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Walmart (WMT) Stock Moves -1.02%: What You Should Know

Walmart (WMT) closed at $135.29 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.02% move from the prior day. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.12%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.88%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 1.07%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the world's largest retailer had gained 4.69% over the past month. This has outpaced the Retail-Wholesale sector's loss of 1.2% and the S&P 500's loss of 0.59% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from WMT as it approaches its next earnings release. On that day, WMT is projected to report earnings of $1.16 per share, which would represent no growth from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $132.25 billion, up 3.33% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $5.28 per share and revenue of $549.96 billion. These totals would mark changes of +7.1% and +4.96%, 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.

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, 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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 2.38% higher. WMT is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Looking at its valuation, WMT is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 25.89. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 18.91, which means WMT is trading at a premium to the group.

It is also worth noting that WMT currently has a PEG ratio of 4.59. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Retail - Supermarkets was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.48 at yesterday's closing price.

The Retail - Supermarkets industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 65, putting it in the top 26% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our 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.

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


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