Walmart (WMT) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know
Walmart (WMT) closed at $114.26 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.56% move from the prior day. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 4.41%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 4.44%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 4.41%.
Coming into today, shares of the world's largest retailer had gained 0.63% in the past month. In that same time, the Retail-Wholesale sector lost 7.31%, while the S&P 500 lost 12.16%.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from WMT as it approaches its next earnings report date. This is expected to be May 19, 2020. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.15, up 1.77% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $127.04 billion, up 2.52% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $5.08 per share and revenue of $539.80 billion. These totals would mark changes of +3.04% and +3.02%, respectively, from last year.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for WMT. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.4% lower. WMT is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.
Investors should also note WMT's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 22.29. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 12.42.
Investors should also note that WMT has a PEG ratio of 4.51 right now. 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. The Retail - Supermarkets industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 2.17 as of yesterday's close.
The Retail - Supermarkets industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 157, putting it in the bottom 39% 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.
To follow WMT in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.
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