Wall Street stocks dropped on Thursday following disappointing results from Walmart as banking shares fell in a move analysts attributed to profit taking.

Walmart reported quarterly results that met expectations, but shares slid 6.5 percent after its forecast missed expectations.

Meanwhile, shares of Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase fell three percent or more, dragging on major indices.

The S&P 500, which finished at a record the last two days, dropped 0.4 percent to 6,117.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.0 percent to 44,176, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.5 percent to 19,962.

The drop in banking shares hit stocks that were "very overbought," said Adam Sarhan from 50 Park Investments, who noted that major US indices finished above their session lows in spite of significant geopolitical uncertainty.

"Whenever there's been trouble in the market, buyers have showed up," said Sarhan, who views the dynamic as an indication of underlying bullishness.

Among individual companies, Boeing slumped 2.8 percent after President Donald Trump said he was looking at "alternatives" to the company's Air Force One operation because of delivery delays.

But Hasbro surged 13 percent after reporting better than expected profits. The toymaker expects 2025 revenues to be "up slightly," it said. (AFP)