Walmart Stock (NYSE:WMT)
Sell-side analysts have maintained their optimistic outlook on Walmart (NYSE:WMT) due to its success in beating first-quarter profit expectations and raising predictions for the year.
On Thursday, Bank of America communicated to its customers that the positive surprise associated with the quarterly results and the increase in the company’s projection signals ongoing momentum into the second half of 2023. Although the moderate growth came in below what equities analyst Robert Ohmes had anticipated, he remarked that it was still better than anticipated because it occurred despite an increase in customers who purchased groceries. In point of fact, he anticipates that the strength in non-discretionary spending will underpin consistent sales even in the face of a challenging macroeconomic environment.
Ohmes said, “We reaffirm our Buy on Walmart stock and continue to see the company well-positioned in F24 given likely continued strength in grocery supported by strong price positioning private label and omnichannel.” Compared to competitors like TGT, “WMT’s relatively lower exposure to discretionary general merch. Implies less risk from a top-line perspective in a softer macro environment,” both margin and mix.
Similarly, Citi analyst Paul Lejuez praised the “strong across the board” results achieved during the first quarter and boosted the guidance for the remainder of the year. It was also positive that there was no disproportionate promotional impact on margins. However, the change in items sold toward basics did have some effect. He also said that the projection for the second quarter was lower than the consensus, which suggested there may have been some slowdown in the most recent months.
In the same vein as Ohmes, Lejuez maintained a Buy rating on the Walmart stock and assigned it a price objective of $169, which is higher than the price goal of $165 that was proposed by Ohmes.
Featured Image: Unsplash @ Marques Thomas
Author Shariq Khan 
