Walmart says it will raise prices due to tariff costs after posting solid first quarter sales

• May 15, 2025

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO, Associated Press Retail Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart’s first quarter profit slipped and it said it must raise prices due to higher costs from tariffs implemented by President Donald Trump.

The nation’s largest retailers posted strong quarterly sales Thursday and said it expects sales growth of 3.5% to 4.5% in the second quarter.

Like many other U.S. companies, however, it did not issue a profit outlook for the quarter because of the chaotic environment, with stated U.S. tariff policies changing constantly. The company maintained its full year guidance issued in February.

Walmart earned $4.45 billion, or 56 cents per share, in the quarter ended April 30, down from $5.10 billion, or 63 cents per share, in the same period last year.

Adjusted earnings per share were 61 cents, exceeding the 58 cent projections from industry analysts, according to FactSet.

Revenue rose 2.5% to $165.61 billion, just short of analyst estimates.

Walmart’s U.S. comparable sales — those from established physical stores and online channels — rose 4.5% in the second quarter, though that’s slowed from a 4.6% bump in the previous quarter, and a 5.3% increase in the third quarter of 2024.

Shares rose almost 3% before the opening bell Thursday.

Business was fueled by health and wellness items as well as groceries. Sales were weaker in home and sporting good, which was offset by robust sales of toys, automotive goods and kid’s clothing, the company said.

Global e-commerce sales rose 22%, up from 16% in the previous quarter.

Future sales have become a concern for all retailers for a number of reasons.

Many Americans have been pulling back on spending as they grow uneasy about the economy, and inflation remains elevated. Trump’s tariffs on China and other countries threaten the low-price model that is at the core of Walmart’s success.

Trump’s threatened 145% import taxes on Chinese goods were reduced to 30% in a deal announced Monday, with some of the higher tariffs on pause for 90 days.

Retailers and importers had largely stopped shipping shoes, clothes, toys, and other items with the duties so high, but many will now resume importing from China in the narrow window, hoping to avoid sparse shelves this fall. Yet many retailers say they must raise prices to tariff costs. And they are also bracing for higher shipping costs fueled by a surge of companies scrambling to get their goods on ships to the U.S.

Walmart has built in hedges against some tariff threats. Two-thirds of Walmart’s merchandise is sourced in the U.S., with groceries driving much of that. Groceries account for roughly 60%, of Walmart’s U.S. business.

Still, Walmart isn’t immune and said it will have to raise prices even as it works to absorb the costs of the tariffs.

“We will do our best to keep our prices as low as possible but given the magnitude of the tariffs, even at the reduced levels announced this week, we aren’t able to absorb all the pressure given the reality of narrow retail margins,” said CEO Doug McMillon in a statement.

Walmart is among the first major U.S. retailers to report financial results and the numbers can provide a hint as to the mood of the American shopper and how the tariffs are impacting its business.

Earlier this month, Amazon announced higher first-quarter profit and sales that beat analysts’ projections, underscoring the online behemoth’s hold on shoppers looking for low prices and a wide selection in an uncertain economy.

Amazon brought in foreign goods before Trump’s tariffs took effect. And Amazon’s president and CEO Andy Jassy told analysts during its earnings call that many of its third party sellers did the same. And because of that move, a fair amount of third-party sellers haven’t changed their pricing yet, he said.

​ Orange County Register 

Wall Street, global markets mostly lower and oil prices drop $2 on hopes for a US-Iran nuclear deal

• May 15, 2025

By ELAINE KURTENBACH and MATT OTT, Associated Press Business Writers

Wall Street veered lower before the opening bell Thursday and oil prices fell more than $2 a barrel as optimism over a possible U.S.-Iran nuclear deal rose.

Futures for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average each fell 0.4%. Nasdaq futures dipped 0.6%.

President Donald Trump, visiting Qatar as part of a three-country Middle East tour, has urged the nation to use its influence with Iran to persuade its leadership to dial back its rapidly advancing nuclear program. A deal would help pave the way to ease sanctions against Tehran.

U.S. benchmark crude oil lost $2.37 to $60.78 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gave up $2.32 to $63.70 per barrel.

Oil prices surged early this week after China and the U.S. announced an agreement to scale back painfully high tariffs each has imposed on the other for 90 days. But they’ve since retreated after the U.S. Energy Administration reported relatively high crude oil stockpiles that could lead to an oversupply.

In equities markets, Walmart shares rose 2.2% after it reported strong sales but a decline in first quarter profit, and said it has to raise prices due to higher costs from tariffs.

Like many other U.S. companies, Walmart did not issue a profit outlook for the quarter because of the chaotic environment around rapidly changing U.S. trade policy. The company maintained its full-year guidance issued in February.

Foot Locker shares nearly doubled after Dick’s Sporting Goods said it was buying the struggling footwear chain for about $2.4 billion. It’s the second buyout of a major footwear company in as many weeks as business leaders struggle with uncertainty over how Trump’s tariffs will impact companies that make many of their products overseas.

Last week Skechers announced that it was being taken private by 3G Capital for $9 billion.

Dick’s said Thursday that it expects to run Foot Locker as a standalone unit and keep the Foot Locker brands, which include Kids Foot Locker, Champs Sports, WSS and the Japanese sneaker brand atmos.

Foot Locker shares soared more than 80% to $23.57 before the bell. Dick’s fell 8.5%.

Elsewhere, China moved to reverse some of its “non-tariff” measures against the U.S. as agreed with Washington in their temporary trade war cease-fire, while demanding that the U.S. side “immediately correct its wrong practices.”

A Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson accused the Trump administration of violating world trade rules by announcing that use of Ascend computer chips made by China’s Huawei Technologies violates U.S. export controls.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index dropped 1% to 37,775.51. Computer chip-related stocks were among the biggest decliners, with Disco Corp. falling 3.2% and Advantest down 1.1%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.8% to 23,453.16, while the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.7% to 3,380.82. Taiwan’s Taiex fell 0.2%, while India’s Sensex rebounded to gain 1.6%.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.2% higher to 8,297.50. South Korea’s Kospi gave up 0.7% to 2,621.36.

European markets are mixed at midday with Germany’s DAX shedding 0.1%, while the CAC 40 in Paris fell 0.2%. Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.3%.

On Thursday, the government will release its April report for inflation at the wholesale level, as well as for retail sales and weekly jobless claims.

The latest retail data is expected to reflect a meager 0.2% sales increase in April, down significantly from a 1.4% gain the previous month.

The stock market has been relatively steady since surging Monday after the U.S. and China announced a 90-day pause in their trade war. The market gained more ground on Tuesday after the government reported that inflation unexpectedly cooled across the country in April.

Trump has delayed a large swath of his most severe tariffs against America’s trading partners, but some import taxes remain in place. Uncertainty over the path ahead continues to hang over businesses and consumers. The on-again-off-again nature of Trump’s trade policy has left companies reluctant to make plans about investment and hiring and consumers nervous about spending.

Businesses continue to trim or withdraw their financial forecasts as they face unpredictable trade policy and cautious consumers.

More than 90% of companies in the S&P 500 have reported earnings for their latest quarter and most reported better-than-expected earnings. But they have cut or scrapped forecasts for the current quarter and even the full year.

​ Orange County Register 

Angels’ hitters go quietly in loss to Padres

• May 15, 2025

SAN DIEGO — The Angels’ bats went silent again.

After a couple of weeks of improving offense, the Angels lost, 5-1, to the Padres on Wednesday night, dropping the rubber game of the series.

The Angels had scored at least four runs in seven of their previous 10 games, but this game brought back memories of the recent three-week stretch when their offense could barely muster a whimper.

The Angels had four hits, including Taylor Ward’s 10th home run of the season.

“We tried,” Manager Ron Washington said. “We put ourselves in some positions to get something done. We just couldn’t come up with a base hit. … We just couldn’t get anything going, especially the middle of our lineup. It just didn’t get anything going tonight.”

Coming into the game, the Angels seemed to have a chance at a good night against Padres right-hander Randy Vasquez. Even though he had a respectable 3.76 ERA, Vasquez had walked 25 hitters and struck out 18 in 38⅓ innings. A pitcher should typically have two or three times as many strikeouts as walks.

In six innings against Vasquez, the Angels struck out five times and walked once. The lack of walks was more about Vasquez having better control than the Angels lacking discipline. Their 30% rate of swings at pitches out of the zone was only slightly worse than the major league average of 28%.

“He had a good night,” shortstop Zach Neto said. “He was making his pitches. We hit some mistakes he made, but he didn’t make a lot of mistakes. You know, you’ve got to tip your cap to him. He had an outstanding game. Just move on to the next.”

The Angels blew a good scoring opportunity in the third, when Matthew Lugo led off with a double and went to third on a fly ball. Neto hit a pop-up, Nolan Schanuel walked and Yoán Moncada struck out.

“He threw me a good pitch, and I swung at it,” Neto said. “I missed my pitch to hit and then I go up and chase his.”

The Angels (17-25) didn’t get another runner into scoring position.

The poor production at the plate wasted a solid night from the starter Kyle Hendricks, who gave up three runs – all on one pitch – in six innings.

In the first inning, Hendricks gave up back-to-back one-out singles to Luis Arraez and Manny Machado. An out later, Xander Bogaerts fought him through a long at-bat, fouling off three straight two-strike pitches. On the ninth pitch of the battle, Hendricks threw changeup over the middle of the plate, and Bogaerts drilled it over the left field fence, for a three-run homer.

“Just got to keep focusing on just trying to make a good pitch,” Hendricks said. “He just put a really good at-bat together. Don’t want to walk him to load the bases necessarily, but don’t want to give in. So it’s a fine line you’re kind of toeing. And again, just a good hitter. Put a good swing on it. Just got to move on.”

After that, though, Hendricks clamped down on the Padres. He gave up just two hits and a walk through the next five innings. The Padres did not have two baserunners in any of those innings.

Hendricks was effective at getting soft contact. The Padres didn’t swing at miss at one of his pitches until his 65th pitch of the night, in the fifth inning. That was one of two whiffs in a strikeout of No. 9 hitter Martin Maldonado.

Left-hander Reid Detmers was the first pitcher out of the bullpen, and he had a second straight scoreless outing after his disastrous three-outing stretch last week.

The Padres padded the lead with two runs in the eighth, thanks to an error from Moncada and two José Fermin walks. Although the runs were unearned, it snapped Fermin’s four-game scoreless streak.

Overall, this loss didn’t seem as painful for the Angels as the night before, when they blew a two-run lead in the eighth. After this one, they seemed more willing to shrug it off and give credit to the Padres, whose 27-15 record is the third-best in the majors.

“That’s a really good team over there,” Hendricks said. “We’ve got to realize that. We still played some good baseball, had a chance to take the series, if not sweep. We were in all three games. So we got to take that as a positive.”

​ Orange County Register 

Galaxy winless through 13 games after giving up 2-goal lead in Philadelphia

• May 15, 2025

CHESTER, Pa. — The frustration continues for the Galaxy.

Tai Baribo scored two second-half goals, including the game-winner in stoppage time, and the Philadelphia Union rallied to beat the Galaxy, 3-2, on Wednesday night.

The Galaxy (0-9-4, 4 points) continued the worst start by a defending champion in MLS history despite Diego Fagúndez becoming the eighth player in league history to reach 75 goals and 75 assists in a career.

“I think everybody sees how frustrating it is,” Fagúndez said. “You go up 2-0 in Philly which is a hard place to play, and I thought we were doing so well in the first half. Come into the break and in five minutes, the whole game changes for us and then we try to hold off as much as we can and we gave up a late goal. It’s a hard one to swallow. Frustrating. Things are not going our way. We’re trying so hard to give stuff back to our fans, to ourselves. It’s just hard.”

Baribo scored in the sixth minute of stoppage time after tying the match at 2-2 with a goal in the 50th minute for the Union (8-3-2, 26 points), who are on a five-match unbeaten run. Baribo has a league-leading 10 goals on the season.

Defender Mauricio Cuevas scored for the first time this season and the second time in 31 career appearances to give the Galaxy the lead in the 31st minute. Fagúndez scored his second goal this season and the 75th of his career for a 2-0 lead in the 37th. Marco Reus collected assists on both scores and has three on the season. Cuevas notched his first assist this season and the second of his career. Fagúndez has 76 career assists.

“I’ve been saying if we score first, games change, and today I thought we did that really well in the first half,” Fagúndez said. “Mauricio scores a nice goal and we had a couple more chances to score another one. I was able to score one. It was feeling really good for us. It was one of those feelings that you’re like, okay, maybe this is it. Maybe we break the ice now and at a hard place to play. Then you get punished in five minutes and it’s tough.”

Philadelphia tied it in the first five minutes of the second half. Jacob Glesnes used his head to score off a corner kick by Kai Wagner in the 48th minute for the Union’s first goal.

Homegrown goalkeeper Andrew Rick made his 10th career start and did not have a save for the Union.

John McCarthy had four saves as the Galaxy built a 2-0 lead in the first half and finished with seven.

Philadelphia improved to 1-3-2 all time at home in the Galaxy’s first visit since 2018 and 2-9-3 in the series.

The Galaxy plays hosts to rival LAFC on Sunday at 6 p.m. at Dignity Health Sports Park.

Asked if they can still salvage their season, Fagúndez said they can only focus on one game at a time.

“Thirteen games, it’s tough. But right now we’re taking it a game at a time, and we have our rivals coming to town,” Fagúndez said. “We need to make sure that that game is a win and we put ourselves ahead and we give it our all. We need to show fans the kind of courage and players we want to be. We really need one and I want one as much as everybody else.”

​ Orange County Register 

Man sentenced to 40 years to life for Stanton killing

• May 15, 2025

SANTA ANA — A 43-year-old man was sentenced Wednesday to 40 years to life in prison for fatally shooting the on-again, off-again boyfriend of one of his drug-dealing associates in a Stanton motel.

Joel Brandon Martinez was convicted Feb. 15, 2024, of second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit a crime and possession of a gun by a felon, all felonies. Jurors also found true a sentencing enhancement for discharge of a gun causing death.

Co-defendant Amy Lynn Black was sentenced in April to 15 years to life in prison for her part in the killing.

Co-defendants Gilbert Timothy Ramirez and Brandon Garet Iseminger accepted plea deals. Ramirez was sentenced in March 2023 to 10 years and four months in prison while Iseminger was sentenced to six years, or time served in jail awaiting trial.

Martinez was convicted of fatally shooting 35-year-old Carlos Beltran Aguilar on the afternoon of Aug. 26, 2019, in the Villa Motel, 11672 Beach Blvd.

In the days leading up to the shooting, Black sent multiple angry text messages to two friends complaining about Aguilar. She also sent messages that pointed to her desire to have the victim killed, Senior Deputy District Attorney Alexa Elliott said in her opening statement of the trial.

Black was suspicious that Aguilar, who would stay with her whenever he wasn’t in jail on drug charges in 2018 and 2019 while they were dating, was cheating with an ex-girlfriend, Elliott said.

Martinez supplied heroin and methamphetamine to Black to sell out of a motel room where she had been staying, Elliott said.

Black sent a message to Martinez seeking help, but Martinez and his friends had been out late the night before partying and did not see the messages right away, Elliott said.

When Martinez finally woke up around noon, he allegedly told Black he would be right over. Martinez, Iseminger and Ramirez at the time were staying at the Stanton home of a friend, Elliott said.

Aguilar’s cousin, who was trying to help get the victim to sober up, dropped him off at Black’s room to gather some belongings before the relative could take him to a rehab facility, Elliott said.

Martinez, Iseminger and Ramirez got to the motel at about 1:11 p.m. and Martinez went in, Elliott said. Ramirez and Iseminger went in and out for the first few minutes, but then left the three alone in the room, where a gunshot can be heard, Elliott said.

Black told police Martinez jumped on the bed, pointed the gun at the victim and shot him once, killing him, the prosecutor said.

At Black’s sentencing, one of Aguilar’s daughters, Adriana, told Orange County Superior Court Judge Gary Paer how she recalled learning her father died.

“My dad’s death affected me a lot,” Adriana said. “One, for me to think I finally found a person who took me as one of their own and treated me like his own and loved as his own and never thought about it twice. Also, for me to turn the big 15 and I cannot even spend my big special day with him there, and for him to see me become the young caring woman he told me to be.”

Another daughter, Jennifer, recalled how her heart sank “with disbelief” when learning of his death, especially given that “Two days prior to his death, my oldest sister had told us that he was trying to turn his life around and get his own place, so we can finally stay nights with him.”

She said Aguilar was “always my biggest support along with my mom, but my dad always told me, `mija, you are strong, just keep on pushing.’ Those words always play in my head when I need it the most. He always told me I’d be the fighter and protector out of my sisters and I believe in that because I do see it.”

She said her father “cracked jokes” and was “just a person you can be yourself around.” She described him as “gentle and sensitive but strong-minded.”

Aguilar enjoyed taking the girls out to a “favorite restaurant” or the park to “play for hours,” Jennifer said.

Another daughter, Layloni, said she still finds it hard to believe her father is gone.

“Till this day it is still hard to believe,” she said. “It still hurts me on the inside that he is not here with us anymore.”

She said she struggled with depression and that she was a “daddy’s girl.” She said she still feels “so lost without him. I missed a lot of school because of it.”

Layloni recalled how two nights before he died he called her and said he had gotten a job lined up and was working on “getting an apartment for me and my sisters to start spending the night with him. I was so excited because my dad was starting to change his life. Then, two days later — he was no longer with us.”

​ Orange County Register 

Orange County scores and player stats for Wednesday, May 14

• May 15, 2025

Support our high school sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribe now

Scores and stats from Orange County games on Wednesday, May 14

Click here for details about sending your team’s scores and stats to the Register.

The deadline for submitting information is 10:45 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 p.m. Saturday.

WEDNESDAY’S SCORES

BOYS VOLLEYBALL

CIF-SS PLAYOFFS

Final

DIVISION 7

San Gabriel Academy def. Brea Olinda, 3-2

BOYS TENNIS

CIF-SS PLAYOFFS

Semifinals

OPEN DIVISION

University 15, Peninsula 3

Harvard-Westlake 12, JSerra 7

DIVISION 1

Marina 11, Oak Park 7

Woodbridge 12, Arcadia 6

DIVISION 4

Villa Park 12, San Gabriel 6

DIVISION 5

Fullerton 10, Culver City 8

Capistrano Valley 9, Thatcher 9 (Capo Valley wins on games, 83-76)

DIVISION 6

Kennedy 10, Beverly Hills 8

Bolsa Grande 10, Carpinteria 8

DIVISION 7

Katella 9, Hueneme 9 (Katella wins on games, 74-71)

​ Orange County Register 

Altadena uphill vacant lot ‘priced low for a quicker sale’ at $175K

• May 15, 2025

A vacant Altadena lot, nearly a quarter-acre in size, hit the market this week “priced low for (a) quicker sale” at $175,000.

Here’s the catch: It’s an uphill slope.

Records show the property sold in March 2013 for $28,000.

The owner, described as a retired general contractor and engineer, intended to “build a house for his son” but “due to (a) change in circumstances … decided to sell” the listing reads.

Listing agent Eduard Khachatryan of Luxury Homes International shared by phone that the seller completed all the necessary preliminary work, including house plans, although none have been approved.

The lot has access to public utilities on the street.

Originally subdivided from the house above, it has no neighbors on either side.

Google Earth imagery reveals that some of the homes directly across the street from the vacant lot survived the Eaton fire, which raged from Jan. 7 to Jan. 31. According to Cal Fire, it destroyed more than 9,400 structures and killed 18 people.

A month before the fire, the property hit the market for $199,950 and then dropped its asking price twice. It eventually fell off the market. On May 11, it resurfaced as Altadena’s lowest-priced land listing.

​ Orange County Register 

3 years ago gunfire erupted in a Laguna Woods church — the suspect has pleaded insanity, but death penalty lurks

• May 15, 2025

Three years after a shooting at a Laguna Woods church left one dead and five others wounded, the suspected killer has signaled a not-guilty-by-reason-of-insanity defense in state court and the question of whether to seek the death penalty appears to be on the minds of prosecutors in federal court.

The seemingly hate-driven attack on May 15, 2022, on the Taiwanese Presbyterian congregation on El Toro Road just outside the expansive retirement community of Laguna Woods Village shocked the quiet community and led to a pair of criminal court cases, in state and federal courts, against David Wenwei Chou, now 71.

The state case in Orange County Superior court has proceeded along much faster. Chou, a Las Vegas resident, has remained in OC jail, not in federal custody. Earlier this year, a Superior Court judge ruled that Chou can face an Orange County jury on special-circumstances murder and attempted-murder charges with hate-crime enhancements.

Currently, in that case, Chou is under evaluation by psychiatrists after pleading not guilty by reason of insanity, court records show.

During a Friday, May 9, hearing, attorneys told a judge that one psychiatrist still needs to meet Chou at the jail. An insanity defense requires a determination that the defendant did not understand the nature of his or her actions during the crimes and was unable to understand that they were wrong.

If successful, Chou almost certainly would be sent to a state hospital.

Prosecutors with the Orange County District Attorney’s Office have not said whether they will seek the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole. That decision is DA Todd Spitzer’s, after he reviews the evidence, hears from the defense, and consults with his top prosecutors and supervisors.

The federal case against Chou — which accuses him of attacking the congregants “because of their actual or perceived Taiwanese national origin and Presbyterian faith” — had, until recently, moved much more slowly. Chou has not yet had to appeared in federal court, records show.

Last month, federal public defenders informed the court that federal prosecutors were asking Chou’s defense team to make a presentation to the Attorney General’s Review Committee on Capital Cases.

Federal prosecutors would not comment on the filing or the timing of any presentation. But a “Justice Manual” posted on the U.S. Department of Justice website cites a consultation with the U.S. attorney or an assistant U.S. attorney general and the department’s Capital Case Section as part of the review process for whether to seek the death penalty.

President Donald Trump, soon after assuming office in January, issued an executive order restoring the federal death penalty. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi in early February issued a memo lifting a moratorium on federal executions that had been adopted by her predecessor, Merrick Garland. Last month, Bondi, for the first time, directed prosecutors to seek the death penalty — against Luigi Mangione, accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City.

Asked specifically whether the presentation involving Chou’s case is part of a larger effort to evaluate or reevaluate capital cases, officials with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California declined to comment.

If convicted in one court, it’s unclear if a second trial would go forward.

According to testimony during Chou’s January preliminary hearing in state Superior Court, Chou attended a guest sermon by a former leader of the congregation who spent time in Taiwan, then joined the congregation in a luncheon. Prosecutors allege he used padlocks, super glue and nails to seal most of the doors to the church dining hall and then opened fire on the mostly elderly church members.

Gunfire struck Henry Ang. Legally blind, Ang was being helped out of the church by a friend when they realized the doors couldn’t be opened, he testified.

“I heard the sound of the gun — ‘pop, pop, pop,’ ” Ang testified in January. “When I laid down, I feel the bullet come into my foot. It felt hot — and pain.”

Dr. John Cheng, a Laguna Niguel resident and sports-medicine and family doctor with an Aliso Viejo practice, rushed at Chou, witnesses said.

Cheng was shot twice, suffering fatal wounds.

Authorities credited him with giving other congregants the time to subdue Chou, likely saving their lives.

Law enforcement officials have described the shooting as politically motivated by Chou’s alleged longstanding grievance with the Taiwanese community. They haven’t specified why Chou — who was working as a security guard in Las Vegas — targeted the Orange County congregation. But they have speculated that it was the closest concentration of potential Taiwanese victims.

​ Orange County Register