Walmart hits US$1 trillion market value, joins club dominated by Big Tech giants

Walmart became the first retailer ever to hit US$1 trillion in market valuation on Tuesday, riding on a year-long rally that has seen its shares rise nearly 26 per cent, placing it among the ranks of Big Tech heavyweights such as Nvidia and Alphabet.

Walmart’s ascent has been notable as it has managed to tap into a mix of appealing simultaneously to higher-income customers seeking value and convenience and retaining its core base of lower-income shoppers. The stock has surged 468 per cent over the past decade, outpacing the S&P 500’s 264 per cent gain, in part due to that dual strategy, which competitors have struggled to replicate.

In the past five years, the retailer has expanded its online marketplace to over half a billion items, launched one-hour delivery, created Walmart+ to rival Amazon Prime, and built a US$4-billion advertising business that boosted margins.

Critically, Walmart bet early and aggressively on AI, pouring billions into supply-chain automation to stock fresher produce, speed up deliveries and improve inventory forecasting and search, giving the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer an operational edge that has helped it beat U.S. same-store sales estimates for 15 consecutive quarters, based on estimates compiled by LSEG.

Investor optimism around Walmart’s AI investments has further fueled the stock’s rise as consumers increasingly shift grocery shopping online.

With every $1 in $4 spent on groceries in the U.S. going to Walmart, the retailer finds itself in a sweet spot in a challenging consumer environment where low- and middle-income households face strain from inflation, a cooling job market, tariffs, and uncertainty from the recent U.S. government shutdown, all of which have made the retailer’s every day low price strategy more compelling.