Walmart Inc. is scheduled to report fiscal first-quarter earnings on Tuesday before the opening bell, and Cowen says there’s a good chance that rival Target Corp. got a bigger boost from recent government stimulus spending.
“Target likely saw a bigger lift from stimulus than Walmart given its more discretionary bent,” analysts led by Oliver Chen wrote. Cowen rates Walmart stock outperform with a $179 price target, and rates Target stock outperform with a $230 price target.JPMorgan analysts agree that Walmart’s grocery reliance could pose a challenge compared with a different competitor, Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, +1.94%
See: Grocery Outlet’s inability to grow online is a ‘competitive disadvantage’ that will be hard to overcome Cowen analysts outline a number possible reasons, including U.S. reopening and efforts to control demand through marketing.