Walmart Earnings: Traders Anticipate 4.5% Move in WMT Stock

Walmart's upcoming earnings report is expected to be closely watched by investors as traders anticipate a significant move in the retailer's stock. According to options pricing, traders see Walmart shares (WMT) swinging up to 4.5% in either direction by the end of the week, with potential gains or losses ranging from $122 to below $112.

The shares have gained about 5% since the start of the year but are still nearly 14% off their May highs due to concerns over inflation's impact on consumer spending. Analysts are broadly bullish on Walmart, with all but one of the 11 analysts tracked by Visible Alpha recommending buying the stock.

Walmart is expected to report revenue of $186.78 billion for the second quarter, a growth of about 5% year-over-year, along with adjusted earnings of 74 cents per share, up 6 cents from the same time last year. Comparable sales growth is seen coming in just under 4%, per Visible Alpha estimates.

UBS analysts believe that the recent pullback and lowered expectations for Walmart's results create 'one of the more attractive setups Walmart investors have seen in some time,' potentially setting the retailer up to report better results than Wall Street has feared.