Yahoo Finance Walmart (WMT) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know
In the latest market close, Walmart (WMT) reached $59.09, with a -1.75% movement compared to the previous day. The stock's performance was behind the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.2%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.69%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.59%.
The the stock of world's largest retailer has fallen by 0.71% in the past month, leading the Retail-Wholesale sector's loss of 3.47% and the S&P 500's loss of 4.16%.
The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Walmart in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is scheduled to release its earnings on May 16, 2024. On that day, Walmart is projected to report earnings of $0.52 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 6.12%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $158.89 billion, up 4.33% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $2.36 per share and revenue of $671.5 billion. These totals would mark changes of +6.31% and +3.61%, respectively, from last year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Walmart. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the company's business health and profitability.
Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. 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, 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, there's been no change in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. At present, Walmart boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Looking at valuation, Walmart is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 25.53. This indicates a premium in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 12.61.
One should further note that WMT currently holds a PEG ratio of 3.93. 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. Retail - Supermarkets stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.39 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Retail - Supermarkets industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 80, placing it within the top 32% of over 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.
Don't forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in the upcoming trading sessions.
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Walmart Inc. (WMT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
