Walmart raises annual profit forecast on steady demand, shares jump

US retailer Walmart raised its sales and profit forecasts on Thursday for a second time this year, as Americans kept flocking to its stores for inexpensive essentials, sending its shares up more than 6 per cent in premarket trading.

The world’s largest retailer by sales is among the first major US chains to report quarterly results that provide insight into how consumers are feeling, particularly after the government reported an unexpected deterioration in the labor market, raising fears of a recession.