Earnings Season for Retailers Kicks Off

Group of fund manager analyzing big data for future investment

As earnings season moves into its later stages, attention has shifted toward US retailers. Leading the way, as is often the case, Walmart* beat the Street by a penny on EPS ($0.74 vs Street $0.73). Same-store sales growth of 4.6%, along with online sales growth, helped the company post overall revenue growth of more than 6%. However, forecast EPS for the coming year of $2.75 to $2.85 fell short of the $2.96 Street estimate.

With some markets open and others still closed for Lunar New Year holidays, Asia-Pacific trading was mixed overnight. Japan gained 0.6%, Australia rose 0.9%, while India declined 1.4%. US index futures are down 0.3% to 0.5%, giving back some of yesterday’s gains as a choppy week continues. European markets are also weaker, with the DAX down 1.1% and the FTSE falling 0.7%.

Amid reports of a military buildup in the Middle East surrounding US-Iran peace talks, the price of Crude Oil is up 2.1% today. Commodity markets are otherwise mixed, with Natural Gas up 1.6% and Copper down 1.7%. The US Dollar is slightly higher, sending the Euro and Pound down 0.2%, while the Loonie and Gold are steady.

US weekly initial jobless claims were better than expected (206K vs Street 225K). Tomorrow brings Flash PMI reports from several countries, along with Canadian and UK retail sales data.

*Shares of Walmart are held in some portfolios managed by SIA Wealth Management.

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