Walmart (WMT) Stock Declines After December U.S. Jobs Report ReleaseBy twocents@thestreet (Andrew Meola) NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Walmart fell 0.86% to $89.69 in afternoon trading Friday after the release of the U.S. jobs report for December. The jobless rate dropped to a six-and-a-half-year low in December, but wages declined. Nonfarm payrolls increasedBy twocents@thestreet (Andrew Meola) NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Walmart fell 0.86% to $89.69 in afternoon trading Friday after the release of the U.S. jobs report for December. The jobless rate dropped to a six-and-a-half-year low in December, but wages declined. Nonfarm payrolls increased 252,000 in December after a climb of 353,000 in November, a number that had been upwardly revised, the Department of Labor said today. The unemployment rate ticked down 0.2% to 5.6%, thanks in part to departures from the labor force. However, average hourly wages fell by five cents, which almost completely erased the gains in November. Earnings climbed just 1.7% in the last year, the weakest 12-month rate since October 2012. Exclusive Report: Jim Cramers Best Stocks for 2015 STOCKS TO BUY: TheStreet Quant Ratings has identified a handful of stocks that can potentially TRIPLE in the next 12 months. Learn more. Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates WAL-MART STORES INC as a Buy with a ratings score of A-. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation: We rate WAL-MART STORES INC (WMT) a BUY. This is based on the convergence of positive investment measures, which should help this stock outperform the majority of stocks that we rate. The companys strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, increase in stock price during the past year, good cash flow from operations, growth in earnings per share and reasonable valuation levels. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income. Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows: WMTs revenue growth has slightly outpaced the industry average of 1.1%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 2.9%. This growth in revenue appears to have trickled down to the companys bottom line, improving the earnings per share. The stock has risen over the past year as investors have generally rewarded the company for its earnings growth and other positive factors like the ones we have cited in this report. Turning our attention to the future direction of the stock, it goes without saying that even the best stocks can fall in an overall down market. However, in any other environment, this stock still has good upside potential despite the fact that it has already risen in the past year. Net operating cash flow has significantly increased by 72.54% to $3,570.00 million when compared to the same quarter last year. The firm also exceeded the industry average cash flow growth rate of 53.93%. WAL-MART STORES INC reported flat earnings per share in the most recent quarter. This company has reported somewhat volatile earnings recently. But, we feel it is poised for EPS growth in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, WAL-MART STORES INC reported lower earnings of $4.86 versus $5.01 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($5.00 versus $4.86). You can view the full analysis from the report here: WMT Ratings Report STOCKS TO BUY: TheStreet Quant Ratings has identified a handful of stocks that can potentially TRIPLE in the next 12 months. Learn more. Click to view a price quote on WMT. Click to research the Retail industry. ift.tt/1gB4pon
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 18:26:14 +0000
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