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Walmart IncWMTCOMMENTJan 25, 2018Stock price when the opinion was issued
As of Oct 16, 2026. Market Open.
WMT and COST are the dominant discount retailers in the US. They became priced for perfection, with multiples of 40-50x PE for a large, mature company. Might be a great company, but that multiple's for a younger company, growing at very high rates because it can get a lot bigger. Both are in the process of compressing to a 20x PE multiple.
Either earnings are better than expected and stock trends sideways. Or earnings are worse, and multiple goes down. Either way, not much upside.
Both great companies, but both very expensive. COST is over 50x PE, and WMT's in the 40s. Fairly low-margin model. Reliant on the consumer, and everyone's affected when that consumer is struggling.
WMT reported today. Earnings were OK, but projections on future quarters were tough. High fuel prices were highlighted.
Successful transition to e-commerce is why stock's been on fire. Topline growth is only 4-5%, and his team debates this company all the time. PE is 46x earnings for 2026, extremely expensive. Seen as a safe place to park $$ as they continue to execute.
See his Top Picks.
This has done very well, and that’s on the back that it has been competing and executing relatively well on the e-commerce side Amazon (AMZN-Q). This has come a long way since the 2000-2010 period, when it went nowhere. They just hit a new all-time high today, trading at 22X forward earnings at the high end of the 10-year historical average. He is looking for a 5%-6% long-term growth rate in terms of EPS, and that might inch higher, if they execute on the e-commerce side. Pays a 1.9% dividend yield. The long-term growth is on the International side, which is 24%-25% of its revenue base. He doesn't know if the international side is going to reach the same level of profitability that we see in the US, given that they don't have the same scale as they do in the US and Canada. This is a bit expensive, and he would prefer something like Costco (COST-Q), as he thinks they are ramping up their e-commerce area as well, and have good same-store sales.