Walmart Inc. (WMT) Stock Price & How to Invest
Last updated July 2026
Short answer
You can invest in Walmart (WMT) by buying shares or fractional shares at any major broker, through an ETF that holds it, or as one holding in a thematic basket. Walmart is the world's largest retailer and a defensive, scale-driven Dividend King whose thin grocery and general-merchandise margins fund higher-margin profit pools: Walmart Connect advertising, marketplace, and Walmart+ memberships. It competes with Amazon, Costco, Target, and the dollar stores.
WMT stock price
As of 2026-07-24, Walmart Inc. (WMT) last closed at $109.47, up 12.3% over the past year. Over the past 52 weeks it has traded between $96.05 and $134.20.
Prices are daily closing prices from Yahoo Finance and may be delayed. For the live quote, check your broker or Walmart Inc.'s investor relations page. Walnut is informational, not investment advice.
What does Walmart Inc. (WMT) do?
Walmart is the largest retailer in the world by revenue and the biggest private employer in the United States. It runs more than 10,000 stores and clubs globally under the Walmart and Sam's Club banners, plus a large and fast-growing e-commerce and digital business. Its core proposition is everyday low prices on groceries and general merchandise, achieved through enormous purchasing scale and a highly efficient supply chain. Walmart makes most of its money from US grocery and general merchandise, but it is increasingly building higher-margin profit engines on top of that traffic: Walmart Connect (a retail advertising business), Walmart+ (a subscription membership), marketplace and fulfillment services for third-party sellers, and financial and health services. Roughly a quarter of revenue comes from outside the US, led by operations in Mexico (Walmex), China, and India (Flipkart). Headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, Walmart is a defensive, scale-driven retailer competing with Amazon, Costco, and Target.
What's driving Walmart Inc. (WMT)?
1. Advertising and high-margin profit pools.
Walmart is building Walmart Connect, a retail-media advertising business, plus marketplace, fulfillment services, and memberships. These higher-margin profit pools grow faster than retail and lift overall operating margin without requiring much new capital, shifting the earnings mix toward more profitable, recurring revenue layered on top of Walmart's massive store and online traffic.
2. Omnichannel scale and grocery dominance.
Walmart's combination of thousands of stores near most of the US population and a growing e-commerce business lets it offer fast pickup and delivery at low cost, using stores as fulfillment hubs. Its leadership in grocery, a frequent, recession-resilient purchase, drives steady traffic and lets Walmart win share, including from higher-income shoppers.
3. E-commerce and membership growth.
Walmart's US e-commerce has grown rapidly and its marketplace expands selection without holding inventory. Walmart+ membership deepens loyalty and spending. International growth, especially Flipkart in India and Walmex in Mexico, adds a long runway. Together these support durable mid-single-digit revenue growth with faster-growing, higher-margin digital pieces.
What are the risks to Walmart Inc. (WMT)?
Walmart's core retail margins are thin, so it depends on enormous volume and on the new high-margin businesses scaling to lift profitability. It competes directly with Amazon online and Costco in value, plus dollar stores and Target, in a low-margin, price-sensitive industry where any misstep on pricing or inventory hurts. Consumer-spending weakness, wage inflation, and supply-chain or tariff disruptions can pressure costs and demand, though Walmart's value positioning is somewhat defensive. The premium valuation it now carries (well above its historical multiple) embeds optimism about advertising and margin expansion, leaving little room for disappointment. International operations add currency and execution risk, and labor and regulatory issues are a persistent overhang for the largest US private employer.
How is Walmart Inc. (WMT) valued? (approximate, early 2026)
A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Walmart Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker.
- Revenue (TTM): ~$680 billion
- Operating margin: ~4-4.5% (thin, by design)
- Net income (TTM): ~$17-20 billion
- EPS (TTM): ~$2.30-2.60 adjusted
- P/E (TTM): ~35-40x
- Dividend yield: ~0.9-1.1% (Dividend King, 50+ years of increases)
- US e-commerce growth: double-digit
- Market cap: ~$750 billion
Walmart trades at a historically high P/E for a retailer, reflecting the market's enthusiasm for its higher-margin advertising, marketplace, and membership businesses layered on a defensive grocery base. The thin core margin means earnings growth depends heavily on these new profit pools scaling. Walmart is valued as a quality, recession-resilient compounder rather than a pure low-margin retailer.
Which ETFs hold Walmart Inc. (WMT)?
If you want WMT exposure as part of a larger bundle rather than directly, these ETFs hold it meaningfully. Weights are approximate and refresh quarterly.
| ETF | Name | % in WMT | Expense ratio | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VIG | Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF | ~2.9% | 0.05% | |
| USMV | iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF | ~1.6% | 0.15% | |
| VTV | Vanguard Value ETF | ~2.0% | 0.04% | |
| VYM | Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF | ~2.5% | 0.06% | |
| VOOV | Vanguard S&P 500 Value ETF | 1.8% | 0.07% | |
| IVE | iShares S&P 500 Value ETF | ~1.7% | 0.18% | |
| IWD | iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF | ~1.2% | 0.18% | |
| SCHV | Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Value ETF | ~1.6% | 0.04% | |
| XLP | Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund | ~10.8% | 0.08% |
Who competes with Walmart Inc. (WMT)?
E-commerce and general merchandise
Amazon is the primary online and general-merchandise competitor, with Target also competing for US general-merchandise and discretionary spending. Walmart's marketplace competes with Amazon's third-party platform.
Grocery and warehouse value
Competes with Costco and Sam's Club (its own banner) in warehouse value, Kroger and Albertsons in grocery, and Aldi and Lidl in discount grocery.
Discount and dollar retail
Competes with Dollar General and Dollar Tree for value-oriented and lower-income shoppers, especially in rural and small-town markets.
How to invest in Walmart Inc. (WMT)
There are three common ways to get WMT exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it (VIG, USMV, VTV), which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic basket, so WMT sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.
Walnut takes the basket route. Describe a thesis where WMT fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.
New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.
The bottom line on Walmart Inc. (WMT)
Walmart (WMT) is a recession-resilient quality compounder whose earnings increasingly depend on advertising, marketplace, and membership scaling on top of grocery dominance and omnichannel fulfillment. In a portfolio it behaves as a defensive, dividend-growth large-cap anchor carrying a historically high retailer multiple that embeds optimism about those new profit pools.
More on Walmart Inc. (WMT)
Whether WMT is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is WMT a buy?, and where the stock could go from here in the WMT stock forecast.
For income investors, whether WMT pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does WMT pay a dividend?
Build a basket around WMT with Walnut
Use Walmart Inc. as one constituent in a thematic basket Walnut's AI helps you assemble. Describe a thesis you believe in, the AI proposes the holdings and weights, and you approve before any broker order.
FAQ
What is Walmart's ticker symbol?
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WMT, listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Officially Walmart Inc., headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. It is a Dow Jones Industrial Average component and trades during US market hours at every major US brokerage.
What does Walmart do?
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Walmart is the world's largest retailer by revenue. It runs Walmart and Sam's Club stores plus a large e-commerce business, selling groceries and general merchandise at everyday low prices. It also operates higher-margin businesses in advertising, marketplace, memberships, and international markets.
Who are Walmart's main competitors?
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Amazon online and in general merchandise, Costco and Sam's Club in warehouse value, Target in general merchandise, Kroger and Aldi in grocery, and Dollar General and Dollar Tree in discount retail.
What is Walmart Connect?
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Walmart Connect is Walmart's retail-media advertising business, which sells ads to brands wanting to reach Walmart shoppers across its stores, app, and website. It is a high-margin, fast-growing profit engine that boosts overall margins without much added capital.
Is Walmart a Dividend King?
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Yes. Walmart has raised its dividend for more than 50 consecutive years, qualifying it as a Dividend King. The yield is modest (around 1%), but the long, consistent record of increases makes it a staple of dividend-growth portfolios.
Why does Walmart's stock have a high P/E?
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Its P/E is high for a retailer because investors are paying up for the growth of higher-margin businesses, advertising, marketplace, and memberships, layered on a defensive grocery base, plus its reputation as a recession-resilient quality compounder rather than a pure low-margin retailer.
How does Walmart compete with Amazon?
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Walmart uses its thousands of stores near most of the US population as fulfillment and pickup hubs for fast, low-cost delivery, leads in grocery (a frequent purchase Amazon has found hard to dominate), and runs a growing marketplace and advertising business that mirror Amazon's model.
Is Walmart a defensive stock?
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Relatively, yes. Its focus on groceries and value positions it well when consumers trade down during economic stress, and it has historically gained share in downturns. The stock is not immune to drawdowns, but the underlying business is more resilient than discretionary retail.
How much of Walmart's revenue is international?
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Roughly a quarter, led by operations in Mexico (Walmex), China, and India (Flipkart). International adds a long growth runway but also brings currency and execution risk on top of the large US grocery and general-merchandise base.
Which thematic baskets typically include Walmart?
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Consumer-staples and defensive baskets, dividend-growth themes (given its Dividend King status), and large-cap quality or recession-resilient baskets. It also appears in retail and omnichannel-commerce themes.
What is Walmart's market cap?
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Approximately $750 billion as of early 2026, making it one of the largest companies in the world and a top holding in the Dow and S&P 500. The market cap reflects its scale and the premium placed on its higher-margin growth businesses.
Is Walmart a good stock to buy?
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Descriptive, not a recommendation. The bull case rests on high-margin advertising and membership growth, omnichannel scale, grocery dominance, and a long dividend-growth record, while the bear case cites thin core retail margins, intense competition from Amazon and Costco, and a historically high valuation. Whether it fits a portfolio depends on an investor's goals and risk tolerance. Walnut is informational, not investment advice.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Financial figures on this page are approximations; always verify current numbers with Walmart Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker before making investment decisions.