Consumers stocking up on groceries, cleaning supplies and other merchandise in areas of the U.S. where coronavirus cases spiked benefited Walmart Inc.'s fiscal second quarter, when sales growth slowed as government support waned, executives said Aug. 18.

The Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer reported comparable sales well ahead of analysts' estimates. The bump came from a combination of higher consumer spending on at-home items, from groceries to sporting goods to electronics, and government support for consumers in the form of one-time stimulus checks and increased federal payouts for the unemployed.

In areas of the country where COVID-19 cases spiked, customers began stocking up again on food and other household essentials, President and CEO Doug McMillon told analysts during a call.

The higher sales boosted the profitability of Walmart's e-commerce operations. CFO Brett Biggs said there are some "big pieces of the e-commerce [profit & loss statement] that are moving in the right direction."

"They were before," he added, "it's just that these tailwinds have accelerated that."

But overall growth moderated during the latter part of the quarter, which ended July 31, as those government benefits ran out, executives said. "As the benefits from stimulus waned towards the end of the quarter, we saw comp sales settle into a more normal range," McMillon said.

Sales of back-to-school items, especially backpacks, pencils and other school supplies, have taken a hit due to the spread of coronavirus, McMillon said.

Walmart opened another health clinic during the quarter, this time outside its hometown of Bentonville, Ark. McMillon said the location is smaller than the clinic that it opened in Dallas, Georgia, in 2019 and is part of the retailer's experimentation with different formats for its healthcare offerings. "Demand is still strong in an environment where people are not necessarily taking advantage of a lot of preventative care," McMillon said.