An opportunity to put some meat on the bone

Walmart executives will take to the road next week to speak at two investor conferences where it would seem unlikely that little if any new information will be shared since the conferences are just two weeks removed from the release of Walmart’s fourth-quarter results.

Even so, for the firm’s hosting the conferences it is good to be able to demonstrate to institutional clients that they can secure the participation of top executives from companies in their coverage universe. Accordingly, Sam’s Club president and CEO Brian Cornell is scheduled to speak on Tuesday, March 8 at 2:15 p.m. EDT at the Raymond James 32nd Annual Institutional Investors conference being held in Orlando. Then on Thursday, March 10 at 12:25 p.m. EDT, Walmart U.S. president and CEO Bill Simon is scheduled to speak at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2011 Consumer Conference in New York. Live Webcasts of the presentations will be available through a link provided on www.walmartstores.com/investors and will be archived for one year.

While Cornell and Simon may not reveal any new information beyond what was said during the prerecorded message released in conjunction with fourth-quarter results, their participation does afford analysts hosting the events and investors attending the Walmart and Sam’s session the opportunity to ask a few questions that doesn’t exist at the time quarterly results are released.