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Walmart (WMT) Stock Moves -1.17%: What You Should Know

Walmart (WMT) closed the most recent trading day at $142.16, moving -1.17% from the previous trading session. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's 1.86% loss on the day. At the same time, the Dow lost 2.3%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.64%.

Coming into today, shares of the world's largest retailer had gained 5.23% in the past month. In that same time, the Retail-Wholesale sector gained 8.32%, while the S&P 500 gained 7.63%.

Investors will be hoping for strength from WMT as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be November 17, 2020. On that day, WMT is projected to report earnings of $1.18 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 1.72%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $131.79 billion, up 2.97% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $5.35 per share and revenue of $551.18 billion. These totals would mark changes of +8.52% and +5.19%, respectively, from last year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for WMT. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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 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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.02% lower. WMT currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, WMT currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 26.91. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 15.63, which means WMT is trading at a premium to the group.

We can also see that WMT currently has a PEG ratio of 4.89. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The Retail - Supermarkets industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 2.51 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 48, which puts it in the top 19% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow WMT in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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