Wal-Mart plans to slow new store openings, invest in online

Earnings Roundup: In the last fiscal quarter alone, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. generated almost $120.85B in sales and net income of $1.07/share. “But it is a challenging market for foreign players, as the country’s fast-growing online shopping sector is dominated by domestic competitors like JD.com and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., China’s largest e-commerce company”, the WSJ explained. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. set a $73.00 price objective on Wal-Mart Stores and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday. Wal-Mart’s digital sales growth accelerated in the fiscal second quarter, rising 11.8 percent, making this the first quarter that metric had picked up in more than a year.

The retailer (WMT) said Thursday that it would open 130 stores in the 2017 fiscal year ending in February and 55 in the 2018 fiscal year ending in February 2018.

To that end, Wal-Mart will continue to invest in its e-commerce capabilities. The share price of $69.36 is at a distance of 26.93 percent from its 52-week low and down -7.75 percent versus its peak.

“The Internet and technology are changing the world, they are changing industries, and they’re changing retail”, he said.

The company recorded a trading capacity of 2.7 million shares below its three months average daily volume of 3.26 million shares.

Last quarter Walmart said its e-commerce sales increased 11.8 percent primarily due to the continued rollout of its online grocery option and growth of pick-up in stores and clubs.

Many Wall Street Analysts have commented on Wal-Mart Stores.

Wal-Mart’s plan includes doubling the number of its large warehouses focused on e-commerce sales to 10 in 2016, Reuters reported. Over the last 3 months and over the last 6 months, the shares of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to slow its new store openings and pour more money into its online efforts, technology and store remodels, the company said Thursday.

Online sales represent about $14 billion to $16 billion of Walmart’s approximately $355 billion in annual USA revenue, according to Moody’s Investor Service.

Wal-Mart’s playbook for the next decade is certainly very different from the last. It handles more than 70 percent of the orders for best-selling products, Traweek said.

He said stores will remain vital to Walmart’s future. (NYSE:WMT) were down by more than 3% yesterday after the company announced a soft guidance during its Analysts day conference. That’s why it has not yet begun to promise one-day delivery to customers, he said.

It is no secret that Walmart and other brick-and-mortar discount retailers have been pummeled by the rise of ecommerce, led by Amazon.

“Anything that crimps Wal-Mart’s profits in the short term will not be met well by their shareholders, so trying to find a cost-effective shipping solution is a sensible approach”, he said. “They’re essentially changing their business model completely”.