Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Walmart (WMT) Stock Moves -1.41%: What You Should Know

Read MoreHide Full Article

Walmart (WMT - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $122.37, moving -1.41% from the previous trading session. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 2.01%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 1.56%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.2%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the world's largest retailer had lost 3.39% over the past month. This has lagged the Retail-Wholesale sector's loss of 1.09% and was narrower than the S&P 500's loss of 6.08% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from Walmart as it approaches its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.82, up 2.25% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $148.57 billion, up 5.33% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $6.40 per share and revenue of $594.87 billion, which would represent changes of -0.93% and +3.86%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Walmart. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.01% lower. Walmart is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell).

Looking at its valuation, Walmart is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 19.38. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 11.13, so we one might conclude that Walmart is trading at a premium comparatively.

Investors should also note that WMT has a PEG ratio of 3.52 right now. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. Retail - Supermarkets stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.77 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Retail - Supermarkets industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 241, putting it in the bottom 5% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Walmart Inc. (WMT) - free report >>

Published in