Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) is set to report its most recent quarterly results before the opening bell on Tuesday. The consensus estimates are calling for $1.17 in earnings per share (EPS) and $130.31 billion in revenue. In the fiscal first quarter of last year, the retail giant posted $1.13 in EPS and $123.93 billion in revenue.
Walmart actually has been one of the biggest winners in the Dow since the pandemic hit. While this mega-chain has been the go-to for many consumers looking to stock up during this time, shares hit an all-time high in mid-April.
What separates Walmart from the rest of retailers in the United States, and why it has been able to succeed, is simply its incredible supply chain. Walmart was deemed as a critical business from the start of the coronavirus shutdowns, and it has made thousands of job openings when other businesses were furloughing workers. Having a strong balance sheet doesn’t hurt either. The point is that Walmart may have been one of the best-positioned retailers going into this pandemic, but it will for sure come out of this as the top dog in the retail space.
In April, Walmart said it would need 50,000 new workers. It already had said it would require 150,000. It will pay current associates $180 million in supplemental income distributed through hourly wages, as consumer demand for its inventory increase store traffic and e-commerce rises.
Excluding Monday’s move, Walmart stock had outperformed the S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrial average with a gain of 6% year to date. In the past 52 weeks, the share price was up closer to 24%.
A few analysts weighed in on Walmart ahead of the report:
- RBC has a Sector Perform rating with a $129 price target.
- BofA Securities has a Buy rating and a $145 target price.
- Morgan Stanley rates it as Overweight with a $135 price target.
- Citigroup’s Buy rating comes with a $140 target price.
- Oppenheimer rates it as Outperform with a $145 price target.
- Deutsche Bank has a Buy rating with a $131 price target.
Walmart stock traded up about 1% at $126.90 on Monday, in a 52-week range of $100.25 to $133.38. The consensus price target is $128.56.
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