Walmart Stock Struggles on Soft Outlook

Walmart (WMT:US) shares managed to recover after initially trading lower following the retailer’s Q4 earnings report.

While Walmart topped analyst estimates for the holiday quarter, the company’s guidance sent shares lower. Walmart posted an adjusted EPS of $1.71 on revenue of $164.0 billion, beating the consensus for earnings of $1.51 on revenue of $159.7 billion. 

Net income came in at $6.28 billion, up from $3.56 billion a year ago. Overall, revenue increased by 7.3% year-over-year. Same-store sales for Walmart U.S. increased by 8.3%, excluding fuel.

“We’re excited about momentum. The team delivered a strong quarter to finish the year, and as our results in the last two quarters show, they acted quickly and aggressively to address the inventory and cost challenges we faced last year,” said CEO and President Doug McMillon.

For this quarter, Walmart said it expects to see its sales grow between 4.5% - 5.0% while EPS is expected to be between $1.25 and $1.30 per share. For its fiscal year 2024, Walmart expects revenue growth between 2.5% - 3.0% while adjusted EPS is seen in the range of $5.90 - $6.05.

Given the company’s size and overall importance for the U.S. economy, Walmart and its shares is a popular investment option. Most recently, Congressman Shri Thanedar was selling the stock in late January, similar to Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger, who was selling WMT shares in October and September last year.

On the other hand, Rep. Ro Khanna was mostly buying the stock, including the two $15,000 - $50,000 buy transactions made in August and September last year.