Walmart (WMT -0.52%) is a stock that has many believers, and among these bulls are analysts who follow the stock professionally. One prognosticator has even flagged the sturdy retail sector giant as a top pick for his company. Could he be right?
Always a tough competitor
Several days before Walmart was slated to unveil its earnings results for the first quarter of fiscal 2025, Oppenheimer's Rupesh Parikh weighed in on the company. In a new research note, Parikh reiterated his outperform (i.e., buy) recommendation and $67-per-share price target. That level implies an 11% potential upside on the most recent closing share price.
Parikh pointed out that there has been some concern about Walmart's grocery business following the rollout of a grocery subscription offering from Amazon.
After making a comparison of Walmart's pricing to that of its rival, he wrote in his note, "Based on our work, we continue to believe Walmart has a superior value proposition versus Amazon in grocery."
Regarding that upcoming first-quarter earnings release, Parikh said that he expects Walmart to display "solid" performance for the period and maintain or even lift full fiscal-year guidance.
Reliably good performance
Walmart made headlines earlier this year when it became the latest monster company on the exchange to split its stock. The fact that its equity became pricey enough on a per-share basis to warrant such a move is a testament to the company's long record of success.
I don't see an end to that anytime soon. Management continues to execute well and is effectively staying on the cutting edge with the Walmart+ subscription program that confers a bunch of benefits on members and keeps them loyal. This is a very solid company that performs well, and consistently, so I'd be a buyer even if that first quarter report (set for release on Thursday, May 16) falls a bit short.
