Wal-Mart Earnings Anticipation

In just a few trading days America’s behemoth of a retailer, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) is expected to deliver earnings. On Thursday next week (Nov. 12), our favorite Wally-Mart will announce fiscal Q3 earnings before the market open.  We at The Nation think it may possibly be a positive surprise since the economy may have driven some shoppers to those wonderful Super Wal-Marts (<== “s” added for effect) who would not normally shop there.  The question is, will it be enough to make you want to kiss the Wal-Mart greeter?

Today, the market said “Giddy Up!” and took shares of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) with it.  Traders kicked Wal-Mart’s day off with a 13-cent gap up open to $50.51 a share.  Then the day’s trading propelled the stock even higher to an impressive $51.28 for a close.   Wal-Mart seems to be locked in a bit of trading range right now, bouncing between about $49 and $52 a share.  The chart for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) does not lend itself well to good technical analysis interpretation at the moment as the price is right in the middle of the upper and lower trend lines (blue and purple line in chart below). 

According to analysts, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) is projected to post a third-quarter gain of 81 cents a share, which is right on target with the estimate 90 days ago. In the year-ago quarter, Wal-Mart earned 77 cents per share on revenue of $97.6 billion. The analysts’ consensus recommendation on the stock is that of a strong BUY.

Wal-Mart remains a strong, long-term company for the U.S. and will be sticking around for years to come.  This stock may be a good buy on any weakness that brings the stock down to the $49 level.  If by chance earnings disappoint, it might be wise to allow the market to react and then pounce, buying shares at a nice discount.  If earnings meet expectation or surprise, then we would anticipate Wal-Mart to continue its gentle uptrend after a gap up in stock price on November 12.

Good luck to investors and may the earnings be in your favor.

Disclosure: No positions in Wal-Mart at the time of this writing.