Walmart Highlights from Citi's 2011 Global Consumer Conference

Citi is providing a few highlights on Walmart WMT from its global consumer conference. “We believe that May sales trends at Walmart U.S. have been negatively impacted by unfavorable weather and disruptions from tornados,” Citi writes. “Our flat 2Q11 comp estimate for Walmart U.S. compares with consensus of +0.1% and guidance of (-1) to 1%. “However, WMT is pleased that its assortment realignment efforts are gaining traction, and mgmt. remains confident that the Walmart U.S. division will return to positive comps by the end of this year. We are encouraged by the company's progress and reiterate our Buy (1M) rating and $70 target price for WMT based on attractive valuation, although we believe that negative macro headlines could weigh on the stock.” Walmart closed Tuesday at $54.78.