Walmart Achieves Best Market Performance Since 1998 As Rivals Stumble
While discount retailers slump, Walmart has emerged as 2024’s ultimate retail champion. The consumer staple posted a chart-topping 76% stock surge this year — its best performance since 1998. But the world’s largest retailer envisions even more, marching into Big Tech’s turf with its expanding digital empire.
- While Target struggled and dollar stores plunged more than 40%, Walmart outperformed even retail heavyweights like Casey’s and Costco — adding $340B in market value as store remodels and expanded product assortments drew new shoppers.
- Wealthy households also turned to Walmart, accounting for 75% of recent market share gains — other revenue diversification efforts have also proven fruitful, with one-third of operating income now coming from advertising and membership earnings.
The next frontier: Just as Walmart’s e-commerce unit targets profitability within two years, its latest partnership with Meituan, China’s dominant delivery platform, adds fuel to an already impressive 17% annual growth rate in Chinese sales. GLOBALT Investments notes the retail giant’s evolving playbook “looks more like something that’s technologically oriented.” But with a forward price-to-earnings ratio edging out Amazon’s, one thing’s for sure: this isn’t your grandmother’s discount store anymore.
