: Walmart seems to have changed its view of weight-loss drugs

by | Dec 6, 2023 | Stock Market

The head of Walmart Inc. said Wednesday it’s too early to say exactly what effect the new class of weight-loss drugs that have become highly popular in the U.S. will have on consumer behavior. “What we can see big picture is that there’s some shifting in categories as people think about losing weight,” Chief Executive Doug McMillon told CNBC in an interview.

“They buy more fresh foods, for example. So there’s some movement around, but I can’t call what’s gonna happen in the long term. That’s a developing story,” he said. In October, the company’s
WMT,
-0.99%
CEO for the U.S. John Furner told Bloomberg in an interview that the company can track which of its customers are taking the drugs and see they are causing a “slight pullback in overall basket” and “less units, slightly less calories.” His comments sparked a selloff of the stocks of beverage and snack giants Coca-Cola Co.
KO,
+0.02%
and PepsiCo Inc.
PEP,
-0.16%,
as MarketWatch reported at the time. The new drugs, which include Ozempic and Wegovy, are used for diabetes and weight loss and work by mimicking the effect of GLP-1, a gut hormone that can help control blood-sugar levels and reduce appetite. The former two are made by Denmark’s Novo Nordisk
NOVO.B,
-1.25%

NVO,
-1.48%
while Eli Lilly & Co.
LLY, …

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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnThe head of Walmart Inc. said Wednesday it’s too early to say exactly what effect the new class of weight-loss drugs that have become highly popular in the U.S. will have on consumer behavior. “What we can see big picture is that there’s some shifting in categories as people think about losing weight,” Chief Executive Doug McMillon told CNBC in an interview.

“They buy more fresh foods, for example. So there’s some movement around, but I can’t call what’s gonna happen in the long term. That’s a developing story,” he said. In October, the company’s
WMT,
-0.99%
CEO for the U.S. John Furner told Bloomberg in an interview that the company can track which of its customers are taking the drugs and see they are causing a “slight pullback in overall basket” and “less units, slightly less calories.” His comments sparked a selloff of the stocks of beverage and snack giants Coca-Cola Co.
KO,
+0.02%
and PepsiCo Inc.
PEP,
-0.16%,
as MarketWatch reported at the time. The new drugs, which include Ozempic and Wegovy, are used for diabetes and weight loss and work by mimicking the effect of GLP-1, a gut hormone that can help control blood-sugar levels and reduce appetite. The former two are made by Denmark’s Novo Nordisk
NOVO.B,
-1.25%

NVO,
-1.48%
while Eli Lilly & Co.
LLY, …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]

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