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.
10-K 表可以帮助您了解很多有关公司的信息：
- 它如何赚钱以及赚多少钱
- 资产及负债
- 随着时间的推移，它会提高盈利能力
- 竞争格局
- 公司面临的各类风险
- 管理团队以及如何激励他们
年度报告是了解一家公司一个很好的第一步，但您想做的不止于此。您应该检查其他公司正在采取哪些竞争措施，因为更广阔地了解这个行业很重要。
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.
因此你应该问自己以下问题：
- 您了解该业务及其未来前景吗？
- 随着您的业务和行业的发展，您能继续对其进行分析吗？
- Given how volatile stocks can be, can you hold or even buy more when they fall?
- 您是否了解该公司的价值以及与当前市场价值相比如何？
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.
此外，不要只是将一大笔钱投资于股票，还要考虑如何随着时间的推移增加资金。
4. 开立经纪账户
虽然开设经纪账户听起来很困难，但实际上非常简单，您只需大约 15 分钟即可完成所有设置。
您应该选择一家适合您需求的经纪人。您经常交易还是很少交易？您需要高水平的服务或研究吗？成本对您来说是最重要的因素吗？如果您购买少量股票但主要投资于基金，一些经纪商会为这些基金提供专门的免佣金交易。
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.
大多数经纪商在每一页的底部都有一张“交易单”，以便您输入订单。在经纪人的订单上，您需要输入股票代码和您能买得起的股票数量，或者如果您购买零股，则输入您想要投资的金额。然后输入订单类型：市价或限价。市价单不管股票当前价格如何都会买入股票，而限价单只有当股票达到您设定的价格时才会执行。
如果您只购买几只股票，最好坚持市价单。即使您现在为市价单支付更多费用，如果股票继续表现良好，也不会对长期表现产生太大影响。
底线
购买股票可能令人兴奋，但成功并非一朝一夕就能实现。投资者应该以长远的眼光看待他们的投资，如果他们相信股票的长期价值，他们应该考虑使用美元平均成本。
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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