Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) Shares Down 9.2% After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) fell 9.2% during trading on Thursday after Gordon Haskett downgraded the stock from a buy rating to an accumulate rating. The company traded as low as $102.85 and last traded at $103.84. 83,242,782 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 226% from the average session volume of 25,502,297 shares. The stock had previously closed at $114.30.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer cut shares of Walmart from a “market perform” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective (up from $145.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective (up from $150.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Walmart from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 3,710 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.10, for a total value of $419,601.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 626,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $70,834,416.90. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.19, for a total value of $342,751.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 574,953 shares in the company, valued at $67,953,695.07. This trade represents a 0.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,164 shares of company stock valued at $6,389,402. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

More Walmart News

Here are the key news stories impacting Walmart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Walmart reported adjusted earnings of $0.81 per share and revenue of $187.9 billion, exceeding estimates of approximately $0.74 and $186.6 billion, respectively. Revenue increased 5.9% year over year. Walmart quarterly earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: Growth remained strong in higher-value areas: global e-commerce sales rose 23%, advertising revenue increased 38%, and global membership fee revenue grew 17%. Gross profit rate also improved by 96 basis points. Walmart reports revenue growth
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised fiscal 2027 guidance, supported by e-commerce, advertising, membership growth and international performance. Walmart also plans to use nearly $2.9 billion in tariff refunds partly to reduce prices and support customer traffic. Walmart tariff refunds and prices
• Neutral Sentiment: Walmart’s affordability strategy is attracting more grocery transactions and unit volume, but price reductions could limit near-term margins as the company responds to increasingly deal-focused consumers.
• Negative Sentiment: U.S. comparable sales grew 2.6%, well below expectations near 3.5%-3.7% and the weakest growth in more than six years. Reports linked the slowdown to higher gas costs, consumer trade-offs and softer discretionary spending. Reuters Walmart sales miss report
• Negative Sentiment: Fiscal third-quarter guidance was below Wall Street expectations: EPS of $0.62-$0.64 versus $0.68 expected, and revenue of $183.1-$184.5 billion versus $188.2 billion expected. Management also said the timing of Flipkart’s major sales event would create a headwind of more than 100 basis points to third-quarter sales growth. Investopedia Walmart forecast report
• Negative Sentiment: Gordon Haskett downgraded Walmart from “buy” to “accumulate,” adding to concerns that the stock’s premium valuation leaves limited room for execution or consumer-demand disappointments.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Walmart by 28.8% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 98,150 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,868,000 after acquiring an additional 21,939 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,849 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $800,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Peterson Wealth Management now owns 50,307 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,416,000 after purchasing an additional 1,715 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.9% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 13,008 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,272,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.2% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 91,341 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,931,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $114.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $121.49. The firm has a market cap of $826.37 billion, a PE ratio of 36.44, a PEG ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.61.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 20th. The retailer reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.07. Walmart had a net margin of 3.13% and a return on equity of 21.25%. The firm had revenue of $187.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Walmart has set its Q3 2027 guidance at 0.620-0.640 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 2.800-2.870 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Walmart

Walmart is a multinational retail corporation that operates a broad portfolio of store formats and digital services. Its core business includes large-format supercenters, discount department stores, neighborhood grocery stores and a membership warehouse chain, Sam’s Club. The company’s merchandising mix covers groceries, household goods, apparel, electronics and pharmacy services, supplemented by private-label products and category-specific offerings. Walmart pairs its physical store network with online platforms and mobile applications to provide omnichannel shopping, fulfillment and delivery options for consumers and businesses.

The company was founded by Sam Walton, who opened the first store in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962; it is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas.