Introduction
The company selected for the current assignment is Walmart Inc. that is based in the United States but operates in the global market. Walmart Inc. is included in the list of Fortune Global 500 companies.
Walmart Inc. Overview
Walmart Inc. is a retail company that has a chain of discount department stores, grocery stores, and hypermarkets in 28 countries. The headquarters of the company is in Bentonville, Arkansas. Walmart has 11,718 stores in different cities of the US, Japan, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, and Chile, etc. The main products of Walmart are grocery items, household products, movies, music, grocery, footwear, clothing, and home appliances, etc. The services offered by the company include Pickup Today, Walmart Pay, and MoneyCard, etc. Walmart’s four main divisions are Walmart International, Walmart US, Sam’s Club, and Global E-commerce (Walmart Inc., 2018).
There are 2.3 million employees currently working worldwide, out of which 1.4 million are working in the US. Walmart Inc. is one of the largest retail companies in the world that have operations in different regions. The company has various strengths, including high brand recognition, strong financial support, and specialization in providing high-quality services. The efficiency of its operational team and proficient finance managers have enabled the company to become a leader in the global retail industry.
Stock Symbol and Selling Price
The stock symbol of Walmart Inc. is WMT that is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The current share price of Walmart Inc. is $85.93. The share price is not fixed and varies according to the economic and stock market conditions of the US and other markets where the company operates. The beta value of 0.4 indicates that the company’s stock is less volatile than the market index (“Walmart Inc,” 2018). Therefore, it can be said that there is a low impact of market conditions on the stock prices of Walmart Inc.
SEC Filings Available
The recent SEC filings of Walmart are available for the last 10 years on its website. The financial statements of the company include “Consolidated Statements of Income, Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income, Consolidated Balance Sheets, Consolidated Statements of Shareholders’ Equity, and Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows” along with Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements. Analysts or investors can assess the performance of the company’s shares by reviewing its financial performance in the last three years (“Walmart Inc,” 2018). The review of the financial performance and its comparison with competitors is the most effective way to assess the ability of a company’s stock to generate a positive return on investment.
Every public company is required to publish its financial statements at least once a year. Moreover, companies also public quarterly reports, addendum, and proxy statements periodically. The annual report is the most credible source for collecting the relevant business and financial data of a company. The non-financial information presented in the annual report also helps investors in decision-making (Shim, 2016). However, the information on different stock websites, including Yahoo! Finance, Bloomberg, and Morning Star, also includes analyst reports that assist investors in predicting the future performance of a company’s stocks.
Most Recent Filing
The most recent filing of Walmart is for the year ended on January 31, 2018, with comparative results for the year ended on January 31, 2017 (Walmart Inc., 2018). Therefore, the most recent financial information of Walmart pertains to the 12-month period that ended on this date. The past performance of a company is essential to review its decisions and their impact on its market value. The stock performance is also necessary to check whether there is high or low volatility in its price in the last few years.
References
Shim, J. K. (2016). Accounting and finance for the nonfinancial executive: an integrated resource management guide for the 21stcentury. London, UK: CRC Press.
Walmart Inc. (2018). 2017 global responsibility report. Web.
Walmart Inc. (2018). Web.