Robert W. Baird Has Lowered Expectations for Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) Stock Price

Key Points

• Robert W. Baird cut Walmart’s price target from $140 to $120 while maintaining an “outperform” rating; the revised target still implies roughly 15.6% upside from the prior close.
• Walmart exceeded quarterly expectations with $0.81 adjusted EPS and $187.94 billion in revenue, up 5.9% year over year. E-commerce, advertising and membership revenue posted strong growth.
• Despite the earnings beat, investors remain concerned about weak U.S. comparable-sales growth and below-consensus fiscal third-quarter guidance. Walmart has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average analyst target of $137.41.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT - Get Free Report) had its target price lowered by investment analysts at Robert W. Baird from $140.00 to $120.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the retailer's stock. Robert W. Baird's price target points to a potential upside of 15.56% from the stock's previous close.

WMT has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Walmart from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $155.00 price objective (up from $150.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Walmart from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $132.00 target price on Walmart in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $137.41.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WMT opened at $103.84 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $826.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.44, a PEG ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $113.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $121.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Walmart has a twelve month low of $95.42 and a twelve month high of $135.15.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The retailer reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.07. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.25% and a net margin of 3.13%.The company had revenue of $187.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Walmart has set its Q3 2027 guidance at 0.620-0.640 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 2.800-2.870 EPS. Research analysts predict that Walmart will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 3,775 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.64, for a total value of $413,891.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 630,009 shares of the company's stock, valued at $69,074,186.76. The trade was a 0.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP David W. Guggina sold 11,978 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.82, for a total value of $1,435,203.96. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 125,067 shares in the company, valued at $14,985,527.94. This trade represents a 8.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 54,164 shares of company stock worth $6,389,402 over the last three months. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. MFA Wealth Services grew its holdings in Walmart by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. MFA Wealth Services now owns 10,909 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,356,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Realta Investment Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Realta Investment Advisors now owns 4,089 shares of the retailer's stock worth $508,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Compton Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Compton Financial Group LLC now owns 2,081 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Group LLC now owns 9,636 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,074,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Calton & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. now owns 27,220 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,033,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Walmart

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Walmart reported adjusted earnings of $0.81 per share and revenue of $187.94 billion, exceeding consensus estimates of $0.74 and $186.62 billion, respectively. Revenue increased 5.9% year over year. Walmart quarterly earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: Growth businesses remained strong: global e-commerce sales rose 23%, advertising revenue increased 38% and global membership revenue grew 17%. Gross-profit margin also improved, helped partly by tariff-related benefits. Walmart revenue growth release
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised its full-year fiscal 2027 outlook and expects to use approximately $2.9 billion in tariff refunds to support price cuts, potentially strengthening Walmart’s value proposition with financially pressured shoppers. Walmart tariff refund price cuts
• Neutral Sentiment: Some analysts view the selloff as a potential entry point, citing Walmart’s scale, international operations, digital growth, advertising business and margin gains. However, its roughly 36 times earnings valuation leaves less room for execution disappointments. Walmart post-earnings buying opportunity
• Negative Sentiment: U.S. comparable sales increased just 2.6%, below expectations near 3.5% and the weakest growth in more than six years. Investors interpreted the result as evidence that higher energy costs and inflation are forcing consumers to reduce or reprioritize spending. Reuters Walmart sales miss article
• Negative Sentiment: Fiscal third-quarter guidance was below Wall Street expectations: EPS of $0.62–$0.64 versus an estimated $0.68, and revenue of $183.1–$184.5 billion versus approximately $188.2 billion expected. The timing of Flipkart’s promotional event is also expected to reduce quarterly sales growth by more than 100 basis points. Investopedia Walmart guidance article
• Negative Sentiment: Gordon Haskett downgraded Walmart from “buy” to “accumulate,” reinforcing concerns that the stock’s premium valuation is vulnerable to slower U.S. sales growth and margin pressure from price investments.

About Walmart

Walmart is a multinational retail corporation that operates a broad portfolio of store formats and digital services. Its core business includes large-format supercenters, discount department stores, neighborhood grocery stores and a membership warehouse chain, Sam’s Club. The company’s merchandising mix covers groceries, household goods, apparel, electronics and pharmacy services, supplemented by private-label products and category-specific offerings. Walmart pairs its physical store network with online platforms and mobile applications to provide omnichannel shopping, fulfillment and delivery options for consumers and businesses.

The company was founded by Sam Walton, who opened the first store in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962; it is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas.

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