by Siddharth Cavale and Ananya Mariam Rajesh

(Reuters) – Walmart will increase its prices during the month due to customs duties, announced its leaders on Thursday, while turnover in the United States of the distribution giant exceeded the expectations in the first quarter.

In New York, the title took 3.5% in the trade-offs.

US consumers will start to see prices increase at the end of May and certainly in June, said Walmart’s financial director John David Rainey, in an interview on CNBC.

“We will do our best to maintain our prices as low as possible, but given the scale of customs duties, even at the reduced levels announced this week, we are unable to absorb all the pressure given the reality of the narrow margins of the retail trade,” said the group’s general manager, Doug McMillon.

Walmart has also not given profit forecasts for the second quarter, being cautious in the face of uncertainty around customs duties imposed by US President Donald Trump.

The American giant, however, maintained its forecasts for 2026, including a profit adjusted by action for the financial year ending in January 2026 between 2.50 and 2.60 dollars (between 2.23 and 2.32 euros), and an increase in annual sales between 3 and 4%.

Its turnover in the United States increased by 4.5% in the first quarter, thanks to the increase in the number of transactions and the number of units, while analysts were tabling on average on an increase of 3.94% according to LSEG data.

Walmart, considered a barometer of American household morale, said a quarterly adjusted benefit of $ 61 cents per action over the quarter, while analysts expected $ 58 cents per share.

(Written by Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bangalore, with Siddharth Cavale in New York, Etienne Breban, edited by Augusitn Turpin)

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