Shares in retail giant Walmart (WMT) dipped in pre-market trading today as it said it was cutting or relocating a thousand corporate jobs as part of its AI technology revamp.
Claim 55% Off TipRanks
Forget margin or options. Here's how the pros trade AMZNStreamline Technology Operations
According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, the retailer is making the move to streamline operations in its global technology and AI product teams.
It is reported that Walmart’s head of global AI acceleration Daniel Danker and head of global technology Suresh Kumar have reviewed the company’s internal structures and made the decision to streamline some teams to operate more efficiently. This has been communicated in a memo to staff.
“We’ve made changes to simplify how the work is organized, make ownership clearer and better align roles to the work and skills we need going forward,” Kumar wrote.
Walmart is said to be consolidating overlapping teams, especially around AI, global technology, and product development.
It is understood that employees have been asked to relocate to Walmart’s Bentonville or Northern California offices. Staff who lose their jobs as part of the decision can apply for open roles within the company.
According to TipRanks’ Statistics tool, Walmart has just over 2 million employees in total. Walmart did not comment on the job reports.
Bytes and Beans
Walmart is fast becoming a company known as much for its AI tech such as the Gen-AI-powered shopping assistant Sparky, technology to help boost its fashion offerings and its partnerships with innovators such as ChatGPT creators OpenAI, as much for its value bananas and beans.
The push, which has seen the company move its stock market listing from the New York Stock Exchange to the tech-heavy Nasdaq market, is seen by the company as crucial if it wants to keep pace with e-commerce rival Amazon (AMZN), which has its own AI assistant Rufus.
Walmart is set to report Q1 earnings next week – May 21. Wall Street analysts expect it to post Earnings Per Share of $0.66, ahead of the $0.61 it reported in the same period last year. Its revenues are tipped to come in at $174.65 billion, up from $165.6 billion last time.
Is WMT a Good Stock to Buy Now?
On TipRanks, WMT has a Strong Buy consensus based on 28 Buy and 2 Hold ratings. Its highest price target is $150. WMT stock’s consensus price target is $140.08, implying a 7.46% upside.
