Walmart closing stores, laying off hundreds

The Street

TheStreet’s Conway Gittens brings you the biggest news of the day, including what investors are watching and why Walmart is closing stores and laying off employees.

Transcript

00:00 I'm Conway Gittens reporting from the New York Stock Exchange.

00:02 Here's what we're watching on the street today.

00:04 The Nasdaq hit a new record high on Tuesday,

00:07 and the S&P 500 flirted with a high of its own.

00:10 The Dow also finished Tuesday's session in the green.

00:13 Investors shrugged off inflation data and retail woes.

00:17 Wholesale inflation came in at a hotter than expected 0.5% for April.

00:22 Meanwhile, quarterly sales dropped for the sixth straight quarter at Home Depot.

00:26 Investors are still betting on a rate cut coming as early as September.

00:30 Consumer inflation numbers due Wednesday could confirm those hopes.

00:34 In other news, not even Walmart is immune from shifting consumer habits.

00:39 America's largest retailer is being forced to slim down

00:42 as consumers who flocked to the internet during the pandemic

00:46 fail to return to in-store buying.

00:49 And shoppers feel the pinch from inflation.

00:52 Walmart is closing underperforming stores across the country this year,

00:56 following 24 closures in 2023, far more than the 15 originally slated.

01:02 That's not all.

01:03 It is shutting all of its 52 health centers and closing its entire health division.

01:08 The belt tightening is also happening at the corporate level.

01:11 Walmart is slashing hundreds of office jobs

01:14 and urging remote workers to relocate to one of three major hubs,

01:17 according to media reports.

01:19 Those who don't want to move will have to quit.

01:22 The cuts at Walmart could be a sign of things to come,

01:25 as Walmart is the country's largest private employer.

01:29 Investors will get a deeper look at what's happening at Walmart

01:32 when quarterly results are released Thursday.

01:35 And that'll do it for your daily briefing from the New York Stock Exchange.

01:38 I'm Conway Gittens with The Street.

01:40 [BLANK_AUDIO]

Category

Transcript

Recommended