The Great Wal-Mart Battery Trade-Out (XIDE, JCI, WMT)

Exide Technologies (NASDAQ: XIDE) is getting crushed today after news that the company was notified by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) that the retailer will stop selling the company’s auto batteries in WalMart stores.  It would be the understatement of the year to note that when companies lose WalMart as one of their retail distributors, it hurts.  But don’t bother telling that to Johnson Controls Inc. (NYSE: JCI).  Johnson has just announced that it was selected as the sole source provider of its Automotive, Marine, Powersport and Lawn & Garden battery requirements for WalMart stores in the United States and Puerto Rico.

Johnson Controls Inc. (NYSE: JCI) is only up 1.65% at $29.50 on the news. Perhaps that small gain is because the company has a $19+ billion market cap and because it is already expected to generate over $32 billion in 2010 revenues.

Before the drop and loss of WalMart today, Exide Technologies (NASDAQ: XIDE) was expected to generate about $2.6 billion in 2010 revenues (March-2010 fiscal year-end). That will obviously be far less once the loss is factored into estimates.  Exide shares are down 28.4% at $5.67.  Exide has a post-drop market cap of only about $436 million and its shares have traded in a range of $1.83 to $8.87 over the last 52 weeks.

JON C. OGG