Walmart (WMT) -) shares moved higher in pre-market trading ahead of the retail giant's second quarter earnings prior to the opening bell.
Following a mixed set of earnings from rivals such as Home Depot HD and Target (TGT) -) earlier this week, which included the latter slashing its full-year profit forecast, analysts expect Walmart to see its bottom line slip 4% from last year to $1.70 per share.
Group revenues, however, are expected to rise by around 5%, to $160.1 billion, a move that suggests Walmart is capitalizing on narrower-margin market gains in its grocery division while struggling to maintain growth in discretionary items as consumers pull back on non-essential spending.
Earlier this spring, Walmart itself forecast adjusted earnings of between $1.63 and $1.68 per share for the second quarter, and lifted its full year outlook to between $6.10 and $6.20 per share, a 15 cent improvement from the upper end of its prior estimate.
Walmart is also likely to comment on a recent move to boost its stake in India's e-commerce powerhouse Flipkart.
Walmart paid $1.4 billion to buy out Asia-based hedge fund Tiger Global's Flipkart stake, as well as a 1% holding from private equity firm Accel, according to multiple media reports.
The price tag for Tiger Global's stake values Flipkart, an e-commerce and consumer retailing powerhouse in India, at around $35 billion.
That's down from the $38 billion valuation pegged in 2021 but well north of the $21 billion value implied when Walmart purchased its original stake of 77%, for around $16 billion, in 2018.
Walmart shares were marked 0.78% higher in pre-market trading to indicate an opening bell price of $160..50 each.
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