Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: NYSE) is set to report its second quarter earnings on Thursday morning. The million dollar question for Wal-Mart is whether it will see a continued weakness in its shares.
The Thomson Reuters consensus estimate for the earnings per share is $1.21 and the estimate for revenue is $119 billion. Wal-Mart guided to a range of $1.15 to $1.25 in earnings per share.
As far as what analysts are expecting from the next quarter, the estimates for the company’s fiscal third quarter are $1.18 in earnings per share and $118.7 billion in revenues.
Wal-Mart investors likely paid attention to Wednesday’s broader release of the weak July Retail Sales report from the Commerce Department. Other major retail stocks were lower in mid-day trading on Wednesday.
What should really stand out is the ongoing negative trend of Wal-Mart’s same-store sales. The company seems to also just keep guiding for its same-store sales to be flat when it actually reports earnings. Obviously, that is not good for the retail giant nor for its investors.
Wal-Mart is also under a new CEO for its U.S. division and is targeting more of the smaller format stores for its growth initiative ahead. Another consideration is that Wal-Mart’s labor woes have remained in place.
Wal-Mart shares recently traded at $73.85, and the 52-week range was $71.51 to $81.37. Its consensus price target from analysts is up at $80.48, and Wal-Mart was most recently valued at just over 13 times its expected 2014 earnings.
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