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Walmart’s market capitalisation has surpassed $1tn, putting the largest US retail chain in an exclusive club dominated by tech groups.
The Arkansas-based company reached the milestone on Tuesday, capping a rally in which its shares have more than doubled in the past two years, outpacing the blue-chip S&P 500 index.
Walmart has spent tens of billions of dollars to develop an ecommerce business that is now a credible competitor to Amazon. Annual ecommerce sales are expected to total about $140bn when it reports results this month. Its online business became profitable last year.
Founded by Sam Walton with a single store in 1962, the retailer has expanded to nearly 11,000 stores worldwide.
Analysts forecast Walmart’s annual revenue will have topped $700bn, though they expect that Amazon’s figure will surpass the retail chain’s for the first time, according to Visible Alpha.
Walmart’s market valuation remains well below that of Amazon, the biggest ecommerce company, which is valued at $2.6tn.
Still, the company has benefited from investor appetite for AI, having formed partnerships with OpenAI and Google to integrate online shopping into their search chatbots. The in-house chatbot on Walmart’s app, named Sparky, recommends products in response to queries and can buy items for customers.
David Schick, managing partner of research firm Optimal Advisory, said Walmart’s “mix of labour, sourcing and technology” underpinned its success.
He added that the company had benefited from “investing during uncertain times” while competing with “formidable” rivals such as Amazon and Costco.
Walmart joins nine other US public companies with a market cap above $1tn. Nvidia tops the list, with a market value of about $4.5tn, followed by Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet and Broadcom.
Shares in the retailer rose as much as 2.3 per cent to $126.86 in early trading on Tuesday.
Walmart breached the $1tn mark during the chain’s first week under chief executive John Furner, who took over after his predecessor Doug McMillon retired at the weekend following more than a decade at the helm.
Furner, a veteran Walmart executive, has been outspoken about investing further in automation and AI.
In a symbolic and strategic shift that reflected its digital focus, Walmart recently switched its stock market listing to the Nasdaq exchange and joined the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 index, drawing passive funds that track the benchmark.
A leading US goods importer, Walmart has contended with tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump in the past year. Walmart and its suppliers had been absorbing about two-thirds of tariff costs for general merchandise, but passing on another third to consumers, Jefferies estimated. Walmart executives have said their lower prices are an opportunity to gain market share from rival retailers.
The company’s surging valuation will increase the wealth of the Walton family, who as a group form the company’s largest shareholder. Their 44 per cent aggregate stake in Walmart is now worth more than $440bn.
Walmart and Berkshire Hathaway are the only non-tech US companies valued at more than $1tn, according to Bloomberg data.
Eli Lilly briefly joined the $1tn club last year but has slipped below the threshold over the past few months.
Additional reporting by George Steer in New York
