WMT Profile

Key stats:

Price/Book: 3.12
PE: 14.64
Price/Sales: 0.48
Price/Cash Flow: 8.44
Free Cash Flow Yield: 5.8%

Quick Ratio: 0.18
Current Ratio: 0.85
Financial Leverage: 2.60
LT Debt to Equity: 57.31%
Total Debt to Equity: 69.37%

Return on Assets: 8.18%
Return on Equity: 21.31%
ROIC: 15.25%

Gross Margin: 25.11%
Operating Margin: 5.70%
Net Margin: 3.28%

Profitablility: C-. The plus for the company is the sheer volume of sales, which will be reflected in value. Per sale, the margins are slim-typical of discounters.

Financial Condition: C. You'd think a store that appeals to the thrifty would keep the debt load low. They don't keep around much cash either. Nothing that has them worried about missing payments, but there's plenty of capital in front of the common.

Value: A. Sales only equaled by Exxon, and at 60% of the price.

Bottom line is Wal-Mart looks strong in all the places Google didn't. It has 20x the sales at 1.5x the price of Google. But the balance sheet is more ordinary, and there's not much pocketed on each transaction. It is similar in that it is a good play in stormy weather, not because its a cash cow, but because its sales are pretty much unphased by downturn. Indeed, they're a bit countercyclical.