Yahoo Finance Walmart (WMT) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know
In the latest trading session, Walmart (WMT) closed at $140.68, marking a -0.73% move from the previous day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.61%. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.1%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.67%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the world's largest retailer had lost 3.45% over the past month. This has lagged the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 10.67% and the S&P 500's gain of 8.32% in that time.
Walmart will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be February 21, 2023. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.50, down 1.96% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $158.81 billion, up 3.88% from the year-ago period.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Walmart should also be noted by investors. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.
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 0.43% lower. Walmart is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Walmart has a Forward P/E ratio of 21.73 right now. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 11.49, so we one might conclude that Walmart is trading at a premium comparatively.
Investors should also note that WMT has a PEG ratio of 3.95 right now. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Retail - Supermarkets was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.17 at yesterday's closing price.
The Retail - Supermarkets industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 11, which puts it in the top 5% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual 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.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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Walmart Inc. (WMT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
