On Tuesday, Walmart announced its fiscal third quarter results as the retail giant promotes its ongoing Black Friday and Cyber Monday holiday shopping events next week.
The company reported revenue of $169.59 billion for the period, which beat analysts’ expectation of $167.72 billion, according to LSEG consensus estimates. Additionally, Walmart reported earnings per share of 58 cents, adjusted, compared with the 53 cents analysts’ predicted.
Notably, the company appears to be optimistic heading into the holiday spending season and says Walmart customers have been purchasing more general merchandise outside of groceries.
“In the U.S., in-store volumes grew, pickup from store grew faster, and delivery from store grew even faster than that,” Doug McMillon, Walmart president and CEO, said in a Nov. 19 press release. “Our teams are executing and delighting our customers and members with the value and convenience they expect from Walmart.”
Walmart now forecasts that net sales will grow between 4.8% and 5.1% for the full year, compared with the previously forecasted growth of 3.75% to 4.75%.
The retailer’s share price has increased by nearly 60% since the beginning of the year as of market close on Nov. 18.
How much an investment in Walmart would be worth now
By sales volume, Walmart is the largest retailer in the U.S., according to the National Retail Federation. In 2023, it raked in just over $635 billion in worldwide retail sales.
Walmart first allowed the public to purchase common stock in October 1970 for $16.50 per share and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange two years later on August 25, 1972. Over the years, Walmart’s shares have undergone 11 two-for one stock splits, and the company has paid investors quarterly dividends since 1973.
Walmart’s share price has soared substantially over the past 54 years. The company’s stocks were priced at $84.08 per share as of market close on Nov. 18.
CNBC calculated how much a $1,000 investment in Walmart made one, five or 10 years ago, as well as when the company went public 54 years ago, would be worth today. The calculations are based on Walmart’s Nov. 18 closing price and don’t account for possible changes in price following the company’s most recent quarterly earnings report.
If you invested one year ago
- Percentage change: 64%
- Total as of Nov. 18: $1,639
If you invested five years ago
- Percentage change: 119%
- Total as of Nov. 18: $2,191
If you invested 10 years ago
- Percentage change: 227%
- Total as of Nov. 18: $3,266
If you invested when Walmart went public in October 1970
- Percentage change: 1,788,465%
- Total as of Nov. 18: $17,885,648
Many financial experts recommend a passive investing strategy
No matter how well company’s stock performs in the short term, it’s not indicative how it may behave in the future. From market volatility to natural disasters to changes in investor sentiment, any number of events can cause a company’s stock price to unexpectedly drop or rise.
Instead of chasing whichever stock is hottest at the moment, many financial experts recommend a more hands-off strategy, such as parking your investment dollars in low-cost index funds.
The benefit of this investment strategy can be two-fold:
- Investing in index funds can help diversify your portfolio by spreading your investment across a vast array of companies, rather than just one. Investing in an S&P 500 index fund, for example, gives your portfolio exposure to the top 500 or so publicly traded U.S. companies, including Walmart, Amazon and Apple.
- Index funds tend to cost less than actively managed funds since they simply aim to mimic a market index like the S&P 500.
As of Nov. 18, the S&P 500 grew by about 31% compared with 12 months ago, according to CNBC’s calculations. However, the index has soared by nearly 89% since 2019, and ballooned by about 187% since 2014.
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