Foolish Spotlight: Wal-Mart

In what surely must be a delight to our Inside Value team, Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) last week touched a new 52-week high when it reached $55.33 a share. The stock closed on Friday at $54.80 a share.

What caused the spike? Whereas fellow retailers J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) and Limited Brands (NYSE: LTD) both copped to lower sales, Wal-Mart on Thursday bumped its first-quarter guidance from $0.70 to $0.74 a share to between $0.74 and $0.76.

That's a huge deal. Not only did the Bentonville Behemoth upgrade its own estimates, but more importantly, the new range also blew past the Street's consensus of $0.72 a share.

Though some predicted that Wal-Mart would be the worst stock for 2008, the company seems to be showing strength, even in the weakening economy. Initiatives such as co-branding health clinics and stripping down its apparel lines, coupled with its endeavor to be more environmentally friendly, have fellow Fool Alyce Lomax thinking the company is back in its element

Low everyday price, still big value
Did our 95,000-strong community at Motley Fool CAPS see this coming? Some, yes:

So did Foolish colleague Tim Otte, who praised Wal-Mart's valuation versus Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), Walgreen (NYSE: WAG), Costco (Nasdaq: COST), and of course, Target (NYSE: TGT) in a commentary posted earlier this week. (Mind if I borrow your crystal ball, sir?)

But, again, Tim is hardly alone. Fools in the CAPS community who offered the thumbs-up a year ago in April 2007 have earned more than 20 points for picking Wal-Mart to outperform the market. Investor 74Aggie pointed out how "everyone has to go here." Ben1127, equally blunt, said that Wal-Mart is "still 800 LB gorilla in retailing with worldwide exposure."

Well done, Fools.

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