This week's earnings schedule - Q1 revenues of Walmart and Target| FXMAG.COM

Walmart Q1 24 – 18/05 – when Walmart reported its Q4 numbers back in February, the shares fell sharply in the days after, before rebounding off 5-month lows and the 200-day SMA on the 10th March.

The reaction was surprising given that the retailer saw a record quarter, with revenues coming in at $164.05bn, although the weaker outlook may have had a part to play in that. US comparable sales rose by over 8%, while profits came in at $1.71c a share, building on the solid numbers seen in Q3. On the outlook, Walmart said it expected to see Q1 sales growth of 5%, and profits of between $1.25c to $1.30c a share, with the full year pictureR appearing to be more challenging. Consensus forecast appears to align with this, with revenues expected to come in at $148.36bn, and profits of $1.30c a share. Since those 5-month lows in March Walmart shares have risen sharply, rising to 11-month highs in April. Annual EPS profits are expected to be lower than last year's $6.29c a share, at between $5.90 to $6.05c a share.

Target Q1 24 – 17/05 – Target shares have struggled since hitting 6-month highs at the start of February and have been languishing since reporting a sharp fall in Q4 profits back in February.

These numbers in Q4 came against a backdrop of a cut to its guidance in Q3, and while sales in Q4 increased by 1.2% to $30.98bn pushing annual sales up by 2.8% to $107.59bn. Q4 profits fell by 41% to $1.89c a share, or $876m, but were still better than forecast. Annual profits came in at $2.78bn or 5.98c a share, a decline of 57.6%. Higher costs have been the main problem for Target as a business, these rose by 9.7% to $82.2bn over the year. This appears to be a turned that might continue with Target's Q1 guidance particularly underwhelming. Sales are expected to come in a wider range, either side of zero, from a low single digit decline to a low single digit increase, with profits expected to come in between $1.50c to $1.90c. For the full year Target is expecting a similar sales performance as Q1. Consensus forecast for same-store sales is for a rise of 1.3% on revenues of $25.2bn, and profits of $1.79c a share.