Walmart CFO, Fmr Home Depot CEO, & more: C-Suite Insights

Yahoo Finance sat down with executives across a variety of industries. Here are some of the key moments:

tastylive Founder and CEO Tom Sosnoff (00:00:05)

tastylive Founder and CEO Tom Sosnoff discusses the recent surge in GameStop (GME) shares. “This is not going to be a repeat of 2021 and that whole… crazy meme stock explosion,” Sosnoff notes. “I think this is going to be... a much more muted version of what we saw… I do not think this is 2021 all over again.”

The Vitamin Shoppe CEO Lee Wright (00:00:49)

The Vitamin Shoppe CEO Lee Wright discusses how the company’s “expanding the ecosphere of what The Vitamin Shoppe offers to both existing and new customers” with its new GLP-1 program.

On the state of the consumer, Wright notes, “we are seeing a consumer that is a bit strained right now, they are feeling pressure, they’re looking for more value.”

Former Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli (00:01:11)

Former Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli explains that “some of the discretionary projects that were done during COVID, post 9/11, when the home became a sanctuary, are now being deferred,” as Home Depot's (HD) first quarter earnings missed revenue estimates.

Thrive Market CEO Nick Green (00:01:50)

Thrive Market CEO Nick Green notes that “people are looking for ways to save.” “People have gotten hit, they’re feeling it. It’s even more acute on certain kind of staples.”

Walmart CFO John David Rainey (00:02:11)

Walmart (WMT) CFO John David Rainey notes that “the consumer has been relatively consistent,” as the company reported first quarter earnings. “We see that wallets are still stretched, they’re still looking for value, they’re still using discretion with buying those... higher income items.”

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This post was written by Mariela Rosales.

Video transcript

This is not going to be a repeat of 2021 and that whole, you know, that crazy meme stock explosion where gamestop went from, you know, $15 to, to 500 back down to, you know, whatever 100 or something.

I don't think you're gonna see that.

I think this is gonna be much, a much more muted version of what we saw and maybe, maybe two or three days.

But I don't think there's much more than that.

I do not think this is 2021 all over again, but I do think there is an incredible amount of speculative capital out there that is just kind of begging for a shot begging for, you know, um, just, just kind of, I don't, I don't want to call a lottery ticket, but I do think there's a lot of speculative capital out there that's just looking for a play.

We're expanding the ecosphere of what the vitamin shop offers to both existing and new customers because we've never been thought of as someone that will actually provide medications through a telehealth partner.

We've been thought of as a natural supplements and nutraceuticals.

It's really the large expansion of our business.

We are seeing a consumer that is a bit strained right now.

They are feeling pressure.

They're looking for more value.

Some of the discretionary projects that were done during COVID post 911 when the home became a sanctuary are now being deferred.

Why are they being deferred?

You know, we talk a lot about the consumer is strong and there spending a lot of money or are they spending a lot of money but getting less volume?

So that's why we see credit card debt accelerating here.

So I, I think they have to be much more discerning in what they're doing.

They're being very conservative about managing their bank accounts and their credit cards.

I, I wish, I wish we were doing that at the national debt level to be honest with you.

So, so I think Home Depot will continue to be well positioned.

It's well run, people have gotten hit, they're feeling it.

Uh it's even more acute on certain kind of staples.

And I think people are looking for ways to save, you know, and in, in our case for thrive market, we're providing healthy natural organic products, which are even more expensive typically.

And so if you're committed to that lifestyle and you're feeling it in your pocket book, you know, you really need a way to get better prices, we are really pleased with the results.

This quarter grew, the top line 6% grew operating income over twice that amount at 13.7%.

And I really think it shows that customers are continuing to come to Walmart for not only just value but also convenience in terms of the consumer, the consumer has been relatively consistent.

We are like everyone else is looking for.

Uh, if there's something there, something that we should be more aware of, but they've been pretty consistent quarter to quarter here.

We see that wallets are still stretched.

They're still looking for value.

They're still using discretion with buying those, those higher income items.