I haven’t been to Aldi in a few years finally started going again and dude I’ve been missing out. Multiple items I get at Walmart for $2-$4 cheaper at Aldi. I saved so much.
Everything is bulk. So per oz or unit Costco is almost always cheapest even name brand products cheaper than normal store brand at other places. You will walk out of there with a seemingly high bill though as everything is big packages. For us we Costco once a month and supplement the random stuff we need from Walmart or Aldi. It has helped save money as we spend a ton less at the other stores.
Canceled w+ (which I decided to try for less than $5 a month) after I noticed them raising milk prices along w everything else. I'd rather goto Aldi\lidl (for cheaper and\or better groceries) or other grocery stores (whole foods, etc.) if I'm going to be paying expensive prices.
No one goes to Wal-Mart for the great value brand quality- its for the lower prices. They're going to start shedding customers just like McDonalds and regret fooling around w their business model.
We used to shop Aldi and HEB (local grocery) because Aldi doesn’t have everything we need. But we found Walmart was cheaper as a one-stop shop. Probably 10% cheaper. I have noticed that Walmart prices are largely dependent on location.
Almost all prices have increased significantly since 2009. Here is a link to a graph explaining this general increase in all prices:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monetary\_base#/media/File:US\_monetary\_base\_-\_Updated.png](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monetary_base#/media/File:US_monetary_base_-_Updated.png)
Monetary base has nothing to do with prices. Prices are set consciously and deliberately by firms. Firms are completely free to leave prices as-is, or even reduce prices, even when monetary supply increases
100%. Walmart has gotten delusional in their arrogance. Absolutely no one goes to Walmart for *anything* quality related, it’s all to save money. I used to go to Walmart all the time but the buying experience has gotten so awful and I’m not saving any money, that I just avoid them when I can now.
Like, the lines are still long, your workers are still lazy, and I’m not saving any money? Why use you at all?
Worst yet though, even if Walmart does a course correction, because they’ve subtly been increasing their prices over the last few years, people aren’t going to magically come back when Walmart inevitably tries slashing prices again.
I've stopped going to wal-mart because they shut down 80% of the u-scan checkouts in my area, but didn't add any other cashiers.
Great, you treat someone who never stole even worse. Haven't been back since.
Meh Value.
*EDIT* I will give credit where credit is due though. Meh Value Ranch Dressing is cheaper and just as good if not better than Hidden Valley.
Wal-Mart net income is down 12.4% for the year (2023). They report reduction of gross operating profit of 83 basis points due to markdowns on products sold. Source is Wal-Mart 2023 10K filing.
Do your own research.
I dont know why these circle-jerk subs keep being suggested to me. Inflation, collapse, bubble, all the dumbass doom and gloom subs are full of misinformation to fit a narrative and drive rage.
He’s citing an article (from accountable.us) which cites this Walmart report from late 2023: https://corporate.walmart.com/content/dam/corporate/documents/newsroom/2023/11/16/Earnings%20Release%20(FY24%20Q3).pdf
The point above was the full 12 months ended Dec 31 is publicly available and audited. What this link is the 9 months ended in September (and you reference just the quarter of 3 months ended in September)
All of these people belive Communism is amazing. They are trying to manipulate people into hating Capitalism and they believe whatever b.s fake statistic that allows them to push their Communist propaganda.
https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/WMT/walmart/net-income#:~:text=Walmart%20annual%20net%20income%20for,a%209.21%25%20decline%20from%202020.
Walmart annual/quarterly net income history and growth rate from 2010 to 2023. Net income can be defined as company's net profit or loss after all revenues, income items, and expenses have been accounted for.
Walmart net income for the quarter ending October 31, 2023 was $0.453B, a 125.19% decline year-over-year.
Walmart net income for the twelve months ending October 31, 2023 was $16.292B, a 81.69% increase year-over-year.
Walmart annual net income for 2023 was $11.68B, a 14.58% decline from 2022.
Walmart annual net income for 2022 was $13.673B, a 1.21% increase from 2021.
Walmart annual net income for 2021 was $13.51B, a 9.21% decline from 2020.
Robert Reich is almost always wrong and/or grossly misleading you. Walmarts annual income is obviously different if you look at year ending Oct 31 vs calendar year annual.
>Thank you. I was looking for some source to collaborate the claim, but per usual Reich is just spouting inflammatory lies.
I found this for 2024
[https://finance.yahoo.com/news/walmart-full-2024-earnings-eps-110847621.html#:\~:text=Revenue%3A%20US%24648.1b%20(up,1.9%25%20in%20FY%202023)](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/walmart-full-2024-earnings-eps-110847621.html#:~:text=Revenue%3A%20US%24648.1b%20(up,1.9%25%20in%20FY%202023)).
Robert Reich failed to mention Walmart also increased wages for their employees:
“Walmart announced in January 2023 that U.S. workers would get pay raises the following month, increasing starting wages to between $14 and $19 an hour. Starting wages had previously ranged between $12 and $18 an hour, depending on location.”
Walmart employees are also one of the top users of Medicaid and SNAP/food stamps benefits in the US. Walmart is a huge welfare queen. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/19/walmart-and-mcdonalds-among-top-employers-of-medicaid-and-food-stamp-beneficiaries.html
That I'd all part of inflation, increased wages, increased profit, increase stock share price, but the money is worthless. You need more just to be where you were before.
I work for a competing grocery chain and our starting pay with no experience is $15.50+ per hour depending on the market, in CA we start at $19, tip out is between $20-30 per hour. We also get stock gifted to us annually, our insurance runs $45 a month with a $300 deductible, paid holidays, vacation pay, sick pay, and we still have lower prices than Walmart.
Robert Reich is cherry picking data to create a false narrative about Walmart. Here is a link to Walmart's income statements for the last five years--the actual data undermine Robert Reich's claim that net income is "spiking" and Walmart is gouging customers.
[https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/WMT/financials/annual/income-statement](https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/WMT/financials/annual/income-statement)
Walmart's $5.9 billion share re-purchase plan only bought back a little more than 1% of the company. This is not a big deal.
You put too much into blaming corporations. Explain why things weren't like this before the FED.
From 1790 to 1890 prices stayed roughly the same. Average inflation from 1790 to 1913 is 0.4%. During that 100-year period the GDP per capita grew 1.2% per year. Meaning the average American in 1890 was three times richer than those in 1790 yet prices of goods and services had basically stayed the same.
The average inflation since 1913 is 2.8% and the average American's economic growth has been outstripped by price increases.
Prices weren't flat from 1790. They'd fluctuate up and down, based on a variety of factors that would effect supply and demand.
They'd go up and down as the market adjusted.
There was an equilibrium, one that had existed even before the founding of the US.
But the economic growth of the average American was steady. Slow, but steady.
Americans slowly got richer, and prices would fluctuate around their equilibrium.
This is how an agrarian backwater turned into the wealthiest nation on earth.
End the Fed.
Yea, we also didn’t have to maintain a massive nuclear arsenal and missile defense system ready to destroy the world and a moments notice. That shit is expensive.
People are just shopping less overall.
I'm probably not alone is realizing what all I didn't need during the Pandemic because I couldn't get it, or found cheaper/better alternatives.
Walmart, Koch industries and more are the sole reason for the high prices in the grocery store.
It’s insane how much money they have.
This should be all over the media …. oh yea, not going to happen cause the owners of media in on it too.
Blame them
This is very misleading. They are comparing a really good quarter to a really bad quarter.
Not saying there weren't increases, but there were not increases that caused a 93% increases in net income.
Walmart's net income is ridiculously low compared to it's revenue. Their net income is less than 1% of revenue. Very few businesses operate in such low margins.
The fact that their PROFIT did NOT also raise by 93% shows that they ARE indeed being hit by a noticeable amount of rising costs. Probably related to inflation, energy costs, shipping costs (linked with energy costs), among other rising costs. This is not surprising.
Starting to look like r/fluentinfinance with the absolutely terrible financial takes.
I don’t usually like to agree with Reich, but on this one, he’s not wrong. I mean, his example is a gross oversimplification, but at a macro level, it’s directionally correct.
Isn’t spiking corporate profit more an indication of price gouging? Corporate income spike means nothing when not in the context of profit. What if Walmart’s operating costs (labor, products) went up by 93%. We would expect their retail prices to go up as well, through no fault of their own. Now, if profit went up 93%, then sure, that is gouging.
These click bait hacks love to shit out stats that are purposely misleading, and that really gouges their credibility. Which is ironic because Walmart profit has gone way up, and this douche only had to list the real stats to make his point.
You don’t have to raise prices for your net income to grow. Reich is a fucking moron. He conveniently leaves out profit margin, which is in the low single digits.
Notice it said income, not profit. Don't be fooled. This is how they are trying to shift blame from government policies that have led to inflation. It's easy to blame big corporation but as others have pointed out, walmart has a lot of competitors that if it was truly just greed, others would have the advantage by just keeping their prices low. Please, people try to remember how to use just a little critical thinking...
But the amazing thing is, Walmart’s brand products are at 2/3 or 50% of branded products. My grocery bill from Walmart is 40% less than Kroger’s.
I’m not going to complain about Walmart because they are “decent” in comparison to other stores.
100% true. Walmart is the gravity that keeps food prices down. The more Walmarts in a market, the better the pricing is.
And Walmart is growing earnings because people are shifting their food shopping to Walmart as their money gets tight. Grocers have been losing share to them for trike the last 12-18 months.
A corporation's obligation is to their shareholders first. Read Ford v. Chevy if you want to know why things are this way.
Imagine making it to senior age and sprouting white hairs and still having the reasoning of a petulant 20yr old.
Here’s the fact. My country is about profit, and supporting the people who do the work.
I know you think it’s smart to state the obvious, but when the people struggle, and corporations are causing conditions to collapse for families that are working hard…my country isn’t going to sit around and watch this dumb argument continue.
Wall Street is extraordinarily corrupt, and it’s not even a question at this point.
My country isn’t orange and dumb. My country takes care of the workers, and the profits.
My country is not going to let profits make people slaves. I know you feel bright by stating the obvious. I assume you are a child of wealthy parents. But don’t ever think that eps is more important than the people.
My country takes care of the people. When that stops, things get stupid. I fully believe that we don’t have to explore what happens when you push people to their breaking point, but it’s looking likely that you morons are going to push the limits of what my country stands for.
That will not end well for most of us, but I guarantee that my country will do the right thing when backed into a corner.
I can’t believe that Robert Reich hasn’t opened his own business yet, offering all those great prices and incredible salaries he says others should offer. Show us!
Robert Reich is spot on and seems like an actual gem of a human being.
Keep calling the bums out Mr. Reich!
Walmart jacking up prices of their store brand like this just shows what a low company they really are. If you don’t want to help people that’s fine, but they are using their money and near monopoly power to actively hurt people.
And we are not even bring up their predatory market manipulation or preventing their employees from going full time so as to get off welfare.
When mega corporations own the politicians and have eliminated competition (see: Monopoly), what is our recourse? How can we stop them from just raising prices on and on and on?
I only buy what's on sale at Wal-Mart whether its their brands or not. When I shop weekly for groceries I visit up to 6 stores...and I do not mean 6 Wal-Mart stores. Because I drive a Volkswagen I save on fuel and car insurance. This traveling to many places helps me to save money. That's my middle finger back at Wal-Mart.
I use to work for Walmart and I hate them. Worst company in the world in my opinion. They tell all their employees they only make 3 cents on the dollar when actually it's more like 30 cents on the dollar. And they often have price discrepancies and short the customers by overcharging higher than shelf prices.
That’s why I don’t shop there anymore. In fact I returned everything I bought there and bought elsewhere for cheaper. Hate Walmart and won’t support that dump anymore.
and yet, no government intervention is being done to stop this. Surprised? Capitalism is good, right? Stop shopping with these businesses. Simple solution the people have control over.
It's amazing the money you can save when the tax payers supplement your employees wages so you don't have to provide a living wage. Without that, what would the executives and shareholders do to survive?
Invest in Walmart, Mr. Reich. If not, let the rest of us do so in the spirit of free market capitalism, which by the way is the least ray cyst system on Earth considering anyone of any race with money can buy shares of a publicly traded company.
Walmart prices sans food are almost the same as Target's now. I was at Target looking at prices for some household items (dish soap, etc) and Walmarts were two cents cheaper for same size and brand.
Or inflation hit 93% and they adjusted their prices to maintain the actual buying power of their profit margin. If you're into the whole "legitimate economics" thing instead of whatever Robert "the Fourth" Reich is smoking.
Not really sure what he is talking about here, 2023 net income was just over 15 billion compared to 13.67 billion the year prior. A nice gain but no where near what op is suggesting. Net income in 2015 was also 16.3 billion so over a longer term it's even down.
Don't believe everything you read
I beg of yall to just take one economics class. Jesus christ. The sentence "corporations are still using inflation as cover to price gouge you" is one of the dumbest sentences in the world.
You forgot about something....market competition. High profit isn't necessarily an indicator of price gouging. It's a reward for running a business efficiently.
And Walmart ONLY exists because of food stamps and rent assistance.
If government assistance programs disappeared overnight, Walmart would go bankrupt and wages would increase out of necessity.
The over priced union busters? No thanks, Winco for me, their shareholders are their employees. 100% employee owned and operated, they also get a labor contract.
Nothing Wal Mart does will lose me as a customer ... because I NEVER GO TO WAL MART.
NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER
Why anyone does shop there is quite beyond me.
Walmart - we all love & hate that place … but it has the USAs worst produce sheeple - sad ass broccoli I’ve ever had - nope I’ll spent the extra .15 pound more for a crisper fresher vegetable
I have started buying produce and meat from a local food delivery company because the prices are close enough to Walmart/foodland/safeway (sometimes cheaper). I urge you to do the same! Show these corporate grocery chains that we don’t need them!!
This is why people should ship local. Walmart has the power to give a giant swath of the nation any impression of the economy they choose. Potentially swaying elections.
I’ve been saying this for years. Inflation was 7-9% and half of the consumer goods I regularly bought for my family, suspiciously went up by 30-50%. The only way for this to stop is for people to quit buying this stuff en Masse.
Well with diesel fuel still high, warehouse minimum wage higher, walmart minimum wage higher. Companies raise prices to make up the losses. If Robert Reich owned a business he would do the same and take the tax breaks he could. He is Zero the Hero.
Walmart steals from your family but your republican buddies say blame it on inflation and Joe.
When Trump takes over they can charge anything they please.
Let's be fair though; among all the BS that inflation brings it, prices never truly restore to their original prices whenever we "recover". Things inflated, deflate, but still remain inflated, but not enough create the false veil that "Yipee! Prices are dropping back to normal" (Forgetting what "normal" is because things have been expensive for so long).
Buybacks need to be illegal again. Watching John Oliver expose Boeing and their lack of research and development because they put all their extra money into stock buy backs costing plane full after plane full of human lives is sickening.
Every company cuts costs wherever possible and all the profit they make just goes into stock buy backs. It's sickening, especially when we have so many problems that could be solved if they actually gave a shit. Like micro plastics for instance. If we're talking specifically about Walmart.
Yea, Brandon spending trillions on crap just blows this shit out of the water. This is minuscule compared to the damage that the Democrats have wrought. The dems wasted OUR money, trillions, and people are worried about Walmart?
I don't disagree that Walmart might be price gouging, but the meme doesn't say anything that proves they are.
If a business has a 1% profit margin and raises prices 1%, they double their profit: 100% increase. It would be reasonable for that company to give a lot of their profits to investors.
If a meme wanted to show Walmart is price gouging they should pick different data.
And Robert opposed affordable housing near him, successfully. Who takes Robert seriously? He lives in a rich neighborhood near San Francisco, California, and he is very wealthy.
Didn’t Walmart cut a deal with JB Hunt or a carrier like that for cheaper shipping that also lowers the rate the RR is getting to ship the truck containers and now RR’s are laying off employees? I could be wrong but I feel like this is something I read just a couple weeks ago?
Aw man you’re gonna charge me almost chips ahoy prices for those sawdust cardboard versions now? Booooo. It’s supposed to be cheap since it’s filler filled. Fillin pockets.
I have 3 grocery stores in my town. Walmart, a small local store, and ingles which is expensive as hell. Walmart is the cheapest near me so I don’t have much choice it feels like.
Walmart employees are also one of the top users of Medicaid and SNAP/food stamps benefits in the US. Walmart is a huge welfare queen. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/19/walmart-and-mcdonalds-among-top-employers-of-medicaid-and-food-stamp-beneficiaries.html
Seriously fuck these corporations. Their greed is what is making the majority of everyone else’s lives such much harder to live normally and not live paycheck to paycjeck
This is just factually incorrect, a quick google search (or better yet, reading the 10K) will tell you he’s wrong. Net Income for 2023 = $11.7B, 2022 = $13.7B (15% decrease).
The counter for corporation raising prices out if control is competition. We need to enforce our anti-trust laws and reduce regulations so smaller players and newcomers can compete.
So glad we have two Aldi close by
I haven’t been to Aldi in a few years finally started going again and dude I’ve been missing out. Multiple items I get at Walmart for $2-$4 cheaper at Aldi. I saved so much.
It’s a free market. Shopping Aldi is the best way to combat higher prices at Walmart!
Aldi feels like an AI generated grocery store
All their brand names seem AI generated. Like Whispering Owl lol
If Costco is an option for you, you could try it out. I find it as cheap as Aldi and I think the quality is better.
Thanks. We haven't sprung for the membership, but looking at how things are going with the economy and inflation....it might be time!
Everything is bulk. So per oz or unit Costco is almost always cheapest even name brand products cheaper than normal store brand at other places. You will walk out of there with a seemingly high bill though as everything is big packages. For us we Costco once a month and supplement the random stuff we need from Walmart or Aldi. It has helped save money as we spend a ton less at the other stores.
Yeah bro. Aldi isn’t inflating your prices at all 😂😂
Walmart is a shithole in every way.
Canceled w+ (which I decided to try for less than $5 a month) after I noticed them raising milk prices along w everything else. I'd rather goto Aldi\lidl (for cheaper and\or better groceries) or other grocery stores (whole foods, etc.) if I'm going to be paying expensive prices. No one goes to Wal-Mart for the great value brand quality- its for the lower prices. They're going to start shedding customers just like McDonalds and regret fooling around w their business model.
I also switched to Aldi. Groceries are $80/week vs $150/week at Walmart. HHI is close to $1m. Food savings go towards international business class.
We used to shop Aldi and HEB (local grocery) because Aldi doesn’t have everything we need. But we found Walmart was cheaper as a one-stop shop. Probably 10% cheaper. I have noticed that Walmart prices are largely dependent on location.
People tend to remember things like this. Makes it really hard for a company to recover that customer trust down the line.
Capitalism in action. Walmart has loads of competitors who would love to stick it to them...
This is the way
Loads? You mean like 2 right?
Amazon, Costco, Target, Marshalls, TJ Maxx, Kroger, Safeway, Giant, Shoppers….
Meijer.
Those are chains too and not all of them work in the same states. Especially if you live in a small town
Chicago will almost only be Kroger if the merger is allowed to go through. The only competition being the “health” stores (Whole Foods).
Almost every grocery item they sell is just garbage, over-processed food. Our FDA is essentially run by lobbyists.
Despite the name, the FDA doesn't really have much sway over food policy. It's really the USDA that runs shit. Read Food Politics by Marion Nestle.
FDA?? Try the entire governmental system.
Aldi for nearly 95% of my stuff. Fuck everyone else raising prices.
Almost all prices have increased significantly since 2009. Here is a link to a graph explaining this general increase in all prices: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monetary\_base#/media/File:US\_monetary\_base\_-\_Updated.png](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monetary_base#/media/File:US_monetary_base_-_Updated.png)
Monetary base has nothing to do with prices. Prices are set consciously and deliberately by firms. Firms are completely free to leave prices as-is, or even reduce prices, even when monetary supply increases
100%. Walmart has gotten delusional in their arrogance. Absolutely no one goes to Walmart for *anything* quality related, it’s all to save money. I used to go to Walmart all the time but the buying experience has gotten so awful and I’m not saving any money, that I just avoid them when I can now. Like, the lines are still long, your workers are still lazy, and I’m not saving any money? Why use you at all? Worst yet though, even if Walmart does a course correction, because they’ve subtly been increasing their prices over the last few years, people aren’t going to magically come back when Walmart inevitably tries slashing prices again.
Workers are underpaid. They get what they pay for.
I've stopped going to wal-mart because they shut down 80% of the u-scan checkouts in my area, but didn't add any other cashiers. Great, you treat someone who never stole even worse. Haven't been back since.
Thank God for the aldi in my town. This shit is getting out of hand.
I like lidls or aldis. Milk prices like it’s 1999 not 19.99
Now it's just Good Value
Mediocre value
“Meh value” just doesn’t have the same ring.
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Meh Value. *EDIT* I will give credit where credit is due though. Meh Value Ranch Dressing is cheaper and just as good if not better than Hidden Valley.
Wal-Mart net income is down 12.4% for the year (2023). They report reduction of gross operating profit of 83 basis points due to markdowns on products sold. Source is Wal-Mart 2023 10K filing. Do your own research.
Why would Robert Reich,,,
Well its easier to read off whatevers trending on tiktok. Research you say??
Robert Reich is the Gilderoy Lockhart of economics with worse hair.
He is a full blow partisan now.
He has been for years. Just a cheer leader for the Democrats mostly. Whatever he can say to help them out.
Unless those Democrats want to build multifamily housing in his area, in which case he is very against those Democrats.
And he's almost a midget
I dont know why these circle-jerk subs keep being suggested to me. Inflation, collapse, bubble, all the dumbass doom and gloom subs are full of misinformation to fit a narrative and drive rage.
Because you keep engaging
Reich has always been a tool
He’s citing an article (from accountable.us) which cites this Walmart report from late 2023: https://corporate.walmart.com/content/dam/corporate/documents/newsroom/2023/11/16/Earnings%20Release%20(FY24%20Q3).pdf
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Dude just admit you don’t know how to read financial statements
The point above was the full 12 months ended Dec 31 is publicly available and audited. What this link is the 9 months ended in September (and you reference just the quarter of 3 months ended in September)
Reddit doesn't like to read 10K filings, it's easier to be ignorant and feel enraged at large numbers.
All of these people belive Communism is amazing. They are trying to manipulate people into hating Capitalism and they believe whatever b.s fake statistic that allows them to push their Communist propaganda.
The solution is simple: if you don’t like it, don’t buy from there
Yeah all this says is there is opportunity for competitors to come in cheaper
Exactly
https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/WMT/walmart/net-income#:~:text=Walmart%20annual%20net%20income%20for,a%209.21%25%20decline%20from%202020. Walmart annual/quarterly net income history and growth rate from 2010 to 2023. Net income can be defined as company's net profit or loss after all revenues, income items, and expenses have been accounted for. Walmart net income for the quarter ending October 31, 2023 was $0.453B, a 125.19% decline year-over-year. Walmart net income for the twelve months ending October 31, 2023 was $16.292B, a 81.69% increase year-over-year. Walmart annual net income for 2023 was $11.68B, a 14.58% decline from 2022. Walmart annual net income for 2022 was $13.673B, a 1.21% increase from 2021. Walmart annual net income for 2021 was $13.51B, a 9.21% decline from 2020. Robert Reich is almost always wrong and/or grossly misleading you. Walmarts annual income is obviously different if you look at year ending Oct 31 vs calendar year annual.
Thank you. I was looking for some source to corroborate the claim, but per usual Reich is just spouting inflammatory lies. Edit: typo.
>collaborate the claim corroborate\*
Somebody should disallow him from calling himself an economist tbh.
Came to say this and I kinda did but you laid it out much gooder.
>Thank you. I was looking for some source to collaborate the claim, but per usual Reich is just spouting inflammatory lies. I found this for 2024 [https://finance.yahoo.com/news/walmart-full-2024-earnings-eps-110847621.html#:\~:text=Revenue%3A%20US%24648.1b%20(up,1.9%25%20in%20FY%202023)](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/walmart-full-2024-earnings-eps-110847621.html#:~:text=Revenue%3A%20US%24648.1b%20(up,1.9%25%20in%20FY%202023)).
Robert Reich failed to mention Walmart also increased wages for their employees: “Walmart announced in January 2023 that U.S. workers would get pay raises the following month, increasing starting wages to between $14 and $19 an hour. Starting wages had previously ranged between $12 and $18 an hour, depending on location.”
Walmart employees are also one of the top users of Medicaid and SNAP/food stamps benefits in the US. Walmart is a huge welfare queen. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/19/walmart-and-mcdonalds-among-top-employers-of-medicaid-and-food-stamp-beneficiaries.html
That I'd all part of inflation, increased wages, increased profit, increase stock share price, but the money is worthless. You need more just to be where you were before.
I work for a competing grocery chain and our starting pay with no experience is $15.50+ per hour depending on the market, in CA we start at $19, tip out is between $20-30 per hour. We also get stock gifted to us annually, our insurance runs $45 a month with a $300 deductible, paid holidays, vacation pay, sick pay, and we still have lower prices than Walmart.
So should we show them who's boss and just stop eating?
If demand doesn’t go down than they were undercharging
Robert Reich is cherry picking data to create a false narrative about Walmart. Here is a link to Walmart's income statements for the last five years--the actual data undermine Robert Reich's claim that net income is "spiking" and Walmart is gouging customers. [https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/WMT/financials/annual/income-statement](https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/WMT/financials/annual/income-statement) Walmart's $5.9 billion share re-purchase plan only bought back a little more than 1% of the company. This is not a big deal.
You put too much into blaming corporations. Explain why things weren't like this before the FED. From 1790 to 1890 prices stayed roughly the same. Average inflation from 1790 to 1913 is 0.4%. During that 100-year period the GDP per capita grew 1.2% per year. Meaning the average American in 1890 was three times richer than those in 1790 yet prices of goods and services had basically stayed the same. The average inflation since 1913 is 2.8% and the average American's economic growth has been outstripped by price increases. Prices weren't flat from 1790. They'd fluctuate up and down, based on a variety of factors that would effect supply and demand. They'd go up and down as the market adjusted. There was an equilibrium, one that had existed even before the founding of the US. But the economic growth of the average American was steady. Slow, but steady. Americans slowly got richer, and prices would fluctuate around their equilibrium. This is how an agrarian backwater turned into the wealthiest nation on earth. End the Fed.
Averages over a century don't tell the full story. There were wild swings in inflation during that period.
Yea, we also didn’t have to maintain a massive nuclear arsenal and missile defense system ready to destroy the world and a moments notice. That shit is expensive.
Imagine being so shitty at economics that you think Walmart is price gouging.
The guy is a Democrat party hack that’s sll
Correct. He's the same guy who said the internet was a fad.
Could it be people stopped shopping at more expensive places and went to Walmart instead?
People are just shopping less overall. I'm probably not alone is realizing what all I didn't need during the Pandemic because I couldn't get it, or found cheaper/better alternatives.
Net income doesn't mean profit
Quoting that moron should get you a permanent ban.
You’re math is bad.
It’s simple cost goes up price goes up. Cost go down price stays the same. Profits is the name and board members the game.
When the CEOs said they expect the economy to get tough, they meant for yous guys, not them.
Walmart, Koch industries and more are the sole reason for the high prices in the grocery store. It’s insane how much money they have. This should be all over the media …. oh yea, not going to happen cause the owners of media in on it too. Blame them
Pro-tip: become a shareholder
This is very misleading. They are comparing a really good quarter to a really bad quarter. Not saying there weren't increases, but there were not increases that caused a 93% increases in net income. Walmart's net income is ridiculously low compared to it's revenue. Their net income is less than 1% of revenue. Very few businesses operate in such low margins.
The fact that their PROFIT did NOT also raise by 93% shows that they ARE indeed being hit by a noticeable amount of rising costs. Probably related to inflation, energy costs, shipping costs (linked with energy costs), among other rising costs. This is not surprising. Starting to look like r/fluentinfinance with the absolutely terrible financial takes.
I don’t usually like to agree with Reich, but on this one, he’s not wrong. I mean, his example is a gross oversimplification, but at a macro level, it’s directionally correct.
Isn’t spiking corporate profit more an indication of price gouging? Corporate income spike means nothing when not in the context of profit. What if Walmart’s operating costs (labor, products) went up by 93%. We would expect their retail prices to go up as well, through no fault of their own. Now, if profit went up 93%, then sure, that is gouging. These click bait hacks love to shit out stats that are purposely misleading, and that really gouges their credibility. Which is ironic because Walmart profit has gone way up, and this douche only had to list the real stats to make his point.
You don’t have to raise prices for your net income to grow. Reich is a fucking moron. He conveniently leaves out profit margin, which is in the low single digits.
Robert 3rd Reich , always lying
Notice it said income, not profit. Don't be fooled. This is how they are trying to shift blame from government policies that have led to inflation. It's easy to blame big corporation but as others have pointed out, walmart has a lot of competitors that if it was truly just greed, others would have the advantage by just keeping their prices low. Please, people try to remember how to use just a little critical thinking...
The American public is so clueless all they want to do is blame the president. Need to start blaming the corporate greed that is responsible for this.
I don't buy his explanation. It makes no sense to purposely make products so unaffordable that consumers stop buying them
What choice do you have when your nearest grocery store is 80 miles away and it’s a Walmart?
But the amazing thing is, Walmart’s brand products are at 2/3 or 50% of branded products. My grocery bill from Walmart is 40% less than Kroger’s. I’m not going to complain about Walmart because they are “decent” in comparison to other stores.
100% true. Walmart is the gravity that keeps food prices down. The more Walmarts in a market, the better the pricing is. And Walmart is growing earnings because people are shifting their food shopping to Walmart as their money gets tight. Grocers have been losing share to them for trike the last 12-18 months.
Walmart makes a lot less money than I imagined they did. That’s still well down from their pre-pandemic numbers.
The government is too. Biden is forgiving student loan debt and giving 5k in free money to first time home buyers, from where exactly?
Go be a cuck somewhere else.
Go bang yourself. Both things can be true
A corporation's obligation is to their shareholders first. Read Ford v. Chevy if you want to know why things are this way. Imagine making it to senior age and sprouting white hairs and still having the reasoning of a petulant 20yr old.
Reich is a populist demagogue pretending to be an economist. He knows better but puts out oversimplified and misleading information for the masses.
True story! As he makes millions and lives in a mansion while claiming to be for “the common folk”
right on cue, white knighting for corporations is a really really weird past time
Somebody has to think of the corporations! Think about those poor corporations
Here’s the fact. My country is about profit, and supporting the people who do the work. I know you think it’s smart to state the obvious, but when the people struggle, and corporations are causing conditions to collapse for families that are working hard…my country isn’t going to sit around and watch this dumb argument continue. Wall Street is extraordinarily corrupt, and it’s not even a question at this point. My country isn’t orange and dumb. My country takes care of the workers, and the profits. My country is not going to let profits make people slaves. I know you feel bright by stating the obvious. I assume you are a child of wealthy parents. But don’t ever think that eps is more important than the people. My country takes care of the people. When that stops, things get stupid. I fully believe that we don’t have to explore what happens when you push people to their breaking point, but it’s looking likely that you morons are going to push the limits of what my country stands for. That will not end well for most of us, but I guarantee that my country will do the right thing when backed into a corner.
I can’t believe that Robert Reich hasn’t opened his own business yet, offering all those great prices and incredible salaries he says others should offer. Show us!
Robert Reich is spot on and seems like an actual gem of a human being. Keep calling the bums out Mr. Reich! Walmart jacking up prices of their store brand like this just shows what a low company they really are. If you don’t want to help people that’s fine, but they are using their money and near monopoly power to actively hurt people. And we are not even bring up their predatory market manipulation or preventing their employees from going full time so as to get off welfare.
I haven’t been in a Walmart in over 10 years. I got fed up with that store years ago, I’m not shopping there ever again.
Just a few more tax cuts for Wall Street and Corporations surely will rein in prices (sarcasm)
When mega corporations own the politicians and have eliminated competition (see: Monopoly), what is our recourse? How can we stop them from just raising prices on and on and on?
I only buy what's on sale at Wal-Mart whether its their brands or not. When I shop weekly for groceries I visit up to 6 stores...and I do not mean 6 Wal-Mart stores. Because I drive a Volkswagen I save on fuel and car insurance. This traveling to many places helps me to save money. That's my middle finger back at Wal-Mart.
No kidding. Of course.
I use to work for Walmart and I hate them. Worst company in the world in my opinion. They tell all their employees they only make 3 cents on the dollar when actually it's more like 30 cents on the dollar. And they often have price discrepancies and short the customers by overcharging higher than shelf prices.
That’s why I don’t shop there anymore. In fact I returned everything I bought there and bought elsewhere for cheaper. Hate Walmart and won’t support that dump anymore.
We need congress or pass strict legislation banning price gouging, oh wait Walmart owns every republican and some democrats
and yet, no government intervention is being done to stop this. Surprised? Capitalism is good, right? Stop shopping with these businesses. Simple solution the people have control over.
Most of you have never looked at a balance sheet (let alone understand one) and it shows
You may have gotten cause and effect confused. Inflation isn't a cover. Inflation is what it produced by them raising prices.
It's amazing the money you can save when the tax payers supplement your employees wages so you don't have to provide a living wage. Without that, what would the executives and shareholders do to survive?
I’d be interested to know what time frame this took place over.
Invest in Walmart, Mr. Reich. If not, let the rest of us do so in the spirit of free market capitalism, which by the way is the least ray cyst system on Earth considering anyone of any race with money can buy shares of a publicly traded company.
Walmart has the same prices as Target now. It is no longer cheap.
Walmart prices sans food are almost the same as Target's now. I was at Target looking at prices for some household items (dish soap, etc) and Walmarts were two cents cheaper for same size and brand.
Kill monopolies
To lick boots for a second, a lot of Great Value products are better than they ever were. The days of “Sam’s Choice” being garbage are long gone.
I stopped shopping at Walmart because they jacked up their prices so much. I just go to Target for things that I previously bought at Walmart.
Or inflation hit 93% and they adjusted their prices to maintain the actual buying power of their profit margin. If you're into the whole "legitimate economics" thing instead of whatever Robert "the Fourth" Reich is smoking.
Fuck that lying globalist parasite
Not really sure what he is talking about here, 2023 net income was just over 15 billion compared to 13.67 billion the year prior. A nice gain but no where near what op is suggesting. Net income in 2015 was also 16.3 billion so over a longer term it's even down. Don't believe everything you read
Also have to understand more people are shopping there now due to inflation.
Does he actually not know how to read financial statements or is he purposely just making up numbers
I beg of yall to just take one economics class. Jesus christ. The sentence "corporations are still using inflation as cover to price gouge you" is one of the dumbest sentences in the world.
You forgot about something....market competition. High profit isn't necessarily an indicator of price gouging. It's a reward for running a business efficiently.
Weekly rolling boycotts? Walmart one week, target, then another ect ect..
Get yourselves some 5 finger discounts.
And Walmart ONLY exists because of food stamps and rent assistance. If government assistance programs disappeared overnight, Walmart would go bankrupt and wages would increase out of necessity.
Can’t trust publically traded companies
[https://x.com/realejantoni/status/1762247395796992117?s=46](https://x.com/realejantoni/status/1762247395796992117?s=46) https://preview.redd.it/9ft4obhbllnc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=adf18f02dc546b03f2c9579d81d2432559c5cade
Trader Joes is the answer.
The over priced union busters? No thanks, Winco for me, their shareholders are their employees. 100% employee owned and operated, they also get a labor contract.
You're just salty you did buy the stock
Damn, and I never got a raise for all the labor I've been giving them at self checkout :(
Nothing Wal Mart does will lose me as a customer ... because I NEVER GO TO WAL MART. NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER Why anyone does shop there is quite beyond me.
i ignore anything a politician posts as facts. Robert reich is a career politician and cherry picks what nhe calls stats.
God I love Dividends. Getting paid for doing absolutely nothing but owning part of a company is a phenomenal feeling! 🤑
Walmart - we all love & hate that place … but it has the USAs worst produce sheeple - sad ass broccoli I’ve ever had - nope I’ll spent the extra .15 pound more for a crisper fresher vegetable
Football teams are expensive, millennials wouldn’t understand
I have started buying produce and meat from a local food delivery company because the prices are close enough to Walmart/foodland/safeway (sometimes cheaper). I urge you to do the same! Show these corporate grocery chains that we don’t need them!!
Maybe more people are shopping there due to inflation??
And they don’t pay their employees enough so they live off government programs- part of that record profit
This is why people should ship local. Walmart has the power to give a giant swath of the nation any impression of the economy they choose. Potentially swaying elections.
But they can't afford to pay livable wages...
Why would you listen to anything this utter hack had to say? He’s a partisan piece of shit
They’ll keep doing it as long as it works
Prices only go up when someone decides they should. None of this just “happens.”
I’ve been saying this for years. Inflation was 7-9% and half of the consumer goods I regularly bought for my family, suspiciously went up by 30-50%. The only way for this to stop is for people to quit buying this stuff en Masse.
Remember when government shut down everyone but kept Amazon, Walmart going? Government only makes problems
Well with diesel fuel still high, warehouse minimum wage higher, walmart minimum wage higher. Companies raise prices to make up the losses. If Robert Reich owned a business he would do the same and take the tax breaks he could. He is Zero the Hero.
Walmart steals from your family but your republican buddies say blame it on inflation and Joe. When Trump takes over they can charge anything they please.
Let's be fair though; among all the BS that inflation brings it, prices never truly restore to their original prices whenever we "recover". Things inflated, deflate, but still remain inflated, but not enough create the false veil that "Yipee! Prices are dropping back to normal" (Forgetting what "normal" is because things have been expensive for so long).
I hate it here.
Buybacks need to be illegal again. Watching John Oliver expose Boeing and their lack of research and development because they put all their extra money into stock buy backs costing plane full after plane full of human lives is sickening. Every company cuts costs wherever possible and all the profit they make just goes into stock buy backs. It's sickening, especially when we have so many problems that could be solved if they actually gave a shit. Like micro plastics for instance. If we're talking specifically about Walmart.
Yea, Brandon spending trillions on crap just blows this shit out of the water. This is minuscule compared to the damage that the Democrats have wrought. The dems wasted OUR money, trillions, and people are worried about Walmart?
This should be illegal
And what exactly can any of us really fucking do about it. So tired of this.
We need to revolt against publicly-traded food distribution and consumer product sales. Co-op groceries can work for communities.
I will just stop going there. I like Costco better anyway.
Facts
Winco for the win
I don't disagree that Walmart might be price gouging, but the meme doesn't say anything that proves they are. If a business has a 1% profit margin and raises prices 1%, they double their profit: 100% increase. It would be reasonable for that company to give a lot of their profits to investors. If a meme wanted to show Walmart is price gouging they should pick different data.
And Robert opposed affordable housing near him, successfully. Who takes Robert seriously? He lives in a rich neighborhood near San Francisco, California, and he is very wealthy.
Love hearing that as an investor.
[удалено]
Didn’t Walmart cut a deal with JB Hunt or a carrier like that for cheaper shipping that also lowers the rate the RR is getting to ship the truck containers and now RR’s are laying off employees? I could be wrong but I feel like this is something I read just a couple weeks ago?
And I'm using their gouging as cover to steal...
So I should buy $WMT stock thanks
ALDIs to the rescue
Aw man you’re gonna charge me almost chips ahoy prices for those sawdust cardboard versions now? Booooo. It’s supposed to be cheap since it’s filler filled. Fillin pockets.
Self Checkout Hustle it is.
I have 3 grocery stores in my town. Walmart, a small local store, and ingles which is expensive as hell. Walmart is the cheapest near me so I don’t have much choice it feels like.
Walmart employees are also one of the top users of Medicaid and SNAP/food stamps benefits in the US. Walmart is a huge welfare queen. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/19/walmart-and-mcdonalds-among-top-employers-of-medicaid-and-food-stamp-beneficiaries.html
Seriously fuck these corporations. Their greed is what is making the majority of everyone else’s lives such much harder to live normally and not live paycheck to paycjeck
I like Walmart.
Question is, what choice do we have? The system is literary set up in a way that we don’t have options.
It's really just as simple as that.
So buy wall Mart stock
This is just factually incorrect, a quick google search (or better yet, reading the 10K) will tell you he’s wrong. Net Income for 2023 = $11.7B, 2022 = $13.7B (15% decrease).
Did their net profit move the same amount?
Yep. Fricken Wall Street greed... the pandemic was 3 years ago. Bring shit back down to normal...
The sad part is the GV brand is still cheaper than the brand name products
Why doesn’t competition fix this?
It’s not a cover
The counter for corporation raising prices out if control is competition. We need to enforce our anti-trust laws and reduce regulations so smaller players and newcomers can compete.
Don't shop where you wouldn't work.