Topic: How To Invest

Wall Street Stock Forecaster Hotline – Friday, August 21, 2020

Article Excerpt

WALMART INC., $131.63, New York symbol WMT, remains a buy. The company is the world’s biggest retailer, with 11,484 outlets in 27 countries. Walmart continues to benefit as the COVID-19 pandemic prompts consumers to stock up on food and household goods at its stores and Internet sites. In its fiscal 2021 second quarter, ended July 31, 2020, the company’s sales rose 5.6%, to $137.74 billion from $130.38 billion a year earlier. That just beat the consensus forecast of $137.73 billion. In addition to higher in-store sales, U.S. online sales soared 97%. As a result, Walmart’s U.S. same-store sales (including online) rose 9.3%. That reflects a 27.0% jump in spending per visit, offset by a 14.0% decline in the number of transactions. In response to COVID-19, Walmart has spent more to clean its stores, install plexiglass barriers at its checkouts and increased employee wages. In the latest quarter, those costs totalled $1.5 billion. Despite those additional outlays, overall earnings in the quarter still jumped 79.4%, to $6.48…