Walmart Stuns with Unexpected Share Price Surge After Negative Earnings

The second quarter earnings of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) and The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) were recently released, but only one of their stocks reacted positively to the news.

The Kroger Co. reported its earnings on September 11th before market open, which led to a 2.7% increase in its stock price for that day. However, Jim Cramer noticed that Walmart's shares went up despite the negative earnings report from The Kroger Co. He mentioned this during his appearance on CNBC on September 15th.

Cramer was puzzled by Walmart's reaction and suggested that it might be due to the company's ability to maintain its margins. However, he had previously expressed dissatisfaction with Walmart's high valuation, stating that investors should 'let go of your Walmart unless you have a plan' in August.

The Kroger Co.'s second quarter earnings showed a decline in identical sales growth from 3.4% in the previous year to 0.2%, missing analyst estimates of 0.9%. The company's operating margin remained flat at 2.8%, and it cut its full-year identical sales growth guide to 0.2% and 0.8%.