NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Wal-Mart (WMT - Get Report) stock is slumping by 0.38% to $66.16 in pre-market trading on Thursday, as the retailer tests a two-day shipping subscription and builds a regional delivery network in an effort to rival e-commerce giant Amazon.com (AMZN).
Wal-Mart will utilize eight massive e-commerce warehouses throughout the U.S. and rely more heavily on regional carriers to deliver packages, sources told the Wall Street Journal.
The company will employ regional delivery companies including the East Coast's LaserShip, the West Coast's OnTrac and the Midwest's United Delivery Service to take some of the package deliveries away from FedEx (FDX), which currently handles the majority of its parcels, the Journal adds. These regional carriers charge rates up to a third less than those by national carriers.
Starting today, members of Wal-Mart's ShippingPass program, which grants customers three-day shipping for $50 a year, will receive two-day shipping for $49 per year.
The service is only available by invitation.
Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates the stock as a "buy" with a ratings score of B+.
Wal-Mart's strengths such as its attractive valuation levels, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and notable return on equity outweigh the fact that the company has had somewhat weak growth in earnings per share.
You can view the full analysis from the report here: WMT
TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this article's author.
