Retail giant Walmart (WMT) is scheduled to announce its results for the second quarter of Fiscal 2025 on Thursday, August 21. WMT stock has risen 12.95% year-to-date boosted by its reputation as being a value chain during a time of economic uncertainty and pressure on consumer spending. It has also looked to boost its e-commerce offerings, use of AI and rural deliveries.
Elevate Your Investing Strategy:
- Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence.
It has had its challenges however, particularly tariff woes which have forced it to hike product prices and make changes its to international supply chain.
Wall Street is expecting WMT to report earnings of $0.72 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 7.46%. Revenues for the period are expected to come in at $175.51 billion, up 3.65% from the prior-year quarter.
Ahead of the Q2 earnings, Wall Street is, however, cautious on Walmart stock – see below.
Analysts’ Views Ahead of Walmart Earnings
Robert Drbul of Guggenheim recently raised the firm’s price target on Walmart to $115 from $112 and kept a Buy rating on the shares. The firm expects the company to report strong Q2 results and believes the stock’s valuation has room for multiple expansion. Walmart is gaining share in consumables, its compares are easing, and tariffs should benefit gross margin, he said.
Greg Melich of Evercore ISI raised the firm’s price target on Walmart to $110 from $108 and kept an Outperform rating on the shares. The timing of Trump 2.0 policies create uncertainties into the Q2 earnings season for large cap retailers, he warned, but Q2 was “generally” solid, with early tariff pass through and limited price elasticity allowing nominal demand to hold up.
Oppenheimer analyst Rupesh Parikh raised the firm’s price target on Walmart to $115 from $110 and kept an Outperform rating on the shares ahead of the quarterly results. Following a more difficult backdrop to start the year due to unexpected tariff and expense headwinds, the firm believes a “positive guidance revision cycle could again materialize soon.” Indeed, he believes that Walmart could lift FY25 financial targets in its Q2 report.
Erste Group analyst Stephan Lingnau upgraded Walmart to Buy from Hold. He expects sales to grow around 3%-4% this year and operating income should grow at a “slightly faster” rate of 3.5%-5.5% year-over-year.
Bullish AI Analyst
Interestingly, TipRanks AI stock analyst has assigned an Outperform rating to Walmart stock with a price target of $115, indicating about 13.54% upside potential. TipRanks’ AI analysis noted the company’s strong financial performance and positive earnings call sentiment are the primary drivers of its score. Technical indicators support a positive trend, though valuation concerns due to a high P/E ratio slightly offset these strengths. The company is well-positioned for growth, but cost pressures and general merchandise softness require monitoring.
Here’s What Options Traders Anticipate Ahead of Walmart’s Q2 Earnings
Using TipRanks’ Options tool, we can see what options traders are expecting from the stock immediately after its earnings report. The expected earnings move is determined by calculating the at-the-money straddle of the options closest to expiration after the earnings announcement. If this sounds complicated, don’t worry, the Options tool does this for you.
Indeed, it currently says that options traders are expecting around a 5% move in either direction in WMT stock in reaction to Q2 results.
Is WMT a Good Stock to Buy Now?
On TipRanks, WMT has a Strong Buy consensus based on 23 Buy ratings. Its highest price target is $130. WMT stock’s consensus price target is $114.52, implying a 13.06% upside.
