Dow Today: Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) Leads The Day Higher, International Business Machines (IBM) Lags

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) closed down 36.0 points (-0.3%) at 12,736. During the day, 458.2 million shares of the 30 Dow components have changed hands vs. an average daily trading volume of 696.1 million. The NYSE advances/declines ratio closed at 1,335 issues advancing vs. 1,678 declining with 114 unchanged.

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The Dow component that led the way higher today was Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE:WMT), which sported a 37-cent gain (+0.5%) bringing the stock to $71.73. Volume for Wal-Mart Stores ended the day at 10.3 million shares traded vs. an average daily trading volume of 11.7 million shares.

Wal-Mart Stores has a market cap of $240.5 billion and is part of the services sector and retail industry. Shares are up 19.4% year to date as of Friday's close. The stock's dividend yield sits at 2.2%.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. operates retail stores in various formats worldwide. It operates retail stores, restaurants, discount stores, supermarkets, supercenters, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, apparel stores, Sam's Clubs, and neighborhood markets, as well as walmart.com; and samsclub.com. The company has a P/E ratio of 15.3, equal to the average retail industry P/E ratio and below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7.

TheStreet Ratings rates Wal-Mart Stores as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its solid stock price performance, growth in earnings per share, increase in net income, revenue growth and good cash flow from operations. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company shows low profit margins.

• You can view the full Wal-Mart Stores Ratings Report.

Holding the Dow back today was International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM), which lagged the broader Dow index with a $1.74 decline (-0.9%) bringing the stock to $189.67. This single loss lowered the Dow Jones Industrial Average by 13.17 points or roughly accounting for 36.6% of the Dow's overall loss. Volume for International Business Machines ended the day at four million shares traded vs. an average daily trading volume of four million shares.

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International Business Machines has a market cap of $225.26 billion and is part of the technology sector and computer hardware industry. Shares are up 4.1% year to date as of Friday's close. The stock's dividend yield sits at 1.7%.

International Business Machines Corporation provides information technology (IT) products and services worldwide. The company operates in five segments: Global Technology Services, Global Business Services, Software, Systems and Technology, and Global Financing. The company has a P/E ratio of 14.6, equal to the average computer hardware industry P/E ratio and below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7.

TheStreet Ratings rates International Business Machines as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, notable return on equity, solid stock price performance, growth in earnings per share and good cash flow from operations. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had generally poor debt management on most measures that we evaluated.

• You can view the full International Business Machines Ratings Report.

 

For more information on Wal-Mart Stores Inc click any of the following:

• Wal-Mart Stores Inc Stock Price

• Wal-Mart Stores Inc Analyst Ratings

• Wal-Mart Stores Inc Key Stats & Profile

• Wal-Mart Stores Inc Earnings

• Wal-Mart Stores Inc Ratio Comparison

• Wal-Mart Stores Inc Growth Rates

• Wal-Mart Stores Inc Balance Sheet

• Wal-Mart Stores Inc Cash Flow

• Wal-Mart Stores Inc Income Statement