Latest news with #WalmartWMT
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Walmart Earnings Loom: Are WMT Shares Attractive?
Earnings season continues its rapid pace this week, with this week's docket primarily dominated by retailers. We've already heard from most S&P 500 companies, with results overall positive amid lingering uncertainty concerning upcoming periods. Walmart WMT, likely the most recognized retailer of the bunch, is among those on the schedule this week, with its results expected on Thursday before the open. Shares have been red-hot over the past year, gaining more than 60% and even outperforming each Mag 7 member outside of Tesla. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Let's take a closer look at what to expect from the titan retailer. Analysts have taken their EPS expectations lower for WMT's upcoming release, with the current $0.57 Zacks Consensus EPS estimate down roughly 12% since mid-February. Earnings are expected to decline 5% year-over-year, whereas forecasted sales of $165.6 billion suggest 2.5% growth from the year-ago period. It's worth noting that sales expectations have remained stable, with the downward EPS revisions reflecting a profitability crunch. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research It'll be interesting to see how the revisions picture evolves here post-earnings, particularly following recent tariff talks. As shown below, the company's margins picture has largely recovered over recent periods, but the evolving economic landscape could negatively impact the progress. Please note that the chart below is on a trailing twelve-month basis. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research In addition, the company's digital results will be a key focus among investors, which have shown great growth over recent periods, initially getting a massive boost from Covid-induced lockdowns. WMT's digital presence certainly can't be overlooked, even rivaling those like Amazon. Throughout its latest period, Global eCommerce sales grew 16% year-over-year, which was driven by store-fulfilled pickup & delivery and its US marketplace. Of course, same-store sales will also be a key item to watch in the release, giving us a gauge on whether its existing locations have been seeing growth. Same-store sales (on an ex-fuel basis) are expected to be up 4% year-over-year, which compares to 4.9% in the period prior and 5.5% in the period before that. WMT shares are heading into the release expensive relative to historical levels, with the current 36.2X forward 12-month earnings multiple well above the 23.9X five-year median and reflecting a 75% premium relative to the S&P 500. But while the earnings multiple is elevated, it's worth noting that its digital and operational successes over recent years have provided outsized growth for the retailer, with the steeper multiple a reflection of investors expecting the growth trends to continue. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Analysts have taken their EPS expectations lower for Walmart's WMT upcoming release, likely a reflection of a profitability crunch. The retail titan's report is highly important, giving us a read-through on the current state of consumers while also providing some context for upcoming retailers expected to report, such as Target. Keep in mind that one of Walmart's greatest strengths is the ability to weather consumer downturns, with higher-income households gravitating towards its stores during times of crunched affordability, providing a small buffer. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Walmart Inc. (WMT) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Wall Street Journal
05-03-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
KKR, Walmart to Sell Japan Supermarket Chain Seiyu for $2.5 Billion
KKR KKR -9.19%decrease; red down pointing triangle and Walmart WMT -2.68%decrease; red down pointing triangle have agreed to sell Japanese supermarket chain Seiyu for about $2.5 billion to Japanese retailer Trial Holdings. The U.S. investment company plans to sell its 85% stake in Seiyu, with the U.S. retail giant selling the remaining 15% stake to Trial, the companies said Wednesday.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Steady Jobless Claims, Good Philly Fed, Healthy Q4 Earnings
Thursday, February 20, 2025We have an informative and far-reaching morning of investment data ahead of today's opening bell, with Weekly Jobless Claims and Philly Fed manufacturing joining some key quarterly earnings reports. Pre-market indexes are once again starting off lower than the previous-day's close, but the S&P 500 is working on a two-day record-closing-high Dow is currently -150 points at this hour, with the S&P 500 -17. The Nasdaq has dropped -50 points currently, and the small-cap Russell 2000 is -4 points. Bond yields remain steady but with a slight downward bias: the 10-year is currently at +4.511% and the 2-year is +4.257%. Initial Jobless Claims for last week came in slightly above estimates — 219K from 215K expected — and up from the slightly upwardly revised 214K from the prior week. Still, it's the third week of the last four sub-220K; this is not a terribly meaningful threshold, more just a round number. We had a one-week outlier at +260K new claims the first week in October of last Claims also stayed range-bound: 1.869 million, while notably ahead of where longer-term claims were a year ago (sub-1.8 million), is the fourth-straight week below 1.9 million. Again, this is not a key threshold — that would be 2 million longer-term jobless claims per month. We haven't been there since the first week of November 2021, and multitudes lower than the Covid-era layoff nightmare. The latest manufacturing survey for the sixth-largest city in the U.S. — the Philly Fed index — came in at +18.1 for the month of February this morning, above expectations for +13.2. This follows the strongest monthly headline in this metric, +44.3, which was the highest level we've seen since April of 2021. This index demonstrated the highest prices paid in two years. As we've seen elsewhere, this is bad news for the Fed lowering interest rates, but good for the economy at large. Walmart WMT posted Q4 earnings ahead of today's open, outpacing estimates on the bottom line by a penny — 66 cents per share versus 65 expected — on a truly breathtaking $180.55 billion in sales over the three-month period. However, guidance was for trimming sales expectations, as the company does not believe it will be immune from new tariff policy on imported goods from China. Shares were down -6% on the news. For more on WMT's earnings. click out the updated Zacks Earnings Calendar BABA shares, on the other hand, are up +12% this morning following fiscal Q3 earnings hitting the tape: earnings of $2.93 per ADS was shy of the $3.08 in the Zacks consensus, but revenues of $38.6 billion were ahead of the $38.2 billion projected. The bigger news here may be the shift in policy from China's leaders, signaling an end to the crackdown on major companies in Chinese tech, like TRIP saw another good quarter this morning, with Q4 earnings coming in at 30 cents per share as opposed to the expected 21 cents (though off the year-ago level of 38 cents per share a year ago). Revenues of $411 million outpaced estimates by +2.6%. TRIP shares have gained almost +20% year to date, but market participants are selling the news -2.5%. Will American travel keep up its lofty levels? That's the question. For more on TRIP's earnings, click here. Wayfair W, however, saw a big -1350% earnings miss for its Q4 bottom line this morning, posting -$0.02 per share versus projections for +$0.25. Revenues beat estimates by +1.73% to $3.12 billion in the quarter, and this turnaround in sales growth is generating interest in the stock, which is now up +8.5% in pre-market trading. For more on W's earnings, click or comments about this article and/or author? Click here>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Walmart Inc. (WMT) : Free Stock Analysis Report TripAdvisor, Inc. (TRIP) : Free Stock Analysis Report Alibaba Group Holding Limited (BABA) : Free Stock Analysis Report Wayfair Inc. (W) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on click here. Zacks Investment Research Sign in to access your portfolio
