Walmart shares gain for a second straight session on Tuesday, retailer says it will not use robots to track inventory

Walmart Inc (WMT) said earlier this week that it no longer planned to use roving robots to scan shelves and track inventory at its stores.

“This was one idea we tried in roughly 500 stores just as we are trying other ideas in additional stores,” the US retailer said in a statement, cited by Reuters.

Walmart said that a five-year partnership with Bossa Nova Robotics Inc had been discontinued.

Still however, the company added that new technologies would be explored as well as processes and applications aimed at inventory tracking to assist its shop personnel.

Walmart shares closed higher for a second consecutive trading session in New York on Tuesday. It has also been the sharpest single-session gain since October 1st. The stock went up 1.70% ($2.38) to $142.78, after touching an intraday high at $144.16, or a price level not seen since October 22nd ($144.55).

Shares of Walmart Inc have risen 20.14% so far in 2020 compared with a 4.28% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2019, Walmart’s stock went up 27.58%, thus, it underperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 28.88% gain.

The shelf-scanning robots were introduced in 2017 as part of Walmart’s bigger initiative to digitize brick-and-mortar stores.

Analyst stock price forecast and recommendation

According to CNN Money, the 31 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Walmart Inc’s stock price, have a median target of $148.00, with a high estimate of $175.00 and a low estimate of $104.00. The median estimate represents a 3.66% upside compared to the closing price of $142.78 on November 3rd.

The same media also reported that at least 19 out of 33 surveyed investment analysts had rated Walmart Inc’s stock as “Buy”, while 6 – as “Hold”. On the other hand, 1 analyst had recommended selling the stock.