Walmart plans to slow new store openings, invest in online

NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart Stores Inc. plans to slow its new store openings and pour more money into its online efforts, technology and store remodels, the company said Thursday.

The world’s largest retailer also tempered its outlook, saying it anticipates fiscal 2018 earnings per share being about flat with its fiscal 2017 adjusted earnings per share. It foresees fiscal 2019 earnings per share growth of about 5 percent.

Walmart completed its more than $3 billion buyout of the fast-growing online retailer Jet.com last month, showing how heavily it’s willing to invest to boost online sales that totaled $13.7 billion last year — still just a fraction of its annual revenue.

“This company is going to look more like an e-commerce company,” CEO Doug McMillon told analysts at the company’s annual investment meeting.

Walmart shares fell $2.16, or 3 percent, to $69.51 in morning trading Thursday.

Like its direct store rivals, Walmart is trying to be more nimble as it fights off competition from online leader Amazon.com, whose Prime shopping program is swiftly converting members into loyal shoppers. And it faces competition from dollar stores and traditional grocers like Kroger, which are ramping up promotions.

But Walmart has seen its investments online and in the stores pay off — and it’s starting to gain ground over some of the competitors.

It has launched a flurry of other changes, from making sure its vegetables look good to cleaning up its stores to being sharper on keeping prices low. It’s melding online services with its massive fleet of stores — rolling out a mobile payment system to speed checkouts. And it’s pushing ahead with online grocery and pick-up services.

The company is in the second year of its $2.7 billion investment in its workers that involves higher pay and more training. It says that such investments as well as the other moves are already helping to improve customer service in the stores.

Walmart had raised its annual profit outlook in August after reporting its eighth straight quarterly increase in revenue of stores opened at least a year and the seventh quarterly gain in customer traffic at its namesake Wal-Mart U.S. business. Global online sales rose 11.8 percent in the second quarter. That’s up from the 7 percent pace of the first quarter but still far weaker than the 20 percent increases from less than two years ago.