Walmart Will Host Investment Community Meeting Next Week, Morgan Stanley's Bullish Analyst Has High Hopes - Walmart (NYSE:WMT)

Morgan Stanley analyst Simeon Gutman reiterated an Overweight rating on Walmart Inc WMT with a price target of $160.
Gutman highlights that Walmart is hosting an Investment Community Meeting on April 4-5.
In his view, EPS visibility is solid; he estimates 45 bps of gross margin "conservatism" in WMT"s FY24 guide in a March 26 note titled "Walmart Inc: It's Showtime."
Also Read: Walmart Starts Making Inroads In Amazon's Forte By Transforming Business Model; Targets Affluent Customers
The stock has lagged, but defensives could outperform from here, and Simeon believes the additional quantitative building blocks to margin expansion discussed at the Meeting should be positive.
The analyst writes that the Investment Community Meeting will be a positive catalyst as WMT reframes its algorithm to 4% sales growth, 5-10 bps of annual EBIT margin expansion (~5-7% EBIT growth), and high-single-digit EPS growth.
The incremental margins should improve across the entire sales base (leveraging the past decade of omnichannel investments), leading to faster growth.
The analyst notes that opportunities to learn more about Sam's Club and Flipkart, PhonePe membership, and trajectory (alongside incremental disclosures) could add value to a SOTP framework.
Price Action: WMT shares traded higher by 1.75% at $144.28 on the last check Monday.
Photo via Wikimedia Commons