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What you need to know
- Walmart will release its earnings report for the fourth quarter before Thursday’s opening bell, and sales are expected to increase.
- Analysts are bullish on Walmart with most holding "buy" ratings, but the stock's average price target is barely above Friday levels.
- A number of analysts have said recently that they expect Walmart to beat fourth-quarter estimates, but think the retailer's forecasts for the next fiscal year will be conservative.
Walmart is set to report earnings for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 on Thursday morning, with analysts expecting rising sales and profits from the country's biggest retailer.
Walmart stock (WMT) is considered to be a bullish investment by analysts. “buy” Visible Alpha has tracked 21 analysts and recorded their ratings, as well as one. “hold.” The retailer’s average price goal is $107.76 – less than 4% higher than Friday’s closing. Analysts may have been waiting for Walmart’s 2025 outlook after a 85% increase in the last 12 months.
According to analysts, Walmart will report $180.2billion in revenue during the third quarter. That’s up nearly 4% from last year. Earnings per share are expected at $0.64. The increase is 7% compared with the same quarter a year ago. Walmart could report in line with analysts’ estimates for the first time, lowering its quarterly revenue below that of Amazon.com (AMZN), who reported $187.8 Billion earlier this month.
Analysts expect Q4 to be better than expected, but conservative forecasts
A number of analysts have lifted their price target for Walmart stock in the weeks leading up to earnings, citing expectations that Walmart will continue gaining market share and topping analysts' estimates.
Analysts at Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, and JPMorgan all raised their target prices to $115. Bank of America analysts also increased their price targets to $112 each.
Analysts from Melius Research wrote late last month that they see Walmart as able to "meaningfully beat" fourth-quarter estimates, and said that their "primary concern" is high expectations from the market. Melius and Morgan Stanley analysts said they expect Walmart will stick to its past trend of being conservative in its initial projections for fiscal 2026, but said they expect the retail giant's share price gains to continue this year.
“Against a backdrop of increased uncertainty owing to tariff and deportation policies, the market is rotating into quality and scale, seeking out share gainers that are in a position to mitigate these potential policy headwinds via bargaining power and superior, more highly automated supply chains," Morgan Stanley analysts wrote on Thursday.
Walmart shares finished Friday down about 1%, retreating from Thursday's record close of $105.05.
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