TLDR
- Walmart reports Q2 earnings before market open on August 20
- Wall Street expects EPS of $0.74, up from $0.68 a year ago, with revenue forecast at $186.62 billion
- Options traders are pricing in a 5% move in either direction after results
- The put-to-call ratio sits at 1.56x, pointing to a bearish lean in the options market
- WMT holds a Strong Buy consensus with an average price target of $140.33
Walmart heads into Thursday’s Q2 earnings report with its stock up around 4% year-to-date but down 14% over the past three months. WMT was trading around $115 heading into the print.
Wall Street is expecting EPS of $0.74 for Q2, compared to $0.68 in the same quarter last year. Revenue is forecast at $186.62 billion, up from $177.4 billion in Q2 2025.
The options market is pricing in a 5.14% swing in either direction after the results drop. That is roughly in line with recent history for WMT around earnings.
After its last report on May 21, 2026, the stock fell 7.27% the following day. Before that, it jumped 6.46% after November 2025 results, and dropped 4.49% following August 2025 numbers. It has been a bumpy ride.
The put-to-call ratio on contracts expiring August 21 sits at 1.56x, a bearish lean. The lower price on those contracts points to a possible drop of around 4.28% if the report disappoints.
What Analysts Are Watching
Investors will be focused on any commentary from management on U.S. consumer confidence. Inflation and economic uncertainty have put pressure on spending patterns, and the market wants to know how Walmart is reading that.
Progress in higher-margin businesses like e-commerce, advertising, and marketplace will also be under the microscope. These areas showed strength in Q1, and a continuation of that trend would be welcomed.
Q3 and full-year guidance will carry just as much weight as the headline numbers. In this environment, the forward outlook matters.
Barchart data adds one more wrinkle. At nearly 40x forward earnings, WMT is not cheap. That valuation leaves little room for error on Thursday.
What the Bulls Are Saying
Bernstein senior analyst Zhihan Ma is telling clients to buy any post-earnings dip. She acknowledged Walmart is seeing a comp slowdown due to lapping of tariff-driven gains in general merchandise, but called the stock a strong fundamental position beyond that near-term noise.
Bernstein has a $142 price target on WMT, implying more than 30% upside from current levels.
WMT also carries a dividend yield of 0.86%, which adds to the long-term case for holding the stock.
Across Wall Street more broadly, the consensus rating sits at Strong Buy. Of 29 analysts tracked on TipRanks, 26 rate it a Buy and 3 say Hold.
The average price target is $140.33, which implies upside of around 22% from current prices. The highest target on the Street is $155.
WMT has traded between $95.42 and $135.16 over the past 52 weeks. Its beta of 0.56 means it typically moves less than the broader market, though earnings season has a way of changing that.
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