Walmart (NYSE:WMT) started off the second half of the year with a small gain as the retail stock continues to be viewed as a beneficiary of the defensive mindset by investors.

On Wall Street, Walmart (WMT) is still attracting positive attention, despite some of the recession predictions. Looking at the second half of the year, Evercore ISI has Walmart (WMT) as one of its Best Core Ideas. The list represents the firm’s top longer term stock picks after taking into account the current market environment and looking for companies best positioned to outperform.

Analyst Greg Melich said Walmart (WMT) made the list due to the strong value proposition that is helping to drive accelerating traffic growth in 2023. Walmart (WMT) is said to stand out over rivals Costco (COST) and Target (TGT) due in part to a better geographic positioning in the U.S. Walmart’s (WMT) investments in tech-enabled innovations throughout the pandemic were also observed to be starting to bear fruit. The tech investments are expected to scale further in the company’s supply chain and be a key to driving 3P, advertising, and profitable e-commerce growth. Looking down the road, Evercore ISI expects margins to normalize for the U.S. business. The firm sees $7 EPS being generated in 2024 by the Bentonville retail behemoth in 2024.

Shares of Walmart (WMT) were up 0.67% to $158.23 at 12:15 p.m. and carved out a new 52-week high of $158.44 earlier in the session. The stock is up 10.22% on a year-to-date basis, which trails Costco’s (COST) 18.97% rise, but smashes the returns for Target (TGT) and Dollar General (DG). Within that group, Seeking Alpha analysts have consensus Hold ratings on Costco (COST), Target (TGT), and Dollar General (DG), while Walmart (WMT) is viewed as a consensus Buy.

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