Walmart's (WMT) Outperform Rating Reiterated at BNP Paribas Exane

Key Points

• BNP Paribas Exane reiterated its “outperform” rating on Walmart but lowered its price target to $137 from $146, implying roughly 33% upside from the prior close. Analysts overall maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with a $133.35 average target.
• Walmart’s latest quarter beat expectations, with adjusted EPS of $0.81 versus $0.74 expected and revenue up 5.9% year over year to $187.94 billion. Digital sales rose 23%, advertising revenue increased 38%, and membership revenue grew 17%.
• Near-term concerns pressured the stock and prompted several target cuts: U.S. comparable sales growth of 2.6% missed estimates, while third-quarter EPS guidance of $0.62–$0.64 fell below the $0.68 consensus.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reiterated by BNP Paribas Exane in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $137.00 price target on the retailer's stock, down from their previous price target of $146.00. BNP Paribas Exane's price target would indicate a potential upside of 33.19% from the company's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on WMT. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Walmart from $137.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $128.00 price objective (down from $137.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday. DA Davidson set a $132.00 price target on Walmart and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Walmart from $137.00 to $131.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $133.35.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT traded down $0.98 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $102.86. The stock had a trading volume of 28,036,385 shares, compared to its average volume of 25,514,193. Walmart has a 12-month low of $95.42 and a 12-month high of $135.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company's 50-day moving average is $113.69 and its 200 day moving average is $121.39. The company has a market capitalization of $818.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.61.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 20th. The retailer reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $187.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.68 earnings per share. The business's revenue 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. On average, equities analysts predict that Walmart will post 2.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 3,710 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.10, for a total value of $419,601.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 626,299 shares in the company, valued at $70,834,416.90. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.63, for a total value of $2,303,320.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,174,579 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $495,230,306.77. The trade was a 0.46% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 54,164 shares of company stock worth $6,389,402. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Walmart

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 439,957,146 shares of the retailer's stock worth $49,015,626,000 after buying an additional 4,304,436 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Walmart by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 184,805,978 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $19,046,104,000 after buying an additional 2,242,364 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,010,709 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $11,426,753,000 after purchasing an additional 6,517,394 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Walmart in the second quarter worth approximately $7,455,131,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at $6,458,529,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

More Walmart News

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Walmart reported fiscal second-quarter adjusted EPS of $0.81, above the $0.74 consensus, while revenue rose 5.9% year over year to $187.94 billion, topping estimates. The company also raised its full-year fiscal 2027 outlook. Walmart earnings release
• Positive Sentiment: Digital sales increased 23%, advertising revenue grew 38%, and global membership revenue rose 17%, highlighting growth drivers beyond Walmart’s physical stores. Walmart e-commerce sales article
• Positive Sentiment: Walmart will begin rolling out contactless payments, including Apple Pay, Google Pay and tap-enabled cards, at select Walmart and Sam’s Club locations on Aug. 24 before expanding across the U.S. The change could improve checkout convenience and customer experience. Walmart Tap to Pay rollout
• Neutral Sentiment: Walmart expects to receive approximately $2.9 billion in tariff refunds and plans to use the benefit partly to lower prices. While this may support traffic and market share, it could also limit margin expansion once the one-time benefit fades. Walmart tariff refund article
• Negative Sentiment: U.S. comparable sales grew 2.6%, below expectations of roughly 3.5% and the weakest growth in more than six years. Rising gasoline costs and pressured consumers are raising concerns about discretionary spending and the broader U.S. consumer. Reuters Walmart sales miss article
• Negative Sentiment: Fiscal third-quarter guidance fell short of consensus: Walmart forecast EPS of $0.62–$0.64 versus $0.68 expected and revenue of $183.1–$184.5 billion versus $188.2 billion expected. The timing of Flipkart’s promotional event is also expected to reduce third-quarter sales growth by more than 100 basis points. Investopedia Walmart guidance article
• Negative Sentiment: JPMorgan, UBS, Wells Fargo, RBC, Baird and BTIG all lowered their Walmart price targets following the report, although each retained a positive rating. The revisions signal reduced near-term expectations and reinforce valuation concerns.

Walmart Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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