Shares of Wal-Mart Stores (WMT +0.83%) is outshining the broader Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI +0.66%) in end-of-week trading, rising 1.2% Friday as the rest of the Dow fell 0.1%.
Wal-Mart has said it expects to see strong sales this holiday season. Investment banker Jefferies agrees, explaining in its write-up that Wal-Mart's "turnaround story" is more than just "easy sales comparisons." Indeed, the analyst thinks sales momentum will continue when Q3 results roll out, leading to upward EPS revisions, and crediting the company's strategy of building "high-return smaller-format stores" for the uptick. International operations are also expected to improve.
WMT earnings estimates at Jefferies are rising to $4.93 for the current fiscal year, followed by growth to $5.50 per share in fiscal 2013.
It uprgraded the stock from hold to buy with a price target of $88, up from $74.
