Simjo
Fundamental Equity Analyst, Geopolitics
Walmart keeps compounding through recessions because people never stop eating in bad years; they buy more chicken and less filet, and Walmart sells the chicken. It compounded through the 2001, 2008 and 2020 recessions. Wealth comes from finding a business that never has a truly bad year, not from moonshots. x.comÂ
Discount retailers are a built-in recession hedge because consumers trade down rather than stop spending. Walmart, Costco, TJX, and Dollar General should benefit as worsening economic conditions send more shoppers through their doors. x.comÂ
Walmart is arguably more exposed than its safe-haven history suggests, because its edge rests on competing with Amazon, and doing that clearly will require far more capital. Historically it has been a place to hide, but that does not mean owning or shorting it; it is simply a stock to avoid. x.com x.comÂ
Amazon's weak retail growth has shaken the earlier buy case. Online-store sales rose just 2% year over year, and the retail numbers look so poor that it is no longer clear at what price the shares are a buy. x.com x.com x.comÂ
Walmart may be setting up for a big bounce, with its pullback matching the pattern of its last two bottoms. The stock is down about 25% from its all-time high, as it was before both prior bottoms, which also showed RSI divergence. Its forward P/E has fallen from near 40 earlier this year to a more respectable 31, and it is holding just above the psychological $100 level near a prior breakout area. x.comÂ
Walmart's valuation is too high for a grocery and household retailer. At about 36 times next year's earnings, it exceeds its five-year norm of 25 and the roughly 20 times this business should command; Target trades near 16 times. Stay away from Walmart here. x.comÂ
Constellation Energy's long-term contracts and growing nuclear-power demand underpin its appeal. It signed 15- to 20-year deals with Google, Amazon and Walmart in 2026, yet its forward P/E has fallen to about 20x from a massive 2025 premium. It looks like an even better bet today. x.comÂ
Symbotic has a strategic anchor in Walmart, which owns 13% of the company and has worked with it for years automating its distribution centers. The weekly chart looks great after earlier call buying. There is nothing with Amazon yet, but a deal there would be a major upside catalyst. x.comÂ
Walmart is being pumped like a new dot-com company, but its high P/E will need to be matched by revenue growth, which investors will soon realize. x.comÂ
Amazon looks cheap against its growth and cash-generating businesses. At about 3.5 times trailing revenue and a roughly 20 trailing P/E, it has $776B in sales, AWS growing 37% year over year, plus advertising and marketplace cash engines. x.comÂ