Walmart up on strong FY sales view, to buy Vizio for $2.3 bln

Vizio Holding

20/02/2024 14:26

(Updates)
    ** Shares of retail bellwether Walmart  WMT.N  up 4.6% at
$178.3 before the bell
    ** Company forecasts fiscal 2025 sales largely above Wall
Street expectations, says it will buy smart-TV maker Vizio
 VZIO.N  for $2.3 billion
    ** Vizio shares up 15.3% at $10.99 premarket
    ** WMT expects consolidated net sales in fiscal 2025 to rise
between 3% and 4%, the midpoint of which exceeds analysts' est.
of 3.4% growth
    ** This year’s 9% rise is the largest dividend hike in over
a decade, CFO John David Rainey says
    ** Shares of retailers Kroger  KR.N , Target  TGT.N  and
Costco  COST.O  were also marginally up premarket
    ** Separately, Home Depot  HD.N  shares were down 2.4%
premarket after co sees FY results below analysts' est. 
    ** Walmart stock gained 11.2% in 2023

 (Reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh, Annett Mary Manoj in
Bengaluru)
 ((AnanyaMariam.Rajesh@thomsonreuters.com ; Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnanyaMariam))