Wal-Mart (WMT – Free Report) reported blockbuster third-quarter fiscal 2018 results. The mega retailer continued its long streak of positive earnings surprise as it beat estimates for the ninth consecutive quarter. It also topped revenue estimates and offered an upbeat guidance for the holiday quarter and the fiscal year.

Per Bespoke Investment Group, this is only the second time since 2001 when Wal-Mart came up with the combination of an earnings and revenue beat as well as an encouraging outlook.

Q3 Results in Focus

Earnings per share came in at $1.00, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3 cents and improving from the year-ago earnings of 98 cents. Revenues increased 4.2% year over year to $123.2 billion and were ahead of the consensus mark of $121 billion.

The company recorded the highest quarterly U.S. sales growth in nearly a decade driven by e-commerce surge and rising U.S. same-store sales. U.S. same store sales grew for the thirteenth consecutive quarter, climbing 2.7% year over year with a 1.5% increase in traffic sales. U.S. e-commerce sales jumped 50%.

The discount chain delighted investors with an upbeat outlook for the key holiday quarter. It expects U.S. same-store sales to grow 1.5-2%. It also raised its fiscal earnings per share guidance from $4.30-$4.40 to $4.38-$4.46. The midpoint of the guidance is much above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.38.

Market Impact

Given the solid domestic growth and guidance, the stock had its biggest rally in more than nine years. It rose 10.9% to an all-time high on the day and is just a fraction away from becoming a triple-digit stock. Meanwhile, WMT crushed the volume figure as nearly 38.1 million shares exchanged hands compared with around 8.6 million on an average.

The stock is clearly outperforming the industry, having soared 44.2% this year so far compared with the latter’s 20.2% increase. Though Wal-Mart has a poor Zacks Industry Rank in the bottom 32%, it currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) and a top VGM Style Score of A.