Walmart outlook improved by Kroger-Albertsons deal break, says BofA

Following the termination of the planned merger of Kroger (KR) with Albertsons (ACI), BofA believes the federal/state court decisions against the merger on Tuesday following the FTC’s decision to challenge the merger in February imply a favorable long-term competitive environment for Walmart (WMT) in grocery as conventional supermarket peers are less likely to be able to achieve Walmart’s competitive scale through M&A. Following the news, BofA reaffirms a Buy rating and $105 price target on Walmart shares.