Investing.com – Walmart stock (NYSE:WMT) traded 1.7% higher in Tuesday’s premarket as Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) upgraded the stock to a ‘conviction buy’ with a target of $196.
Analyst Kate McShane’s new target for Walmart is over 38% higher than the stock’s Monday close of $141.68.
The analyst said the retailer was one of the strongest stories at the Goldman Sachs 28th annual retail conference in September. She attributed this to the company's improving ability to grow EBIT along with continued investments, which will likely bear fruit over the coming year.
Walmart has ridden a wave of hyper-stimulated consumer demand thanks to generous fiscal subsidies for consumers and rock-bottom interest rates, that have spurred both hoarding of basics and bigger-ticket household goods at various times during the pandemic.
While the pandemic-fueled shopping has cooled somewhat, some new consumer habits have stuck and purchases of certain items continue to be elevated.