Retail Q2 2027 Earnings Roundup: Walmart, TJX, and Home Depot

Walmart (WMT), TJX Companies (TJX), and Home Depot (HD) each reported Q2 2027 results that exceeded expectations, with all three raising full-year guidance. The quarter carried a shared asterisk: tariff refunds tied to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act flowed through each company's income statement in ways that meaningfully inflated reported profit growth. Stripping those one-time items out reveals a more varied picture of underlying demand across retail formats.

A Quarter Built on More Than One Foundation

Walmart enterprise sales grew 5% in constant currency, landing at the top end of the company's own guidance range. Adjusted operating income rose more than 17% and adjusted EPS grew more than 19%. Those figures appear impressive in isolation, but Walmart received approximately $2.9 billion in tariff refunds during the quarter, which added roughly 750 basis points to operating income growth. The underlying operating leverage, while real, was substantially amplified by that one-time credit.

TJX posted consolidated comparable sales growth of 4%, beating its own plan, with adjusted diluted EPS of $1.22, up 11% year over year. The off-price retailer raised full-year adjusted EPS guidance to $5.15 to $5.20, representing 9% to 10% growth from the prior year. TJX also benefited from tariff refunds on merchandise, which contributed to merchandise margin improvement, though the company did not disclose the dollar amount as a discrete line.

Home Depot reported Q2 2027 sales of $47.9 billion, up 5.7% year over year, with U.S. comparable sales up 1.3%. Adjusted diluted EPS came in at $4.92, compared to $4.68 in the prior-year period. The home improvement retailer received $730 million in IEEPA tariff refunds, with $685 million flowing through to reduce cost of goods sold. That contributed a gross margin lift of roughly 145 basis points. After accounting for headwinds from fuel, energy costs, and GMS acquisition mix effects, gross margin settled at 33.7%, up approximately 25 basis points year over year.

Divergent Trends Beneath the Surface

Walmart U.S. comps came in at 2.6%, Sam's Club U.S. hit 4.4%, and International grew nearly 8%. Global eCommerce expanded 23%, advertising revenue climbed 38% globally, and the U.S. Marketplace grew 52%. Membership fee income grew 17%. These platform and alternative revenue streams are expanding well ahead of the core physical retail business, creating a structural layer of income that partially insulates Walmart from traffic and ticket volatility. The full breakdown is available at /podcasts/WMT_Q2_2027.

Walmart U.S. ended Q2 with more than 11,000 active rollbacks, up from 7,200 at the end of Q1. The acceleration reflects a decision to channel tariff refund savings into shelf-price reductions rather than margin retention. That approach diverges from the strategies taken by TJX and Home Depot, both of which allowed more of the refund benefit to flow into reported profitability.

Home Depot's volume picture was more textured. Average ticket rose 2.8% in the quarter, but transaction counts declined 1%. Big-ticket purchases above $1,000 grew 2.4%, pointing to continued activity in larger repair and remodeling projects. The ticket-up, traffic-down pattern suggests that professional and committed DIY customers remained active while smaller discretionary purchases softened.

TJX: A Tale of Two Segments

TJX's headline comp of 4% concealed a notable gap between its two largest U.S. divisions. Marmaxx, which includes T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, posted only a 1% comparable sales increase. HomeGoods, by contrast, grew comps 7%. The HomeGoods segment also delivered an adjusted segment profit margin of 12.4%, a 240-basis-point improvement year over year, making it the standout performer within the TJX portfolio for the quarter.

TJX management acknowledged that Marmaxx underperformed internal expectations and attributed part of the gap to execution rather than underlying demand conditions. The company indicated it expects Marmaxx to recover performance in the back half of fiscal 2027, citing inventory positioning and category mix adjustments. Canada grew comps 6% and International grew 7%, providing geographic balance to the domestic division's uneven showing. The full-year guidance raise to $5.15 to $5.20 in adjusted EPS indicates confidence in the recovery trajectory. The detailed episode is available at /podcasts/TJX_Q2_2027.

Walmart's Platform Flywheel

Beyond the tariff narrative, Walmart's Q2 results demonstrated continued expansion of its platform business. Global advertising at 38% growth and U.S. Marketplace at 52% growth are running well ahead of core retail comps. These segments carry different margin profiles than traditional retail and represent a structural shift in how Walmart generates income from its customer base.

Membership fee income growth of 17% adds another dimension. Sam's Club U.S., with a 4.4% comp, has been a consistent outperformer within the Walmart enterprise, and its membership model creates recurring revenue streams that behave differently from transaction-based retail income. The combination of advertising, marketplace, and membership revenue is increasingly central to reading Walmart's full profit picture separate from core comp trends.

Three Retailers, Three Approaches to a Shared Windfall

The tariff refund stories at all three companies share a structure but differ in outcome. Walmart directed much of its $2.9 billion refund into consumer-facing price reductions, extending its rollback program aggressively through Q2. TJX allowed its refund benefit to flow into merchandise margin, contributing to a strong bottom-line result even as Marmaxx underperformed. Home Depot received a gross margin tailwind from its $685 million COGS credit, but fuel, energy, and acquisition mix effects absorbed the majority of that benefit, leaving net gross margin up only approximately 25 basis points.

As tariff refund dynamics normalize in the back half of 2027, underlying comp and margin trends at all three companies will carry more weight in reading how each business is actually performing. For TJX, the critical variable is the pace of Marmaxx recovery. For Home Depot, it is whether big-ticket repair demand can offset continued softness in transaction volume. For Walmart, it is whether the rollback investment translates into sustained traffic gains beyond the tariff-supported quarter. Full episode breakdowns for all three companies are available across the Beta Finch episode library.

• Walmart enterprise sales grew 5% in constant currency; adjusted EPS rose more than 19%, with $2.9 billion in tariff refunds adding approximately 750 basis points to operating income growth
• TJX consolidated comps rose 4%; adjusted EPS of $1.22, up 11% year over year; full-year guidance raised to $5.15 to $5.20
• Home Depot Q2 sales reached $47.9 billion, up 5.7%; $730 million in IEEPA tariff refunds drove approximately 145 basis points of gross margin benefit, partially offset by fuel, energy, and acquisition mix headwinds
• Walmart U.S. Marketplace grew 52%; global advertising grew 38%; active rollbacks expanded from 7,200 to more than 11,000 during the quarter
• TJX HomeGoods posted a 7% comp and a 240-basis-point segment margin improvement to 12.4%; Marmaxx grew only 1%
• Home Depot average ticket rose 2.8% but transactions declined 1%; big-ticket purchases above $1,000 grew 2.4%