What to Watch Thursday: Walmart Earnings, Federal Reserve Speakers

On Thursday, August 18, investors await quarterly results from Walmart (WMT) - Get Report and remarks from three Federal Reserve officials. Walmart is expected to post earnings of $1.02 a share on sales of $120.16 billion. During the same quarter a year ago, the retailer reported earnings per share of $1.08 on sales of $120.23 billion. Analysts will be watching Walmart's online sales growth, as the retailer looks to compete against Amazon (AMZN) - Get Report , namely through its recent plan to acquire Jet.com for $3.3 billion. Gap (GPS) - Get Report and Ross Stores (ROST) - Get Report also report quarterly earnings on Thursday. As for economic developments, New York Federal Reserve Bank President William Dudley speaks at 10am Eastern; San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams speaks at 4pm; and Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan delivers remarks at 8pm. TheStreet's Scott Gamm reports from Wall Street.