A Walmart store in Oceanside, California, USA is shown on May 15, 2025.
Mike Blake | Reuters
walmart The retail giant and its new CEO are set to report fourth-quarter results on Thursday morning as they pursue a future powered more by digital business and artificial intelligence.
Here’s what Wall Street analysts surveyed by LSEG expect from the company’s report:
Earnings per share: 73 cents Expected revenue: $190.43 billion expected
Walmart in November said it expected full-year net sales to rise 4.8% to 5.1% and adjusted earnings per share to be between $2.58 and $2.63.
Investors are looking for more than just vacations and year-round summaries. They also want to get a better understanding of the company’s expectations for the year ahead and the priorities of new CEO John Farner, a more than 30-year veteran and former Walmart US CEO who replaced Doug McMillon as Walmart’s chief executive on February 1.
Retail giant Walmart has provided an important snapshot of U.S. consumers, especially since it began a series of earnings reports from other big retailers. home depot and target.
“Everyone wants a litmus test of how consumers behaved this quarter and how they behaved in prior quarters,” said Kate McShane, a retail analyst at Goldman Sachs.
He said Walmart could benefit from beneficial moves in the coming months, such as tax cuts that were part of President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill last year, which could increase discretionary spending, especially for middle-income consumers.
But despite January’s better-than-expected jobs report, other indicators about the U.S. economy are mixed, including lackluster retail sales in December and concerns about the job market and artificial intelligence layoffs. Investors are watching inflation closely, trying to determine whether tariffs will cause prices to rise in the coming weeks and months.
Investors largely expect Mr. Furner to focus on similar priorities as his predecessor, Mr. McMillon, such as expanding Walmart’s online business, attracting customers from a wide range of income levels, and strengthening high-margin businesses such as third-party marketplaces and advertising.
But Walmart is expected to lose its position as the largest retailer by annual sales on Thursday. Amazon It has already surpassed Walmart in quarterly sales and is on track to surpass Walmart on an annual basis. Amazon’s core retail division is its biggest source of revenue, but a significant portion of its business comes from its cloud computing, advertising and seller services businesses.
In addition to hiring a new CEO, Walmart recently achieved other milestones. The company’s stock switched to the tech-heavy Nasdaq in December, and its market capitalization reached $1 trillion earlier this month.
As of Wednesday’s close, the company’s stock was up about 22% over the past year and about 14% so far this year. This outpaces the S&P 500’s 12% rise over the past year and less than 1% year-to-date gain.
