Walmart’s sales growth falls to 6-year low as Middle American shoppers go on strike

Walmart experienced the slowest growth in U.S. comparable sales in six years during its most recent quarter and it offered a cautious outlook for the year, sending company shares down 6% before the opening bell Thursday.

Comparable sales in U.S. stores, which measure sales at stores open at least a year along with online sales tied to those locations, rose 2.6% in the second quarter. They rose 4.1% in the previous quarter.

Excluding the wellness category that includes Walmart’s pharmacies, comparable sales increased 3.4% in the second quarter. Those sales were hit by federal legislation that requires pharmacies to dispense some high-cost Medicare drugs at capped prices, the retailer said. That was still below analysts’ projections of a 3.8% increase, according to FactSet.

Walmart’s U.S. e-commerce business, which has become an engine of........

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