For Walmart an unexpected bill for $400 million is a mere speed bump
Size matters: How Walmart and Target dominated amid disruption, inflation
Both retailers leaned on their scale to get goods on shelves and keep prices low, at least relative to the industry.
For many companies, an unexpected bill for $400 million would be a crucible, if not the beginning of a tailspin. For Walmart, the world's largest company by revenue, it was a mere speed bump.
That figure, $400 million, was what the company spent on supply chain costs above management's original estimates for the fourth quarter, which ultimately yielded some $3.6 billion in net income.
For the two legacy, mass merchant giants Walmart and Target, a year of unprecedented supply chain turmoil raised costs and posed some challenges, to be sure. But their scale and vast financial resources allowed them to absorb that disruption.
