Walmart is one of the major retailers with an enviable logistics system that keeps prices low for consumers. While its tactics have been the target of various criticisms, there’s no denying that Walmart has been successful.
The company’s revenue continues to grow, but it’s not growing as fast as it once did with annual sales of more than $5 trillion. Still, the company generates billions of dollars in profits and remains a retail giant.
If you’re considering buying stock at Walmart, here’s how to do it and what you need to know before you decide.
1. Analyze Walmart and its financials
Analyzing a company’s competitive position and financial health can be the hardest part of buying stocks, but it’s also the most important. The best place to start is the company’s Form 10-K, which is the annual report that all public companies must file with the SEC.
El 10-K puede ayudarle a aprender mucho sobre la empresa:
- ¿Cómo gana dinero y cuánto?
- Sus activos y pasivos
- Desarrolla rentabilidad a lo largo del tiempo
- Panorama competitivo
- Diversos riesgos a los que se enfrenta la empresa
- Gestión de equipos y cómo motivarlos
An annual report is a good first step to learning more about a company, but you want to do more than that. You should check what other companies are doing to compete as it is important to have a broader view of the industry.
For example, Walmart competes in one of the toughest categories: consumer retail. It faces competition from more general retailers like Target and Costco, as well as traditional grocers like Kroger, Safeway and Publix. There are also new competitors like Amazon, eBay and many other online retailers that offer generic and niche products that don’t fit Walmart’s high-volume business model. But Walmart has also pushed hard with its own online initiatives.
2. Does Walmart make sense in your portfolio?
Overall, Walmart is a solid choice, one of 30 companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, making it one of the most owned companies in the world. But investors looking for more growth or less challenging sectors need to ask themselves whether the Bentonville giant is a good fit for their portfolio. Still, Walmart has shown enough resilience in the face of competition, paying a nearly 50-year streak of dividend increases and attracting investors who want regular cash payments.
Así que deberías plantearte las siguientes preguntas:
- ¿Entiendes el negocio y sus perspectivas futuras?
- ¿Puede seguir analizándolo a medida que su negocio y su industria evolucionan?
- Given how volatile stocks can be, can you hold or even buy more when they fall?
- Do you understand the value of the company and how it compares to the current market value?
3. How much investment you can afford
How much you can afford to invest has less to do with Walmart and more to do with your personal financial situation. Stocks can be volatile. So to give your investment time to pay off, you should be able to keep your money in stocks for at least three to five years. This means you should be able to live without money for at least that long.
Commitment to holding the stock for three to five years is important. You hate having to sell a stock when it’s nearing a bottom, only to see it bounce higher after you exit your position. By sticking to a long-term plan, you can ride out the ups and downs of stocks.
If you invest in individual stocks, you should probably keep the percentage of each individual position between 3% and 5%. That way, you’re not seriously exposed to investments that destroy your portfolio. If the stock has a higher business risk, you can choose a lower percentage than this range.
Además, no se limite a invertir una gran suma de dinero en acciones, sino que considere cómo puede agregar dinero a la posición con el tiempo.
4. Abra una cuenta de corretaje
Si bien abrir una cuenta de corretaje puede parecer difícil, en realidad es bastante simple y puede tenerla lista en aproximadamente 15 minutos.
Debe elegir un bróker que se ajuste a sus necesidades. ¿Opera con frecuencia o rara vez? ¿Necesita un servicio o investigación de alto nivel? ¿El costo es el factor más importante para usted? Si compra una pequeña cantidad de acciones pero invierte principalmente en fondos, algunos brókeres ofrecen operaciones sin comisiones exclusivamente para esos fondos.
After opening an account, you need enough funds to buy Walmart stock. But you can do this completely online, and it’s easy.
With Walmart stock trading around $120 per share in May 2022, you probably won’t have enough money to buy an entire share. Several brokers, including Charles Schwab and Fidelity, have started offering fractional shares to help with this, allowing you to invest for just a few dollars.
5. Buy Walmart stock
Once you’ve decided to buy Walmart stock and open and fund your brokerage account, you can set up your order. When entering your order, use the company symbol – WMT.
La mayoría de los corredores tienen una "tarjeta de operación" al final de cada página para que puedas ingresar tu orden. En la orden del corredor, ingresas el ticker y la cantidad de acciones que puedes comprar, o si compras acciones fraccionarias, la cantidad que deseas invertir. Luego, ingresa el tipo de orden: de mercado o limitada. Una orden de mercado compra una acción independientemente del precio actual, mientras que una orden limitada solo se ejecuta cuando la acción alcanza el precio establecido.
Si solo compra unas pocas acciones, es mejor limitarse a las órdenes de mercado. Incluso si paga más por una orden de mercado ahora, si la acción sigue teniendo un buen rendimiento, no tendrá un gran impacto en el rendimiento a largo plazo.
En resumen
Comprar acciones puede ser emocionante, pero el éxito no se consigue de la noche a la mañana. Los inversores deben tener una visión a largo plazo de sus inversiones y, si creen en la acción a largo plazo, deberían considerar el uso del coste promedio en dólares.
In dollar average cost, investors add a certain amount of money to their positions over time, which can be really helpful when stocks fall and allow them to buy more. High-flying stocks can fall from time to time, so this strategy can help you get lower purchase prices and higher overall profits.
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