Wal Mart Financial Analyis

Introduction
Sam Walton had a vision of providing an assortment of merchandise at affordable prices and in 1962 his vision became a reality. He opened his first Walmart store in Roger’s Ark. By 1962, he incorporated Walmart to Wal-Mart Stores Inc and one year later, began to publicly trade. Within the first 10years of business, they were the largest retail store with 51 locations and an excess of $1billion in annual sales. Wal-Mart operates a chain of discount departments and warehouses. It operates under the name Wal-Mart in the United States and Canada. It operates a Asada in the United Kingdom, Walmart de Mexico y Centroamerica in Mexico, Seiyu in Japan and Best Price in India. There are wholly owned subsidiaries in Brazil, Argentina and Canada. They also operate the Sam’s Club retail warehouses.

Scale of Operations
Wal-Mart is listed as the world’s largest company, operating in over 27 countries with 10,000 stores. They have over 2.2 million employees and operate across three business segments of retail stores worldwide that offer a wide array of general merchandise including groceries, apparel, electronics, and small appliances. In addition, the company is the world's largest retailer and grocery chain by sales and just over half of the company's sales comes from grocery items. Walmart’s revenue as at 2014 was recorded at $486 billion.

Major Competitors
Target is Walmart’s major competitor, offering similar products but to a different market segment. Target average customer salary is $50,000 per annum, whereas Walmart’s customer base salary is $35,000 per annum. Because of Walmart’s focus on lower prices and more affordable products, it has become difficult to sell higher valued items to their existing customer base.
Amazon is another major competitor; they have surpassed Wal-Mart and become the most valuable retail brand. Amazon prides itself as being more affordable prices and goods delivered to your door on the same day. Wal-Mart has set up...