AnalystScope
AnalystScopePublished research note

Walmart Inc. (WMT)

Walmart offers defensiveness, scale, and improving mix quality, but the current setup still looks more like a disciplined Hold than a high-upside valuation case.

This page preserves the published note at the report date shown below. For the live workspace with the latest daily scheduled quote, filing, fundamentals, and refreshed model output, return to the company page.

Report date 10 Apr 2026, 22:15Report updated Apr 8, 2026Active coverage

Current workspace reference

Kept here as reference beside the published report: the current workspace now shows a Sell signal with low confidence as shares are currently being evaluated against an older daily scheduled quote of $129 versus $90 fair value, implying -30.5 downside.

Current workspace signal

Sell

Confidence

Low

Stale scheduled quote

$129

Fair value

$90

-30.5 downside

Reference freshness

Price basis

Stale scheduled quote

Latest daily scheduled quote is past the freshness window. Daily scheduled refresh as of Apr 10, 2026, 6:27 PM UTC. Fresh through Apr 11, 2026, 6:27 PM UTC.

Filing reference

8-K filed Jun 5, 2026 | Reporting period Jun 4, 2026

Filing refreshed Jun 6, 2026, 6:27 AM UTC. Fresh through Jun 6, 2026, 6:27 PM UTC.

Fundamentals reference

Live SEC companyfacts currently cover revenue, operating margin, free cash flow, and net cash / net debt. Reporting period end 2026-01-31.

Fundamentals refreshed 6 Jun 2026, 06:27 UTC. Fresh through 6 Jun 2026, 18:27 UTC.

Model vs published view

Current model signal differs from the latest published analyst rating.

Thesis scorecard

Growth

Moderate

Growth is steady rather than explosive, with e-commerce and mix helping the base.

Profitability

Moderate

Margins are thin but durable, and incremental mix improvement still matters.

Balance sheet

Moderate

Leverage is manageable against scale, though not a net-cash story.

Valuation

Moderate

A higher-quality retail multiple limits the near-term spread.

Execution / Resilience

Strong

Scale and category breadth support resilience across a tougher consumer backdrop.

Bull / Base / Bear scenarios

Bull case

$100

Normalized support: Growth, margin, and cash-flow trends are mixed versus the upside case.

Base case

$90

Normalized support: Current margin, cash-generation, and balance-sheet profile constrain the base case.

Bear case

$74

Downside protection: Cash generation and balance-sheet support are mixed in the bear case.

Base-case assumptions

These are the published base-case assumptions behind the note. They are reasoned valuation inputs at the report date, not reported facts.

Revenue CAGR (5Y)

4.5%

+/- 1.0% => +/-$4/sh

Why this level: This is AnalystScope's base-case growth assumption, not a guarantee. It sits below the latest FY model-base revenue pace (2026.0%), so the model does not extend current strength too far into the outer years. Current company context: Defensive demand makes the earnings base sturdier than many retailers.

Terminal Growth

2.5%

+/- 0.5% => +/-$3/sh

Why this level: This is AnalystScope's mature long-run growth assumption, not a perpetual hypergrowth claim. At 2.5%, it sits well below the 4.5% five-year revenue CAGR, so the model steps down from the explicit forecast period to a steadier long-run pace. For Walmart Inc., that means a durable franchise can keep compounding after year five without assuming today's faster growth profile lasts indefinitely.

WACC

8.0%

+/- 0.5% => -$5/sh

Why this level: This is AnalystScope's base-case cost-of-capital judgment, not a precise CAPM output. It reflects the current rates backdrop, equity risk premium, and the company's balance-sheet posture. Debt remains manageable relative to scale and resilience

Operating Margin (Year 5)

5.2%

+/- 100 bps => +/-$4/sh

Why this level: This is AnalystScope's base-case margin view, not a promise of straight-line expansion. It keeps year-five margins close to today's model-base operating margin (4.8%), which implies the current margin structure is broadly durable. Margin input avoids over-reading temporary mix benefits and keeps the base on durable retail economics.

How to read the assumptions and sensitivities

These are base-case assumptions used to estimate fair value. They are reasonable model inputs, not reported facts.

Each sensitivity line shows the estimated fair-value-per-share change from a small move in that one input while the other inputs stay fixed.

bps means basis points. 100 bps equals 1.00 percentage point.

WACC sensitivity moves in the opposite direction because a higher discount rate lowers present value, while a lower discount rate raises it.

Model base vs reported fundamentals

Side-by-side view of the latest live reported fundamentals versus the current AnalystScope model base used in public valuation and thesis work.

Reported numbers show the latest company print. Model base is the comparable operating base AnalystScope uses for valuation work, which can include standardization, conservative balance-sheet treatment, working-capital cleanup, and through-cycle adjustments when current reported figures do not look durable.

Reported fundamentals source

SEC XBRL companyfacts API

Live SEC companyfacts currently cover revenue, operating margin, free cash flow, and net cash / net debt. Reporting period end 2026-01-31.

Fundamentals refreshed 6 Jun 2026, 06:27 UTC. Fresh through 6 Jun 2026, 18:27 UTC.

Model-base impact on the thesis

For Walmart, the model base is meant to reflect durable omnichannel retail economics rather than quarter-to-quarter inventory or mix noise.

MetricLive reportedStatusModel baseStatus
Revenue (TTM)$706.4BLive reported$709.5B

+4.2% YoY

Adjustment: Model revenue smooths category mix and one-off inventory timing rather than assuming a straight-line retail cycle.

Model base
Operating Margin4.2%Live reported4.8%

+31 bps YoY

Adjustment: Margin input avoids over-reading temporary mix benefits and keeps the base on durable retail economics.

Model base
FCF (TTM)$14.9BLive reported$22.0B

3.1% margin

Adjustment: FCF input adjusts for working-capital timing and inventory swings that can distort annual cash conversion.

Model base
Net Cash / (Debt)($30.1B)Live reported($30.5B)

Debt remains manageable relative to scale and resilience

Adjustment: Balance-sheet treatment keeps leverage conservative even with resilient staple demand.

Model base

Published investment view

The published report remains anchored to a Hold rating, with the latest note event recorded as New. The current workspace now evaluates the stock against $129 versus a base-case fair value of $90, implying -30.5 downside.

Fair value $90 vs. current $129 (-30.5 downside).

Confidence framing

Method agreement / dispersion

Valuation methods remain directionally aligned, with a moderate range from $84 to $93.

Margin strength

Operating margin is 4.8%, with +31 bps vs prior FY.

Balance sheet position

Balance sheet positioning is ($30.5B), with debt remains manageable relative to scale and resilience.

Key drivers

Traffic resilience and omnichannel mix continue to support revenue durability.

Scale benefits and a healthier category mix help operating margin inch higher.

Defensive demand makes the earnings base sturdier than many retailers.

Key risks

Thin retail margins leave little room for execution misses or wage pressure.

Consumer trade-down can help traffic but still pressure the mix and gross margin.

A more promotional environment could offset current margin-improvement expectations.

What would change our view

Sustained margin expansion through mix and fulfillment discipline would improve the setup.

A heavier promotional turn or wage/cost pressure would lower fair-value support.

If the multiple expands further without a cleaner margin step-up, the upside case weakens.

Near-term catalysts

Gross-margin and e-commerce contribution commentary remain the nearest catalysts.

Inventory and working-capital discipline still shape the free-cash-flow read-through.

Consumer mix signals can move sentiment quickly even if headline traffic stays healthy.

What we are watching

Whether e-commerce and advertising contribution can keep lifting the margin base.

How resilient traffic remains if the consumer backdrop softens further.

Any sign that promotional intensity is forcing the model back toward a lower margin base.

Report archive context

Archive metadata below keeps the published report context visible. Current workspace valuation and quote context stay secondary on this page.

How to read note event vs rating

Note event tells you what changed in the latest published note. Published rating shows the stance after that event.

Both were published Apr 8, 2026.

Report updated

Apr 8, 2026

Coverage status

Active coverage

Latest note event

New

Published Apr 8, 2026

Current published rating

Hold

Published Apr 8, 2026

Analyst note

Watching margin mix, working-capital discipline, and whether omnichannel economics keep improving.

What changed in the report

Apr 8, 2026

Added to AnalystScope coverage

Impact: New Hold view on steady quality with moderate upside

Apr 8, 2026

Kept FCF treatment conservative

Impact: Avoids overstating cash conversion from inventory timing

Report timeline

Apr 8, 2026

NewHold

Started coverage with a Hold view on defensive quality versus a more modest fair-value spread.

AnalystScope

This report is informational only and does not constitute investment advice. Curated public preview analysis with live price, filing metadata, and reported fundamentals overlays. Full live filing ingestion is not yet enabled.