The latest investor updates on Walmart, Cisco, Nike and Admiral

Walmart (WMT)

Walmart is set to report quarterly earnings before the opening bell in the US, with analysts expecting sales to rise year-over-year.

For its fiscal 2025 Q2, America’s biggest retailer is expected to see revenue growth of 4.23% to $168.46bn (£131bn), while adjusted earnings per share are expected to jump 5.22% to $0.65.

US same-store sales are expected to increase 3.41%, with membership bulk chain Sam’s Club up 3.9%, and its namesake business up 3.43%, according to Bloomberg estimates.

As the nation’s largest retailer, Walmart is uniquely positioned to offer insights into where the consumer is spending and saving.

UBS analyst Michael Lasser expects to hear the “consumer overall has been consistent.”

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“Keep in mind that Walmart sells mostly groceries and other household products, and it’s taking market share, so what it has been experiencing is going to be a bit different than what other retailers have been experiencing,” Lasser told Yahoo Finance.

Bank of America Securities analysts said they project Walmart will continue to gain market share across different income levels of consumers in the latest quarter thanks to its “strong value offering” and growing digital and automation efforts.

Cisco shares were higher in pre-market trading after the networking company said it is cutting 7% of its global workforce and reported higher-than-expected quarterly results.

In its fiscal fourth quarter, Cisco posted revenue of $13.6bn, down 10% year-over-year, and earnings per share (EPS) of $0.54, down 44%. This still came in above the consensus forecast of $13.53bn.

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For the first quarter of fiscal 2025, Cisco forecasts revenue between $13.65bn and $13.85bn, with the midpoint slightly above the analyst consensus of $13.71bn. The company expects adjusted EPS of $0.86 to $0.88.

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Cisco also revealed plans for job cuts, expecting to incur a pre-tax charge of up to $1bn for severance and other one-time termination benefits. The cuts will reduce Cisco’s headcount of 90,400 by about 7% — indicating a loss of more than 6,300 jobs.

The company said the cuts will allow it to focus on higher-growth areas like cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI).

Nike (NKE)

Nike’s stock were higher in pre-market trading following reports that billionaire investor Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management has taken a new stake in the athletic apparel giant.

Pershing Square in its latest regulatory filing unveiled a position in Nike of about 3 million shares, worth nearly $230m, at the end of June.

This marks the first new investments for Pershing Square — which oversees roughly $17bn in assets — since the firm put money into Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL), during the first quarter of 2023.

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Activist investors, apart from those criticising the company on social and environmental grounds (ESG), have largely steered clear of Nike. However, markets expect some changes to take place as Ackman, cemented his fortune by pushing companies to do better on ESG

The company’s board is controlled by Nike co-founder Phil Knight, who with his son owns nearly all the outstanding voting shares.

Admiral shares jumped as it reported soaring profits for the first half of the year after it attracted more customers with lower premiums.

The UK insurance group posted a better-than-expected 32% rise in half-year pre-tax profits to £310m, driven by an improved current year underwriting performance and claims releases. Revenue was up 43% at £3.2bn.

The increases were mainly driven by a 12% jump in customer numbers, to more than 10.5 million.

Through 2022 and 2023, Admiral hiked insurance premiums in response to “elevated claims inflation”. Admiral said it cut rates “modestly” around the start of 2024 as market rates were still increasing, leading to an “improved competitive position and significant growth in UK motor customer numbers”.

It also declared an interim dividend of 71p a share including special payout of 19.7p a rise of 39%.

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