By Siddharth Cavale
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Higher egg prices, an issue U.S. President Donald Trump spoke about often during his election campaign last fall, boosted Walmart grocery revenue, the world’s largest retailer said during its earnings briefing on Thursday.
Walmart said its grocery revenue rose by mid-single digits in the quarter through January 31, and a Walmart earnings presentation showed that egg-price inflation was baked into that increase. Egg prices have been rising as bird flu, or avian influenza, has hammered egg production in chickens.
“There will always be some anomalies like what we’re seeing right now with eggs as a result of avian flu last fall,” Walmart’s finance chief John David Rainey said on a call with Wall Street analysts.
“Those things tend to work themselves out over time, so we don’t have a large inflation number planned into this year,” he said, referring to Walmart’s outlook for its current fiscal year.
Walmart caters to price-conscious shoppers courted by Trump, who are up in arms over the rising price of eggs after years of inflation fatigue.
Many Americans are now bracing for even higher prices on a wide range of items if Trump implements tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico. In November, Walmart said high tariffs “could lead to increased costs for our customers.”
The virus has wiped out more than 156 million chickens, turkeys and other birds nationwide since an outbreak in poultry began in 2022. Losses of laying hens have slashed egg supplies, sending prices soaring and prompting retailers to restrict purchases and restaurants to raise prices.
U.S. diner chain Waffle House added a 50-cent surcharge for every egg in a customer’s order with signs posted on their doors earlier this month warning customers about the increase.
Social media posts showed that retailers including Costco and Trader Joe’s were restricting customers to purchasing only a limited number of egg packages due to the limited egg supply.
Costco and Trader Joe’s were not immediately available to comment.
A website for a Wegmans store based in New York State showed that it currently allowed shoppers to buy up to 10 cartons of a dozen eggs or 18-count eggs, with a maximum of 180 eggs.
“With supply fluctuating nationwide, prices are rising due to avian bird influenza and strong demand,” a notice on the website reads.
“While prices will continue to shift, we are committed to keeping our prices competitive.”
(Reporting by Siddharth Cavale in New York; Additional reporting by Savyata Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by David Gregorio)
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