Shoppers are still flocking to Walmart.

The company raised its full-year earnings and sales outlook Thursday, heading into the crucial holiday shopping season.

Walmart also offered fresh signs that it is shedding its original identity as a strictly down-market brick-and-mortar operation by growing its e-commerce business and increasing its market share of higher-income shoppers.

Walmart’s shares closed more than 6% higher Thursday, even as the broader market suffered a dramatic sell-off. The stock is up more than 18% this year.

The biggest retailer and grocer in the United States acknowledged the added financial pressures on lower-income households but said middle-income families are holding up. Walmart saw more sales growth in its grocery and health and wellness product categories than in general merchandise.

‘As pocketbooks have been stretched, you’re seeing more consumer dollars go to necessities versus discretionary items,’ Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey said on a call with analysts Thursday morning.

The company reported that same-store sales for Walmart U.S. rose 4.5% in the quarter that ended Oct. 31, exceeding analysts’ expectations.

“The team delivered another strong quarter across the business. eCommerce was a bright spot again this quarter. We’re gaining market share, improving delivery speed, and managing inventory well,” outgoing CEO Doug McMillon said in a statement.

Walmart reported 27% growth in e-commerce sales globally.

Walmart also announced that it will move from trading on the New York Stock Exchange to the tech-heavy Nasdaq next month. It’s the latest sign of America’s largest private employer working to position itself as tech-forward in order to compete with Amazon.

The discounter’s third-quarter earnings come amid growing questions about whether Americans contending with tariffs, corporate layoffs and accelerating inflation are still confidently spending on retail.

As a bellwether for the U.S. economy and consumer confidence, Walmart’s strong earnings and guidance indicate that consumers are still shopping — at least at the lower end of the retail price point.

The company announced last week that McMillon will step down in January. McMillon, 59, started at Walmart as an associate in the 1980s and has helmed the company since 2014.

Under his leadership, Walmart improved pay and benefits for many employees, renovated hundreds of stores and boosted its e-commerce and delivery programs, especially during the Covid pandemic.

John Furner, CEO of Walmart U.S., will take over the top job Feb. 1. Since 2019, Furner has led Walmart’s American operations — by far the largest slice of the company, with around 1.6 million of Walmart’s approximately 2.1 million total associates worldwide.

Walmart is leading the retail race against longtime rival Target, which Wednesday reported a drop in third-quarter sales and cut its full-year profit guidance.

Target’s sales have faltered over the last few years, with some consumers expressing frustration over what they said were disorganized stores and rollbacks of the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

In October, Target said it would cut about 1,800 corporate jobs.

Target is hoping for a fresh start in the new year. Incoming CEO Michael Fiddelke will take over Feb. 1, the same day Furner becomes CEO of Walmart.

The struggling retailer said Wednesday that it plans to increase its investment in stores and technology next year by 25%.

Since January, U.S. businesses have had to contend with ever-changing tariffs under the Trump administration. Walmart has navigated the uncertainty by raising prices on some items, while swallowing some tariff costs on others. In the three months that ended Oct. 31, prices at Walmart U.S. rose around 1% overall, with higher prices on electronics, toys and seasonal items in particular due to tariff pressures.

In the grocery section, Walmart expects egg prices to drop but anticipates the record-breaking beef prices will stay high, in part from cattle herds shrinking over the last few decades.

Prices for other grocery staples are also up, though the Trump administration’s rollback of tariffs on many food items last week could offer some relief.

Despite the rising prices, Walmart is offering its annual Thanksgiving menu deal for 10 at less than $4 per person. It’s less expensive than last year’s package, but it also contains fewer items.

The company is also expanding its use of artificial intelligence, teaming up with OpenAI to allow customers to buy from Walmart within ChatGPT. Walmart has not detailed the terms of the partnership or shared when the new option could be available.

This week, Target announced its own collaboration with OpenAI.

Walmart has lagged behind rival Amazon in AI-driven e-commerce — Amazon debuted its Rufus shopping assistant in February 2024, more than a year before Walmart launched its counterpart, Sparky.

Walmart announced Friday that longtime CEO Doug McMillon will retire at the end of January — which came as a surprise to some given the company’s success in a rapidly evolving retail landscape.

John Furner, Walmart’s U.S. CEO, will assume the role of overall CEO on Feb. 1, the company said. McMillon will continue to serve in an executive and advisory role through January 2027. Furner, 51, began his career at Walmart as an hourly associate.

McMillon, 59, has held the top job since 2014 and is only the fifth person to lead the storied company in its 63-year history.

McMillon has overseen a radical transformation of Walmart’s image in a little over a decade.

In 2014, Walmart had a reputation as a budget retail option and was accused of underpaying its associates. Today, it draws more well-to-do shoppers and has earned credit for adopting innovative personnel policies.

McMillon also built up Walmart’s e-commerce operation into the country’s second-largest, behind only Amazon. Over the course of McMillon’s tenure, the value of Walmart’s shares has increased some 300%.

“Serving as Walmart’s CEO has been a great honor and I’m thankful to our Board and the Walton family for the opportunity,” McMillon said in a statement. “I’ve worked with John for more than 20 years. … He’s uniquely capable of leading the company through this next AI-driven transformation.”

America’s retail landscape continues to rapidly evolve, as consumer spending habits increasingly bifurcate between wealthier households and everyone else.

However, Walmart’s quarterly results have held steady — and the company has been justly rewarded by investors. Just this year, Walmart shares have climbed around 13%. Over the course of McMillon’s tenure, the retailer’s stock price is up some 300%.

On Walmart’s most recent earnings call in August, McMillon indicated the company has been able to withstand the broader pressures facing consumers. Its shoppers’ “behavior has been generally consistent,” he said. “We aren’t seeing dramatic shifts.”

Other retailers have not been so fortunate.

Target’s shares have lost about one-third of their value this year, as the chain works to regain its footing in a more value-conscious environment. In August, longtime CEO Brian Cornell announced plans to step down.

Amazon, meanwhile, has fared slightly better as consumers continue to prioritize the convenience of online shopping. But it recently announced thousands of layoffs affecting corporate employees. Amazon’s share price has climbed about 8% this year.

McMillon has also steered Walmart through a volatile period in U.S. politics, during which elected officials have engaged directly with companies and consumers have proven willing to boycott corporate giants over social issues.

Walmart found itself in President Donald Trump’s crosshairs in May, after it signaled plans to increase some prices in response to his tariffs.

“Walmart should STOP trying to blame Tariffs as the reason for raising prices throughout the chain,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “Between Walmart and China they should, as is said, ‘EAT THE TARIFFS,’ and not charge valued customers ANYTHING. I’ll be watching, and so will your customers!!!”

While subsequent reports indicated that Walmart had indeed increased prices on some items, McMillon said in August that the changes were gradual enough that consumer habits shifted only modestly.

Six months after Trump singled Walmart out over tariffs, he did so again — but for a very different reason.

In recent weeks, the Trump White House has repeatedly touted Walmart’s 2025 Thanksgiving menu package — which costs less overall than the retailer’s similar menu did last year — as a sign that the president’s economic policies have helped drive down grocery prices for consumers.

But there is a flaw in that rationale. This year’s Walmart Thanksgiving menu contains fewer items than last year’s menu did.

More than 1,000 unionized Starbucks workers went on strike at 65 U.S. stores Thursday to protest a lack of progress in labor negotiations with the company.

The strike was intended to disrupt Starbucks’ Red Cup Day, which is typically one of the company’s busiest days of the year. Since 2018, Starbucks has given out free, reusable cups on that day to customers who buy a holiday drink. Starbucks Workers United, the union organizing baristas, said Thursday morning that the strike had already closed some stores and was expected to force more to close later in the day.

Starbucks Workers United said stores in 45 cities would be impacted, including New York, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, San Diego, St. Louis, Dallas, Columbus, Ohio, and Starbucks’ home city of Seattle. There is no date set for the strike to end, and more stores are prepared to join if Starbucks doesn’t reach a contract agreement with the union, organizers said.

Starbucks emphasized that the vast majority of its U.S. stores would be open and operating as usual Thursday. The coffee giant has 10,000 company-owned stores in the U.S., as well as 7,000 licensed locations in places like grocery stores and airports.

As of noon Thursday on the East Coast, Starbucks said it was on track to meet or exceed its sales expectations for the day at its company-owned stores.

“The day is off to an incredible start,” the company said in a statement.

Around 550 company-owned U.S. Starbucks stores are unionized. More have voted to unionize, but Starbucks closed 59 unionized stores in September as part of a larger reorganization campaign.

Here’s what’s behind the strike.

Striking workers say they’re protesting because Starbucks has yet to reach a contract agreement with the union. Starbucks workers first voted to unionize at a store in Buffalo in 2021. In December 2023, Starbucks vowed to finalize an agreement by the end of 2024. But in August of last year, the company ousted Laxman Narasimhan, the CEO who made that promise. The union said progress has stalled under Brian Niccol, the company’s current chairman and CEO. The two sides haven’t been at the bargaining table since April.

Workers say they’re seeking better hours and improved staffing in stores, where they say long customer wait times are routine. They also want higher pay, pointing out that executives like Niccol are making millions and the company spent $81 million in June on a conference in Las Vegas for 14,000 store managers and regional leaders.

Dochi Spoltore, a barista from Pittsburgh, said in a union conference call Thursday that it’s hard for workers to be assigned more than 19 hours per week, which leaves them short of the 20 hours they would need to be eligible for Starbucks’ benefits. Spoltore said she makes $16 per hour.

“I want Starbucks to succeed. My livelihood depends on it,” Spoltore said. “We’re proud of our work, but we’re tired of being treated like we’re disposable.”

The union also wants the company to resolve hundreds of unfair labor practice charges filed by workers, who say the company has fired baristas in retaliation for unionizing and has failed to bargain over changes in policy that workers must enforce, like its decision earlier this year to limit restroom use to paying customers.

Starbucks says it offers the best wage and benefit package in retail, worth an average of $30 per hour. Among the company’s benefits are up to 18 weeks of paid family leave and 100% tuition coverage for a four-year college degree. In a letter to employees last week, Starbucks’ Chief Partner Officer Sara Kelly said the union walked away from the bargaining table in the spring.

Kelly said some of the union’s proposals would significantly alter Starbucks’ operations, such as giving workers the ability to shut down mobile ordering if a store has more than five orders in the queue.

Kelly said Starbucks remained ready to talk and “believes we can move quickly to a reasonable deal.” Kelly also said surveys showed that most employees like working for the company, and its barista turnover rates are half the industry average.

Unionized workers have gone on strike at Starbucks before. In 2022 and 2023, workers walked off the job on Red Cup Day. Last year, a five-day strike ahead of Christmas closed 59 U.S. stores. Each time, Starbucks said the disruption to its operations was minimal. Starbucks Workers United said the new strike is open-ended and could spread to many more unionized locations.

The number of non-union Starbucks locations dwarfs the number of unionized ones. But Todd Vachon, a union expert at the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations, said any strike could be highly visible and educate the public on baristas’ concerns.

Unlike manufacturers, Vachon said, retail industries depend on the connection between their employees and their customers. That makes shaming a potentially powerful weapon in the union’s arsenal, he said.

Starbucks’ same-store sales, or sales at locations open at least a year, rose 1% in the July-September period. It was the first time in nearly two years that the company had posted an increase. In his first year at the company, Niccol set new hospitality standards, redesigned stores to be cozier and more welcoming, and adjusted staffing levels to better handle peak hours.

Starbucks also is trying to prioritize in-store orders over mobile ones. Last week, the company’s holiday drink rollout in the U.S. was so successful that it almost immediately sold out of its glass Bearista cup. Starbucks said demand for the cup exceeded its expectations, but it wouldn’t say if the Bearista will return before the holidays are ove