The latest trading session saw Walmart (WMT) ending at $92.41, denoting a -0.87% adjustment from its last day's close. The stock's performance was ahead of the S&P 500's daily loss of 2.36%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a loss of 2.48%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq decreased by 2.55%.
Shares of the world's largest retailer have appreciated by 8.42% over the course of the past month, outperforming the Retail-Wholesale sector's loss of 4.2% and the S&P 500's loss of 5.6%.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Walmart in its upcoming release. The company plans to announce its earnings on May 15, 2025. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $0.58, reflecting a 3.33% decrease from the same quarter last year. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $165.88 billion, indicating a 2.71% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $2.60 per share and a revenue of $703.61 billion, signifying shifts of +3.59% and +3.32%, respectively, from the last year.
Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for Walmart. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. Therefore, positive revisions in estimates convey analysts' confidence in the company's business performance and profit potential.
Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. 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 varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, there's been a 0.98% fall in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. Walmart presently features a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).
In the context of valuation, Walmart is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 35.83. This signifies a premium in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 14.51 for its industry.
One should further note that WMT currently holds a PEG ratio of 5.02. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. WMT's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.86 as of yesterday's close.
The Retail - Supermarkets industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 40, finds itself in the top 17% echelons of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained 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 ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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