What to Look for in Wal-Mart Earnings

By Chris Lange Updated Jan 13, 1:05PM EST · Published Feb 17, 11:55AM EST

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What to Look for in Wal-Mart Earnings — © courtesy of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) is set to report its fiscal fourth-quarter financial results before the markets open on Thursday. The consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters call for $1.43 in earnings per share (EPS) on revenue of $130.65 billion. In the same period of the previous year, the retail giant posted EPS of $1.61 and $131.56 billion in revenue.

A few months ago, Wal-Mart found itself consigned to the retail junk yard. Too big. Too many more modest-sized big-box retailers. Also Amazon. That is no longer the case. Wal-Mart stands as one of the best-performing members of the Dow Jones Industrial Average so far this year.

Several things have moved in Wal-Mart’s favor. The collapse of department stores and specialty retailers among them. Gap sales cratered over the holidays. Best Buy’s met the same fate. Macy’s had the worst time, and it continues to dig for a turnaround strategy amid store closures and layoffs. Wal-Mart has done some very modest retrenching, but a decision considered smart closing a tiny number of underperforming stores.

Prior to the release of the earnings report a few analysts weighed in on Wal-Mart:

Cowen reiterated a Market Perform rating with a $66 price target.
Goldman Sachs has a Neutral rating with a $58 price target.
Deutsche Bank reiterated a Hold rating with a $62 price target.
Jefferies reiterated a Hold rating with a $60 price target.
Morgan Stanley reiterated an Equal Weight rating with a $65 price target.

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So far in 2016, Wal-Mart has outperformed the broad markets, and it is currently the second best performing Dow stock behind Verizon. Shares are up 7.5% year to date, but they are down 1.5% over the past 52 weeks.

Shares of Wal-Mart were trading up 0.7% at $66.39 on Wednesday, with a consensus analyst price target of $64.26 and a 52-week trading range of $56.30 to $86.30.

About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.