Despite major shifts in the ways people spend money, many heavyweights saw positive movement this quarter, with investors and shareholders alike demonstrating their confidence with their dollars.
For some, this comes amidst mixed news as the digital economy exerts its gravitational pull on shoppers. For others, as the saying goes, all they do is win. Here’s what happened for some of the industry’s biggest players this week, by the numbers:
1.4% | Wal-Mart comp sales growth in Q1, sparking investor confidence in the grocery business and delivering stock gains for Kroger, Target, and others.
$0.63 | Alibaba Q4 EPS, coming in below expectations of $0.66 and triggering a drop in share prices. (Stocks recovered later in the day following the announcement of 60% year-over-year growth in Alibaba’s total revenue.)
454 million | Active buyers across Alibaba’s Chinese retail marketplaces.
$1.4 billion | Investment made in Indian digital payments startup Paytm by Softbank Group on Thursday, bringing the total value of parent company One97 up to $7 billion. This will fuel investments over the next three to five years to double Paytm’s user base.
220 million | Current Paytm users.