Wal-Mart shares gain the most in nine months on Tuesday, retailer’s quarterly sales top expectations due to higher customer traffic

Wal-Mart Stores Incs comparable sales outstripped market expectations during the quarter ended on January 31st due to a more intense customer traffic. At the same time, customer activity on-line also accelerated.

Wal-Mart shares registered their largest daily surge since May 19th 2016 on Tuesday, while also marking their fifth consecutive session of gains. The stock went up 3.00% ($2.08) to $71.45, after touching an intraday high at $72.28, or a level not seen since December 14th 2016 ($72.48). In the week ended on February 19th the shares of the retail chain added 1.98% to their market value compared to a week ago, which marked a third consecutive period of gains. The stock has extended its advance to 7.06% so far during the current month, following a 3.44% drop in January. The latter has been a second straight month of decline and also the worst monthly performance since October 2015. For the entire past year, Wal-Mart shares gained 12.76%.

The retail chains comparable sales in the United States grew 1.8%, excluding fuel price fluctuations, during the quarter ended on January 31st. The median estimate by analysts had pointed to a 1.3% sales growth, data by research firm Consensus Metrix showed. In addition, store visits in the US surged 1.4% during the period, compared with a 0.7% increase a year ago.

According to Brett Biggs, Wal-Marts Chief Financial Officer, comparable sales rose at all retail formats as a result of a stable improvement in stores and solid e-commerce growth.

“A number of things helped Wal-Mart over the holiday quarter”, Neil Saunders, the managing director of retail research firm Global Data, said, cited by Reuters. “Foremost among these was the strategic decision to invest in price and to heavily promote this fact to consumers.”

Net income attributable to the companys shareholders was reported to have shrunk to $3.76 billion during the fourth quarter ended on January 31st from $4.57 billion during the same period a year ago.

The chains earnings per share, excluding special items, were reported at $1.30 during the holiday quarter. In comparison, the median forecast by analysts had pointed to earnings of $1.29 per share, figures by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S showed.

Total revenue went up 1% to $130.9 billion during the holiday quarter, as the appreciation of the USD/MXN exotic currency pair trimmed growth. Disregarding exchange rate fluctuations, Wal-Marts revenue stood at $133.6 billion.

On-line sales surged 29% during the fourth quarter, following a 20.6% growth in the previous three months. This way on-line sales contributed 0.8 percentage points to comparable sales growth in the quarter ended on January 31st.

Wal-Mart now projects that its earnings per share to be within the range between $0.90 and $1.00 during the current quarter and within the range between $4.20 and $4.40 during the current fiscal year. These forecasts were in unison with market consensus.

Daily and Weekly Pivot Levels

With the help of the Camarilla calculation method, todays levels of importance for the Wal-Mart stock are presented as follows:

R1 – $71.59
R2 – $71.74
R3 (Range Resistance – Sell) – $71.88
R4 (Long Breakout) – $72.32
R5 (Breakout Target 1) – $72.83
R6 (Breakout Target 2) – $73.05

S1 – $71.31
S2 – $71.16
S3 (Range Support – Buy) – $71.02
S4 (Short Breakout) – $70.58
S5 (Breakout Target 1) – $70.07
S6 (Breakout Target 2) – $69.85

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $68.90
R1 – $70.25
R2 – $71.12
R3 – $72.47
R4 – $73.81

S1 – $68.03
S2 – $66.68
S3 – $65.81
S4 – $64.93