AI Consensus Investment Thesis
WMT: Walmart Stock Price, Analysis & Forecast: 1 Year and 5 Year Targets
Walmart: 1-Year and 5-Year Forecast Outlook and Rating
Walmart (WMT) has an immediate Strong Sell consensus AI recommendation, based on 14 AI analysts.
The 1-year target is $104 for , with -11.75% expected return (-11.28% including net dividends) and a SELL ALL rating.
The 5-year target is $122 for , with +3.52% expected return (+6.51% including net dividends) and a PARTIAL SELL rating.
Latest available market price: USD 118, as of 20 Oct 2026.
Dividend calculation details
Calculated net annual dividend yield: 0.58%. As of 2026-10-20.
Gross TTM: 0.83% · Two-year annualized gross: 0.8%.
Tax withholding assumption: 30% (US). One-off special payments are excluded.
Original published assumption: 0.9% per year.
Return estimates compound the net annual yield at a constant rate over the stated return horizon (the remaining time to the fixed target date for current returns): (1 + price return) × (1 + net annual yield)years − 1.
Targets retain their original publication dates. Returns use the dated market close and the time remaining to each fixed target date. Current ratings also require fresh quotes and analysis, with more than 90 days remaining. Past targets have no forward return. Eligibility checked .
Walmart Flagship Insight
Surging Retail Media Cash Clashes With Sovereign Yield Valuation Gravity
High consensus confirms exceptional operational compounding driven by retail media and automated logistics, yet severe multiple compression against five percent Treasury yields caps equity appreciation. Free cash flow yields remain constrained by twenty-six billion dollars in capital expenditures, muting shareholder returns.
How were the Investment Thesis and Forecasts created?
14 AI advisors, guided by 9 analytical frameworks, contribute to the deep analysis by iPulse AI Engine.
Universal Investor (Polymath)
Sherlock Holmes (Whistleblower)
Warren Buffett (Value Purist)
J.P. Morgan (Titan)
Superintelligence (Anthropologist)
Elon Musk (Visionary)
Ray Dalio (Strategist)
Machiavelli (Insider)
Michael Burry (Vulture)
Ran across these frontier AI models
Google Gemini 3.8 Flash
Anthropic Claude Opus 5
OpenAI GPT-6 Astra
Latest published deep-analysis batch. Audit published forecasts in full transparency
Walmart: forecast questions
What is Walmart (WMT)'s 1-year price forecast?
Walmart's 1-year target is $104 for Sept 2027. The current AI rating is SELL ALL. The expected return from the recorded close is -11.75%, or -11.28% modeled return including net dividends. Latest available market price: USD 118, as of 20 Oct 2026. The target date is fixed; this is not a new rolling forecast.
What is Walmart (WMT)'s 5-year price forecast?
Walmart's 5-year target is $122 for Sept 2031. The current AI rating is PARTIAL SELL. The expected return from the recorded close is +3.52%, or +6.51% modeled return including net dividends. Latest available market price: USD 118, as of 20 Oct 2026. The target date is fixed; this is not a new rolling forecast.
What is the return basis?
Latest available market price: USD 118, as of 20 Oct 2026. These are model projections, not guaranteed future prices.
How can I compare the AI opinions and audit past Walmart forecasts?
14 AI analysts contribute to this publication. AI Opinions shows individual advisor forecasts and reasoning. Forecast History preserves earlier published batches; their figures describe their original publication, not today's outlook.
How does an AI-generated forecast for Walmart differ from Wall Street analyst consensus?
Wall Street consensus aggregates estimates from human analysts. For listed companies, these typically include brokerage price targets, earnings forecasts and ratings. iPulse AI's forecast for Walmart is a separate AI consensus generated through its own research workflow. Different inputs, forecast dates, assumptions and weighting can therefore produce different targets.
We believe the era of investment research conducted only by human analysts is drawing to a close. Frontier models increasingly match or exceed expert work on selected professional benchmarks, including evaluations covering financial analysis. Research on multi-model synthesis also shows that combining model responses can improve on a single model's output in the tasks studied.
iPulse AI generates transparent investment research and market forecasts using a swarm of AI configurations, analytical frameworks and frontier models. The workflow applies multiple verification, challenge and synthesis layers, with selective editorial review under Russlan Ramdowar, Editor-in-Chief. Published assumptions, disagreements and past forecasts remain available so readers can inspect the reasoning and audit outcomes.
For a research cycle covering 426 assets with 14 perspectives per asset, our internal workload model estimates approximately 114,000 hours of traditional analyst work. It assumes 16 hours per individual research report, 28 hours per consensus for synthesis and validation, plus shared data preparation. Parallel AI execution allows a deep-analysis cycle across hundreds of assets to complete in up to one day. The human-hours figure is an illustrative workload estimate, rather than measured time savings. Our research methodology explains the automated workflow.
Walmart: Investment Thesis Summary
Dotted terms link to the glossary; hover or focus for a preview. Browse technical terms
If you invest $10,000 in Walmart at the latest market close (20 Oct 2026): $10,651 by Sept 2031 versus $13,751 for S&P 500 benchmark.
Returns use the same dated market close, fixed targets and remaining dividend period as the forecast table.
* Return is calculated incl. 0.6% net dividend yield for Walmart.
The central investment tension governing this asset is the structural divergence between exceptional operational transformation and severe valuation duration risk. Operationally, the enterprise is successfully transitioning into a high-margin data, advertising, and automated logistics platform. High-margin retail media network expansion and supply-chain robotics are compounding operating income at seven to eight percent annualized, comfortably outstripping low-single-digit top-line merchandise growth. Furthermore, grocery scale commands defensive foot traffic from affluent households trading down in an inflationary environment. However, entering at nearly thirty-nine times trailing earnings against a five percent risk-free Treasury yield generates an unsustainable negative equity risk premium. Elevated annual capital expenditures of twenty-six billion dollars compress trailing free cash flow yields to approximately 1.6%, leaving no margin of safety. Over the five-year horizon, robust operational compounding will be largely absorbed by valuation multiple mean reversion toward historical retail averages of twenty-six to twenty-eight times earnings.
Key insights
- High-margin digital advertising and marketplace take-rates structurally alter profit composition, yet grocery volume remains the non-negotiable physical traffic engine.
- Reinvestment intensity exceeding 3.7% of revenue defers cash conversion, making equity returns intensely sensitive to high sovereign discount rates.
- Multiple compression from 38.6x to mid-twenties neutralizes operating earnings growth, relegating cumulative five-year price appreciation to modest single digits.
Walmart: 5 Year Consensus Forecast
20 quarterly price targets, returns and rationale, with advisor range and benchmark
Forward returns are updated using the latest market close price of USD 118, as of 20 Oct 2026.
Dividend calculation details
Calculated net annual dividend yield: 0.58%. As of 2026-10-20.
Gross TTM: 0.83% · Two-year annualized gross: 0.8%.
Tax withholding assumption: 30% (US). One-off special payments are excluded.
Original published assumption: 0.9% per year.
Return estimates compound the net annual yield at a constant rate over the stated return horizon (the remaining time to the fixed target date for current returns): (1 + price return) × (1 + net annual yield)years − 1.
The consensus target follows an expert-weighted price path synthesized from 14 AI advisor opinions. See Opinion weights and rationale for the exact allocation and reasoning.
Forecast methodology and reference values
Published targets are anchored on 18 Sept 2026 at USD 107. Original quarter-to-quarter target changes are retained. Forward returns use the remaining time to each fixed target date.
The pessimistic and optimistic advisor base cases are the lowest and highest published advisor base-case targets for each quarter. The advisor at either extreme can change between quarters. Benchmark values are in USD.
Scroll the table horizontally to read every column.
| Quarter | Evidence-Weighted Consensus Price Path | Individual Advisor Range & Reference Forecasts | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consensus target (USD) | Forecast quarter-to-quarter price change | Forward price return | Forward return incl. net dividends | Forecast rationale | Pessimistic Advisor Base Case (USD) | Optimistic Advisor Base Case (USD) | S&P 500 benchmark (USD) | |
| $105 | -1.56% | -10.90% | -10.82% | Resilient holiday grocery volume is offset by initial multiple de-rating as five percent Treasury yields penalize rich equity multiples. Price reinvestment from earlier tariff refunds keeps holiday gross margin expansion modest. | $100 | $110 | $750 | |
| $103 | -2.19% | -12.60% | -12.39% | Post-holiday volume digestion and full-year guidance reveal heavy automation capex commitments. Institutional allocators rotate capital toward higher-yielding sovereign paper, forcing valuation multiples downward despite stable non-discretionary grocery market share. | $97.3 | $108 | $736 | |
| $103 | +0.23% | -12.60% | -12.27% | First-quarter operational results demonstrate initial unit-cost savings from automated regional distribution centers. High-margin digital advertising growth cushions lingering diesel freight expenses, producing a mild fundamental relief bounce in the equity. | $95.4 | $109 | $743 | |
| $104 | +0.61% | -11.75% | -11.28% | Back-to-school promotional activity drives steady transaction volume, but replacement Section 301 tariffs pinch general merchandise margins. The discount-rate headwind maintains downward valuation pressure, holding quarterly price movement in tight consolidation. | $92.5 | $110 | $755 | |
| $105 | +1.48% | -10.90% | -10.30% | Holiday omnichannel fulfillment achieves record delivery density while retail media ad monetization accelerates. Strong seasonal net income and marketplace commission fees generate quarterly earnings outperformance, supporting solid equity price appreciation. | $90.7 | $111 | $776 | |
| $105 | -0.36% | -10.90% | -10.17% | Annual fiscal reporting highlights ongoing multi-billion-dollar supply chain investments that constrain free cash flow conversion. Wage adjustments across store associates temporarily narrow operating margins, prompting conservative multiple recalibration by institutional funds. | $88.9 | $113 | $787 | |
| $106 | +1.16% | -10.06% | -9.18% | Automated distribution rollouts reach operational scale across key regional nodes, lowering per-case handling expenses. Improving omnichannel fulfillment unit economics and robust digital advertising revenue restore positive operating momentum. | $89.8 | $113 | $803 | |
| $107 | +1.14% | -9.21% | -8.19% | Grocery market share consolidation continues as persistent living costs anchor consumer trade-down behavior. High capital reinvestment requirements limit free cash flow yield expansion, keeping equity gains measured against elevated risk-free yields. | $91.6 | $114 | $812 | |
| $109 | +1.82% | -7.51% | -6.34% | Peak holiday retail traffic, automated sorting efficiency, and surging marketplace ad spend generate solid fourth-quarter operating leverage. Disciplined inventory management prevents post-holiday markdowns, driving solid year-end equity price gains. | $92.5 | $117 | $839 | |
| $109 | +0.21% | -7.51% | -6.21% | Seasonal post-holiday volume lull coincides with rising technology amortisation charges. Although top-line sales expand predictably, valuation discipline caps price appreciation as the market benchmarks defensive equities against prevailing interest rates. | $94.3 | $118 | $851 | |
| $111 | +1.59% | -5.81% | -4.35% | International e-commerce platforms and automated micro-fulfillment facilities deliver accelerating profit contributions. Consolidated operating margins tick upward as digital advertising scales, encouraging selective institutional accumulation and modest equity appreciation. | $96.2 | $119 | $872 | |
| $112 | +1.00% | -4.96% | -3.35% | Predictable consumable foot traffic anchors baseline cash generation while programmatic retail media partnerships expand high-margin fee collections. Moderate top-line expansion offsets slight general merchandise price softness, sustaining steady price advancement. | $97.2 | $120 | $886 | |
| $114 | +1.80% | -3.27% | -1.48% | Omnichannel grocery execution captures record holiday volume with automated hubs processing elevated digital delivery orders profitably. Surging advertising revenues and subscription fee growth drive quarterly earnings outperformance and solid equity appreciation. | $99.1 | $122 | $910 | |
| $115 | +0.30% | -2.42% | -0.47% | Fiscal year-end disclosures show operating profit outgrowing revenue, yet terminal multiple normalization toward twenty-eight times earnings continues. Solid dividend distributions provide total return support while quoted share prices consolidate near fair value. | $100 | $123 | $916 | |
| $116 | +1.25% | -1.57% | +0.54% | Supply chain automation capital expenditure reaches mature steady-state levels, liberating incremental free cash flow. Management directs surplus cash toward enhanced share repurchases, reducing diluted share count and gently lifting per-share equity value. | $102 | $124 | $937 | |
| $117 | +1.12% | -0.72% | +1.56% | Defensive non-discretionary grocery demand provides steady earnings predictability amidst broader macroeconomic deceleration. Maturing digital services contribute a growing portion of operating profit, maintaining stable valuation multiples and fractional share price progress. | $103 | $126 | $947 | |
| $119 | +1.53% | +0.98% | +3.44% | Flawless holiday fulfillment across automated distribution corridors drives robust fourth-quarter cash generation. High-margin retail media sponsorships and third-party marketplace commissions deliver a clean earnings beat, driving positive year-end price momentum. | $104 | $129 | $970 | |
| $120 | +0.36% | +1.82% | +4.46% | Annual financial reporting confirms durable high-single-digit operating income compounding over multiple years. With valuation multiples anchored at rationalized levels, equity prices remain balanced, tracking underlying fundamental earnings growth rather than speculative expansion. | $104 | $131 | $980 | |
| $121 | +1.17% | +2.67% | +5.48% | Autonomous last-mile delivery deployments and automated store replenishment preserve operating margins near peak cycle levels. Dependable cash flow generation supports continuous programmatic buybacks and progressive dividend increases, sustaining modest upward equity traction. | $105 | $133 | $1,000 | |
| $122 | +0.82% | +3.52% | +6.51% | The five-year transformation completes with the enterprise operating as an automated, ad-monetized retail utility. Terminal valuation settles near twenty-seven times normalized earnings, delivering steady fundamental compounding constrained by initial valuation premiums. | $104 | $135 | $1,012 | |
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Walmart Stock Analysis & Scenarios Deep Dive
Walmart: Alpha Gap & Repricing Catalysts
Market Narrative
What does the market currently expect? The prevailing consensus treats the company as an invulnerable consumer-technology compounder, pricing shares at nearly thirty-nine times earnings. Investors assume that rapid growth in digital retail media, automated warehouse logistics, and grocery market-share gains from trade-down shoppers permanently justify a software-like valuation premium, anchoring on defensive resilience while ignoring that a 1.6% cash yield provides negative risk premium over Treasuries.
Alpha Gap
What is the biggest difference between market expectations and our AI forecasts? The crowd significantly overestimates value through multiple overpricing. While consensus correctly celebrates operational prowess in retail media and logistics automation, it suffers from acute duration blindness in a five percent bond yield regime. Investors treat digital advertising as a transformative platform shift while overlooking that over eighty percent of revenue remains capital-intensive, low-margin grocery retail. Compounding operating profits cannot overcome an inevitable multiple de-rating from thirty-nine toward twenty-six times earnings.
Repricing Catalyst
What could make the market recognize and close that gap? The convergence catalyst will be fiscal 2027 and 2028 earnings reports showing adjusted operating margin expansion leveling off as prior tariff refund price subsidies lapse and twenty-six billion dollars in annual capital spending keeps free cash flow constrained. Observable deceleration in domestic general merchandise comps alongside conservative multi-year guidance will prompt institutional asset allocators to de-rate the equity multiple toward historical twenty-six times norms.
Walmart: Sentiment and Timing
What do sentiment, volatility, and the market-recognition cycle suggest about the thesis timing?
- Greed and Fear Sentiment
- Greed
- Volatility Regime
- Low Steady
- Convergence Cycle Position
- Overshoot
Sentiment indicators exhibit strong consensus that market pricing is in a valuation overshoot regime. The decisive tension centers on whether retail media can sustain premium multiples or if five percent bond yields force an immediate, volatile multiple contraction.
Macro Regime Fit
Does the current market environment support the thesis? The macroeconomic backdrop of restrictive monetary policy, sticky inflation, and five percent benchmark Treasury yields acts as a net headwind. Operationally, persistent living costs create a counter-cyclical tailwind by driving middle- and high-income shoppers into value grocery aisles. Financially, however, high discount rates punish the stock's thin 1.6% free cash flow yield, driving aggressive valuation multiple compression.
Advisor Disagreement
What do our AI Advisors disagree about most? The primary disagreement across reports centers on whether high-margin advertising and automated logistics justify sustaining an earnings multiple near thirty-nine times in a five percent interest rate environment. More constructive perspectives argue that retail media structurally transforms earnings quality into software-like margins, supporting thirty-plus multiples. Conversely, skeptical analyses emphasize that grocery merchandise represents eighty percent of volume and requires twenty-six billion dollars in capital expenditures, leaving free cash flow yields too thin to resist multiple compression toward historical norms. Resolving this tension requires tracking whether consolidated operating margins break sustainably above five percent.
Walmart: Critical Influencing Factors
Near-certain positive forcesTop Drivers & Tailwinds
Near-certain forces that support the investment thesis. These forces are treated as part of the base case (more than 60% probability of occurrence). Impact columns are specific to this asset class.
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| Driver / Tailwind | Category | Est. stock-price impact | Est. earnings impact | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail media advertising profit engine | Innovation And Product | +18% | +25% | Walmart Connect and digital advertising monetize first-party shopper intent across store aisles and web properties, generating margins exceeding seventy percent. This high-margin revenue stream expands operating income faster than physical volume, subsidizing aggressive grocery pricing and insulating corporate profitability from cyclical merchandise inflation over the full five-year horizon. |
| Supply chain robotics automation dividend | Operational Efficiency | +14% | +18% | Deploying Symbotic robotics and automated storage systems across regional distribution centers structurally lowers unit fulfillment and store replenishment costs by twenty percent. As capital expenditures mature, automated handling improves inventory velocity and suppresses variable labor expenses, driving durable consolidated operating leverage that traditional supermarket competitors cannot replicate. |
| Omnichannel grocery market share consolidation | Competitive Positioning | +12% | +15% | Controlling store locations within ten miles of ninety percent of the population cements an unassailable grocery fortress. Sticky inflation accelerates customer trade-down among middle- and higher-income households seeking grocery value. Dominant food retail scale reinforces monopsonistic supplier purchasing power, securing recurring transaction volumes and dependable defensive cash flows. |
| Marketplace scale and membership monetization | Sector And Industry | +10% | +13% | Rapid scaling of third-party marketplace commissions, fulfillment fees, and Walmart+ membership dues unlocks capital-light recurring revenue with zero inventory risk. This structural business mix shift establishes standalone e-commerce profitability, elevating corporate return on invested capital and providing dependable, diversified cash flow streams that support five-year equity value compounding. |
Near-certain negative forcesTop Frictions & Headwinds
Near-certain forces that could slow, cap, or damage the thesis. These forces are treated as part of the base case (more than 60% probability of occurrence). Impact columns are specific to this asset class.
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| Friction / Headwind | Category | Est. stock-price impact | Est. earnings impact | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valuation multiple mean reversion compression | Macroeconomic And Macrofinancial | -24% | -2.0% | Trading at nearly thirty-nine times trailing earnings while ten-year Treasury yields linger near five percent creates a severe negative equity risk premium. As institutional allocators demand realistic cash flow yields from mature consumer staples, multiple de-rating back toward historical medians of twenty-four to twenty-seven times will heavily dilute underlying operational earnings growth. |
| Section 301 replacement tariff absorption | Regulatory | -10% | -12% | Institutionalization of replacement Section 301 tariffs across sixty trading partners imposes structural input cost friction on imported general merchandise. Because everyday low pricing protects consumer traffic, management cannot pass all import duties onto consumers, forcing margin absorption that compresses merchandise gross margins and dampens core retail profitability. |
| Heavy logistics automation capital reinvestment | Capital Allocation | -8.0% | -8.0% | Maintaining aggressive supply chain modernization requires capital expenditures near 3.7% of sales, consuming twenty-six billion dollars annually. This elevated intensity depresses free cash flow conversion to roughly two percent of revenue, generating multi-year depreciation overhangs and restricting the pace of discretionary share repurchases during an elevated interest rate regime. |
| Frontline retail wage and freight inflation | Operational Efficiency | -7.0% | -10% | Employing 2.1 million associates exposes operating margins to persistent statutory wage pressure, healthcare inflation, and elevated diesel freight expenses. Because store associates remain vital for store-fulfilled digital delivery and curbside pickup, operating cost inflation places a rigid floor under SG&A expenses, capping consolidated operating margins below five percent. |
Walmart: What Could Break or Accelerate the Thesis
Event Risk Score: Moderate 44/100Asset-level relative pressure from clustered consensus frictions and tail risks. This is not the probability or risk score of an individual force.Plausible downside scenariosTail Risks
Tail yet plausible downside scenarios selected for their highest potential impact.
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| Tail scenario | Chance of Occurring | Stock Price Impact | Why plausible / what changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Severe stagflationary consumer wallet exhaustion | 28% | -26% | A compounding energy shock pushing crude above one hundred twenty dollars alongside persistent food inflation could exhaust household balance sheets by late 2027. Shoppers would curtail higher-margin discretionary merchandise purchases entirely, contracting consolidated operating margins below 3.2% and triggering a severe thirty percent equity repricing as defensive compounder narratives shatter. |
| Federal antitrust retail media intervention | 24% | -20% | Sweeping regulatory antitrust litigation by 2028 targeting retail media tying arrangements, in-store slotting fees, and customer data bundling would severely impair Walmart Connect's high-margin engine. Stripping away digital advertising subsidies would expose core retail's thin three percent margins, forcing investors to de-rate the stock toward traditional grocer multiples. |
Plausible upside scenariosTail Opportunities
Tail yet plausible upside scenarios selected for their highest potential impact.
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| Tail scenario | Chance of Occurring | Stock Price Impact | Why plausible / what changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Autonomous last-mile delivery fleet breakthrough | 28% | +20% | Full commercial scaling and regulatory approval of autonomous delivery vehicles and automated drone networks by 2028 would eliminate driver labor overhead. Collapsing last-mile delivery expenses by sixty percent would transform omnichannel e-commerce into a lucrative profit center, generating four billion dollars in incremental operating profit and driving unexpected multiple expansion. |
| International digital subsidiaries public listings | 32% | +18% | Successful standalone public listings of Indian e-commerce leader Flipkart and digital payments platform PhonePe by 2028 would crystallize over sixty billion dollars in unrecognized balance-sheet equity. The resulting liquidity windfall would fund substantial non-dilutive share repurchases and trigger an aggressive sum-of-the-parts revaluation across global equity research desks. |
Company Financial AnalysisWalmart: Earnings and Financials Analysis by AI
Financial figures available as of Sep 20, 2026. Only filings and source records available by this analysis date are included. View latest Walmart financials here.
Earnings and financials
Walmart's financial results present a tale of two businesses. Top-line revenue reached 713 billion dollars in fiscal 2026 and advanced to 736 billion dollars trailing twelve months, driven by non-discretionary grocery sales and trade-down traffic. However, reported net income of 22.1 billion dollars masks underlying friction, as recent operating profit gains were flattered by a temporary 2.9 billion dollar tariff refund that management must reinvest into consumer price cuts. The real financial engine is changing. High-margin digital advertising through Walmart Connect and third-party marketplace commissions are growing at double-digit rates, lifting operating income faster than physical sales. Yet, cash generation remains constrained, with free cash flow of 13.5 billion dollars trailing headline accounting profits.
Revenue, earnings, and cash flow
The table compares up to five fiscal years of revenue, net income, and free cash flow available to this analysis.
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | USD 713.2B | USD 21.9B | USD 14.9B |
| 2025 | USD 681B | USD 19.4B | USD 12.7B |
| 2024 | USD 648.1B | USD 15.5B | USD 15.1B |
| 2023 | USD 611.3B | USD 11.7B | USD 12.2B |
| 2022 | USD 572.8B | USD 13.7B | USD 11.1B |
Valuation context: historical P/E
The table compares up to five fiscal years of point-in-time valuation evidence available to this analysis.
| Fiscal year | P/E | Earnings basis | Currency basis | Ticker / reporting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 43.4x | TTM | Native | USD / USD |
| 2025 | 40.5x | TTM | Native | USD / USD |
| 2024 | 86.1x | TTM | Native | USD / USD |
| 2023 | 99.9x | Annual | Native | USD / USD |
| 2022 | 83.2x | Annual | Native | USD / USD |
P/E uses historical market capitalization and earnings known at each period. Cross-currency observations are normalized to USD using point-in-time FX rates.
Profitability and margins
Walmart's profit margins are caught in a structural tug-of-war. Fiscal 2026 gross margin held steady at 24.9% while operating margin settled at 4.18%. On one side, high-margin advertising and digital seller fees inject pure profit into the business, successfully expanding service margins and offsetting rising store associate hourly wages. On the other side, food and consumables represent over half of total sales, anchoring the company to low-margin grocery economics. General merchandise import tariffs, higher fuel expenses, and competitive price rollbacks prevent consolidated operating margins from breaking significantly higher. Digital advertising defends overall profitability, but physical store realities keep a firm lid on total margins.
The table compares up to five fiscal years of operating income and reported profitability margins.
| Fiscal year | Operating income | Operating margin | Net margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | USD 29.8B | 4.2% | 3.1% |
| 2025 | USD 29.3B | 4.3% | 2.9% |
| 2024 | USD 27B | 4.2% | 2.4% |
| 2023 | USD 20.4B | 3.3% | 1.9% |
| 2022 | USD 25.9B | 4.5% | 2.4% |
Balance sheet and leverage
Walmart operates an exceptional, fortress balance sheet backed by 285 billion dollars in total assets and nearly one hundred billion dollars in equity. A conservative debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67 and strong interest coverage of 11.5 times ensure prime access to debt markets. The company comfortably paid out over fifteen billion dollars in dividends and buybacks during fiscal 2026. A headline current ratio of 0.79 might seem tight, but it reflects a classic retail strength: negative working capital, where suppliers finance inventory turnover. However, elevated interest rates mean maturing debt must be refinanced at higher rates, requiring management to rely strictly on organic cash flow rather than borrowing for share buybacks.
The table compares up to five fiscal years of debt, liquidity, net cash or debt, and current-ratio evidence.
| Fiscal year | Total debt | Cash + short-term investments | Reported net cash / (debt) | Debt less (cash + short-term investments), calculated | Current ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | USD 67.1B | USD 10.7B | USD 56.4B net debt | USD 56.4B | 0.79x |
| 2025 | USD 60.1B | USD 9B | USD 51.1B net debt | USD 51.1B | 0.82x |
| 2024 | USD 60.4B | USD 9.9B | USD 50.6B net debt | USD 50.6B | 0.83x |
| 2023 | USD 58.9B | USD 8.9B | USD 50B net debt | USD 50B | 0.82x |
| 2022 | USD 57.3B | USD 14.8B | USD 42.6B net debt | USD 42.6B | 0.93x |
Reported net debt retains the source definition, which can deduct cash alone. Cash plus short-term investments is broader liquidity; the separately calculated column subtracts that full amount from total debt for the same fiscal period and currency. Reported net debt below zero is displayed as net cash. Current ratio is current assets divided by current liabilities.
Capex and investment intensity
Management has deliberately increased capital spending to 3.74% of revenue in fiscal 2026, committing nearly twenty-seven billion dollars annually. This cash is not being spent on opening traditional stores. Instead, Walmart is pouring money into automated distribution centers, Symbotic robotics, and digital fulfillment networks to permanently reduce the manual labor required to stock shelves and deliver packages. While this heavy investment builds an insurmountable competitive moat against competitors, it creates a substantial multi-year cash drag. Annual depreciation has climbed to 14.2 billion dollars, depressing free cash flow conversion. Investors must wait for these automated facilities to reach operational maturity before seeing significant cash windfalls.
The table compares up to five fiscal years of capital expenditure and research-and-development investment.
| Fiscal year | Capital expenditure | R&D spend |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | USD 26.6B | -- |
| 2025 | USD 23.8B | -- |
| 2024 | USD 20.6B | -- |
| 2023 | USD 16.9B | -- |
| 2022 | USD 13.1B | -- |
Behind the synthesisWalmart: How Each Individual AI Forecaster Opinion Shapes the Global Consensus
This publication’s recorded synthesis allocated voting influence across 14 advisor opinions. The weights and rationales below are retained from that synthesis.
The consensus weighting is anchored by a compelling, independently supported operational reality: high-margin digital advertising, third-party marketplace commissions, and automated logistics are genuinely expanding underlying operating profits, even as non-discretionary grocery market-share gains capture trade-down traffic. However, unanimous evidence indicates an acute asset-pricing disconnect. The market trades this capital-intensive distributor at nearly thirty-nine times trailing earnings, offering a sub-two-percent free cash flow yield against five percent benchmark Treasury yields. Forensic filings confirm that recent operating profit spikes were flattered by temporary judicial tariff refunds rather than runaway operational leverage, while annual capital expenditures of twenty-six billion dollars heavily constrain owner cash generation. Greater relative weights are assigned to reports that rigorously ground this reinvestment drag and model disciplined multiple compression toward historical norms of twenty-six to twenty-eight times earnings, while discounting perspectives that either overstate near-term liquidation risks or treat high-margin media as an excuse to ignore capital market discount rates.
All 14 opinions
Universal Investor AI
The Polymath
Anthropic Claude Opus 5 · 2026-07-24 releaseWeight: 9.4%
Supplies exceptional forensic rigor utilizing primary SEC filings and leadership changes. Its analysis of the tariff refund distortion versus underlying operating performance provides essential baseline evidence for multiple derating.
Universal Investor AI
The Polymath
OpenAI GPT-6 Astra · 2026-09-03 releaseWeight: 9.4%
Anchored in verifiable regulatory filings, noting digital channel substitution versus true incremental demand. It accurately dissects the temporary nature of tariff refunds while modeling realistic capex moderation and multiple deflation.
Niccolo Machiavelli AI
The Insider
Google Gemini 3.8 Flash · 2026-09-02 releaseWeight: 7.5%
Demonstrates strong primary evidence regarding non-discretionary grocery dominance and advertising cash flows. It correctly identifies duration risk against five percent Treasury yields while maintaining realistic operational compounding expectations.
Universal Investor AI
The Polymath
Google Gemini 3.8 Flash · 2026-09-02 releaseWeight: 7.5%
Delivers balanced macro alignment connecting elevated bond yields with retail cash conversion limits. It reconciles high-margin advertising growth with stubborn frontline cost realities, supporting a credible mid-single-digit return path.
Sherlock Holmes AI
The Whistleblower
Google Gemini 3.8 Flash · 2026-09-02 releaseWeight: 7.5%
Features diligent forensic examination of working capital, lease commitments, and advertising margin quality. It provides realistic terminal multiple bounds and carefully distinguishes recurring operating leverage from temporary price subsidies.
Elon Musk AI
The Visionary
Google Gemini 3.8 Flash · 2026-09-02 releaseWeight: 6.6%
Provides a disciplined structural view on automation capital intensity and multiple compression. However, it overstates negative cash flow risks by underappreciating negative working capital benefits and high-margin retail media compounding.
Warren Buffett AI
The Value Seeker
Google Gemini 3.8 Flash · 2026-09-02 releaseWeight: 6.6%
Offers solid owner-earnings scrutiny regarding the gap between operating earnings and free cash flow. It accurately models multiple normalization toward twenty-five times earnings, though slightly understates digital ad operating leverage.
Superintelligence AI
The Anthropologist
Google Gemini 3.8 Flash · 2026-09-02 releaseWeight: 6.6%
Identifies biological grocery necessity and distribution negentropy effectively. Its multiple compression path is causally consistent, though its capital expenditure run-rate projections slightly exceed recent baseline guidance.
Warren Buffett AI
The Value Seeker
Google Gemini 3.8 Flash · 2026-09-02 releaseWeight: 6.6%
Presents rigorous fundamental balance sheet analysis and working capital dynamics. It properly highlights that high initial price-to-earnings ratios absorb operational gains, though its long-term margin ceiling is somewhat conservative.
J.P. Morgan AI
The Titan
Google Gemini 3.8 Flash · 2026-09-02 releaseWeight: 6.6%
Articulates platform monetization and Vizio connected-TV data potential clearly. However, its valuation path errs slightly on the optimistic side regarding terminal multiples during a structurally high discount-rate regime.
Superintelligence AI
The Anthropologist
Google Gemini 3.8 Flash · 2026-09-02 releaseWeight: 6.6%
Offers a coherent systems-level view on automated supply chains and demographic trade-down capture. It appropriately balances high-margin digital advertising expansion with unavoidable valuation compression against five percent Treasury yields.
Universal Investor AI
The Polymath
Google Gemini 3.8 Flash · 2026-09-02 releaseWeight: 6.6%
Accurately maps the tension between advertising monetization and macro yield headwinds. Its five-year compounding trajectory reflects balanced capital allocation, though it slightly underestimates near-term general merchandise tariff drag.
Ray Dalio AI
The Strategist
Google Gemini 3.8 Flash · 2026-09-02 releaseWeight: 6.6%
Constructs a robust macro framework linking elevated discount rates to multiple compression. It properly documents the ongoing shift toward retail media while grounding five-year total return expectations in fundamental reality.
Michael Burry AI
The Vulture
Google Gemini 3.8 Flash · 2026-09-02 releaseWeight: 5.7%
Presents a sharp contrarian case regarding freight inflation and negative equity risk premia. While its valuation skepticism is justified, its downside path overweights near-term liquidation risks given deep balance-sheet resilience.
References & Context
Research Provenance
Analysis generated by iPulse AI Engine v7 using recorded market data, operating under the editorial standards and supervision of Russlan Ramdowar, Editor-in-Chief.
External references below are sources recorded by the researcher agents for this Walmart forecast batch.
Primary analysis inputs
- iPulse AI Multi-Agent Forecasts — independent analyst personas, model outputs, and consensus synthesis.
- iPulse AI Global Events Context — macroeconomic, geopolitical, regulatory, and industry-event context.
- Structured market history — prices, distributions, volatility, identifiers, and listing metadata.
- Company earnings and financial statements — revenue, profitability, balance-sheet, cash-flow, and investment trends.
- Researcher web evidence — public sources consulted to challenge and contextualize the forecast thesis.
Independent AI Advisor panel
- AI Advisors
- 14
- AI Researchers
- 11
- AI Thinkers
- 3
Sources retained from AI Researcher searches
Asset-specific · Researcher web35 available sources from this batch (91 recorded). The first 15 are shown below; expand to read the rest.
- https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20260916a.htm federalreserve.gov
- Walmart Inc. - Form 10-K - FY2026 sec.gov
- Walmart Inc. - Form 10-Q - FY2026 sec.gov
- Walmart Inc. - Form 10-Q - FY2026 sec.gov
- https://corporate.walmart.com/news/2026/08/20/walmart-releases-q2-fy27-earnings corporate.walmart.com
- https://www.axios.com/2026/08/20/walmart-earnings-sales-revenue axios.com
- AI Agents Reshape Global Commerce: What Walmart, OpenAI, and China’s Tech Leaders Reveal About the Future of Retail | CEIBS ceibs.edu
- Walmart (WMT) Q2 2027 earnings cnbc.com
- WMT Stock Quote Price and Forecast | CNN cnn.com
- https://corporate.walmart.com/content/dam/corporate/documents/newsroom/2026/02/19/walmart-releases-q4-fy26-earnings/q4-fy26-earnings-call-transcript.pdf corporate.walmart.com
- https://corporate.walmart.com/news/2026/01/11/walmart-and-google-turn-ai-discovery-into-effortless-shopping-experiences corporate.walmart.com
- https://corporate.walmart.com/news/2026/05/21/walmart-releases-q1-fy27-earnings corporate.walmart.com
- walmart announces john furner as president and chief executive o0 corporate.walmart.com
- Walmart Raises Annual Dividend to $0.99 per Share Marking 53rd Consecutive Year of Dividend Increases corporate.walmart.com
- OpenAI reveals updates to its agentic commerce experience for ChatGPT digitalcommerce360.com
Show 20 more sources
- Walmart Inc. (WMT) Stock Price, News, Quote & History - Yahoo Finance finance.yahoo.com
- Walmart Is About to Pay a Boosted Dividend, but Is It Actually Safe? finance.yahoo.com
- Walmart CEO John Furner worked his way up from the garden center. After 30 years, he’s sharing the one trait that matters most in his job | Fortune fortune.com
- Walmart Continues OpenAI Partnership, Shifts Shopping Experience | Hardware Retailing hardwareretailing.com
- Free Trial marketbeat.com
- Free Trial marketbeat.com
- Walmart (WMT) Stock Forecast and Price Target 2026 $WMT marketbeat.com
- How Walmart's OpenAI ChatGPT Partnership Could Transform AI Shopping- MarketWise marketwise.com
- https://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/walmart-debuts-nasdaq-marking-its-first-day-trading-2025-12-09 nasdaq.com
- Walmart (WMT) Earnings: Latest Report, Earnings Call & Financials public.com
- Walmart Names New CEO as Retail Moves From Shelves to Software | PYMNTS.com pymnts.com
- Walmart’s John Furner overhauls leadership | Retail Dive retaildive.com
- Walmart (Nasdaq:WMT) - Stock Analysis - Simply Wall St simplywall.st
- https://stock.walmart.com/sec-filings/all-sec-filings/content/0000104169-26-000055/wmt-20260131.htm stock.walmart.com
- https://stock.walmart.com/sec-filings/all-sec-filings/content/0000104169-26-000145/earningspresentationfy27.htm stock.walmart.com
- https://stock.walmart.com/sec-filings/all-sec-filings/content/0000104169-26-000145/earningsreleasefy27q2.htm stock.walmart.com
- https://stock.walmart.com/sec-filings/all-sec-filings/content/0000104169-26-000154/wmt-20260731.htm stock.walmart.com
- Walmart reports second quarter results • stock.walmart.com
- Walmart (WMT) Stock Price & Overview stockanalysis.com
- Walmart’s stock buybacks: How its massive new repurchase program could affect shareholder returns thestreet.com
56 additional sources are recorded in this batch; their citation details are not available in this publication.
Context retained with this Consensus
The same public-safe market, global-event, and fundamental context supplied to the AI Advisor panel.
Global context snapshot
2025 Full-Year Global Market and World-Events Context
Download Archived SnapshotCoverage 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Knowledge cutoff 2025-12-31
This full-year context package covers the principal geopolitical, economic, monetary-policy, technology, trade, energy, and institutional developments that shaped global markets during 2025. It gives the forecasting model a chronological account of major world events together with their likely transmission into growth, inflation, interest rates, supply chains, commodities, currencies, public markets, and sector-level investment conditions.
Archived context covering 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31. Its recorded scope includes technology and capital cycle; trade and industrial policy; monetary policy. Selected highlights reflect the analysis cutoff, not current world conditions.
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- File size
- 90.8K bytes
- Words
- 13.3K words
- Characters
- 90.8K characters
- Est. tokens (characters ÷ 4)
- 22.7K tokens
The package also includes monthly and quarterly macroeconomic and cross-asset reference tables spanning US and international growth, central-bank policy, sovereign yields, major equity indices, foreign exchange, energy, industrial and precious metals, and digital assets. Quarterly and full-year high-impact summaries are integrated; monthly quantitative series remain working values pending final audit, and that qualification is part of the preserved context.
| Selected highlights from this archived snapshot | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| DeepSeek shock and AI economics reset | 2025-01-27 | OPEN ENDED TREND |
| US tariff regime escalation and trade-system rupture | 2025-02-01 | ACTIVE POLICY REGIME |
| Federal Reserve easing cycle after a prolonged hold | 2025-09-17 | ACTIVE POLICY REGIME |
Representative Sources of the Context File
And more sources from the retained context package.
2026 Year-to-Date Global Market and World-Events Context Through September 20
Download Archived SnapshotCoverage 2026-01-01 to 2026-09-20 · Knowledge cutoff 2026-09-20
January 1-September 20, 2026: monetary tightening, energy security, trade restrictions, AI financing and divergent growth; five leading market themes.
Archived context covering 2026-01-01 to 2026-09-20. Its recorded scope includes monetary policy and rates; geopolitics energy and shipping; trade and industrial policy. Selected highlights reflect the analysis cutoff, not current world conditions.
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- File size
- 84.8K bytes
- Words
- 12.4K words
- Characters
- 84.8K characters
- Est. tokens (characters ÷ 4)
- 21.2K tokens
Fed raised rates to 3.75%-4.00%; ECB hike is in force and BOJ increase starts September 24. Markets through September 18, bitcoin through September 19.
| Selected highlights from this archived snapshot | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Renewed monetary tightening amid persistent inflation | 2026-01-30 | ACTIVE POLICY REGIME |
| Iran/Hormuz conflict and wider energy-security disruption | 2026-02-28 | ONGOING |
| Tariff legal reset and strategic supply restrictions | 2026-02-20 | ACTIVE POLICY REGIME |
Representative Sources of the Context File
And more sources from the retained context package.
Fundamental Context Passed as Input to the Models
Time range: Annual fiscal periods: 2015-01-31–2026-01-31, 12 periods; Quarterly fiscal periods: 2023-10-31–2026-07-31, 12 periods.
Currencies cited: USD (quote USD; primary reporting USD; converted/valuation USD).
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Income statement
9 fieldsdepreciationAndAmortization · ebit · ebitda · grossProfit · +5 more fields
Balance sheet
12 fieldscash · commonStockSharesOutstanding · longTermDebt · netDebt · +8 more fields
Cash flow
5 fieldscapitalExpenditures · dividendsPaid · freeCashFlow · salePurchaseOfStock · +1 more field
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