Fundamentals snapshot
WMT · NMS · Consumer Defensive · Discount Stores
Current price
$118.88
52-week range
$93.43 - $135.16
Market cap
$946.06B
One-glance verdict
Fair-value range $35.44 – $48.66 (cautious → optimistic — tap the ? for the math)
Wall Street consensus: $137.93 (237.1% higher than our fair-value estimate)
Buy below $32.74 for a 20% safety cushion
Balance sheet
Net debt $64.82B. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
Quick scan of the biggest positives and negatives from the detailed checklist below.
What this company does
Walmart is a massive global retailer that sells almost everything, from groceries and clothing to electronics, through its superstores, Sam's Club warehouses, and a growing online business. The company makes its money by selling huge volumes of everyday items at low prices, a strategy made possible by its highly efficient supply chain (the complex system of getting products from suppliers to store shelves). Because millions of people rely on Walmart for necessities, its financial performance often provides a good picture of the average family's spending habits.
Sam Walton opened the first Walmart in 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas, with a simple idea: to sell more for less. This focus on "Everyday Low Prices" was a hit, and the company grew rapidly, first in rural America and then across the country. Key turning points included opening the first Sam's Club in 1983, a members-only warehouse store, and the first Supercenter in 1988, which combined a full grocery store with general merchandise. By 1990, Walmart was the largest retailer in the U.S. and then began expanding internationally.
Walmart is a giant retailer that sells a huge variety of products, from groceries and clothing to electronics and furniture. Most people know it for its large physical stores, like Supercenters and Neighborhood Markets, but it also has a major online shopping website, Walmart.com. Beyond selling products, the company also offers services like pharmacies, auto care centers, and financial services (services that help people manage their money), such as money transfers and bill payments. It also operates Sam's Club, a chain of warehouse clubs where members can buy items in bulk.
This is the company's largest business segment, making up well over half of its total sales. It includes all the Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market stores you see across the United States, as well as the main U.S. e-commerce website. This part of the business sells everything from fresh groceries, which is its biggest category, to health products, clothing, and electronics. Shoppers pay for these goods at the checkout counter, online, or through the Walmart app for pickup or delivery.
This segment includes all of Walmart's stores and online operations outside of the United States, in countries like Mexico, Canada, and China. It operates under many different store names and formats, including Supercenters and membership-only warehouse clubs. This part of the business is a significant, but smaller, piece of the company's total revenue (the total money a company brings in from sales). Customers in these countries pay for groceries, general products, and online orders, similar to the U.S. business.
This is a membership-only warehouse club, meaning customers pay an annual fee to be able to shop there. It focuses on selling items in bulk and in larger, institutional sizes to both families and small business owners. Sam's Club also has its own website for online shopping. This segment is the smallest of the three in terms of revenue, but membership fees provide a steady source of income.
Walmart's leadership is focused on blending its physical stores with its growing online business to create a seamless shopping experience. A major priority is using its thousands of stores as local warehouses to fulfill online orders quickly for pickup and delivery. The company is also investing heavily in technology like automation and artificial intelligence to make its supply chain (the system of getting products from suppliers to customers) more efficient. Additionally, Walmart is working to grow businesses with higher profit margins (the percentage of revenue left after all costs), such as digital advertising on its website and expanding its health and financial services.
Price history
Earnings history
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
Is it cheap or expensive?
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $137.93 (237.1% higher than our fair-value estimate).
Buy below $32.74 for a 20% safety cushion. That means buying at least 20% below our fair value, as a buffer in case our estimate turns out too rosy.
Our most-likely fair value is $40.92 a share — about 65.6% below today's price of $118.88, so the stock currently looks expensive (overvalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Net debt $64.8B. Interest coverage 10.7x.
Walmart Inc.'s profit covers its interest bill about 10.7 times over. which is stronger than most peers shown here.
Total debt $75.55B Interest coverage 10.66x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $10.23B Interest coverage 67.42x +533% vs WMT Carries about 6.3x more debt cushion than WMT.
Total debt $19.27B Interest coverage 11.50x +8% vs WMT Has roughly the same debt cushion as WMT.
Total debt $235.54B Interest coverage 35.17x +230% vs WMT Carries about 3.3x more debt cushion than WMT.
Total debt $24.69B Interest coverage 2.96x -72% vs WMT Carries about 3.6x less debt cushion than WMT.
Total debt $15.80B Interest coverage 9.56x -10% vs WMT Has roughly the same debt cushion as WMT.
What you should know
The numbers
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
Profitability
Health
Growth
Cash flow
Dividend
Metric explainer
Debt comparison
What you should know