NEW YORK, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Walmart on Thursday posted second-quarter results that beat Wall Street's sales forecasts but missed earnings estimates.

The U.S. retailer's total revenue for the three months ending July 31 grew 4.8 percent to 177.4 billion U.S. dollars, but the operating income decreased 700 million dollars, or 8.2 percent, affected by discrete legal and restructuring costs.

Despite the earnings miss, Walmart raised its full-year guidance as online sales continued to grow at a double-digit pace.

For the fiscal year of 2026, Walmart expects net sales growth of 3.75 percent to 4.75 percent, compared with a previous forecast of 3 percent to 4 percent. It also slightly raised its adjusted earnings-per-share outlook to a range of 2.52 dollars to 2.62 dollars, up from 2.5 dollars to 2.6 dollars.

"We delivered solid results in Q2 FY26. Transactions and units helped drive top-line performance globally. We maintained our operating discipline, managing inventory levels while driving progress on our financial framework," the company said in a news release posted on its website.

Since U.S. tariffs on nearly all imports are driving up costs across the retail sector, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said the company continued to see costs increase each week.

Walmart shares dropped 4.49 percent on Thursday. ■