Mazda’s operating margin is higher than Walmart’s (along with many others). I think hyper scalable sectors like high tech and finance distort our OM expectations.
Operating margin is irrelevant, only profit margin matters for this context. Walmart hangs out in the 2.5% to 3.5% range, not materially different than Mazda. Either way, any business with a low single digit profit margin is not making money hand over fist. It might be different if Mazda had such a huge and loyal market share that their low profit margins are offset by low volatility of expected future sales (such as with Walmart/Costco), but that isn't the case at all with Mazda.
Their expectation is that their sales will be stagnant at best, but probably decline for the foreseeable future.
