When Walmart reported first-quarter results in May, the company forecast second quarter EPS of $1.06 to $1.18. The company also forecast a year-over-year increase in same-store sales of 1%. At the time of Walmart’s first-quarter report, consensus estimates for the company’s second quarter were $1.17 in EPS on $121.29 billion in revenue.
As the bar moves lower, it’s easier for Walmart to jump over it. The stock is down nearly 4% in the past 12 months and a whopping 16% year-to-date in 2015.
Expectations for U.S. same-store sales call for an increase of 1%. If Walmart manages to pull that off it will mark the third consecutive quarter of same-store sales growth in the U.S.
Walmart needs to continue boosting its sales, and the outlook for that is mixed at best. Like many other retailers, Walmart is paying more attention to online sales now that Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) has passed Walmart in size by market cap after the Seattle-based company posted a surprise profit in its second fiscal quarter.
For the world’s once-largest retailer, second quarter results are all about revenues, and the outlook for large improvement on that front is only better because the bar is lower.
Wal-Mart stock traded down about 0.6% at $72.01 in the mid-afternoon on Monday. The stock’s 52-week range is $70.36 to $90.97 and the consensus price target is $79.95. The high target is $90.00. The price target is almost $5 a share below its level of 3 months ago and the high price target is down by $10.00 a share.
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