Walmart's margins in Mexico tighten as costs outpace sales growth
Walmart's margins in Mexico tighten as costs outpace sales growth
By Kylie Madry and Natalia Siniawski Tue, October 27, 2026 at 10:21 PM UTC
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By Kylie Madry and Natalia Siniawski
MEXICO CITY, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Walmart's Mexico unit missed third-quarter profit estimates on Tuesday as rising costs and investments ate into margins, overshadowing double-digit e-commerce growth.
Net profit fell 6% to 11.03 billion pesos ($610 million), below the 12.26 billion pesos expected by analysts polled by LSEG, while revenue also came in shy of forecasts.
• Mexico's biggest retailer posted total revenue of 248.83 billion pesos for the July-September period, up 3% from a year earlier but below the 250.44 billion pesos expected by analysts
• Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose just 0.4% to 25.37 billion pesos, while EBITDA margin narrowed 30 basis points to 10.2%
• The profit pressure came as expenses continued to rise faster than sales; Chief Financial Officer Camilo Canedo attributed the increased spending to investments in new stores, e-commerce, technology and staffing
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• Walmex reaffirmed its 2026 guidance, forecasting consolidated sales growth of 3.5% to 4.5% in constant currency and an EBITDA margin slightly below last year's level of 10.2%
• Same-store sales rose almost 2% in Mexico, where ticket growth was 1.6% and traffic was broadly flat
• E-commerce remained a bright spot, with online gross merchandise value (GMV) up 15% in Mexico and 23% in Central America
• Canedo said 75% of online orders were delivered the same day, up 1,500 basis points from a year earlier, while nearly 30% were delivered in under two hours and close to 10% in less than one hour
($1 = 18.0808 pesos at end-September)
(Reporting by Kylie Madry and Natalia Siniawski; Editing by Anthony Esposito)
Source: “AOL Money”
