Walmart calms recession fears with solid quarter

It was Walmart to the rescue of the severely slumping stock market on Thursday.

With stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbling 800 points Wednesday and concerns of a recession rising, Walmart helped calm investor fears with another solid quarter. If it wasn’t for Walmart’s upbeat report, stocks probably would have tumbled even further Thursday, but finished up 100 points after suffering their biggest loss of the year Wednesday. Walmart, which offers some of the most popular private brands on the planet, saw its stock increase 6%.

The Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer posted stronger than anticipated second-quarter earnings with total revenue for the three months ending in July increasing $2.3 billion or 1.8% to $130.4 billion when compared to the same period last year. Same-store sales were up 2.8%, and e-commerce sales soared 37%

"From a performance point of view, we're pleased with the strength we see in the business. Customers are responding to the improvements we're making, the productivity loop is working, and we're gaining market share," said CEO Doug McMillon. "We're on track to exceed our original earnings expectations for the year, and that's possible because of the work our associates do every day."

In other company news, Walmart said it removed about 1,000 third-party items that violate company policy from its website in the wake of the mass shooting that occurred at an El Paso, Texas, Walmart earlier this month.