Who?
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc (NYSE: WMT) is a Bentonville, Arkansas based American multinational retail corporation that maintains multiple large discount department stores and warehouses throughout the world.
When?
Wal-Mart is scheduled to report its fiscal third-quarter earnings before the opening bell on Thursday, November 13th. The retail giant lowered its full-year outlook back in October, reasoning that overseas sales were being negatively affected by the rise in value of the US dollar. Wal-Mart is currently the 10th worst performer on the Dow-Jones Industrial Average, only increasing about 0.5% this year so far. Wal-Mart investors are hopeful that the recent decrease in gas prices will allow low-income consumers to spend more money coming into the holiday season this year.
Where?
Wal-Mart’s quarterly report and pre-recorded phone call will be available at 6:00am CST on Thursday on the company’s website. Analysts expect Wal-Mart to report $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, down from $1.14 the same quarter the year prior. On the other hand, revenue is expected to increase to $118.4 billion from $115.7 billion last year.
What?
Investors are anticipating Wal-Mart to give an update on consumer sentiment and spending, holiday plans, and whether sales have slowed down at the company’s Neighborhood Markets.
Wal-Mart is expected to give an update on the introduction online price-matching in addition to its potential plans to follow Target in offering free shipping with no minimum on purchase orders during the holiday season.
Analysts also want an update on actions the company is in the process of testing, including company-owned health clinics that offer doctor visits as low as $40.
Conclusion
Will Wal-Mart show improvements and prove analysts wrong?
On average, the top analyst consensus for Wal-Mart is Hold.
