Walmart's Cautious Outlook and Investor Response

Walmart's future guidance has caused concern among investors, resulting in a sharp decline in share prices despite posting Q4 results that exceeded analysts' expectations. The company's forecast for Q1 sales growth of only 3-4% suggests an EPS of $0.57 to $0.58, which falls short of both the previous year and consensus estimates. Walmart CEO Doug McMillan emphasized the company's position by stating that, after filtering out noise in the guidance, profit growth is anticipated to outpace sales growth. Despite the downturn, analysts from firms like Jefferies and Morgan Stanley remain optimistic, predicting a potential for outperformance in fiscal year 2026 and supporting the company’s recent 13% dividend increase to 23.5 cents per share.