Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) is taking a shot at meal kit providers like Blue Apron Holdings Inc. (NYSE: APRN) in its most recent move announced Monday morning. The retail giant will now be offering meal kits and simpler “one-step meals” in over 250 stores. The firm expects to roll this out to over 2,000 stores this year.
Blue Apron and other meal kit providers often require a subscription that implies frequent purchases. However, a noted problem within the industry has been maintaining the attention of these subscribers. What separates Walmart from the group is that it would not require a subscription.
Essentially, Walmart’s meal kits will serve two people and range in price from $8 to $15. The meals will be available at Walmart’s online grocery pickup.
This move by Walmart is also working to keep up with its bitter rival Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN).
Only just recently, Amazon announced that it will be getting into the food delivery service as well, delivering groceries from Whole Foods through its Prime service. Although Amazon has played around with meal kits, the firm has yet to make a big push to connect them with Whole Foods.
Shares of Walmart opened Monday near $88, with a consensus analyst price target of $105.57 and a 52-week trading range of $69.33 to $109.98.
Blue Apron opened a bit lower than Friday’s close of $2.74 a share. The stock has a 52-week range of $2.58 to $11.00 and a consensus price target of $5.10.
Amazon shares were last seen trading near $1,490, with a consensus analyst price target of $1,657.93 and a 52-week range of $883.50 to $1,528.70.
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