Walmart's CEO is a rare beacon of confidence amid tariff woes

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon addressed President Trump's tariffs during the company's annual investor community meeting in Dallas on Wednesday.

Transcript

00:00When I think about our situation in the income statement, there's a lot of activity that will

00:04likely happen as it relates to tariffs and that cost of goods and gross margin area.

00:09And the confidence that we have is in that we believe we've got the people, the experience,

00:14the tools to be able to manage what happens with unit quantities, cost of goods, retail prices,

00:22watching relative pricing versus competition. We can manage that part of the income statement well.

00:27And the underlying changes that we've made are going to continue. People are still going to

00:32migrate towards e-commerce. People are still going to want delivery. And we've got room to improve

00:36on curbside pickup, on delivery, on delivery speed. Just in retail, you get what you earn. I guess

00:42that's the way it is in all business. It's certainly true in retail. If you deserve it,

00:47customers and members will reward you with business. If you don't, they won't. And we have confidence in

00:51our ability to continue earning their business as we do things like remodel stores and improve in

00:56the areas that I just described. So you could flip the question around. You could ask, you know,

01:01why didn't you withdraw guidance? For example, we just don't know enough to say we're not going to

01:05make this year. And our attitude is we're not giving up on that. And we can manage these things.

01:09And if that changes at the appropriate time, we would update you.