Walmart expects a strong holiday season, and it's set to send shares to their highest level all year

• Walmart reported third-quarter fiscal 2020 earnings before market open Thursday.
• Shares rose as much as 3.5% in premarket trading, setting up Walmart to open at its highest price this year.
• Online sales and an updated full-year outlook drove the earnings beat.
• Watch Walmart trade live on Markets Insider.

Walmart expects it will end the year with a strong holiday season and boosted its full-year earnings outlook when it reported its fiscal 2020 third-quarter earnings release before market open Thursday.

Shares rose as much as 3.5% on the news. If the rally holds, Walmart will open at its highest price so far this year.

Here's what Walmart reported, versus what analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expected:

• Earnings per share: $1.16 reported versus $1.09 (expected)
• Revenue: $127.99 billion reported versus $128.67 billion (expected)
• US comparable sales: up 3.2% reported versus up 3.1% (expected)

The company said it now expects full-year adjusted earnings per share to "increase slightly" by the end of fiscal 2020. It's the second time this year that the company has boosted its full-year outlook amid a retail backdrop where other stores are struggling - even Amazon's fourth-quarter guidance fell short of Wall Street expectations.

"Looking ahead, we're prepared for a good holiday season," said Doug McMillon, chief executive officer of Walmart, in a company press release.

Online sales grew 41% during the quarter, fueling the earnings beat. Grocery sales made up a large chunk of that growth - Walmart has been expanding its digital footprint to compete with the likes of Amazon.

Walmart recently expanded its grocery offerings, including trials of InHome grocery delivery, where Walmart employees deliver food to customers' fridges in three cities. It also launched Delivery Unlimited, a membership option, to 1,400 stores in the US.

In addition, the company said that its business in Chile has been "seriously affected by civil unrest," but that it's still assessing the situation and has not included "any related potential discrete financial effects in our assumptions."

Walmart has a consensus price target of $123.79 and 21 "buy" ratings, 14 "hold" ratings, and one "sell" rating, according to Bloomberg data.

Walmart is up 31% year-to-date.