Tuesday's Market Minute: Walmart Vs Amazon

While coronavirus still dominates headlines and market worries, traders should still be watching earnings reports as the season continues this week.

Walmart Inc WMT released its earnings statement in the premarket today, disappointing on its comparable sales and forward guidance. The weaker sales may not come as a surprise to those who watched Target Corporation's TGT earlier holiday sales report, where the company revealed softer demand for electronics and other categories. However, Walmart’s earnings suggest that across the big box sector, consumer demand during the holidays was lower: is the consumer weakening, or have Americans simply pivoted to Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN en masse? Amazon reported record-level sales for its holiday quarter, but may be squeezed harder during the coronavirus outbreak, since many manufacturers and sellers are based in China.

Walmart stated its current forecasts didn't include any coronavirus impacts, but that may change down the line. If Walmart can avoid any headwinds from the disease, maybe it'll come out on top next quarter.

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