Walmart (WMT) ended the recent trading session at $85.63, demonstrating a +0.49% swing from the preceding day's closing price. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.33% loss on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow saw a downswing of 0.37%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq depreciated by 0.53%.
Shares of the world's largest retailer witnessed a loss of 11.42% over the previous month, trailing the performance of the Retail-Wholesale sector with its loss of 6.29% and the S&P 500's loss of 4.03%.
The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Walmart in its upcoming release. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $0.59, reflecting a 1.67% decrease from the same quarter last year. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $165.92 billion, up 2.73% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $2.63 per share and revenue of $703.77 billion, which would represent changes of +4.78% and +3.35%, respectively, from the prior year.
It's also important for investors to be aware of any recent modifications to analyst estimates for Walmart. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the company's business and profitability.
Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, spanning from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), boasts an impressive track record of outperformance, audited externally, with #1 ranked stocks yielding an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 0.21% downward. Right now, Walmart possesses a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
In terms of valuation, Walmart is presently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 32.43. This expresses a premium compared to the average Forward P/E of 13.13 of its industry.
It's also important to note that WMT currently trades at a PEG ratio of 4.53. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. WMT's industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.15 as of yesterday's close.
The Retail - Supermarkets industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 176, placing it within the bottom 30% of over 250 industries.
The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these 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.
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Walmart Inc. (WMT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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