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Walmart (WMT) Stock Moves -0.23%: What You Should Know

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Walmart (WMT - Free Report) closed at $141.23 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.23% move from the prior day. This move was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.59%.

Coming into today, shares of the world's largest retailer had gained 4.73% in the past month. In that same time, the Retail-Wholesale sector gained 0.09%, while the S&P 500 gained 2.53%.

WMT will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be August 17, 2021. On that day, WMT is projected to report earnings of $1.53 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 1.92%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $135.81 billion, down 1.41% from the prior-year quarter.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $5.95 per share and revenue of $551.81 billion. These totals would mark changes of +8.58% and -1.31%, respectively, from last year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for WMT should also be noted by investors. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. WMT currently has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that WMT has a Forward P/E ratio of 23.77 right now. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 13.44, which means WMT is trading at a premium to the group.

We can also see that WMT currently has a PEG ratio of 4.32. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. WMT's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.34 as of yesterday's close.

The Retail - Supermarkets industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 180, which puts it in the bottom 30% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


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