Shares in retail giant Walmart (WMT) were flat today despite a new report revealing it was doing a better job than its rivals of keeping a lid on prices for cash-strapped Americans.
Meet Your ETF AI Analyst
- Discover how TipRanks' ETF AI Analyst can help you make smarter investment decisions
- Explore ETFs TipRanks' users love and see what insights the ETF AI Analyst reveals about the ones you follow.
Tariff Hit
According to an analysis of online pricing data from third-party research firm DataWeave, Amazon (AMZN) prices have risen 12.8% on average as of the end of September. Prices at Target (TGT) were up 5.5%, with Walmart 5.3% higher.
DataWeave reviewed roughly 16,000 items each on Amazon’s, Walmart’s and Target’s websites to conduct its analysis during a period of business where retailers were hit by the imposition of President Trump’s tariffs.
“Together, these trends show a clear hierarchy: Prices rose fastest where consumers shop by choice, not necessity, and most cautiously where they shop by need,” Karthik Bettadapura, co-founder and CEO of DataWeave, said, as reported by CNBC.
Price Hikes
Clothes prices rose 11.5% on average between January and the end of September at Amazon, Target and Walmart. Indoor and outdoor home goods prices climbed an average of 10.8% across the three retailers. Prices for pet goods and consumable products increased by an average of 6.1%, and health and beauty items saw prices jump 7% on average.
Guru Hariharan, founder and CEO of AI-driven e-commerce data platform CommerceIQ, told CNBC: “Third-party sellers are far more exposed to tariff-driven cost increases. They don’t have the scale, inventory flexibility or private-label leverage that large retailers like Walmart or Target can use to offset costs.” In these situations, sellers have little choice but to pass these higher costs onto customers.
Despite the hikes, Amazon’s third-party sellers’ sales continue to perform strongly – see below:
An Amazon spokesperson told CNBC, “The reality is that we offer competitive, low prices for Amazon customers and, based on our comprehensive analysis of millions of popular products customers are purchasing, we have not seen increases in price outside of normal fluctuations.”
Walmart has also seen revenues rise – particularly e-commerce – helped by its traditional position as a value retailer and one people turn to in hard times.
Recent reports revealing that holiday spending by U.S. shoppers is set for its steepest drop since the pandemic are also likely to give Walmart a festive boost.
What Stocks Could Benefit From Trump’s Tariffs?
We have rounded up the stocks likely to benefit from Trump’s tariffs using our TipRanks comparison tool.
