of new technologies, investing heavily in e-commerce systems and announcing ventures with artificial intelligence platforms ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini.

Walmart is “not only embracing this change, we’re leading it,” said CEO John Furner. “For our customers and members, the future is fast, convenient, and personalized.”

The company also announced a new US$30 billion share price repurchase authorization.

Shares fell 3.2% in pre-market trading.