Walmart’s Q4 earnings got a cool reception on Wall Street last week after the retail giant issued a lower-than-expected 2025 sales guidance. The company forecast that net sales would increase 3%–4% this fiscal year, compared to 5.1% growth in 2024.

As CFO John David Rainey noted in an earnings call, sales have shifted out of higher-margin discretionary categories and into grocery and health and wellness products, “as consumer wallets have been stretched over the past couple of years.”

Despite these headwinds and its more conservative guidance, Walmart emphasized that investments in technology, supply chains, and revenue diversification are setting the company up for success in the long-term.

“We’re growing profit faster than sales, and we have runway to scale our higher-margin businesses like membership, marketplace, and advertising,” CEO Doug McMillon said. “We’re mixing ourselves up, while simultaneously investing in lower prices and associate wages.”

Keep reading here.—AV

PepsiCo is the latest company to retreat from its DEI policies, according to a memo CEO Ramon Laguarta sent to associates.

In the memo, shared by conservative social media activist Robby Starbuck on X and confirmed to be accurate by the company, Laguarta noted that 2025 marks the end of the CPG giant’s five-year DEI strategy.

“We see an even bigger opportunity to more deeply embed inclusion throughout the business as a key driver of business growth and will be introducing a new Inclusion for Growth strategy,” Laguarta wrote.

The company will eliminate the chief DEI officer role, shifting it to a “broader role focused on associate engagement, leadership development, and the continued delivery of A Space to Be You,” per the memo.

Keep reading here.—EC

Temu has been one of the biggest things to hit the US e-commerce landscape over the past two years. However, the Chinese dollar store is caught in a nervous limbo, as it confronts potential trade changes under President Donald Trump. Therefore, it is ceding some control of its China-linked supply chain to move to a more flexible management style.

Why it matters: Temu’s supply chain is moving away from its direct-to-China model where Temu would originally handle everything to get Chinese products from factories to consumers in the US. Instead, the e-commerce retailer is switching to a more partially managed marketplace model that is focused on US-based fulfillment.

Keep reading here.—VC