Where Will Walmart Be in 5 Years?
Walmart (NYSE: WMT) has turned into one of the few bright spots of the COVID-19 crisis. As an "essential" business, it not only avoided closure even as most department stores shut down, but it also saw an apparent surge in retail activity. When the company releases its earnings for the February-to-April quarter on May 19, investors will get a glimpse of how the crisis has affected short-term revenue and profits.
However, many invest in stocks for the long term. Hence, those investors will likely be speculating on how the next earnings report will affect Walmart's performance in future years as well. Before the coronavirus pandemic, Walmart stock had benefited from successes in migrating to an omnichannel retailing system. A return to growth in recent quarters also indicated a higher likelihood that it would successfully fight off challenges from competitors such as Amazon, Costco, and Target.
Five years from now, this pandemic battle will probably have entered a different phase or have become forgotten altogether. Hence, investors trying to estimate performance five years from now need to look at more long-term indicators.
Source Fool.com
