Hadley Malcolm

USA TODAY

Walmart (WMT) shares rocketed 9.6% Thursday after the giant chain posted first-quarter results well ahead of Wall Street's expectations, proving itself to be one of the few retail success stories in recent months.

Walmart credited its efforts to provide shoppers with a better experience as leading to high sales in the first quarter. Investors reacted by sending Walmart earning up $6.05 a share to close at $69.20

Walmart cited better pricing, selection and fully stocked shelves as helping to boost sales in grocery, an area Walmart has been trying to improve, while the company's smaller-format Neighborhood Market stores also brought in shoppers looking for fresh food or to fulfill pharmacy orders. Sales at Walmart U.S. stores open at least a year increased 1%, the seventh consecutive quarter of growth for Walmart's domestic business. Neighborhood Market same-store sales increased 7.1% in the quarter.

"Investment in wages, training and store improvements are beginning to pay off," said Walmart U.S. CEO Greg Foran on a call with media, noting that customer service has gotten better and it's easier for customers to find what they want.

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Net earnings fell 7.8% to $3.1 billion from $3.3 billion in the same quarter last year, primarily due to Walmart's decision to pay higher wages. The company initiated the second phase of a plan that started last year to bring employees to a minimum of $10 an hour. But earnings per share basis came to 98 cents, beating analyst estimates for earnings per share of 88 cents.

Revenue increased 0.9% to $115.9 billion from $114.8 billion in the year-ago quarter. Analysts expected revenue of $112.7 billion, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Its international segment struggled though, with sales down 7.2%, impacted by fluctuating exchange rates. Though excluding currency volatility, international sales were up 4%.

Walmart has been spending more on technology, ramping up its efforts to go head-to-head with Amazon. It's been expanding its service that offers store pick up for online grocery orders and announced earlier this month that its three-day shipping program in pilot testing would be pared down to a two-day shipping guarantee. That puts it more in line with Amazon's subscription Prime service.

Notably, Walmart didn't experience the same fluctuations in spending patterns that many of its competitors did due to a cold spring, which kept shoppers from pulling out their wallets. Chief Financial Officer Brett Biggs said sales performance was consistent.

The results were a stark contrast to retail competitors who saw sales slow considerably in the quarter. Executives have blamed a colder-than-expected spring and shoppers wary of spending.