Walmart uses $2.9B tariff refunds to cut prices amid mixed earnings

Walmart reported receiving approximately $2.9 billion in federal tariff refunds and used a portion of the windfall to cut prices for consumers, according to its second-quarter earnings report released Thursday, August 20, 2026. The refunds contributed to a significant boost in the company's profit, but the results were tempered by a slowdown in U.S. store sales growth, which fell to 2.6 percent and prompted a sharp sell-off in its stock.

The retailer stated it had prioritized investing the refund money into lower prices and customer experience. "We're investing in prices because customers are looking to us for value," the company said in its earnings release. CEO John Furner added that the company was deploying the refunds to lower prices, which helped fund more than 11,000 price rollbacks across its U.S. stores during the quarter. CFO John David Rainey told investors the refunds provided a 750-basis-point net benefit to adjusted operating income, but noted that underlying operating growth still reached the top end of its prior guidance when that benefit was excluded.

The financial results also showed that total revenue increased 5.9 percent year-over-year to $187.94 billion,...