Walmart Stock Near Record High After Earnings Beat, Nasdaq Switch and AI Push: Is WMT Still a Buy?

Published: November 30, 2025

Walmart Inc. (currently NYSE: WMT, soon Nasdaq: WMT) has quietly turned into one of the market’s most important “stealth tech” stocks. After a strong fiscal third quarter, record-breaking Black Friday momentum and a high‑profile move to the Nasdaq, Walmart stock is trading near all‑time highs and commanding a tech‑like valuation that has investors asking a simple question: how much upside is left?

Walmart stock today: price, performance and valuation

As of the latest trading session, Walmart shares are hovering around their recent record levels. On Friday, the stock opened at about $110.51, within a whisker of its 52‑week high of $110.70 and well above its 52‑week low of $79.81. ^[1]

On Black Friday (November 28, 2025), Walmart stock hit a new record high and pushed into a technical “buy zone” around a flat-base buy point of $109.58, capping a third straight day of gains after its earnings report. ^[2]

Key snapshot metrics from recent data: ^[3]

Market capitalization: ≈ $880–850 billion
Price/earnings (P/E): ~41x trailing earnings
PEG ratio (P/E to growth): ~4.8
1‑year range:$79.81 – $110.70
Beta: ~0.67 (less volatile than the market)
Dividend yield: around 0.9%, as recent analysis has noted, making Walmart more of a growth‑tilted defensive stock than an income play. ^[4]

Over the last three years, Walmart shares have more than doubled, handily beating the roughly 65% gain in the S&P 500 over the same period. ^[5] That outperformance has been driven by a combination of steady earnings growth, e‑commerce and advertising expansion, and investors rewarding Walmart’s evolution into a tech‑enabled retailer.

The flip side: several analysts now describe Walmart as “expensive.” One recent valuation piece points out that Walmart’s current P/E in the mid‑ to high‑30s sits well above its 10‑year median of about 28.6, and even above some high‑profile tech names on a forward P/E basis. ^[6]

Q3 FY26 earnings: steady growth, strong e‑commerce and resilient margins

Walmart’s latest results, reported on November 20, 2025, are the foundation of the current rally. For fiscal Q3 2026 (quarter ended October 31, 2025), Walmart delivered: ^[7]

Revenue:$179.5 billion, up 5.8% year over year, beating analyst estimates of about $175.2 billion.
EPS:$0.62, topping consensus of $0.60.
Operating income: essentially flat (-0.2%), but adjusted operating income up 8% on a constant‑currency basis.
U.S. comparable sales (ex‑fuel):+4.5%.
Sam’s Club U.S. comps (ex‑fuel):+3.8%.
International net sales growth: roughly 11% in constant currency.
Global e‑commerce growth:+27%, with U.S. e‑commerce up 28%, marking the seventh consecutive quarter of 20%+ online growth.
Global advertising revenue:+53% (Walmart Connect in the U.S. grew 33%).
Operating cash flow: about $27.5 billion year-to-date.
Free cash flow: roughly $8.8 billion.

Management highlighted a familiar but powerful story: transactions and units drove growth, not just inflation, and higher‑margin businesses like advertising are scaling faster than the core grocery engine. ^[8]

At the same time, Walmart’s Q3 commentary and follow‑up analysis from retail watchers hammered on a critical macro theme: the affordability squeeze.

Analysts note that food prices remain roughly 25% above pre‑COVID levels, and Walmart’s CFO John Rainey has warned that lower‑income customers are clearly pulling back, even as higher‑income shoppers trade down into Walmart to save money. ^[9]
On the Q3 call, management described a noticeable moderation in spending among low‑income cohorts compared with middle‑ and higher‑income customers, tied to wage growth disparities and persistent cost‑of‑living pressures. ^[10]

That tension—strong results plus a cautious view of the consumer—is one reason the market’s reaction has been nuanced. Operationally, Walmart is firing on most cylinders. Strategically, it’s accelerating into AI and automation. But structurally, it’s still tethered to how much the average shopper can afford to spend.

AI, automation and the OpenAI partnership: why Walmart trades like a tech stock

The biggest shift in how investors see Walmart stock is rooted in technology. Over the last 18 months, the retailer has increasingly talked and acted like an AI‑first platform, not just a chain of big boxes.

Agentic AI “super agents”

In July, Walmart detailed plans to roll out a suite of AI‑powered “super agents”—one each for shoppers, employees, suppliers/sellers, and developers. These agents are designed to become the primary interface for how people interact with Walmart’s ecosystem. ^[11]

The shopper‑facing agent, “Sparky,” already lives inside Walmart’s app. Today it can suggest products, help find the right item (like the right printer ink), or summarize reviews.
In its “super agent” form, Sparky is expected to reorder items, plan events (like a themed birthday party), and even generate recipes by “seeing” what’s in a customer’s fridge via computer vision. ^[12]
Walmart has openly said it wants online sales to reach 50% of total sales within about five years, and it sees these agents as central to that goal. ^[13]

Partnership with OpenAI and shopping through ChatGPT

On October 14, 2025, Walmart announced a high‑profile partnership with OpenAI to create “AI‑first shopping experiences.” ^[14]

Key elements of that deal:

Customers will soon be able to shop Walmart directly inside ChatGPT using “Instant Checkout,” moving from inspiration to purchase in a single conversational flow.
Walmart describes this as “agentic commerce”—AI that doesn’t just respond to queries but anticipates needs, plans and predicts, helping customers stay ahead of their to‑do list. ^[15]
Internally, Walmart and Sam’s Club are already using AI to cut fashion production timelines by up to 18 weeks and reduce customer care resolution times by up to 40%, while also rolling out ChatGPT Enterprise to employees and promoting AI literacy. ^[16]

This isn’t just buzzword soup. AI tools like Sparky are already influencing customer behavior at scale. During Black Friday, Adobe Analytics reported that U.S. online spending hit a record $11.8 billion, up 9.1% year over year, and highlighted an 805% surge in AI‑driven traffic to retail sites—explicitly naming Walmart’s Sparky and Amazon’s Rufus as key drivers. ^[17]

Automation and the physical network

Alongside AI in the software layer, Walmart is aggressively automating the hardware side of retail—its supply chain and stores.

From Q3 materials and independent supply‑chain analysis: ^[18]

Over 60% of U.S. stores now receive some freight from automated distribution centers.
More than 50% of e‑commerce fulfillment center volume is automated.
Roughly 35% of store‑fulfilled orders are delivered in under three hours, and sales through these faster channels grew nearly 70% in Q3.
Newer fulfillment centers that rely heavily on robotics, sensors and high‑density storage are reported to be about twice as productive as legacy facilities, and Walmart estimates delivery costs have fallen by roughly 30% in those operations. ^[19]

Walmart’s automation strategy also runs through key partners. Robotics specialist Symbotic, which acquired Walmart’s internal Advanced Systems and Robotics business early in 2025, recently reported blockbuster earnings and highlighted Walmart’s role in its growth. ^[20]

Put together, these moves explain why so many analysts and commentators now place Walmart in the same “AI‑enabled infrastructure” conversation as far more traditional tech names.

CEO transition: John Furner takes over in 2026

Another major storyline behind Walmart stock is leadership change at the top.

On November 14, 2025, Walmart’s Board announced that John Furner, currently President and CEO of Walmart U.S., will succeed Doug McMillon as President and CEO of Walmart Inc. effective February 1, 2026. McMillon will retire on January 31 but remain on the Board through the next annual shareholders’ meeting to support the transition. ^[21]

Key details from the transition:

Furner is a 30‑year Walmart veteran, starting as an hourly associate in 1993 and later leading Sam’s Club before taking over the U.S. business in 2019. ^[22]
Under McMillon, Walmart oversaw massive investments in wages, benefits, e‑commerce, automation and global expansion. Furner is widely seen as the continuity candidate who will double down on omnichannel, AI and supply chain innovation rather than radically redirect the company. ^[23]

Commentary from analysts and trade press suggests investors view the handover as evolution, not revolution, though some note that new CEOs can bring subtle shifts in capital allocation and risk tolerance over time.

Moving from NYSE to Nasdaq: a symbolic (and practical) shift

Walmart has also made one of the most symbolic moves a blue‑chip can make: switching stock exchanges.

On November 20, 2025, Walmart announced that it will transfer the listing of its common stock from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to the Nasdaq Global Select Market, with trading on Nasdaq expected to begin on December 9, 2025, under the same ticker “WMT.” ^[24]

Key points around the exchange move:

The transfer includes Walmart’s common stock and nine of its bonds, making it the largest exchange transfer on record by market value, according to Reuters. ^[25]
Walmart and Nasdaq emphasized their shared “technology‑forward” focus, a message clearly aimed at reinforcing Walmart’s image as a tech‑powered retailer. ^[26]
Financial media and index watchers note that once the move is complete, Walmart will become eligible for future inclusion in the Nasdaq‑100 index, which could route additional index‑tracking capital into the stock at the next reconstitution where it qualifies. ^[27]

The Financial Times recently framed the move as the culmination of Walmart’s reinvention “as a growth stock,” pointing to the company’s more than doubled capital spending (to around $20 billion annually) and its use of 4,600 U.S. stores as a distributed fulfillment network. ^[28]

Put bluntly: Walmart is sending a very public signal that it wants to be valued more like a technology‑driven growth platform than a slow‑moving, purely defensive grocer.

How Wall Street and big money see Walmart stock now

Recent commentary from Wall Street and the financial media paints a mixed, but generally positive, picture.

Analysts

DA Davidson raised its price target on Walmart from $117 to $130 following the Q3 beat, reiterating a Buy rating and highlighting Walmart as one of the best “slow‑growth compounders” to own. ^[29]
MarketBeat’s aggregation of analyst views shows a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average target around $118–120, and a large share of analysts raising their targets after earnings. ^[30]
Consensus projections point to earnings growth of roughly the high‑teens percentage next year, with EPS expected to rise from about $2.55 to just over $3.00. ^[31]

Pundits and TV personalities

On CNBC’s Mad Money, Jim Cramer recently praised Walmart as “one of the best in the business,” arguing that the stock’s post‑earnings surge was justified by how well every segment—U.S., international, and Sam’s Club—performed. He also noted that while the stock looks expensive on earnings, investors clearly seem willing to pay a premium for its quality and execution. ^[32]

Caution from valuation‑focused research

At the same time, multiple long‑form pieces from valuation‑minded outlets (including several Motley Fool analyses) warn that: ^[33]

Walmart’s P/E in the high‑30s to low‑40s is well above its long‑term average.
In past downturns, Walmart’s multiple has compressed toward 20–25x earnings; a similar move today could imply 20–40% downside from recent prices if earnings don’t grow fast enough.
With the dividend yield under 1%, most of the return case now rests on continued earnings growth and multiple stability, not income.

Institutional flows

A recent filing shows Mackenzie Financial Corp trimmed its Walmart stake by about 10.9% in Q2 to roughly 2.85 million shares, worth around $279 million at the time. Yet other institutions, including Aviva PLC and several asset managers, increased their positions, and around 26.8% of Walmart stock is held by hedge funds and institutional investors. ^[34]

Overall, the institutional picture looks more like portfolio rebalancing at high prices than a coordinated exodus.

Key risks: rich valuation and the affordability crunch

Despite the glowing headlines—record online sales, AI innovation, Nasdaq spotlight—Walmart is not risk‑free at current levels.

High valuation vs. modest growth
- Management is guiding to mid‑single‑digit revenue growth and mid‑single‑digit operating income growth, not hypergrowth. ^[35]
- Paying near 40x earnings for a business growing sales around 5–6% per year leaves little room for disappointment if the economy or execution stumbles. ^[36]
Affordability stress on core customers
- Walmart has been explicit that lower‑income shoppers are under pressure and buying fewer discretionary items. ^[37]
- If unemployment ticks higher or inflation re‑accelerates, even Walmart’s “trade‑down” appeal could be tested as customers simply buy less overall.
Capital intensity of the transformation
- Walmart’s tech and automation pivot comes with heavy capital spending, now more than double what it was earlier in the decade. ^[38]
- While current cash flows comfortably cover that outlay, it does reduce flexibility if macro conditions worsen.
Execution risk in AI and automation
- Reuters has noted uncertainty around how Walmart’s AI “super agents” will affect jobs; while the company expects new roles to be created, large‑scale automation always carries operational and reputational risk. ^[39]

None of these risks negate the core thesis that Walmart is a dominant, durable franchise. They simply underline that the stock price has already internalized a lot of good news.

Is Walmart stock a buy, hold or wait‑and‑see?

For investors tracking Walmart stock on November 30, 2025, the story is remarkably clear—and the decision comes down less to business quality (which is very high) and more to what you’re willing to pay for it.

Bullish case in one paragraph:

Walmart is delivering steady mid‑single‑digit top‑line growth, expanding higher‑margin revenue streams like advertising and membership, and driving 20%+ e‑commerce growth. ^[40]
It is at the forefront of AI‑driven retail, from Sparky and OpenAI‑powered shopping to deeply automated fulfillment centers. ^[41]
The move to Nasdaq and the CEO transition to John Furner both reinforce a narrative of a company leaning into a tech‑centric, omnichannel future. ^[42]

Bearish or cautious case in one paragraph:

The stock trades at a premium multiple well above its history, with a small dividend and mid‑single‑digit revenue growth. ^[43]
Management is openly warning about a deepening affordability crisis, especially for low‑income customers, which could limit upside if consumer spending weakens further. ^[44]
If the market re‑rates Walmart back toward its historical P/E range, the stock could fall even if operations remain solid. ^[45]

A balanced takeaway for different investor types:

Long‑term, quality‑focused investors who want a defensive, AI‑enabled compounder may decide Walmart is worth buying or holding even at a premium, especially if they’re willing to look past near‑term volatility and treat any pullbacks as opportunities.
Valuation‑sensitive or income‑oriented investors may prefer to wait for a better entry point, particularly if they’re concerned about consumer weakness or broader market corrections pushing Walmart’s P/E closer to its long‑term average.

In all cases, Walmart stock now sits at the crossroads of retail, technology and macroeconomics. Its Q3 beat, impending Nasdaq listing, leadership transition and AI ambitions have created a powerful narrative—and the market has already rewarded that narrative with a near‑record share price.

Whether Walmart is a buy from here depends less on believing in the company (the business case is strong) and more on how much you trust the price to keep up with the story. This article is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as investment advice; investors should do their own research or consult a licensed financial adviser before making decisions.

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