Nardone reiterated a Buy rating and $144 price forecast on Walmart ahead of the report. The analyst said accelerating digital sales and improving profit margins could support results even if U.S. comparable-sales growth slows.
Walmart Earnings Beat Still In Play
Bank of America forecasts second-quarter adjusted earnings of 74 cents per share. The firm lowered its Walmart U.S. comparable-sales forecast, excluding fuel, to 3.5% from 4%.
The analyst estimates that every 50-basis-point shortfall in second-quarter U.S. comparable sales would reduce Walmart’s full-year net sales growth by about 10 basis points. Still, strength elsewhere in the business could allow Walmart to beat expectations and raise its outlook.
Walmart previously guided for second-quarter constant-currency net sales growth of 4% to 5%, down roughly 100 basis points from the first quarter’s 5.7% growth.
