#2 - Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT)
If you paid attention to the talking heads on CNBC, it would be easy to think that nobody shops in actual stores anymore and that everyone buys everything on Amazon. However, the death of retail has been greatly overstated. Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) just had its best year since the early dot-com days and more growth could be in store for this Dow Jones mainstay.
Wal-Mart doesn't quite meet Amazon's online sales, but it's e-commerce efforts are nothing to pass over. Wal-Mart has gone all-in on e-commerce to keep up with up with online shopping trends. The company recently purchased Jet.com and a number of other smaller shopping sites. It has added more online shopping and pick-up options and increased the number of SKUs for sale on Walmart.com. These efforts are working and online sales metrics are steadily improving for Wal-Mart.
Wal-Mart also just announced a new scan and go smartphone app that will allow customers to skip checkout lines entirely. Customers can simply pay for their items on their phone before they leave without ever having to deal with a cashier or one of their automated checkout systems. This move will allow Wal-Mart to reduce its labor costs even further, expand their margins further and cut costs for consumers.
Some still think Wal-Mart is a stumbling retail giant unprepared for the e-commerce revolution, but Wal-Mart's recent retail efforts prove that is anything but the case. Wal-Mart is arguably the best retailer on the Dow 30.
About Walmart
Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, other units, and eCommerce worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, and discount stores under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, PhonePe and other sites; and mobile commerce applications.
Read More - Current Price
- $88.39
- Consensus Rating
- Moderate Buy
- Ratings Breakdown
- 29 Buy Ratings, 2 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
- Consensus Price Target
- $91.49 (3.5% Upside)
