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What to Expect From Walmart's (WMT) Q2 Earnings

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Walmart (WMT - Free Report) has seen its stock price climb over 4% in the last month. Shares of WMT also popped on Friday, just less than a week before the retail behemoth reports its quarterly financial results. So let’s do a quick preview of what investors should expect from Walmart’s second-quarter earnings.

Shares of Walmart are up just around 12% over the last year, which lags the S&P 500’s nearly 18% climb as the company tries to find its footing in the new retail age. The company has adapted to the e-commerce revolution, along with the likes of Target (TGT - Free Report) , Costco (COST - Free Report) , and others, in order to fight off Amazon’s (AMZN - Free Report) growing sway over consumers.

Last quarter, Walmart’s revenues climbed 4.4% from the year-ago period to hit $122.7 billion. Meanwhile, the company’s adjusted earnings surged by 14% to reach $1.14 per share, which also topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.12 per share.

Investors might be a bit less pleased to remember that Walmart’s U.S. comp sales only climbed by 2.1%. But the firm’s e-commerce sales soared 33%.

Plus, Walmart announced in March its plan to expand its online grocery delivery offerings to more than 100 metro areas by the end of the year, up from just six. Meanwhile, the big-box giant also offers an order online, curbside pickup service called “Grocery Hero” at 1,200 stores, with Walmart expected to add it at 1,000 more locations by the end of 2018.


 

Second Quarter

Walmart’s Q2 revenues are projected to pop by roughly 1.9% to hit $125.66 billion, based on our current Zacks Consensus Estimate. For the full-year, WMT’s revenues are projected to climb by 2.5% to reach $512.69 billion.

At the other end of the income statement, the retailer is projected to see its adjusted second-quarter earnings climb by just over 12% to touch $1.21 per share. Looking even further ahead, Walmart’s fiscal year earnings are projected to jump by 8.82% to $4.81 per share.

However, investors should note that Walmart’s earnings revision activity has trended in the wrong direction recently for both Q2 and its current fiscal year.

Walmart is set to release its quarterly financial results before the market opens on Thursday, August 16.

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