Walmart (WMT) held nothing back in the results released on Thursday morning, handily beating Wall Street consensus and raising its fiscal year 2025 guidance. WMT shares rose 6.5% to an all-time high above $73 per share.
The Dow Jones index jumped 1.2% at Thursday’s open, aided by Walmart and the previous day’s Cisco Systems (CSCO) results. US Retail Sales also helped out the index and market as large with a 1% MoM rise in July compared with consensus for 0.3%.
The S&P 500 rose 1.4%, while the NASDAQ climbed 2%.
Walmart reported second-quarter adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.67, which was 2 cents ahead of consensus. Revenue of $169.3 billion in the quarter ending in July rose nearly 5% YoY and beat consensus by a little less than $2 billion.
Management said that customers looked healthy and denied worries that a US recession is in the cards. This opinion appeared to be backed up by the higher US Retail Sales data that was released nearly simultaneously from the US Census Bureau.
Besides the headline quarter beat, shareholders took additional sustenance from the fact that Global eCommerce division sales climbed 21% YoY as losses narrowed.
For the current fiscal year ending in January 2025, management expects net sales to grow about 4.25% YoY at the midpoints and for adjusted operating income to grow a little over 7%. Both of these projects were slightly above past statements from management.
"We expect automation tech & AI to continue to play integral roles. WMT's strength continues, and with this improved consistency, as well as scaling of higher-margin rev streams, we believe a higher multiple is warranted," Jefferies analyst Corey Tarlowe wrote.
Morgan Stanley analyst Simeon Gutman praised Walmart for its comparable sales figures amid the competitive retail market. US comparable sales grew 4.2% YoY in the second quarter.
Walmart stock had recently been wading beneath both the 50-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) and its 20-day counterpart before soaring above that level on Thursday.
The new all-time high was reached at $74.43, which is above the 1 threshold on the Fibonacci extension. Now bulls will pull for 161.8% Fib at $78.27.
Support sits near $71.20 from prior resistance on July 18 through July 22.
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