ZACKS·2025-11-25 14:21Core Insights - CVS Health and Walmart are leading players in the U.S. Retail Pharmacy market, with CVS operating nearly 9,000 retail pharmacy locations and Walmart being a tech-powered omnichannel retailer [1][2] Revenue Performance - CVS Health reported record revenues of $103 billion for Q3 2025, exceeding estimates by 17.65%, with an 8% year-over-year growth driven by all segments [3] - Walmart's Q3 fiscal 2026 revenues reached $179.5 billion, a 6% increase in constant currency, surpassing estimates by 1.33%, with the International segment growing 11.4% [4] Profitability Comparison - CVS's adjusted operating income for Q3 2025 was approximately $3.5 billion, a 36% increase year-over-year, with adjusted EPS at $1.60, up 47% from the previous year [5] - Walmart's adjusted operating income increased 8% in constant currency, with adjusted EPS rising 7% year-over-year to 62 cents [6] Financial Health Snapshot - CVS generated operating cash flows of approximately $7.2 billion year-to-date, with total debt at $65.84 billion and $2.6 billion returned to shareholders [7] - Walmart reported $10.6 billion in cash and cash equivalents, with net cash from operating activities at $27.5 billion and total debt at $53.1 billion, returning nearly $13 billion to shareholders [8] Future Outlook - CVS expects revenues of at least $397 billion for 2025, raising its EPS outlook to between $6.55 and $6.65 [10] - Walmart forecasts fiscal 2026 constant-currency sales growth between 4.8% and 5.1%, with adjusted EPS expected between $2.58 and $2.63 [11] Price Performance and Valuation - Year-to-date, CVS shares have surged 73.5%, significantly outperforming Walmart's 15.4% growth [14] - CVS is trading at a forward five-year price-to-sales ratio of 0.24, below its median, while Walmart's P/S is 1.13 [15] Estimate Trends - The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CVS's 2025 EPS implies a year-over-year growth of 22.1% to $6.62, with estimates rising by 4.1% in the past 60 days [16] - Walmart's fiscal 2026 EPS consensus has increased by 0.8% to $2.62, representing a 4.4% increase over fiscal 2025 [18] Investment Consideration - Both CVS and Walmart are positioned as major players in the retail pharmacy space, with CVS showing solid momentum and Walmart benefiting from its International segment and e-commerce growth [19]