Walmart (WMT) shares are slipping Thursday as the retail giant reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its fiscal Q2 on higher tariff-related costs. 

Still, management raised its full-year guidance, reinforcing confidence in the company’s ability to continue stealing market share from rivals like Target (TGT) in the back half of 2025.  

Walmart stock has been in favor with investors over the past four months. Despite the post-earnings decline, therefore, it remains up nearly 23% versus its year-to-date low on April 7.  

Walmart Stock to Climb on Market Share Gains

Michael Zakkour, founder of retail consulting firm 5 New Digital, believes Walmart has evolved into the preferred retailer for value consumers, which could indeed help the NYSE-listed firm grow its market share in the months ahead. 

“Walmart is winning on the back of value consumers and value consumers are across the board now, from top of the economic chain down to the bottom,” he told CNBC in a post-earnings interview on Thursday. 

Additionally, the multinational’s tech investments remain a meaningful tailwind for WMT stock. In fact, Q2 marked another quarter of double-digit gains for Walmart. 

A 0.96% dividend yield makes up for another great reason to own Walmart shares at current levels.

WMT Shares Are Well-Positioned to Weather Tariffs

Zakkour favors a bullish stance on Walmart stock also because all retailers are not in the same boat when it comes to navigating tariffs-related headwinds. 

“Some are on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, and others are in a dingy,” he noted on “Squawk Box.”

According to him, the sheer size and global footprint of Walmart positions it rather strongly to absorb the macroeconomic uncertainty. 

Finally, the high-margin advertising business makes up for another great reason to invest in WMT shares at current levels. In Q2, the ads business continued to grow rapidly and came in up 46% on a year-over-year basis. 

Walmart Remains a ‘Buy’-Rated Stock 

Despite weakness in Q2 earnings, Wall Street analysts agree with Zakkour on Walmart shares.  

The consensus rating on WMT stock currently sits at “Strong Buy” with the mean target of nearly $113 indicating potential upside of roughly 15% from here.