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Walmart (WMT) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know

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Walmart (WMT - Free Report) closed at $120.69 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.21% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.13% loss on the day. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.15%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.14%.

Heading into today, shares of the world's largest retailer had lost 1.58% over the past month, lagging the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 2.55% and outpacing the S&P 500's loss of 3.32% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from Walmart as it approaches its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect Walmart to post earnings of $1.82 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 2.25%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $148.57 billion, up 5.33% from the prior-year quarter.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $6.40 per share and revenue of $594.87 billion, which would represent changes of -0.93% and +3.86%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Walmart. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.01% lower. Walmart is currently a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).

In terms of valuation, Walmart is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 19.08. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 10.91.

It is also worth noting that WMT currently has a PEG ratio of 3.47. 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. Retail - Supermarkets stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.64 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Retail - Supermarkets industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 242, which puts it in the bottom 5% 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.

Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


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