Walmart sees sales rise at stores and online, raises outlook  

Walmart raised its financial outlook for the year after beating Wall Street's expectations for the quarter and seeing the strongest growth in more than a decade in sales at established stores. Its shares rose more than 9 percent Thursday.

The upbeat report indicates that Walmart's efforts to improve the experience shoppers have at its stores and expand its online services, particularly in grocery, are helping bring people to its websites and stores. Like many other retailers, Walmart is also benefiting from a stronger job market and rising confidence. Home Depot and Macy's both raised their forecasts this week.

Walmart said sales were strong across many categories but the grocery business was notable with sales rising the most in nine years, fueled by fresh items like meat and produce. That helped sales at stores open at least a year rise 4.5 percent at Walmart's U.S. division, better than analysts expected. The measure, an indicator of a retailer's health, was helped by a more than 2 percent increase in customer traffic and in transactions.

With shoppers feeling confident, the National Retail Federation trade group raised its annual sales forecast this week, citing the results of tax cuts and an improving job market. But it warned that trade wars between China and the U.S. could dampen consumer confidence in the second half of the year, the busiest time for retail. Walmart said that it's using its scale to mitigate tariff effects.

Since buying Jet.com for more than $3 billion two years ago, Walmart has been bolstering its online business by acquiring brands like Bonobos and ModCloth. It's also working to speed up delivery to compete better with Amazon, and is expanding same-day grocery delivery.

Walmart is also revamping its website with a focus on fashion and home furnishings. It has teamed up with Lord & Taylor to offer the department store dedicated space on its site. The company said the grocery pickup service for online shoppers, at more than 1,800 stores so far, is helping attract new customers and existing ones are adding an extra item in their cart.

Online sales rose 40 percent  in the U.S. for the latest quarter.