Walmart $WMT reported a double beat but got beaten down as a result.
It was a bad day to own the stock.
Our retail analyst, Jeff Macke, wrote a fantastic deep dive about the report. If you haven't seen it already, you can check it out here.
The bottom line? Jeff found the quarter worse for Walmart's peers as they continue to invest heavily in the business. They are crushing competitors like Target.
In addition, the company is the largest private employer in the United States. This adds up to be a massive overhead expense.
With the AI revolution accelerating, they are a huge beneficiary. They're automating all kinds of labor, which is expected to expand margins.
Let's talk about what else happened 👇
Here are the latest earnings reactions from the S&P 500:
*click the image to enlarge it
As you can see, Hasbro had the best reaction score on Thursday, and Walmart had the worst.
Walmart was also the largest company to report. It reported a double beat but fell 6.5% with a reaction score of -6.2.
Now, let's dig into the data and talk about some of the best and worst earnings reactions 👇
HAS had its best earnings reaction since Q2 2023:
Hasbro reported a double beat and rallied 13% with a 7.3 reaction score. It was great.
In addition to the great earnings report, the company issued better-than-expected 2025 guidance.
Monopoly Go! continues to perform well. It's growing in the double digits year over year and generated $112M in revenue in 2024.
The stock is in the process of resolving a multi-year bearish-to-bullish reversal pattern. With this recent earnings reaction sparking some upside momentum, we think the price is ready to make a fresh leg higher.
If HAS is above 68, the path of least resistance is higher toward the prior cycle high.
BAX had its best earnings reaction since March 2020:
Baxter reported a double beat and rallied 8.5% with a 5.5 reaction score. It was a historic reaction.
José Almeida, who became CEO in 2016, announced his immediate retirement, with Brent Shafer stepping in as interim CEO.
The market hated this José fella!
The stock is at a key level of interest that dates back to the beginning of this millennium.
In the lower pane, we've highlighted a textbook bullish momentum divergence on the 14-month RSI. While this is a longer-term signal, it highlights the weakening downtrend.
A stock has to stop going down before it can go up, right?
We're bearish BAX if it's below 33 and bullish if it's above.
LKQ had its best earnings reaction since Q4 2020:
LKQ reported mixed results and rallied 6% with a 4.3 reaction score. It was a record-breaking earnings report.
The company's Europe segment is firing on all cylinders. It reported a record EBITDA margin of 10.1%.
The stock is trying to complete a textbook scoop-n-score pattern. This is one of our favorite patterns, as it often precedes quick and big moves.
We're bearish LKQ if it's below 44 and bullish if it's above.
WMT snapped a 3-quarter beat streak:
Walmart snapped a beat streak that coincided with one of the most historic rallies ever.
The value of the company nearly doubled in a year. It was on fire!
However, the stock is finding resistance at a key Fibonacci extension level. This earnings reaction was the worst since Q4 2023.
We're bearish WMT if it's below 100 and bullish if it's above.
EPAM had its 2nd worst earnings reaction ever:
EPAM Systems reported a double beat but fell nearly 13% with a -4.9 reaction score. This was a report for the bears.
We're in the middle of an AI revolution, and this company, which claims to be a leader in AI services, has done nothing but go down.
This stock sucks!
We wouldn't be surprised to see EPAM resolve this multi-year distribution pattern. Our trigger is a close below 170.
Until then, the path of least resistance is sideways.
