What's Happening with WMT
Mega retailer Wal-Mart (WMT) will post its fourth-quarter numbers February 18. The company will release its quarterly numbers before the market open with the consensus calling for earnings of $1.43 per share. During the same period last year the company earned $1.41 per share, and the stock has fallen 0.9% on the year.
Technical Analysis
WMT was recently trading at $118.2 down $7.17 from its 12-month high and $21.67 above its 12-month low. InvestorsObserver gives WMT a 29 long-term technical score and a 31 short-term technical score. The stock has recent support above $114 and recent resistance below $120. Of the 21 analysts who cover the stock 11 rate it Strong Buy, 3 rate it Buy, 7 rate it Hold, 0 rate it Sell, and 0 rate it Strong Sell, WMT gets an overall score of 30 from InvestorsObserver.
Analysts' Thoughts
Wal-Mart has been stuck in a sideways trend over the last six months, hitting an all-time high in December. The stock is currently trading at 23 times earnings, and analysts forecast profits to rise at an annual rate of 5% over the last five years. Wal-Mart has invested heavily in recent years in its online business as well as its employees to boost customer satisfaction, and the investments have been paying off which has been a primary reason why the stock has risen to a new all-time high. Wal-Mart has posted better than expected earnings the last seven quarters, but sales fell short of the consensus last quarter which has kept the stock moving sideways. Given the valuation there is plenty of upside potential in the stock, but the company will need to post better than expected numbers on both the top and bottom line for WMT to break out of its sideways trend and break through resistance to a new all-time high. The street expects the retailer to post another earnings beat with a whisper number of $1.48 and analysts have an average price target of $126.82 on the stock.