Topic: How To Invest

Wall Street Stock Forecaster Hotline – Friday, November 22, 2024

Article Excerpt

WALMART INC., $90.44, New York symbol WMT, is a buy. The company is the world’s biggest retailer, with over 10,660 outlets in 19 countries. Walmart continues to benefit as inflation draws more shoppers to its value-focused stores, particularly for groceries and health products. It’s also profiting from a rebound in demand for general merchandise such as household products, electronics and toys. In the fiscal 2025 third quarter, ended October 31, 2024, sales rose 5.5%, to $169.6 billion from $160.8 billion a year earlier. That beat the consensus forecast of $167.7 billion. Walmart’s U.S. same-store sales (including online) rose 5.3%. That was due to a higher number of transactions (up 3.1%) and higher selling prices (up 2.1%). As well, U.S. online sales jumped 22% while advertising revenue rose 26%. If you factor out gains and losses on investments and other unusual items, earnings per share rose 13.7%, to $0.58 from $0.51. That also topped the consensus estimate of $0.53 a share. Walmart now expects its sales for…