Walmart Stock Rides Best Day Since 2022 To Record High

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Shares of Walmart jumped Tuesday following the retail giant’s latest earnings report, sending Walmart’s stock to its highest level in its five-decade history as a public company and swelling the fortune of the wealthiest American family in the process.

Walmart stock rose almost 6% to more than $180 shortly after the market opened, heading toward its best daily percentage gain since Nov. 15, 2022 and registering its highest share price ever.

The rally followed Walmart’s fourth-quarter earnings report, in which the company reported Q4 sales of $173.4 billion and earnings per share of $1.80, both slightly above analyst estimates for sales.

Walmart also announced its $2.3 billion cash purchase of television maker Vizio, describing the move as a boon to its higher-growth advertising unit.

The retailer also upped its dividend payout by 9% to a record $2.49 per share for its upcoming fiscal year, boosting its annual dividend yield to 1.5%, higher than all but Broadcom, JPMorgan Chase and Exxon Mobil among the 16 companies on the S&P 500 valued at over $400 billion.

The Walton family, descendants of founder Sam Walton and his brother Bud Walton, is the richest family in the U.S. with a collective net worth of $267 billion thanks to its roughly 45% stake in Walmart. Jim, Rob and Alice Walton, the late Sam’s children, are each among the 20 richest individuals in the world with more than $65 billion fortunes. The siblings were the three biggest gainers of any billionaires Tuesday, adding a collective $7.6 billion to their fortunes thanks to Walmart stock’s surge.

Walmart stock’s strong performance Tuesday came despite it offering weaker-than-expected earnings guidance for its current fiscal year, saying it expects roughly 4% top line growth, below the 6% forecasted by analysts. Similarly, Walmart’s stock has underperformed the broader market recently despite hitting a record high, as its 18% 12-month return is below the S&P 500’s 25% return, including reinvested dividends, and rival Amazon’s 74% gain. Walmart is the largest American company by revenue, with its $648 billion in sales last year topping silver medalist Amazon’s $575 billion. Tuesday’s post-earnings spike comes after shares of Walmart tanked 8% following its last earnings report.

Fellow American retail behemoth Home Depot experienced a far more sour investor reaction to its own earnings report Tuesday. Shares of Home Depot dipped more than 1% in morning trading after the company reported a 3.5% decline in year-over-year comparable sales growth, worse than Walmart’s 4% growth.

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