The latest trading session saw Walmart (WMT) ending at $69.90, denoting a +0.32% adjustment from its last day's close. The stock's performance was ahead of the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.07%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.13%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.14%.

Shares of the world's largest retailer have appreciated by 4.06% over the course of the past month, outperforming the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 2.94% and lagging the S&P 500's gain of 4.34%.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Walmart in its upcoming release. The company is slated to reveal its earnings on August 15, 2024. In that report, analysts expect Walmart to post earnings of $0.65 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 6.56%. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $168.38 billion, indicating a 4.18% growth compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.

Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $2.43 per share and revenue of $675.38 billion, indicating changes of +9.46% and +4.21%, respectively, compared to the previous year.

Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Walmart. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the company's business operations and its ability to generate profits.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.23% higher within the past month. Right now, Walmart possesses a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking at valuation, Walmart is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 28.73. This expresses a premium compared to the average Forward P/E of 12.4 of its industry.

Also, we should mention that WMT has a PEG ratio of 4.02. The PEG ratio bears resemblance to the frequently used P/E ratio, but this parameter also includes the company's expected earnings growth trajectory. The Retail - Supermarkets industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.78 as trading concluded yesterday.

The Retail - Supermarkets industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 14, putting it in the top 6% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Ensure to harness Zacks.com to stay updated with all these stock-shifting metrics, among others, in the next trading sessions.

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