Walmart has been one of the darlings of Wall Street in recent months, often viewed as a safety net or defensive play because of the high dividend and sound balance sheet. But as a trade war with China escalates, Walmart shares have had a volatile week ahead of the retail giant’s second-quarter earnings report set for Thursday (Aug 15).

Wall Street expects earnings of $1.22 per share, down 6.2% from a year ago. Revenue is projected to reach $130.21 billion, up 1.7% from the year-ago quarter. Walmart rarely misses earnings projections and the stock is known to move up or down about 4% on the day earnings are reported.

Stephens Inc. analyst Ben Bienvenue predicts second-quarter earnings of $1.23 per share with net income of $3.526 billion. He pegs revenue at $130.37 billion up 1.8% from a year ago. Stephens expects Walmart U.S. sales to increase 2.9% to $85.218 billion in the quarter ending July 31. Sam’s Club revenue is expected to top $14.91 billion, up 0.8% from a year ago. International sales are expected to be down 0.8% to $29.22 billion.      MORE