Traders Boost Tesla and Walmart Stocks

The traders of Wall Street pushed the markets upward on Monday, 15 July, with two shares in particular getting a boost. Let’s take a closer look at the jumps Tesla & Walmart saw yesterday, as well as the possible reasons why: 

Tesla Recharges

On 15 July, shares of Tesla (TSLA) experienced notable volatility. The stock initially surged early in the course of the trading day, recovering from a significant selloff the previous week due to reports of a delay in the company's anticipated Robotaxi Day, an event expected to showcase Tesla’s latest vehicle innovations. The key EV firm’s shares reached a high of over $266, before dropping again to close at $253.80, a gain of 1.8% for the day.

The prior week's drop was triggered by a Bloomberg report indicating a two-month postponement of the Robotaxi unveiling initially set for 8 August. CEO Elon Musk confirmed this delay in a tweet, attributing it to a design change he had requested.

This event had been highly anticipated by Wall Street, expected to signify Tesla's transition from an electric vehicle manufacturer to a potentially more profitable focus on Robotaxi, and to showcase its full self-driving technology ambitions. Additionally, a report from Cox Automotive revealing Tesla's share of total EV sales had fallen below 50% for the first time also negatively impacted the stock.

Over the weekend, Musk drew attention by endorsing Donald Trump for president on his social media platform X, which coincided with the start of the Republican National Convention. This endorsement, amidst rising odds of Trump's potential election victory, raised concerns about potential impacts on EV demand due to Trump's support for internal combustion engines and a Republican platform promising to reverse EV policies from the Biden administration.

Despite these headwinds, Tesla has a positive outlook in the eyes of some analysts, which may have influenced yesterday’s trading trends. Key market watchers have noted that Tesla's Powerwall 3 home battery, a home power system, is reaching a wider market, particularly in California, where it offers significant benefits for installers.

Overall, this turbulence in Tesla’s share value is hard to pin on a single isolated cause. Whether the volatility observed in recent trading sessions continues over the week ahead is as yet unclear. (Source: Market Watch)

Walmart Spreads Its Wings

On 15 July, Walmart (WMT) marked a gain for the day of 0.6%, following the general rise seen on Wall Street indices Monday. Investors may be keenly anticipating Walmart's upcoming earnings report, scheduled for August 15, 2024, with analysts foreseeing a rise in both earnings per share (EPS) and total revenue. 

Walmart has experienced substantial growth in 2024, with its stock rising by more than 28% in the first half of the year. Although Walmart was only slightly outperforming the market until mid-May, traders seem to have renewed their positive sentiment toward its stock following the announcement of its fiscal first-quarter results for 2025 on 16 May.

In fiscal 2024, which ended in January, Walmart's total revenue surged 6% year-over-year to nearly $650 billion, while net income soared by 44% to over $16 billion. A notable event early in the year was Walmart's 3-for-1 stock split in February, which, along with the robust earnings report, contributed to the stock's early gains.

In Q1, Walmart reported revenue of nearly $162 billion, a 6% increase from the prior year. U.S. same-store sales rose by almost 4%, outperforming some analysts' expectations. The company's plans to expand its Luminate platform, a digital business leveraging Walmart's vast first-party shopping data, were particularly well-received. On 16 May, Walmart announced that Luminate would extend from the U.S. into international markets, allowing retailers and suppliers to utilise its extensive sales data for better decision-making.

This strategic move highlights Walmart's ability to leverage its existing assets to enhance profitability. In Q1, while revenue increased, operating income saw an even greater rise of nearly 10%, partially due to the effective use of consumer data through Luminate. Investors and analysts view these developments as strong indicators of Walmart's continued growth and innovation in the retail sector. Overall, the stage seems set for Walmart to continue to leverage these positive business fundamentals into a further rise in share price, but the shifts in the markets cannot be predicted with full accuracy.

Conclusion

To sum up, the share price movements of Tesla and Walmart on 15 July illustrate the dynamic nature of the stock market, driven by both corporate developments and broader economic trends. However, even when possible causes are taken into account, whether these trends will be carried forward is anyone's guess.