3 Things I'll Be Watching in Walmart's Upcoming Earnings Report (and 2 I'll Ignore)

We may be well into earnings season, but we haven't heard from every noteworthy name just yet. Mega-retailer Walmart (NYSE: WMT) is slated to report its fiscal first-quarter numbers on Thursday morning, offering a glimpse into consumers' current psyches and buying power.

I'm not as interested in the most-watched quarterly numbers this time around. I'm sure they'll be pretty good -- but not great -- and more or less in line with estimates.

Rather, I'm watching three other pieces of information that will provide a much better picture of how the company's doing in this tricky environment. These three data nuggets are also better barometers of Walmart's longer-term health than the more-touted quarterly numbers are.

Continue reading