In the latest trading session, Walmart (WMT) closed at $117.87, marking a -1.25% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.55%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a rise of 0.63%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 0.91%.
Shares of the world's largest retailer witnessed a gain of 6.94% over the previous month, beating the performance of the Retail-Wholesale sector with its gain of 4.28%, and the S&P 500's gain of 0.71%.
Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Walmart in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings report is set to go public on February 19, 2026. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $0.73, marking a 10.61% rise compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $190.04 billion, up 5.25% from the prior-year quarter.
For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $2.63 per share and a revenue of $711.93 billion, representing changes of +4.78% and +4.54%, respectively, from the prior year.
Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Walmart. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the business outlook.
Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. 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, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 0.04% upward. Walmart is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.
In terms of valuation, Walmart is presently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 45.34. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 15.58, which means Walmart is trading at a premium to the group.
We can additionally observe that WMT currently boasts a PEG ratio of 5.09. 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. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Retail - Supermarkets industry held an average PEG ratio of 2.3.
The Retail - Supermarkets industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 199, which puts it in the bottom 19% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many 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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