The economy has been the defining story of 2022, and consumers and businesses alike have been scrambling to adjust to the ongoing macro headwinds. The most widely followed read on inflation -- the Consumer Price Index (CPI) -- rose 7.7% in October.
While that's an improvement compared to previous months, inflation is still near 40-year highs. That, combined with rising interest rates, has made it tough for shoppers to make ends meet. This would normally be a boon to discount retailers, including Walmart (NYSE: WMT) and Target (NYSE: TGT) .
However, when the two companies reported results this week, they painted very different pictures, leaving investors scratching their heads. Let's take a look at the results to see what each company's results say about the state of the economy and their respective businesses.
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Walmart's and Target's Results Tell Two Very Different Stories: Which Is a Better Buy?