In the latter half of 2022, even as a spike in prices spurred a consumer exodus toward essentials, shares of big-box chains Walmart Inc. and Target Corp. were both moving along a similar path.

Between the pandemic upending shopping habits five years ago and the economy causing consumers to tighten their purse strings in 2025, it’s been a tumultuous half decade for retailers.

Rivals Target and Walmart have long been considered polar opposites. The biggest difference lately, though, is financial performance, underscored by the retailers' earnings reports this week.

In May, McMillon warned of tariff-driven price hikes for a wide range of goods that includes food, toys and electronics. Trump publicly criticized Walmart for saying it would hike prices, calling on the company to “eat the tariffs.”

The world's largest retailer — like many others — has been absorbing most of the increased costs, but raising prices of some goods.

Walmart is reporting higher profits and sales as it pulls in shoppers seeking low prices for groceries and other essentials.

Sales at Walmart’s US stores rose nearly 5 percent in its most recent quarter, a better-than-expected result that suggests shoppers squeezed by inflation and wary of economic uncertainty continue to flock to the retailer for staples and other goods,