Walmart cut its profit outlook. Here’s why that might worry rivals.

Walmart sounded alarms Monday when it slashed its quarterly and full-year profit forecasts — a warning that so rattled Wall Street, the retailer’s stock went into a nosedive.

Household spending has been resilient this year even in the face of other economic challenges — including scrambled energy markets, supply chain bottlenecks and decades-high inflation. Because consumers power more than two-thirds of the economy, their willingness to spend has been held up as a key counterpoint to views the nation is barreling toward recession.