Tomorrow’s Stock Price Depends On You

Walmart surprised Wall Street today with a better-than-expected earnings report, even though the company saw its sales decline last quarter.

Poppy Harlow of CNN Money just said this was the “first time Walmart has seen its sales decline in more than a year.” The sales decline didn’t seem like news to me, and it didn’t seem to phase investors much either.

Photo by Brave New Films, courtesy of flickr

The stock closed 2.7 percent higher because even though sales fell, Walmart managed to achieve better-than-expected earnings.

I went to Walmart last night to pick up a product through their site-to-store service.

It was in the back of store near the restrooms and hiring center. While waiting for an attendant, I looked around the area. On the wall near the restrooms, there was a sign that had Walmart’s stock quote for the day.

Last night the sign read “Today’s Stock Quote: $50.04.” Underneath the price there was another line of text: “Tomorrow depends on you.”

I had some conflicting thoughts about this. On one hand, I thought it could be a way to get employees to pay attention to stocks and financial markets. Maybe I am reaching with that theory!

But, on the other hand, many things impact stock prices. Researchers often refer to daily price movements as “noise trading,” and such movements are not taken as seriously as the stock’s long-term trend. Is it good for employees to be taught that whatever happens to the stock’s price depends on them?

When the stock goes up, maybe this could serve as positive reinforcement. If the stock goes down, it could be taken as a nice way of saying, “It’s your fault.”

My background is in finance not human resources, but when I saw that sign the stock quote was far less interesting than the few words below it– and the message it might send to the people who see it daily.