Shoppers are still flocking to Walmart. The company raised its full-year earnings and sales outlook Thursday, heading into the crucial holiday shopping season. Walmart also offered fresh signs that it is shedding its original identity as a strictly down-market brick-and-mortar operation by growing its e-commerce business and increasing its market share of higher-income shoppers. Walmart’s shares closed more than 6% higher Thursday, even as the broader market suffered a dramatic sell-off. The stock is up more than 18% this year. The biggest retailer and grocer in the United States acknowledged the added financial pressures on lower-income households but said middle-income families are holding up. Walmart saw more sales growth in its grocery and health and wellness product categories than in general merchandise. ‘As pocketbooks have been stretched, you’re seeing more consumer dollars go to necessities versus discretionary items,’ Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey said on a call with analysts…
