We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.
If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.
Buy Walmart (WMT) Stock After Blowout Holiday Quarter Earnings?
Read MoreHide Full Article
Walmart (WMT - Free Report) posted better-than-expected Q4 earnings Tuesday, along with strong e-commerce sales and solid U.S. comps growth. So is now the time to buy Walmart stock as the company continues to prove it can adapt to an Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) -obsessed retail age?
Quick Q4 Overview
Walmart’s holiday quarter revenues climbed 1.9% to reach $138.8 billion. This fell just below our $139.30 billion Zacks Consensus Estimate, but beat Q3’s 1.4% jump and came on top of Q4 fiscal 2018’s 4.1% top-line growth. Plus, the Commerce Department last week said overall U.S. holiday sales saw their largest drop since 2009. Therefore, along with Walmart’s 40% full-year e-commerce growth and 3.6% fiscal 2019 U.S. comps expansion, the retail powerhouse seems to have shaken off any worries about Amazon’s encroachment.
Meanwhile, Walmart’s adjusted quarterly earnings jumped 6% to reach $1.41 per share and easily surpassed our $1.33 estimate. Shares of WMT have slipped since the company reported its Q4 financial results. Still, investors will see that Walmart stock has outpaced the S&P 500 and its industry’s average over the last three years.
Outlook
Walmart reiterated its fiscal 2020 guidance that calls for EPS to decline by a low single-digit percentage, but post low mid-single digit growth when excluding its Flipkart investment. The retail behemoth now owns 77% of one of India’s largest e-commerce sites, which could prove key down the road with the country’s economy set to boom and maybe even surpass China.
On top of that, Walmart projects that its e-commerce sales will climb around 35% above last year’s 40% digital sales expansion. The company pointed to increased online grocery pickup, higher average tickets, and a broader assortment on Walmart.com, among other reasons, for its e-commerce strength.
Walmart plans to add 1,000 grocery pickup locations in fiscal 2020 to end the year with 3,100. The company also expects to double its grocery delivery locations to 1,600. Walmart is of course not alone, as competitors Kroger (KR - Free Report) , Costco (COST - Free Report) , and Target (TGT - Free Report) all ramp up their digital retail businesses. Still, these e-commerce focused initiatives helped Walmart report U.S. comp sales on a two-year stack of 6.8%, which marked its strongest growth in nearly a decade.
Bottom Line
Walmart is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) that sports “B” grades for Value and Growth and an “A” for Momentum in our Style Scores system. The “Retail – Supermarkets” industry currently rests in the top 10% of our 256 industries, and we know that stocks in strong industries can outperform the market.
WMT is currently trading at 21.6X forward 12-month Zacks Consensus EPS estimates, which marks a slight premium compared to its industry’s 19.6X average. With all that said, now might be a solid time to think about buying this dividend paying retail powerhouse that has raised its quarterly cash dividend every year since first declaring one in March 1974.
3 Medical Stocks to Buy Now
The greatest discovery in this century of biology is now at the flashpoint between theory and realization. Billions of dollars in research have poured into it. Companies are already generating revenue, and cures for a variety of deadly diseases are in the pipeline.
So are big potential profits for early investors. Zacks has released an updated Special Report that explains this breakthrough and names the best 3 stocks to ride it.
Image: Bigstock
Buy Walmart (WMT) Stock After Blowout Holiday Quarter Earnings?
Walmart (WMT - Free Report) posted better-than-expected Q4 earnings Tuesday, along with strong e-commerce sales and solid U.S. comps growth. So is now the time to buy Walmart stock as the company continues to prove it can adapt to an Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) -obsessed retail age?
Quick Q4 Overview
Walmart’s holiday quarter revenues climbed 1.9% to reach $138.8 billion. This fell just below our $139.30 billion Zacks Consensus Estimate, but beat Q3’s 1.4% jump and came on top of Q4 fiscal 2018’s 4.1% top-line growth. Plus, the Commerce Department last week said overall U.S. holiday sales saw their largest drop since 2009. Therefore, along with Walmart’s 40% full-year e-commerce growth and 3.6% fiscal 2019 U.S. comps expansion, the retail powerhouse seems to have shaken off any worries about Amazon’s encroachment.
Meanwhile, Walmart’s adjusted quarterly earnings jumped 6% to reach $1.41 per share and easily surpassed our $1.33 estimate. Shares of WMT have slipped since the company reported its Q4 financial results. Still, investors will see that Walmart stock has outpaced the S&P 500 and its industry’s average over the last three years.
Outlook
Walmart reiterated its fiscal 2020 guidance that calls for EPS to decline by a low single-digit percentage, but post low mid-single digit growth when excluding its Flipkart investment. The retail behemoth now owns 77% of one of India’s largest e-commerce sites, which could prove key down the road with the country’s economy set to boom and maybe even surpass China.
On top of that, Walmart projects that its e-commerce sales will climb around 35% above last year’s 40% digital sales expansion. The company pointed to increased online grocery pickup, higher average tickets, and a broader assortment on Walmart.com, among other reasons, for its e-commerce strength.
Walmart plans to add 1,000 grocery pickup locations in fiscal 2020 to end the year with 3,100. The company also expects to double its grocery delivery locations to 1,600. Walmart is of course not alone, as competitors Kroger (KR - Free Report) , Costco (COST - Free Report) , and Target (TGT - Free Report) all ramp up their digital retail businesses. Still, these e-commerce focused initiatives helped Walmart report U.S. comp sales on a two-year stack of 6.8%, which marked its strongest growth in nearly a decade.
Bottom Line
Walmart is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) that sports “B” grades for Value and Growth and an “A” for Momentum in our Style Scores system. The “Retail – Supermarkets” industry currently rests in the top 10% of our 256 industries, and we know that stocks in strong industries can outperform the market.
WMT is currently trading at 21.6X forward 12-month Zacks Consensus EPS estimates, which marks a slight premium compared to its industry’s 19.6X average. With all that said, now might be a solid time to think about buying this dividend paying retail powerhouse that has raised its quarterly cash dividend every year since first declaring one in March 1974.
3 Medical Stocks to Buy Now
The greatest discovery in this century of biology is now at the flashpoint between theory and realization. Billions of dollars in research have poured into it. Companies are already generating revenue, and cures for a variety of deadly diseases are in the pipeline.
So are big potential profits for early investors. Zacks has released an updated Special Report that explains this breakthrough and names the best 3 stocks to ride it.
See them today for free >>