Topic: How To Invest

Wall Street Stock Forecaster Hotline – Friday, August 18, 2023

Article Excerpt

WALMART INC., $157.93, New York symbol WMT, is a buy. The company is the world’s biggest retailer, with 10,482 outlets in 24 countries. Walmart continues to benefit as inflation draws more shoppers to its value-focused stores, particularly for groceries and health products. That offset its slower sales of apparel and sporting goods. In the fiscal 2024 second quarter, ended July 31, 2023, sales rose 5.7%, to $161.63 billion from $152.86 billion a year earlier. That beat the consensus forecast of $159.3 billion. Walmart’s U.S. same-store sales (including online) rose 6.4%, reflecting higher selling prices (up 3.4%) and a higher number of transactions (up 2.9%). As well, U.S. online sales improved 24%. The company is also benefiting from lower supply-chain costs and fewer discounts to clear its unsold inventory. If you factor out gains and losses on investments and other unusual items, earnings per share rose 4.0%, to $1.84 from $1.77. That also topped the consensus estimate of $1.71 a share. The retail giant now expects its sales…