Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) stock is trading lower on Friday. The downward momentum comes after the retail giant issued a cautious forward outlook that eclipsed its strong first-quarter earnings beat reported on Thursday.

Guidance Misses Wall Street Estimates

While first-quarter revenue grew 7.3% year-over-year to $177.8 billion—beating consensus estimates of $175 billion—investors are focusing heavily on management’s conservative future projections.

Walmart forecast second-quarter adjusted earnings between 72 cents and 74 cents per share, trailing analyst expectations of 75 cents. Additionally, its projected quarterly revenue of $182.8 billion to $184.6 billion missed the $186.4 billion Wall Street consensus.

Walmart CFO Warns Of Higher Shelf Prices

According to the company’s Thursday morning conference call, macroeconomic pressures remain a major headwind. During the call, the Walmart CFO stated that “if the current elevated cost environment persists, the company expects somewhat higher retail price inflation in the second quarter and the second half of the year.”

E-Commerce Strengths Face Headwinds

The muted outlook overshadowed an otherwise robust operational quarter. Walmart U.S. e-commerce sales surged 26%, driven by a 45% increase in store-fulfilled delivery and 50% growth in its Marketplace segment. However, U.S. revenue growth faced a 100-basis-point headwind tied directly to pharmacy pricing changes.

Walmart Outlook Falls Short

For the full year, Walmart reaffirmed its fiscal 2027 guidance, projecting adjusted earnings of $2.75 to $2.85 per share on revenue of $731.1 billion to $738.2 billion. Both metrics fall short of Wall Street forecasts, which targeted $2.94 per share and $742.6 billion in revenue, fueling the Friday stock slide.

WMT Technical Analysis: Key Levels To Watch

Walmart is still up 24.63% over the past 12 months, but the near-term chart has softened: the stock is trading 8.1% below its 20-day SMA, 5.9% below its 50-day SMA, and 4% below its 100-day SMA.

It’s still holding above the 200-day SMA (4.2% above), which keeps the longer-term trend constructive even as the shorter-term trend is being tested.

The moving-average structure is still broadly bullish (20-day above 50-day, and 50-day above 200-day), but price being below the 20/50-day cluster suggests the market is asking for proof before chasing.

  • Key Resistance: $129
  • Key Support: $110

WMT Stock Price Activity: Walmart shares were down 1.46% at $119.57 at the time of publication on Friday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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