Wal-Mart: The Indestructible Force of Nature

Teflon stock? Neither rain, nor sleet, nor a few bribery scandals and labor protests stays Wal-Mart from trading at lofty heights. Even the prospect of the U.S. falling over the fiscal cliff doesn’t scare off most analysts from the Wal-Mart trade with the firm’s sales tilting to the right side of the discretionary vs. non-discretionary axis. The juggernaut accounts for +10% of all retail and showed its scale by hitting a peak rate of 5K transaction/second during the Black Friday rush. Shares still have the legs to run to $87, according to Citi’s Deborah Weinswig.

Current Price = $69.99

P/E ratio = 14.38

Gross Profit = $28.412B

Profit per share = $8.45

Dividend Yield = 2.27%

Via Seeking Alpha and Citi Investment Research

Brick-and-Mortar Retail Nightmare 2.0

A study from research firm GroupM Next indicates that 45% of shoppers at a physical store will walk out and complete their purchase online if they can find price savings of 2.5% or more. At 5% savings, the number jumps to 60% of shoppers. The Amazon Effect continues to rev up as the number of shoppers who check product pricing on-the-fly with their mobile devices now stands at a whopping 44%. Pass the aspirin: Staples, Office Depot, OfficeMax, RadioShack, hhgregg, Conn’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Target, Wal-mart, Gap.

Sources: RetailingToday.com, SeekingAlpha