Walmart Inc. strengthened its grip on American shoppers over the winter holidays, posting strong sales growth as the world’s biggest retailer lured customers from shrinking chains and ramped up its online grocery business.
In the U.S., the company’s comparable sales, which exclude gas but include e-commerce sales, rose 4.2% in the January-ended quarter, one of the behemoth’s biggest quarterly gains in a decade. Walmart got a boost from strong grocery sales, online orders and holiday purchases including toys. Walmart had expected quarterly U.S. comparable sales to rise at least 3% from a year earlier.