Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Releases Q1 2026 Earnings Guidance

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) updated its first quarter 2026 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 0.570-0.580 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 0.640. The company issued revenue guidance of $164.7 billion-$166.3 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $166.8 billion. Walmart also updated its FY 2026 guidance to 2.500-2.600 EPS.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WMT. Barclays upped their target price on Walmart from $98.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 target price (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their target price on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.87.

Walmart Trading Down 6.4 %

NYSE:WMT traded down $6.67 on Thursday, reaching $97.33. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 38,023,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,829,768. Walmart has a 12-month low of $57.60 and a 12-month high of $105.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market cap of $781.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $95.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.17.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Walmart will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 21st will be issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. This is an increase from Walmart’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Walmart’s payout ratio is currently 34.06%.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total value of $3,754,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 257,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,419,362.80. The trade was a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total value of $2,663,098.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,814,805 shares in the company, valued at $348,825,769.20. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 175,177 shares of company stock worth $16,403,728. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Walmart

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, other units, and eCommerce worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, and discount stores under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, PhonePe and other sites; and mobile commerce applications.