Walmart bulls look for a breakout

The Daily Breakdown looks at the week ahead with a number of big earnings reports scheduled. We also look at a potential setup in Walmart.

Monday’s TLDR

  • The biggest names reporting earnings this week.
  • Up about 14% year-to-date, Walmart bulls want more.
  • Bitcoin, Ethereum enjoy the rally too.

What’s happening?

Last week was a gauntlet of economic, Fed-related, and earnings-driven action. This week, things cool off a bit.

This week’s schedule includes a number of Fed speakers — headlines of which can move markets intraday — but the big Fed announcement was last week. This week lacks major economic releases, although earnings will be in focus.

There are a ton of earnings reports this week, but these few stand out to me:

Stocks are rallying in Monday’s pre-market trading, riding Friday’s bullish reaction to the weaker-than-expected jobs report. Let’s see if bulls can maintain momentum to kick off the week.

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The setup — WMT

Walmart stock has quietly done pretty well this year, up about 14% so far in 2024. In February, shares underwent a 3-for-1 stock split and reacted well to earnings.

Since then, the stock has been consolidating around $60. Notice how shares continue to trade just below downtrend resistance on the daily chart below.

Daily chart of WMT stock, for The Daily Breakdown
Chart as of the close on May 3, 2024. Source: eToro ProCharts, courtesy of TradingView.

If Walmart stock can clear $60, it will hurdle this downtrend resistance mark, as well as the 50-day moving average. That would be a bullish technical development, opening the stock up to more potential gains.

A close above last week’s high at $60.39 could give bulls even more confidence.

On the downside, support has come into play around $58.50. So a close below $58 might indicate that the stock may still need more consolidation before heading higher and active bulls can consider exiting their position (known as “stopping out”).

Options

This is one area where options can come into play, as the risk is tied to the premium paid.

If Walmart clears resistance, bulls can utilize calls or call spreads to speculate on further upside. Conversely, bears can use puts or puts spread to speculate on more downside should resistance hold.

For those looking to learn more about options, consider visiting the eToro Academy.

What Wall Street is watching

AAPL — Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway cut its stake in Apple by over 22% in Q1 2024. The conglomerate’s investment in Apple dropped to $135.4 billion from $174.3 billion. Berkshire also increased stakes in American Express, Bank of America, Coca-Cola, and Chevron and sold its entire Paramount stake.

NVO — Novo Nordisk shares slid lower following its Q1 results. Analysts scrutinized the data, with concerns about competition in the weight loss market from Amgen’s MariTide. For what it’s worth, Amgen shares rose 11.8% on Friday after strong earnings.

BTC — Stock investors liked the jobs report on Friday and so did Bitcoin, which rose 6.5% on Friday. The Bitcoin rally continued through the weekend, as it rides a four-day win streak. Bitcoin prices are currently up more than 13% from last week’s low, while Ethereum is up almost 12%.

 

Disclaimer:

Please note that due to market volatility, some of the prices may have already been reached and scenarios played out.