Walmart climbs 6% after earnings crush estimates, boosted by online shopping

• Walmart reported quarterly earnings on Tuesday that crushed Wall Street's estimates, boosted by a huge surge in ecommerce.
• Shares of Walmart climbed as much as 6% in premarket trading Tuesday before paring those gains to trade lower.
• Walmart's ecommerce sales soared 97% in the second quarter, as the coronavirus pandemic boosted online shopping.
• Watch Walmart trade live on Markets Insider.
• Read more on Business Insider.

Shares of Walmart surged as much as 6% in premarket trading Tuesday before paring those gains to trade lower. The whipsaw in trading comes after the company reported quarterly earnings that crushed Wall Street's estimates.

Here are the key numbers:

• Adjusted earnings per share: $1.56 reported, versus $1.25 (expected)
• Revenue: $137.74 billion reported, versus $135.5 billion (expected)

In addition to the revenue beat, Walmart's ecommerce sales soared 97% in the second quarter, as the coronavirus pandemic boosted online shopping. US same-store sales also grew by 9.3% in the quarter, driven by general merchandise and food purchases.

Sam's Club had a solid quarter, with same-store sales up 13%, even though reduced tobacco sales weighed on the figure, the company said in a press release. Ecommerce at Sam's jumped 39%, and growth in membership was the highest quarterly increase in more than five years.

Operating expenses as a percentage of net sales increased, largely due to spending the company has done to address COVID-19. Walmart has hired hundreds of thousands of workers amid the pandemic to stock shelves, clean its stores, and fulfill online orders.

The big-box retailer did not provide guidance for the rest of the year, given the uncertainty of the pandemic. It first withdrew its guidance in the first quarter.

Walmart has gained 14% year-to-date through Monday's close.