Walmart (WMT) Stock Up, Nomura Raises Price Target
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Walmart Stores (WMT) - Get Report are up 0.87% to $69.80 late Friday morning as Nomura increased its price target to $81 from $70 and maintained its "buy" rating.
The Bentonville, AR-based wholesale and retail giant's comparable store sales for the 2017 fiscal first quarter exceeded expectations, the firm noted as to why analysts raised the price target.
Walmart's same-store sales rose 1% for the quarter, above Wall Street estimates of 0.5% growth.
The company reported 2017 fiscal first quarter earnings of 98 cents per share, beating analysts' expectations of 88 cents per share. Walmart reported revenue of $115.9 billion, higher than revenue estimates of $113.2 billion.
"We view the Walmart comp result positively in light of both the challenging retail environment, and more specifically, deflationary trends in food," Nomura analysts said in an investor note.
While other big-name retailers have been bogged down by competition from Amazon.com (AMZN), Walmart has stepped up efforts to combat the online shopping giant. The company recently started expanding its e-commerce reach by updating its shipping options to rival Amazon Prime.
Separately, TheStreet Ratings rated Walmart as a "buy" with a score of B+.
TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon.
Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this articles's author. TheStreet Ratings has this to say about the recommendation:
This is driven by a number of strengths, which TheStreet Ratings believe should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks that are covered.
The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its attractive valuation levels, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and notable return on equity.
TheStreet Ratings feels its strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had somewhat weak growth in earnings per share.
You can view the full analysis from the report here: WMT
